Christof Gestrich

Christof Georg Gestrich (born February 26, 1940 in Ravensburg ; † December 3, 2018 in Berlin ) was a German Protestant systematic theologian .

Professional background

Christof Georg Gestrich studied Protestant theology in Tübingen and Zurich from 1959 to 1965 in preparation for the pastor's office. He passed the first church service examination in Tübingen in 1965, followed by his doctorate in 1967. theol. in church history at the University of Zurich , then the second church service examination in 1968 in Stuttgart .

In 1968 Gestrich was ordained in the Evangelical Church in Württemberg , and in 1974 he completed his habilitation in Protestant systematic theology at the University of Tübingen . 1974–1979 he worked as a village pastor in Täbingen (dean's office Balingen) and as a private lecturer in Tübingen. In 1979 he was appointed full professor for systematic theology at the Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin (in Berlin-Zehlendorf), where he was rector from 1984–1986 (1986–1988 Pro-Rector; 1990–1993 Ephorus ; 1992–1993 administrative administrator of the curator). 1982 to 1984 he was a member of the church leadership and the synod of the Ev. Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin West); 1997 to 2006 again a member of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg and head of its theological committee. In 1984 he was co-founder and editor of the Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift (BThZ), temporarily also its editor. In 1992 he founded the annual Werner Reihlen lectures in Berlin for the discussion of theology with other sciences with a special focus on ethics, which he often led.

In 1992, Gestrich turned down a call to the theological faculty of the University of Basel , in 1993 he accepted a call to the theological faculty of the Humboldt University in Berlin as a full university professor at the chair of systematic theology with a focus on hermeneutics , philosophy of religion and ethics . In 2007 he retired there. He continued to work as an honorary pastor in Berlin (since 1993) and chairman of the ethics committee of the Evangelical Hospital Queen Elisabeth Herzberge (KEH) in Berlin-Lichtenberg (since 2003). Long stays abroad with theological teaching assignments took him to the USA, Russia and Tanzania . In 2009 he took over a professorship at the University of Greifswald .

Act

Gestrich's fields of work included the hermeneutical and religious-philosophical examination of questions of faith, the dialogue with the Orthodox Church (especially Russia), medical ethics and the justification of ethics. As a pastor he also worked in preaching and pastoral care.

Works

• Modern thinking and the division of dialectical theology. On the question of natural theology. (BHTh 52) Tübingen 1977.
• The return of splendor in the world. The Christian doctrine of sin and its forgiveness in present responsibility. (1989), 2nd edition, Tübingen 1995.
• Christianity and representation. Study of the philosophy of religion on the understanding of salvation and the foundation of theology. Tübingen 2001.
• Peccatum - Studies on the Doctrine of Sin. Tübingen 2003.
• The soul of man and the hope of Christians. Evangelical eschatology before the renewal. Frankfurt / M. 2009.

Web links

• Literature by and about Christof Gestrich in the catalog of the German National Library
• Homepage at the HU Berlin
• Werner Reihlen Lectures ( Memento from October 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Commemorative page by Christof Gestrich. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .