Franz Eugen Schlachter

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Franz Eugen Schlachter

Franz Eugen Schlachter (born July 28, 1859 in Mulhouse ; † January 12, 1911 in Bern ) was a Swiss revival preacher , writer , community leader and the translator of the Schlachter Bible . Butcher's Protestantism was mainly shaped by the sanctification movement and awakened Pietism . But the “ radical Pietism ” and the revival movements of his time also had an influence on him, as did the Bible-faithful Protestant theology in later years.

Life

Franz Eugen Schlachter was born as the son of the businessman Joseph Franz Schlachter and his wife Elisabeth. Faesch was born in Mulhouse in Alsace as the youngest of three children. The Schlachter family lived in Altkirch in Alsace and later moved to Basel , Switzerland , where Franz Eugen Schlachter was granted Swiss citizenship in 1883, like his father in 1873 . Here he attended elementary school and later at times also the grammar school , which he left after confirmation - probably for financial reasons. Professionally, an industrial apprenticeship as a glazier is reported, presumably with parallel additional commercial training.

In October 1878 he began a theological training at the Evangelical Preacher School in Basel . It was a free preacher's school with a strong focus on ancient languages ​​under the direction of Wilhelm Arnold-Rappard, a brother-in-law of Carl Heinrich Rappard . Here he was influenced by the theology of Johann Tobias Beck , which formed the spiritual background of the preacher's school. Beck himself was in turn influenced by Johann Albrecht Bengel . During this period of study, Schlachter continued the study of ancient languages ( ancient Greek - Hebrew - Latin ) he had begun at the grammar school . At times he only read the New Testament in the basic ancient Greek text and also systematically went through the Old Testament in Hebrew. In March 1882 he completed his training with the exam .

In the same year, the Evangelical Society of the Canton of Bern appointed him as a preacher and employee of the well-known German evangelist Elias Schrenk , who was then active for the Evangelical Society. His area of ​​work was Bern, Schönbühl , Thun and the nearby Steffisburg . Schlachter worked as an evangelist and in the early days was one of Elias Schrenk's collaborators in the local revival . Anna von Wattenwyl was at his side in the early days as an employee in pastoral work. When Schlachter was baptized as an adult by Konrad Werndli, a preacher of the Free Evangelical Congregation Thun, in Thun in 1884 , there were irritations with the Evangelical Society, which were soon resolved. It was a decision of conscience made by Franz Eugen Schlachter, although he was actually not an Anabaptist in the classical sense.

Schlachter was strongly influenced by the beginning sanctification movement under Robert Pearsall Smith . As a confirmation, he had his first contact with the sanctification movement in Basel. During this time, at the beginning of April 1875, his conversion should also take place . In 1884, during a stay in England, he met the great evangelists Dwight Lyman Moody and Charles Haddon Spurgeon . Schlachter lived in England with the well-known end-time prophet Michael Paget Baxter, whose wife Elizabeth Baxter ran the pastoral care home for faith healing called Bethshan. In 1888 he founded the newspaper Brosamen von des Herr Tisch .

From 1890 to 1907 he worked as a preacher for the Evangelical Society in Biel . During this time his translation of the Bible, the miniature Bible , and various of his books and writings were created. It was probably the most fruitful period in terms of writing. He was also instrumental in building the Evangelical Chapel, a large, church-like assembly room in Biel in 1893. For this purpose Schlachter founded a chapel building association, of which he was president. From 1907 he took over the position of preacher at the Free Evangelical Congregation in Bern, initially on a provisional basis and then as a permanent member from 1908. Here he continued his studies of ancient oriental languages at the Protestant theological faculty of the University of Bern and took three semesters of Syriac and Arabic . He also read the Syriac-Aramaic Bible, the Peshitta , in the original language. Schlachter used the most modern means of that time for his written work or Bible translation, a mechanical typewriter with ink ribbons.

Franz-Eugen Schlachter was born in 1885 with Maria. Jakob, the daughter of the Bernese country doctor Johann Jakob from Dieterswil and his wife Magdalena geb. Bucher, married. He had two daughters, Maria and Elisabeth, married Baumann , and two sons, Theodor Wilhelm and Samuel. Schlachter was an all-rounder and at times worked regularly until 4 a.m. To compensate for this, he kept Monday as a day of rest on which he went on extensive hikes in the Swiss Jura . He was a contemporary of Arnold Bovet and Johanna Meyer around the great Bern revival.

