Erich Schick

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erich Schick (born April 23, 1897 in Ruppertshofen ; † January 20, 1966 in Basel ) was a pastor , Protestant theologian and professor of systematics , ethics , mission history and psychology in Basel.

Life

Schick was the first of three children of Pastor Friedrich Schick and his wife Maria Schick. Just one year after his birth, his parents took over the pastorate in Unterböhringen , where Schick spent most of his childhood. His father Schick taught at an early age, so that he was accepted into the third grade of elementary school at the age of six. At the same time, the father began to introduce his son to the Latin language . When Schick was eight years old, his father fell ill and died after months of severe suffering. This stroke of fate and the death of his playmate Katharina Hettich, who died at the age of four, were decisive for destiny later in life and theology. He then dedicated a chapter to Hettich in his work Messenger of the Invisible . Through the loss of his father, the relationship with his mother became very deep and intimate and he took on a lot of responsibility for his smaller siblings from a young age. After the death of his father, the mother moved with her three children and her old father in 1907 to Korntal near Stuttgart , where Schick prepared at the Latin school for the Württemberg state examination, which he successfully passed in 1911. The pietistic environment of the Korntal Brethren also had an influence on him. His profound personality and his reverence for the Bible were enriched and further promoted by the standards of absolute truthfulness, punctuality, reliability, loyalty and diligence applicable there. At the age of 14 he began his humanistic training in the Württemberg monastery schools in Maulbronn and Blaubeuren .

First World War

The First World War broke out during the Blaubeurer period . After graduating from high school in the spring of 1915, Schick came to the French theater of war as an artilleryman . The experience of the war was very decisive for Schick, and he partially processed it in his work Holy Service . Schick was buried in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, causing damage to his nervous system that never fully healed until the end of his life. The struggles of youth were combined with a deep suffering from the reality of war. In those years Søren Kierkegaard's writings became - as he himself wrote - "like a refreshment drink to the febrile, like a strong fragrance for the unconscious, like a distant light for the lonely wanderer." The two decisive encounters - with death and Kierkegaard - shaped, together with a knowledge based on the Holy Scriptures, his understanding of pastoral care and suffering and determined his further development in thought and theology.

Study of theology

After the end of the war in the winter of 1919, Schick joined the Evangelical Monastery in Tübingen and began studying theology . However, it soon became apparent that he could not stand the theoretical study in the lecture halls due to a headache brought with him from the war. That is why the Wuerttemberg Higher Church Council gave him the practical service as vicar and parish administrator in remote communities after just one year of study . He did self-taught theological studies and prepared himself for the exam. He immersed himself in the Württemberg Church Fathers. The thoughts of the Pietist Friedrich Christoph Oetinger as well as the Roman Catholic theologian Franz von Baader and the mystic Jakob Böhme were particularly formative for him . After another short stay in Tübingen , he passed the first theological exam in 1922. In 1925 the Oberkirchenrat appointed him to Blaubeuren as a repetitee for two years . He passed his second service exam. In the autumn of 1927, Schick was able to go on a study trip to Copenhagen and from there to Madrid , where he took over the vacant pastor's position in the German and Swiss congregations for three months.

Pastor, lecturer

When Schick returned to Württemberg, he sought out the most remote parish that was available at the time, as he wanted seclusion for a while. So he came to Bickelsberg in the Oberamt Sulz on July 15, 1928 . Three years later he was called from there as a theological teacher at the Basel Mission Seminar in Switzerland . At that time he got to know his future partner Dora Schultze, the daughter of the Riehen deaconess pastor , whom he married in 1932.

Literature and pastoral care
After the National Socialist seizure of power in January 1933, Schick began writing in order to come to terms with his innermost existential suffering. In connection with his literature, he grew more and more extensive correspondence and pastoral care, which brought him into contact with people, circles and Christian works of the most varied of character, inside and outside the church. To the criticism of the young Karl Barth on the pietism responded Schick with Scripture 's message of pietism in the theological struggles of the present , for which he was highly personal and theological hostility. With reference to this literature and the resulting pastoral service, the theological faculty of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen awarded him the theological doctorate in January 1953 .

In response to political hardship, however, there was now increasing concern about theological and church developments. In line with general developments, the Basel Mission and other Christian works of the German Christianity Society were incorporated into the regional church . As a result, the missionary seminary was canceled in favor of the academic training of missionaries. With that, Schick's teaching assignment came to an end. This was followed by several years of intensive lecturing activities in Germany and Switzerland, which, however, became more and more of a health burden.

Lecturer at the St. Chrischona Theological Seminary
In the spring of 1959, Schick retired from the service of the Basel Mission. At the same time he was appointed by the Theological Seminary of St. Chrischona as a lecturer in systematic theology and psychology, where he remained active until shortly before his death. In the last year of his life his strength decreased. Because of this, he limited his teaching activity to two lessons a week. After the last four weeks of teaching at the Hohe Mark psychiatric institution in Oberursel, his strength decreased to such an extent that he fell seriously ill shortly before Christmas 1965 and died on January 20 the following year.

