Charles Wagner (theologian)

Charles Wagner (born January 3, 1852 in Vibersviller , Moselle department , France, † May 12, 1918 in Neuilly-sur-Seine ) was a French Reformed theologian and pastor and a successful author of liberal Protestantism.

life and work

Wagner was the son of a Lutheran pastor who died in 1859. He grew up with his grandfather in Ottwiller and attended a grammar school in Paris from 1866 to 1869. Finally, he began studying theology in Strasbourg , first at the Protestant seminary, then at the theological faculty there. In 1869 he joined the Wingolf Association Argentina Strasbourg. His liberal view of the principle of connection, which he wanted to represent as its president at the Federal Wingolf Festival, ultimately led to the temporary dissolution of the connection in 1874 because he had the majority of the student members behind him, but against almost all of the old rulers themselves. The dispute resulted in the majority of the Argentine student members leaving the association with Wagner at the helm. The background was that the minority wing wanted to enforce (or maintain) the unconditional commitment to Jesus Christ as true God as a compelling interpretation of the principle. For further studies he went to the universities in Heidelberg and Göttingen. He received his first position as vicar in 1875 in the Lutheran congregation in Barr in Alsace , which was then part of Germany , but after his ordination in 1877 he moved to the Reformed congregation in Remiremont , Département Vosges . In 1882 he received a call from representatives of the liberal bourgeoisie in Paris who wanted to employ him as their pastor. Although the job was non-parish and poorly paid, he took it to study philosophy and history during the week, and to preach and school on Sundays . From this a separate community developed, first in the Rue des Arquebusiers and from 1892 on the Boulevard Beaumarchais . In 1907 it moved to its place in the 11th arrondissement that still exists today as the Temple Protestant du Foyer de l'Âme . Wagner worked there until his death.

Since 1890 Wagner published numerous books on the way of life based on an undogmatic Christianity, which were very successful and have been translated into several languages. The English edition of the book La vie simple ( The simple life , 1901) inspired the American President Theodore Roosevelt so much that he invited Wagner to lecture tours in the USA. In 1904, Wagner spoke in more than 500 meetings and was eventually received in the White House .

Wagner was very well networked in the circles of liberal intellectuals in France. At the request of Paul Desjardins , he took part in the founding of the Union pour l'action morale in 1892 , in whose bulletin he published many articles. He worked with the educator Ferdinand Buisson in the Ligue de l'enseignement and contributed to the curriculum for primary school classes. He also campaigned for the establishment of adult education centers ( Université populaire ). With Buisson he founded the Union de libres penseurs et de libres croyants pour la culture morale in 1907 and in 1903 published a book in which the theological program of Protestant liberalism was developed. Charles Gide , Georges Sorel , Émile Boutroux , Léon Brunschvicg , Jean Réville , Raoul Allier and Philippe Jalabert also belonged to his circle of friends . From 1905 Wagner, together with Élie Gounelle and Wilfred Monod, tried to unite the fragmented Reformed in France and in 1906 called for the Synod of Jarnac, which only led to the establishment of a third congregation, the Union nationale des Eglises Reformees . When it merged with the Union des Églises réformées unies to form the Union des Églises réformées in 1912 , Wagner became honorary president. Only in 1938 did this liberal Reformed congregation federation unite with the more evangelical congregations to form the Reformed Church in France .

Honors and reception

Entrance to the Temple Protestant du Foyer de l'Âme on Rue du Pasteur-Wagner in Paris

The University of Giessen awarded Wagner an honorary theological doctorate in 1910 . The part of Rue Daval in which the Temple Protestant du Foyer de l'Âme is located was renamed Rue du Pasteur-Wagner in 1925 .

Since his books have been out of print for a long time, the Éditions Ampelos have been publishing new editions of the main works since 2007.

Publications (selection)

• Justice. Huit discours. Fischbacher, Paris 1889.
• Jeunesse. Fischbacher, Paris 1892 (and several other editions; digitized ).
  • Youth. Jansa, Leipzig 1910.
• La vie simple. Colin, Paris 1895 (and several other editions; edition from 1908 on Project Gutenberg ).
  • Simple life. Fischbacher, Paris 1905.
• L'Évangile et la Vie. Sermons Fischbacher, Paris 1896; New edition of Éditions Ampelos 2007.
• Sois un homme! Simple causeries sur la conduite de la vie. Fischbacher, Paris 1899.
  • Become a man Simple words about lifestyle. Jansa, Leipzig 1911.
• L'Âme des choses. Fischbacher, Paris 1901 (and several other editions; digitized ).
  • The soul of things. Fischbacher, Paris 1912.
• (with Ferdinand Buisson ) Libre-pensée et protestantisme libéral. Fischbacher, Paris 1903.
• L'ami. Dialogues intérieurs. Fischbacher, Paris 1903; New edition of Éditions Ampelos 2007.
• Verse le coeur de l'Amérique. Fischbacher, Paris 1906 (2nd edition; digitized version ); New edition as Voyage au cœur de l'Amérique , Éditions Ampelos 2009.
  • My impressions of America. McClure - Phillips, New York 1906 ( digitized version ).
• Bon Samaritain. New edition of Éditions Ampelos 2008.
• Anne Penesco, Geoffroy de Turckheim (ed.): L'Homme est une espérance de Dieu. Anthology. Van Dieren, Paris 2007 (with Wagner's biography).

literature

• Alfred Wautier d'Aygallièrs: Un homme, le pasteur Charles Wagner. Fischbacher, Paris 1927.
• Pierre-Jean Ruff: Charles Wagner et le Foyer de l'âme. Van Dieren, Paris 1999.
• André Encrevé (ed.): Actes du Colloque Protestantisme et Libéralisme à la Fin du XIXe Siècle: Charles Wagner et le Libéralisme Théologique (= Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Français, Volume 154). Librairie Droz, Genève - Paris 2008.
• Pierre-Jean Ruff: Charles Wagner. Chantre d'une théologie biblique, libérale et naturelle. Theolib, Saint-Martin de Bonfossé 2014.

Web links

Commons : Charles Wagner  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Charles Wagner (1852–1918) in the Virtual Museum of Protestantism
• Charles Wagner
• Author's website at the Éditions Ampelos
• Wagner on the website of the Paroisse protestante du Foyer de l'Âme

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Eber, The history of the Strasbourg Argentina in the history of Wingolfs connections, Darmstadt 1914, 863 ff
2. ↑ François Beilecke: French intellectuals and the Third Republic. The example of an intellectual association 1892–1939. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 2003, pp. 165–167.
3. ↑ Patrick Cabanel: Charles Wagner et laïcité. In: André Encrevé (ed.): Actes du Colloque Protestantisme et Libéralisme à la Fin du XIXe Siècle: Charles Wagner et le Libéralisme Théologique (= Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Français, Volume 154). Librairie Droz, 2008, pp. 421-434.
4. ^ André Gounelle : 1903: Trois présentations françaises du protestantisme libéral. Bertand, Réville, Wagner. In: ThéoRèmes 8 (2016) ( online edition ).