Erich Roth (theologian)

Erich Roth

Erich Roth (born October 12, 1917 in Nadesch , † June 13, 1956 in Göttingen ) was an evangelical theologian from Transylvania .

Life

Erich Roth was the youngest child of the Nadescher preacher and rector Georg Roth (1873-1921) and Therese Jeckeli (1882-1959) from Hetzeldorf .

After primary school in Nadesch and grammar school in Sibiu , he studied theology at the universities of Leipzig and Heidelberg . In 1942 he was in Heidelberg with the work the church in Transylvania to Dr. theol. PhD. After working briefly as a minister in Barterode 1943 took place in Göttingen his doctorate Dr. phil. with the work The Breakthrough of the Reformation in Transylvania . At the age of only 26 he completed his habilitation with the second part of The Breakthrough of the Reformation in Transylvania .

Towards the end of the Second World War , Erich Roth returned to Transylvania and was a parish administrator in Kirchberg for a short time . In Germany again he accepted a position as pastor in Kerstlingerode , from where he went to the University of Göttingen as a lecturer in church history in 1945 . From 1951 to 1952 he was an exchange professor at the English universities of Durham and Cambridge . In 1953 he became an adjunct professor of theology at the University of Göttingen.

After a serious illness, Erich Roth died on June 13, 1956 in Göttingen, where he was also buried.

Services

Erich Roth has made great contributions to the history of the Church in Transylvania. In addition, he was chairman of the aid committee of the Transylvanian Saxons and founder of the magazine Licht der Heimat . In 1954, Erich Roth was envoy of the Evangelical Church in Germany at the second assembly of the World Council of Churches in Evanston near Chicago .

Publications

• The breakthrough of the Reformation in Transylvania, part 1 . In: Siebenbürgen Archive , No. 16 (1962).
• The breakthrough of the Reformation in Transylvania, part 2 . In: Siebenbürgen Archive , No. 4 (1964).
• Private confession and the power of keys in the theology of the Reformers . Bertelsmann Verlag, Gütersloh 1952.
• Sacrament according to Luther (= theological library; 3). Toepelmann Verlag, Berlin 1953.
• The history of the service of the Transylvanian Saxons . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1954 (also dissertation, University of Heidelberg 1942).
• Trust God alone. Prayers of Duke Albrecht of Prussia . Holzner Verlag, Würzburg 1956 (Göttingen working group; 148).

literature

• Farewell to Erich Roth . In: Light of Home. Monthly greeting of the Transylvanian Saxons Aid Committee , No. 32 (1956).
• Wilhelm Bruckner: Half a century for compatriots. From the history of the auxiliary committee of the Transylvanian Saxons and the evangelical Banat Swabians . Aid Committee of the Transylvanian Saxons, Munich (special edition).
• In memory of Erich Roth . In: Transylvanian-American Volksblatt of June 15, 1966.