Franz Eugen Schlachter died on January 12th, 1911 after a serious stomach illness and an operation in the Bernese hospital "Salem" and was buried on January 14th, 1911 in the Bernese Schosshaldenfriedhof .

Publications

Schlachter had a full life as a preacher and writer. From 1888 he published an edifying magazine called Brosamen von des Herr Tisch . It was a 16-page monthly magazine in A5 format, which was later changed to a folio format . This magazine was a mixture of gospel magazine, specialist magazine or lexical writing and news paper. The "crumbs" had an edition of 3000 pieces in the second year. Schlachter remained editor of the magazine until 1907. The Brosamen-Verlag was later re-established by Karl-Hermann Kauffmann in memory of Schlachter's work

Schlachter saw his task in literary terms but not only in the above. Magazine, but he published a whole series of edifying, doctrinal and biographical writings. The most important are mentioned here:

In 1964 the authorization and task of the sermon from 1900 were reissued. In the meantime, most of the publications mentioned have been reissued as brochures, e. B. Resli, the goods boy , the story of a contract child , Herod I , Master Pippin , The Gospel of the Reformation , Samuel and Saul , What Father Heiniger tells us , DL Moody , What does the Bible teach about baptism , etc.

Bible translation

Miniature bible

But Schlachter's main work is the translation of the entire Bible into German . In 1893 he had already translated and edited the book of Job - on which he had worked for a total of ten years - and provided it with a few footnotes. He then published other translated parts of the Bible as individual booklets, e.g. B. from 1901 the book of Isaiah . Schlachter used an older edition of the Zurich Bible of 1868 and a reprint from 1892, with a blank sheet shot through was, and carried on that blank sheet one's own translation. In 1902 the New Testament appeared first and in 1904 he mentioned in the crumbs that so far as individual issues Isaiah, Jeremia, Job, Psalter, Proverbs, Preacher, Daniel and the twelve minor prophets had appeared. The first book of Moses was also available in the meantime. To secure this project, Schlachter founded the so-called "Miniature Bible Society". In 1905 the entire miniature Bible was published. It was a popular yet accurate translation of the Bible with a concise language. The style was similar to the Luther Bible , but also showed parallels to the above. old Zurich Bible, which Schlachter, as well as Kautzsch's text bible, also used for the translation, and was characterized by a particularly appropriate choice of words. Expressions such as “disputing spirit of this world”, “capital”, “the handicraft put to death”, “someone in disguise” etc. were only found in this edition of the Bible. In Job 8: 11-19, but also in the New Testament, Schlachter translated individual passages or verses into poetry. In this Schlachter translation, too, one can find some remarkable translation variants.

The special thing about the edition was that the text was set continuously and was only interrupted for new sections of meaning. The typeface was small, but razor sharp and easy to read. The entire Bible was only 1–1.2 cm thick and had an elongated, handy format with only 728 pages, so that it fit in every jacket pocket. It was a very popular edition in the southern German-speaking areas such as Switzerland , Alsace and Swabia . Later there was a large print edition, the so-called House Bible (1907), and a hand Bible (1908), which also had a larger print image. The miniature Bible saw six editions in the first two years. Approximately 17,000 Bibles were sold in the first eight years. Schlachter also had a sales depot in the USA and Russia.

There are still a few copies of the large house Bible in Switzerland and the USA, whereas the hand Bible from 1908 is very rare.

The butcher's bible after butcher's death

The Miniature Bible Society was dissolved after Schlachter's death. Johannes Schergens (1855–1919) commissioned a revision of the Schlachter Bible. It was carried out by the Swiss pastors Karl Linder (1861–1931) and Ernst Kappeler (1865–1936) on behalf of Schergens and was published in 1913 first as a hand Bible, then also as a miniature Bible. In 1918, the Württembergische Bibelanstalt , originally founded as the "Privileged Württ. Biblical Institute in Stuttgart", took over this edition of the Schlachter Bible. It experienced a total of seven editions (until 1952).

There is another edition which appeared between 1960 and 1965, but which does not mention any edition.

In 1945 the English Scripture Gift Mission distributed hundreds of thousands of slightly revised New Testaments from the miniature Bible from 1905 as a special print among the German prisoners of war in the English prison camps. The Geneva Bible Society printed this special edition with the consent of Ms. Schlachter. After the Second World War , the Schlachter Bible was reissued in 1951 by the Geneva Bible Society. Not as a new revision of the edition by Linder and Kappeler, but as a revision of the old miniature Bible from 1905. The text moved further away from the majority text than in Schlachter's original miniature Bible. This handy, small, consecutively set Bible also saw many editions as a hand, pocket, reading and home Bible.

