Ernst Friedrich Ball

Ernst Friedrich Ball (born October 20, 1799 in Elberfeld , † December 17, 1885 in Koblenz ) was a German Protestant theologian.

His father, the leather merchant Johannes Ball (1764–1848), who was involved in founding the Elberfeld Mission Association in 1799 , shaped Ball at an early stage in the spirit of the revival movement . From 1812 he attended the Alte Gymnasium in Bremen , where he became friends with Friedrich Ludwig Mallet . While studying Protestant theology at the University of Tübingen , he joined Ludwig Hofacker . After the first exam he became a candidate in Repelen near Moers. In 1823 he was appointed to the parish in neighboring Hoerstgen . Pastor in Radevormwald since 1838 , he also worked part-time as superintendent of the Lennep church district . In 1857 he became pastor in Bad Kreuznach . From 1862 until his retirement in 1873 he was consistorial councilor in the consistory of the Prussian church province of Rhineland in Koblenz.

In addition to his community work, Ball was involved in a variety of journalistic activities. From 1828 until his death he was editor of the Barmer Missionsblatt , the organ of the Rhenish Mission Society that emerged from the union of the Elberfelder, Barmer and Kölner Missionsverein . In 1846 he and his Radevormwald colleague Gottlieb Daniel Müller (1811–1890) founded the monthly Voices from and to the Warring Church , which existed until 1849 and was devoted to the fight against theological rationalism . With August Ebrard and Georg Treviranus he founded the Reformed Church Newspaper in 1851 .

Fonts (selection)

• Synodal sermon on 2. Petri 1. 1. 2 . Hassel, Elberfeld 1829 ( digitized version )
• Sayings for every day of the year. Schober, Barmen 1832.
• Christ the precious cornerstone: a guest sermon on 1 Peter 2: 7a . J. Müller, Amsterdam 1833 ( digitized ).
• Tekel, that is: you were weighed in a scale and found too easy: sermon, delivered on the feast of the dead. Steinhaus, Barmen 1842 (numerous editions, translations into English and Dutch).
• Life and death of the blessed Johannes Ball, former prison preacher in Düsseldorf. Steinhaus, Barmen 1845 ( digitized version ).
• Open letter to the signatories of the Berlin Declaration of August 15, 1845 . Sartorius, Barmen 1845 ( digitized by Ernst Friedrich Ball ).
• The consensus of Lutheran and Reformed teaching in the Evangelical Church in Germany. Two designs. Wiegandt, Berlin 1854 (with Julius Müller ).

literature

• Robert Cleff: Ernst Friedrich Ball. A picture of life from Pietism in the Lower Rhine region to commemorate his 100th birthday. Neukirchen 1900.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Ball, Ernst Friedrich. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 356-356.
• Wolfgang Motte: Ernst Friedrich Ball (1799-1883). In: Journal of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein 101 (2005), pp. 109–152.

Web links

• Works by and about Ernst Friedrich Ball  in the German Digital Library