Frank Buchman

Frank Buchman (born June 4, 1878 in Pennsburg , Pennsylvania , United States , † August 7, 1961 in Freudenstadt ( Black Forest )) was an American evangelical preacher and spiritual leader of the Oxford Group .

Life

Buchman was born the son of a businessman. Buchman's ancestors came from Switzerland on both his mother's and father's side. He was the YMCA secretary at Pennsylvania State College, now Pennsylvania State University , from 1905 to 1915 . From 1921 he preached world change through personality change in Oxford and gathered his first followers there. In 1930 the former Kaiser Wilhelm II is said to have described him as a "strange American saint" in his exile in Doorn. From 1938 he started a real campaign for " moral armament ". He emphasized personal religious experience, which should be lived especially in households and small groups.

effect

Buchman's anti-communist movement has been severely criticized on several occasions by representatives of the established churches. On the other hand, Buchman was accused of opaque funding, sexual assault on male students and Buchman's personal admiration for Adolf Hitler . He was quoted in the New York World Telegram in 1936 with the statement: “I thank heaven for a man like Adolf Hitler, who built a front line defense against the anti-Christ of Communism” - “I thank heaven for a man like Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler, who built a line of defense against the antichrist of communism. "

Honors

4th June 1950: Knight of the Legion of Honor
1952: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
April 17, 1956: The Frank-Buchmann-Weg in Freudenstadt is named after him
May 19, 1990: Unveiling of a memorial stone for Buchmann on Frank-Buchmann-Weg in Freudenstadt

literature

Peter Howard: Frank Buchman's secret . 3rd edition Stuttgart: DVA, 1962.
Garth Lean: The Forgotten Factor: From the life and work of Frank Buchman . Brendow, Moers 1991, ISBN 3-87067-443-1 (English: Frank Buchman: a life . Constable, London 1985.).
Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz : Buchman, Frank Nathan Daniel. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 790-792. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
Frank ND Buchman , In: International Biographical Archive. 41/1961, October 2, 1961, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Web links

Literature by and about Frank Buchman in the catalog of the German National Library
Newspaper article about Frank Buchman in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
The full online biography of Frank Buchman (in English) , posted by the Initiative of Change , a successor to the Oxford Group.
The Religious Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps : Chapter 2: "Frank Buchman". Critical study of Buchman, the Oxford Group, and Alcoholics Anonymous. Orange papers; accessed on November 20, 2019.
Reinhold Niebuhr: Christianity and Power Politics . Quoted in: The Religious Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps , Chapter 29: "Hitler and Buchman". Orange papers; accessed on December 16, 2014.
Society / Moral Armament: The Caux Existence . In: Der Spiegel. 42/1949, October 13, 1954, pp. 24-31. Frank Buchmann is shown on the front page. The leading article deals with the MRA (Moral Armament) Hotel in Caux VD .
Society / Moral Armament: The Caux Existence . In: Der Spiegel . 9/1949, February 26, 1949, pp. 6-7.

Individual evidence

↑ Garth Lean: The Forgotten Factor. From the life and work of Frank Buchman. Brendow, Moers 1991, p. 14 f.
^ Johanna Rahtgens (wife of Karl Ernst Rahtgens ): Farewell and new beginning. My life. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2007, p. 23.
↑ Frank Buchman renamed the Oxford group "Moral Armament" during a walk in Freudenstadt in 1938. There is also a Frank-Buchman-Weg in Freudenstadt. From: Johanna Rahtgens: Farewell and a new beginning. My life. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2007, p. 108.
^ William AH Birnie: Fascist World Ruled by God, Buchman Idea. Interview with Frank Buchman in: New York World-Telegram. August 26, 1936.
^ Douglas Johnston, Cynthia Sampson, "Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft," Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-510280-0 , p. 52.

personal data
SURNAME	Buchman, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Buchman, Frank Nathan Daniel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American theologian and spiritual leader of the Oxford Group
DATE OF BIRTH	June 4, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH	Pennsburg , Pennsylvania , United States
DATE OF DEATH	August 7, 1961
Place of death	Freudenstadt ( Black Forest )

[1] Garth Lean: The Forgotten Factor. From the life and work of Frank Buchman. Brendow, Moers 1991, p. 14 f.

[2] Johanna Rahtgens (wife of Karl Ernst Rahtgens ): Farewell and new beginning. My life. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2007, p. 23.

[3] Frank Buchman renamed the Oxford group "Moral Armament" during a walk in Freudenstadt in 1938. There is also a Frank-Buchman-Weg in Freudenstadt. From: Johanna Rahtgens: Farewell and a new beginning. My life. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2007, p. 108.

[4] William AH Birnie: Fascist World Ruled by God, Buchman Idea. Interview with Frank Buchman in: New York World-Telegram. August 26, 1936.

[5] Douglas Johnston, Cynthia Sampson, "Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft," Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-510280-0 , p. 52.