Christian Krafft

This article deals with the theologian Christian Krafft. For the painter see Christian Friedrich Krafft .

Christian Krafft (contemporary silhouette)

Johann Christian Gottlob Ludwig Krafft (born December 12, 1784 in Duisburg , † May 15, 1845 in Erlangen ) was a German theologian , representative of federal theology , forerunner of the Erlangen school .

origin

Johann Christian Gottlob Ludwig Krafft theologically came from the Lower Rhine revival movement . His parents' house was shaped by Gerhard Tersteegen's piety. The father Elias Christoph Krafft (1749–1798) worked as a preacher in Duisburg . The grandfather Johann Wilhelm Krafft was theology professor in Marburg . The mother Johanna Ulricke Krafft (1752-1819) was a daughter of Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost , who had studied theology in Gießen , Leipzig and Halle , but then medicine and finally worked as a medicine professor and doctor in Duisburg.

Life

From 1793 Christian Krafft attended the academic grammar school in Duisburg (today Landfermann grammar school ), whose rector was initially Friedrich Arnold Hasenkamp , the stepbrother Johann Gerhard Hasenkamps and Johann Heinrich Hasenkamps, then later the rationalist Johann Gottfried Christian Nonne (1749-1821).

From 1803 Krafft studied theology at the reformed faculty of the University of Duisburg . Here taught among others Anton Wilhelm Möller (1762-1846), the mentally Herder related (but Bible-believing) Friedrich Adolf Krummenacher and the rationalist Heinrich Adolph Grimm . Krafft began studying at exactly the same time as the rumors about the closure of the university, whose number of students had reduced from (maximum) 142 in 1792 to eight in 1805.

Theologically, Krafft was under the influence of Samuel Collenbusch and Johann Gerhard Hasenkamp, with their affinities for rationalism . The Duisburg community itself was strongly influenced by Friedrich Adolf Lampe , a Coccejus student who worked here from 1706 to 1709, in the Reformed direction, then by the student Jakob Chevalier and above all by Gerhard Tersteegen from 1750 onwards.

In 1806 Krafft passed his first theological exam in Duisburg and began to work as a private tutor in Frankfurt am Main , where Krafft's uncle Justus Christoph Krafft († 1798) was still vividly remembered. From 1808 to 1817 Krafft found himself as a pastor in a small Reformed parish in Weeze near Kleve (numbering around 25 to 30 families) . One day after the second exam, Krafft's ordination took place on October 26th. Outwardly, Krafft developed a broad pastoral activity during this time. The friendship with David Spleiss also began here .

In 1817 Krafft then moved to the German Reformed congregation in Erlangen as a preacher . From 1818 he was an associate professor at the university there. Here now took place under the influence of Johann Arnold Kanne and the judge M. Ried (connected to the Allgäu revival). Krafft's theological turn to supranaturalism . In 1819 he became the founder of the Bible Society for students and professors of all faculties . Krafft himself dated his conversion (probably influenced by an awakened Catholic) to the year 1821. From 1823 the preacher found increasing popularity. Together with Karl Georg von Raumer , Krafft became the forerunner or founder of the so-called Erlanger School . In this way he influenced (more or less) the theologians Adolf von Harless , Wilhelm Löhe , Johann Christian Konrad von Hofmann and his later son-in-law Karl von Burger and others, but also non-theologians such as Georg Friedrich Puchta , Friedrich Julius Stahl and others. a .m., but also increasingly came into conflict with the rationalists , such as the dean of his faculty Wilhelm Friedrich Philipp von Ammon , son of Christoph von Ammon .

Christian Krafft's grave in the Reformed Cemetery in Erlangen

At the university, Krafft dealt with the fields of pastoral theology , dogmatics and New Testament exegesis , and from 1824 also mission history . In the same year a rescue house was donated. Contemporaries described Krafft as "rather dry" in his sermon (G. Pickel), but as a "truly apostolic character" in his appearance (J. Stahl). His merit lies in the connection of different traditions (Rhenish awakening , Allgäu awakening, Pietism , federal theology ), which paved the way for a stable Protestant regional church in Bavaria .

family

In 1811, Krafft married Katharina Wilhelmine Neumann (1785–1833), the daughter of the Consistorial President Peter Neumann. The following children are from the marriage:

• Elisabeth (born January 12, 1812) ⚭ 1832 Karl Heinrich August Burger (1805–1884)
• Sophie Viktoria Maria (born September 23, 1813) ⚭ Pastor Karl Goebel (1808–1881)
• Johann Wilhelm Julius (born August 31, 1815)
• Karl Georg Krafft (1818–1898)

literature

• F. Augé: Dr. med. Samuel Collenbusch and his circle of friends. 1905.
• H. Averdunk: History of the Duisburg high school. 1909.
• K. Bickerich: A memorial for Christian Krafft. In: To God's Glory. 2, 1917, pp. 14-16.
• K. Göbel: Johann Christian Gottlob Ludwig Krafft. In: RE. 3. Edition. 11, 1902, pp. 59f.
• M. Göbel: History of Christian life in the Rhenish-Westphalian Church. 3 volumes. 1852.
• Walter Göbell:  Krafft, Christian. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 643 ( digitized version ).
• Philipp Hänchen: Some of the life of Krafft. In: General church newspaper. 47, 1868, 193ff.
• H. Heppe: History of the Protestant Church. E Cleve-Mark and the province of Westphalia. no year
• Karl Krafft: In memory of Christian Krafft, pastor of the German Reformed community and professor of Reformed theology in Erlangen. 1895.
• EF Müller: Krafft and Ebrard. In: To God's Glory. 3, 1918, p. 23f.
• Wilhelm H. Neuser, Pietism and Awakening Movement. The Bavarian awakening theologian Christian Krafft (1784–1845). In: Pietism and Modern Times. Bielefeld 1976, pp. 126-141.
• Georg Pickel: Christian Krafft. Professor of Reformed theology and pastor in Erlangen. Nuremberg 1925.
• Jakob Wilhelm Renaud, Gottfried Thomasius: Speeches at the grave of Mr. Joh. Christ. Gottl. Ludw. Strength. Erlangen 1845.
• Gottfried Thomasius: The reawakening of Protestant life in the Lutheran Church of Bavaria (1800-1840). Erlangen 1867, p. 117ff.
• Klaus-Gunther Wesseling:  Christian Krafft. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 4, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-038-7 , Sp. 582-584.

Web links

• Literature by and about Christian Krafft in the catalog of the German National Library
• Johann Christian Gottlob Ludwig Krafft (1818–1845) on athmann.de