Ernst Modersohn

Ernst Modersohn, as pastor in 1939

Ernst Modersohn (born February 14, 1870 in Soest , † February 2, 1948 in Bad Blankenburg ) was a German Protestant pastor , evangelist and writer .

Life

Ernst Modersohn was the son of Wilhelm Modersohn (1832–1918), who worked as a master builder in Soest and from 1874 in Münster and most recently in Bad Blankenburg (Thuringia). His mother was the baker's daughter Luise Modersohn, b. Heidebrink (1833-1905). Modersohn originally wanted to become an actor and painter. He was the younger brother of the landscape painter Otto Modersohn (1865–1943) and thus brother-in-law of the painter Paula Modersohn-Becker . He wrote novels and poems , but then decided to study Protestant theology in Tübingen , Berlin , Halle and Bonn . During his vicariate in Siegerland he experienced a conversion . From 1894 to 1899 he was pastor in Weidenau and from 1900 in Mülheim an der Ruhr . In the same year he took over the publication of the weekly Sabbathklänge , the organ of the Rhenish old pietism .

In 1905/06 there was a revival in Mülheim , which at the same time became one of the starting points for the German Pentecostal movement . Modersohn received support there from Pastor Martin Girkon and Evangelist Jakob Vetter , who had just returned from the revival in Wales and reported about it. Until about 1910 Modersohn was close to the Pentecostal movement and represented a Christianity with strongly individualistic features.

In 1906 he was called by the German Evangelical Alliance to Bad Blankenburg, where he took over the management of the Alliance House and the Thuringian Association and founded the weekly Heilig dem Herr . From 1910 he was released for evangelism . He was soon the most popular evangelist in Germany and was called "the German Moody ". In 1913 Modersohn was involved in the establishment of the “Pastors' Prayer Association”.

In the church struggle between German Christians and the Confessing Church , Modersohn tried to be neutral. Nevertheless, during the Second World War he was banned from traveling, speaking and writing for almost five years.

After the end of the war, his writings (both published by Harfe-Verlag, Bad Blankenburg) Überwunden (1934) and From a Hidden World (1939) were placed on the list of literature to be segregated in the Soviet occupation zone .

Modersohn was a board member of the Gnadau Association , the Youth Association for Decisive Christianity and the Community Diakonie Association, co-founder of the Parish Prayer Association and founder of the publishing house and the printing company "Harfe". Through his work in Adolf Stoecker's Christian magazine Das Volk and especially through his own magazines Sabbathklänge and Heilig dem Herrn (circulation up to approx. 100,000 copies) as well as 260 books and notebooks with a total circulation of over 4 million (as of 1990) he became a well-known writer.

Works

Title with bibliographical information

• From misfortune to happiness. Reflections on the history of Naeman 2 Kings 5 (= Biblical Images IV). Bad Blankenburg 1923. Digitized
• The prophet Elijah . Biblical considerations , published by the Evangelical-Church Gnadauer Gemeinschaftwerk, 3rd, modified edition, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1960, DNB 453415490 .
• People who have blessed me. R. Brockhaus, Wuppertal 1964.
• Under the spell of the devil. Francke Buchhandlung publishing house , Marburg an der Lahn 1975, ISBN 3-920345-54-1 .
• He leads me on the right street. (Autobiography.) R. Brockhaus Verlag , Wuppertal 1984 (abridged paperback edition), ISBN 3-417-20194-2 .
• Christianity in our time. Trachsel, Frutigen 1981, ISBN 3-7271-0069-9 .
• From my medicine cabinet. Hänssler Verlag , Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-7751-0181-0 .
• How do I get free? (Revised and expanded edition.) R. Brockhaus, Wuppertal 1986, ISBN 3-417-20392-9 .
• Get full of spirit. Biblical reflections on Ephesians 4 and 5 . O. Fleig, Freiburg i. Br. 1921; most recently Herold, Gerth Medien , Aßlar 1986, 5th edition 2004, ISBN 3-88936-051-3
• Equipped with power. (Adapted from Traugott Thoma.) Verlag der Liebenzeller Mission , Bad Liebenzell 1989, ISBN 3-88002-374-3 (previously published under the title The spiritual armor of the children of God ).
• The women of the New Testament (= The women of the Bible . Volume 2). Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-7751-0670-7 .
• A blessed life. Reflections on the story of the prophet Elisha. (Revised.) Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-374-00589-6 .
• With Gerda Zottmaier: In total commitment. Ernst Modersohn's work in the past and present. VLM, Bad Liebenzell 1990, ISBN 3-88002-420-0 .

Other titles (excerpt)

Title page of the book "Walking Love"

• The victory life of God's children and its obstacles. Biblical reflections
• The best gift (Christmas stories).
• The Women of the Old Testament (Part 1 of The Women of the Bible ).
• A life of faith.
• In the life school.
• Should I be baptized again?
• Daily silence 1.
• Daily silence 2.
• What I saw and what I thought: pictures and stories . 1920.
• What we need (Ephesians 1–2).
• Paul , an apostle of Jesus Christ.
• Fruit for God ( John 15).
• By faith ( Hebrews 11).

Web links

• Literature by and about Ernst Modersohn in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Ernst Modersohn at Open Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Otto Modersohn, German biography [1]
2. ↑ J. Ohlemacher: Modersohn, Ernst (1870-1948) . In: Helmut Burkhardt and Uwe Swarat (ed.): Evangelical Lexicon for Theology and Congregation . tape 2 . R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal 1993, ISBN 3-417-24642-3 , p. 1361 .
3. ^ Holger Böckel: Modersohn, Ernst . In: Hans Dieter Betz u. a. (Ed.): Religion in the past and present . Concise dictionary for theology and religious studies. 4th edition. tape 5 , no. 1 . UTB, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8252-8401-5 , p. 1389 .
4. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1948-nslit-m.html
5. ↑ As with many of Modersohn's smaller writings, no year of publication is given in the booklet.