Fonts (selection)

Title page of Erich Schick's book "The Message of the Angels in the New Testament" (1940)
  • Pastoral care of one's own soul: a chapter in evangelical ethics. Furche, Berlin 1934.
  • The Christian as Pastor: Paths to Spiritual Human Knowledge. Furche, Berlin 1934.
  • The ring of spiritual life. Furche, Berlin 1934.
  • Holy service: a book of evangelical preaching and pastoral care. Furche, Berlin 1935.
  • The Christian in Suffering: A Book of Evangelical Consolation. Furche, Berlin 1937.
  • Encounters with the model: of life crises and turning points. Furche, Berlin 1938.
  • The message of Pietism in the theological struggles of the present. Majer, Basel 1938.
  • The sevenfold intercession. Majer, Basel 1939.
  • Holy silence. Evangelischer Missionsverlag, Basel 1939.
  • The angels' message in the New Testament. Evangelischer Missionsverlag, Stuttgart 1940.
  • Confession and Pastoral Care. Majer, Basel 1943.
  • Psychology and the Holy Spirit. Majer, Basel 1943.
  • From the blessing. Mission bookshop, Basel 1943.
  • Bridges of help in the sick and death room. Majer, Basel 1945.
  • Patience and Struggle: Biblical Reflections. Majer, Basel 1946.
  • From the healing presence of Jesus. Schriftenmissions-Verlag, Gladbeck 1952.
  • The helping person in the changing image of man in the present. Burckhardthaus, Gelnhausen 1953.
  • Existentialism and Christian Existence. Evangelischer Missionsverlag, Stuttgart 1954.
  • Spiritual guidance. Furche, Berlin 1957.
  • Morning shine of eternity. Meditations on Knorr's “Morning Song”. 1958
  • with Klaus Haag: Christian Friedrich Spittler : God's handlers. Brunnen-Verlag, Giessen, Basel 1982, ISBN 3-7655-3146-4
  • God's time, our time, annual reading book , Ed. Erich Schick, Verlag Neue Stadt, Oberpframmern near Munich, 4th edition, 2004. ISBN 978-3-87996-608-0

literature

In 1962 the spring edition of the VBG magazine Studium undzeugnis was dedicated to Erich Schick on his 65th birthday . Eight authors wrote about his life and theology in it. Hans Bürki is the editor of this publication.

  • Hans Bürki : Study and Certificate No. 1 - Spring 1962 - 17th year. Grosshöchstetten 1962.
  • Hans Staub : Pastor D. Erich Schick. Riehen 1966.
  • Nahamm Kim : Creative suffering: the theological assessment of suffering in the pastoral care of Erich Schick. Heidelberg 2003

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erich Schick: Messenger of the Invisible. Hamburg 1956, p. 20 f.
  2. ↑ Nahamm Kim: Creative Suffering. The theological assessment of suffering in pastoral care by Erich Schick. Heidelberg 2003, p. 20.
  3. ↑ Friederich Schick: Notes about Erich Schick unpublished, 3.
  4. ↑ Hans Staub: Pastor D. Erich Schick. Riehen 1966, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Nahamm Kim: Creative Suffering. The theological assessment of suffering in pastoral care by Erich Schick Heidelberg 2003, p. 23.
  6. ↑ Erich Schick: Holy Service. A book of evangelical word proclamation and pastoral care. Hamburg 1952, p. 45.
  7. ↑ Nahamm Kim: Creative Suffering. The theological assessment of suffering in pastoral care by Erich Schick. Heidelberg 2003, p. 34 ff.
  8. ↑ Erich Schick: The helping person and the image of man in the present Giessen 1979, p. 7.
  9. ↑ Hans Staub: Pastor D. Erich Schick. Riehen 1966, p. 4.
  10. ↑ Hans Staub: Pastor D. Erich Schick. Riehen 1966, pp. 4-5.
  11. ↑ Hans Staub: Pastor D. Erich Schick. Riehen 1966, p. 5.
  12. ↑ Erich Schick: Brief CV. In: Arno Pagel : They led to Christ. Verlag der Francke-Buchhandlung, Marburg (Lahn) 1978, p. 163 ( info2.sermon-online.com PDF) accessed on March 26, 2019.
  13. ↑ Hans Staub: Pastor D. Erich Schick. Riehen 1966, pp. 5-7.
  14. ↑ Erich Schick: Brief CV. In: Arno Pagel : They led to Christ. Verlag der Francke-Buchhandlung, Marburg (Lahn) 1978, p. 161 ( info2.sermon-online.com PDF) accessed on March 15, 2019.
  15. ↑ Hans Staub: Pastor D. Erich Schick. Riehen 1966, pp. 7-10.
personal data
SURNAME Schick, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian and lecturer at the seminar for ethics, dogmatics, mission history, psychology
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Ruppertshofen (Ostalbkreis)
DATE OF DEATH 20th January 1966
Place of death Basel