Christian community shepherd and flock
The Christian community shepherd and flock (abbreviation: HH ) is a religious denomination that was formed at the end of the 19th century in what is now Saxony .
During the First World War from 1916 and in the period of National Socialism from September 1933, the religious community was banned.
history
The community was founded by the weaver August Hermann Hain . On November 23, 1894 he had a "revival as the love of the father" and since then has been collecting his "flock" as a "shepherd". The public first took notice of the group around 1912 when “Father Hain” appeared in inns in Glauchau and Meerane . Hain was convicted of religious offenses in 1913, and during the First World War his association was banned in various areas of the army corps.
Despite various handicaps, Hain's following grew steadily and participated successfully in the local elections in Plauen in 1924, 1926 and 1929 . The herd was banned in 1933 due to the presidential decree for the protection of the people and the state . After the end of the war, Hain's son Karl Hermann Hain rebuilt the community. In 1948, 3,000 to 4,000 participants gathered in Meerane to celebrate the founder's centenary. On April 3, 1951, the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR recognized the Christian shepherd and herd community as a religious community. In 1964 the total number of herd members was about 5,000 to 6,000 members.
Teaching
The community has "made it its task to lead people on the right path to God through the Lutheran Bible without ceremonies". This path is to be realized in the life of the community as in the life of the individual. There is no registered membership of the community members. The affiliation results from attending the local Bible study regularly. "Participation in all amusements and worldly beings such as dance, cinema, theater, fashion, the consumption of tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption is rejected." "Sexual intercourse should only be practiced within the marriage and also only there for the purpose of having children".
According to the renunciation of ceremonies, baptism is understood as "hearing the word of God" with reference to Eph 5.26 LUT , the community does not know a water baptism. The baptismal command of Jesus ( Mt 28,19 LUT ) is understood as an invitation to continue telling everything that has been heard. The Lord's Supper does not exist because Jesus' words in the Lord's Supper accounts are not understood to be an ordination. Prayer is not practiced in community meetings, but “only cultivated in the little room” ( Mt 6,6 LUT ), because “prayer only brings the individual in contact with God”.
The teaching of the Christian community of shepherds and flocks refers to the Bible as holy scripture, but contrary to Christian teaching , one assumes a repeated incarnation of God in the course of world history. Based on the biblical story of creation, the course of the world is divided into six periods of 2000 years each, which correspond to the individual days of creation. In each period God incarnates anew to purify people. As previous incarnations Adam , Melchizedek , Mose , Elijah , Jesus Christ and ultimately "Father Hain" ( August Hermann Hain ), the founder of the group, are given. Since the last incarnation has now taken place through Hain, God's work is completed, the divine day of rest follows on which the world will reach its destination and be a “flock under one shepherd”.
The incarnations are understood as “God's becoming flesh”, whereby the respective body only serves as a dwelling and tool for one's own soul. This understanding is transferred to all people, whereby the deceased are not worthy of any particular cult . There is therefore no funeral or funeral after the death of a member of the community; the body is handed over to an undertaker .
In some areas, such as the doctrine of souls, origins and human development, Hain's statements agree with those of Jakob Lorber , even if Hain did not know Lorber's writings.
Spread
The following is currently estimated at around 1500 members, mainly in the twelve “districts” of Auerbach / Vogtl. , Chemnitz , Crottendorf , Dresden , Gera , Jena , Leipzig , Meerane , Plauen , Rehau , Zwickau and Horn / Lower Saxony live.
Web links
- Winfried Müller: Christian community shepherd and flock (HH). In: Religio.de. September 11, 2008 .
literature
- Dirk Schuster: The Christian community shepherd and flock in Leipzig 1933-1945. The Leipzig state police station and how to deal with a prohibited "sect" ; in: Dirk Schuster, Martin Bamert (Hrsg.): Religious Deviance in Leipzig. Monists, Völkisch, Freemasons and Social Debates - The Work of Religious Deviant Groups in Leipzig in the 20th Century ; Stuttgart: ibidem, 2012; ISBN 978-3-8382-0322-5 ; Pp. 139-155
- Kurt Hutten: seer - brooder - enthusiast ; Stuttgart: Quell, 1989 14 ; ISBN 3-7918-2130-X ; Pp. 271-276
- Joachim Jentzsch: The Christian community shepherd and flock . Leipzig 1956 (dissertation)
- Helmut Obst: Apostles and prophets of the modern age. Founder of Christian religious communities in the 19th and 20th centuries ; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000; ISBN 3-525-55438-9 ; Pp. 325-347
- Georg Schmid among others: churches, sects, religions. Religious communities, ideological groups and psycho-organizations in the German-speaking area ; Zurich: Theologischer Verlag Zurich, 2003, 7th edition; ISBN 3-290-17215-5
- Horst Reller (Hrsg.): Handbook of Religious Communities: Free Churches, Special Communities, Sects, Weltanschauungsgemeinschaften, New Religions. Edited for VELKD working group Religious Communities on behalf of the Lutheran Church Office. Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, Gütersloh 1978, 2nd edition 1979, ISBN 3-579-03585-1 , p. 345 ff.