Daniel Schleyermacher

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Daniel Schleyermacher , also Schleyermacherus or Schleiermacher (* 1697 in Gemünden , Upper Hesse; † 1765 or shortly thereafter), was pastor in Elberfeld and Ronsdorf and one of the founders of the Zionite sect in Ronsdorf.

Life

Daniel Schleyermacher's father Heinrich, * 1667, was probably a farmer , other sources name him as a council alderman, town clerk and senior member of the community of Gemünden . Daniel studied theology in Hamburg , in Bremen with Friedrich Adolf Lampe and in Franeker . In 1721 he became court preacher to Prince Victor Amadeus Adolf zu Schaumburg in Nassau , but fell out of favor there and was dismissed after two years of activity. Then he was elected pastor in Oberkassel . Thanks to his reputation as a pulpit speaker , he was elected to the largest and most respected Reformed community at the time in Elberfeld in the Duchy of Berg . At that time, spiritual interests were almost exclusively about church, sermons and domestic worship. The population of this denomination was largely excluded from politics, since the Catholic state did not employ Protestant officials. The scholarly class was represented only by preachers and teachers from the Latin school. The bourgeoisie essentially represented two different directions in religious terms:

In Elberfeld, the Philadelphian direction had been promoted by revival preachers like Ernst Christoph Hochmann von Hochenau , and was already moving in enthusiastic and eccentric paths when Schleyermacher took up his office. His reputation rose because he initially seemed to have distanced himself from the crush. He was elected by the Bergische Synod as its assessor and soon afterwards as President (1732 and 1733). However, he had already been accepted into a Philadelphian secret society on September 11, 1732 under the biblical name Jedidja ( the Lord's Beloved , see 2 Sam 12.25  EU ) after taking an oath to keep the secret. Schleyermacher took this step after a long period of hesitation, after a preacher who was also a member of the covenant confronted him with biblical-prophetic threats during an illness. The enthusiastic apocalyptic alliance was led by Elias Eller together with the prophet Anna Catharina vom Büchel . Eller had strong spiritual authority among his like-minded people through his imaginative interpretations of the Bible in edifying hours. His later second wife, von Büchel, had raptures and visionary objections , which were regarded as divine revelations and were kept in writing in the so-called Ronsdorfer Hirtentasche (see Jalkut ). So she prophesied that she and Elias Eller would build up the new Zion and that a son would be born to them who would rule the world as the new Messiah (see also Rev 12,5  EU ).

The sect soon came respected merchants and gifted preacher to a degree at that Eller with his community the city Elberfeld, where always occurred with caution and restraint had to Exodus -like left to their own city on his native farms in Ronsdorf to establish. Both the Palatinate government and Frederick the Great were won over to the plan. Schleyermacher became pastor of the community in 1741 after he had been dismissed in Elberfeld by his church superiors with honorable testimonials. With an increasing number of adherents in 1745 the town received the town charter . Eller became mayor with judicial powers, both secular and spiritual. With his special interpretation of the Reformed election doctrine ( predestination ), Eller and his radical pietist sect clearly left the boundaries of Reformed doctrine. The Zionites were also known under the names Ellersche Rotte , Philadelphische Sozietät or Ronsdorf sect .

In the following years, Schleyermacher, a larger group doubting the authenticity of the revelations, split off from the community, and Schleyermacher was subsequently excluded from the community. In 1745 Pastor Peter Wülffing from Solingen, a supporter of Eller, was elected as preacher. After Eller's death in 1750, his stepson Bolckhaus became the sole head of the sect, and Eller's daughter Sarah, who had previously appeared as a prophet, tried to strengthen Bolckhaus and Wülffing in her divine debates in the fight against Schleyermacher and the doubters. An investigation into blasphemy , witchcraft and crimes of majesty was ordered through defamation and bribery, during which on April 24, 1750 a command of 160 soldiers was sent to Elberfeld to arrest Schleyermacher. However, he was able to flee to his sister who was married in Arnhem / Holland .

In the same year Schleyermacher wrote his apology in which he concealed his intimate relationship with the married couple Anna and Elias Eller. At the end he remarked:

“I live as a poor refugee in the world, expelled from my office, I have had to leave my house and yard, my belongings have been stolen from my enemies, and strangers fill themselves with my fortune, I have to feed in my old days flee my country and part with tears from friends and relatives, from wife and children; I am full of pain and can hardly find a place to stay; my enemies revile me every day, they nets my walk and press my soul down. "

In deep remorse for his aberrations, Schleyermacher is said to have repented at church . A large part of the Ronsdorf congregation stayed with their former pastor in exile and even wanted to call him back to their preacher in 1765. After that, his trail is lost; it is believed that he died soon afterwards.

progeny

Schleyermacher's son Gottlieb was mentioned as a theology student in the registers of Duisburg University in 1741 , later he came to Breslau as a Reformed field preacher , where his son Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher was born in 1768 . The middle name should remind of his grandfather.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Nowak: Schleiermacher: Life, Work and Effect. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002, ISBN 3525554486 , page 16 ( digitized version )
  2. ↑ a small Lutheran congregation had only recently come into being through a group of immigrants
personal data
SURNAME Schleyermacher, Daniel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schleyermacherus, Daniel; Schleiermacher, Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pastor in Elberfeld and Ronsdorf, as well as co-founder of the Zionite sect in Ronsdorf
DATE OF BIRTH 1697
PLACE OF BIRTH Gemünden , Upper Hesse
DATE OF DEATH around 1765