Eric W. Gritsch

Eric W. Gritsch, 2009

Eric W. Gritsch (originally Erich Walter Gritsch , born April 19, 1931 in Neuhaus am Klausenbach ; † December 29, 2012 in Baltimore ) was an American church historian and Luther researcher from Austria.

Life

Gritsch grew up in Bernstein in Burgenland in a Protestant parish family and studied Protestant theology in Vienna . In 1954 he came to Yale University on a Fulbright scholarship and did his doctorate here under Roland H. Bainton with a dissertation on Thomas Müntzer .

He initially taught at Wellesley College and was Professor of Church History at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg from 1961 until his retirement in 1994 . He was involved in Christian-Jewish dialogue, was a member of the advisory board of the Ecumenical Institute of the Lutheran World Federation in Strasbourg , of the US Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission (1971–1992) and of the Lajos Ordass Foundation.

Gritsch is one of the translators of Luther's works into English. For the American edition Luther's Works he edited, with the collaboration of his first wife Ruth (1931–2009), volumes 39 and 41.

In retirement, Gritsch lived in Baltimore . He was a member of the Lutheran Zion Church and director of the Zion Forum for German Culture .

Fonts (selection)

• Reformer Without a Church. The Life and Thought of Thomas Müntzer (1488? -1525). Fortress Press, Philadelphia 1967.
• (with Robert W. Jenson) Lutheranism. The Theological Movement and Its Confessional Writings. Fortress Press, Philadelphia 1976.
• Born Againism. Perspectives on a Movement. Fortress Press, Philadelphia 1982.
• Martin - God's Court Jester. Luther in Retrospect. Fortress Press, Philadelphia 1983.
• Thomas Müntzer. A Tragedy of Errors. Fortress Press, Minneapolis 1989.
• Fortress Introduction to Lutheranism. Fortress Press, Minneapolis 1994.

Hungarian translation: Lutheranizm. Magyarországi Luther Szövetség, Budapest 2000

• A History of Lutheranism. Fortress Press, Minneapolis 2002.
• A Handbook for Christian Life in the 21st Century. American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY 2005.
• The Wit of Martin Luther. Facet Book. Fortress Press, Minneapolis 2006.
• The Boy from the Burgenland. From Hitler Youth to Seminary Professor. Infinity Publishing Company, West Conshohocken, PA 2006.

Web links

• Literature by and about Eric W. Gritsch in the catalog of the German National Library
• Image and information about Eric Gritsch from the Zion Lutheran Church, Baltimore website, accessed February 14, 2009