A revision attempt that had been carried out in the meantime was canceled and led to the New Geneva Translation and in 1976 to a special edition of the Gospel of John. In 1995 a fundamental revision of the 1951 edition began in Albstadt and was completed in 2002. The revised Schlachter Bible 2000 is now available (Reformation basic text, correspondingly very basic text, edifying good German). An additional study edition with approx. 100,000 parallel passages, a rich appendix and many factual footnotes has been available since November 2003. This study edition is also available in the form of a pocket Bible. A miniature edition followed in 2004, albeit in the Perl Bible format. Since 2009 there has been a special Russian-German edition, with the Russian synodal text in the first column and the German Schlachter text in the parallel column. In 2015 a distribution edition was printed, the so-called "Coffee Bible". A large concordance on Schlachter 2000 was published at the end of September 2015.

Spiritual influence

Franz Eugen Schlachter was one of the most fruitful personalities of the Swiss sanctification movement and the revival movement . Thanks to the miniature Bible, his influence extended far beyond Switzerland. The translation of the two volumes of Father Chiniquy's experiences and the follow-up volume The Confessional and the book Jarousseau, the pastor of the desert, were important contributions to the spiritual conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism . His greatest direct influence came from the publication of his magazine Brosamen von des Herr Tisch , through which he shaped parts of the Bernese rural population both spiritually, socially and culturally. After the Second World War, his brochures Resli, the Güterbub and the Preacher of the Desert were widespread in Germany. In recent times he has tended to be forgotten as a person, whereas his Bible continues to enjoy a large readership. In 2007 a short biography of Schlachter was published, in 2010 a detailed version with 100 pictures.

literature

  • Rudolf Dellsperger, Markus Nägeli, Hansueli Ramser: On your word. Berchtold Haller, Bern 1981.
  • Karl-Hermann Kauffmann: Franz Eugen Schlachter and the sanctification movement. (Biography with reference to the spiritual environment of Schlachter and with a short history of the Schlachter Bible, detailed version with 100 illustrations. Commemorative publication for the anniversary "100 Years of the Schlachter Bible") Self-published by Freie Brüdergemeinde, Albstadt 2005 / Brosamen-Verlag , Albstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-046811-7 .
  • Karl-Hermann Kauffmann: Franz Eugen Schlachter, a Bible translator in the field of the sanctification movement. Johannis, Lahr 2007, ISBN 978-3-501-01568-1 .
  • Karl-Hermann Kauffmann:  Butcher, Franz-Eugen. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 21, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-110-3 , Sp. 1360-1362.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Emil Kocher: Glory to God alone. Bookshop of the Evangelical Society, Bern 1931.
  • Christoph Ramstein: The Evangelical Preacher School in Basel: The driving forces and the development of the school. Peter Lang, Bern 2001, ISBN 3-906765-93-8 .
  • Franz Eugen Schlachter: A visit to London. (Brochure, summary of three articles from the " Brosamen von des Herr Tisch ") Free Brethren Congregation, Albstadt 2006 / Brosamen-Verlag, Albstadt 2013.
  • Walter Wieland: Franz Eugen Schlachter. A contribution to the history and theology of the community movement in the canton of Bern. Edition Neues Land, Grünenmatt and also: University of Bern, access work, 1982.
  • Gottfried Wüthrich: Franz Eugen Schlachter - his life and work. Geneva, March 16, 2002 (manuscript print).
  • APS correspondence sheet : 1st year No. 12, Nov. and Dec 1889; 3rd year No. 2, March 1891; 8th year, III supplement to no. 7 of the correspondence sheet of the AP Conference in Basel 9. – 12. July 1896, lecture by Franz Schlachter on “A resurrected gift.” - Supplement to the eighth year, No. 7, July 1896, discussion of the presentations by F. Schlachter and F. Bann; 13th year, No. 3, March 1901-20. Volume, No. 9, September 1908-22. Volume, No. 1, January 1910

media

Franz Eugen Schlachter, preacher and Bible translator. A radio play book for adults by Christian Mörken, SCM Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2014

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.scm-shop.de/die-bibel-gott-sprech-heute-10er-paket-3844178.html
personal data
SURNAME Schlachter, Franz Eugen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss evangelist and translator of the Schlachter Bible
DATE OF BIRTH July 28, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Mulhouse
DATE OF DEATH January 12, 1911
Place of death Bern