Georg Merz (theologian)

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Georg Merz (born March 3, 1892 in Walkersbrunn , Upper Franconia , † November 16, 1959 in Neuendettelsau ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran pastor and theology professor .

Life

Georg Merz studied Protestant theology , philosophy , history and education in Leipzig and Erlangen from 1910 to 1914 . Inspired by the sermons of the liberal pastors Christian Geyer and Friedrich Rittelmeyer , Merz dealt with the teachings of Johannes Müller , Rudolf Steiner and Christoph Blumhardt , whereby the ideas of the Religious Socialists should have lifelong meaning for him.

In 1914 Merz was drafted into the medical service, but was able to attend the seminary in Munich in 1915, where he came into close contact with the President of the Upper Consistory, Hermann Bezzel . After his ordination in Munich on February 27, 1916, he served in the Bavarian regional church until 1930.

At the beginning of the Weimar Republic, Merz became chief editor at Christian Kaiser Verlag , where from 1922 to 1933 he published the magazine Zwischen den Zeiten, which he founded together with Friedrich Gogarten , Karl Barth and Eduard Thurneysen .

During a visit to the Von Bodelschwinghschen Anstalten Bethel , Merz met Friedrich von Bodelschwingh and in 1930 accepted a position as a lecturer in practical theology, church and denominational studies at the Bethel Theological School , where he was to teach until 1939. Here he came into contact with the local Lutheranism, which arose from the revival movement in Minden-Ravensberg . As a result, he turned more and more to a confessional Lutheran theology, which brought him increasing distance from Karl Barth.

In 1937 he was one of those who signed the declaration of the 96 Protestant church leaders against Alfred Rosenberg because of his writing Protestant Rome Pilgrims .

After he involuntarily dropped out of teaching in 1939, Merz was pastor in Bethel and head of the catechetical office of the Westphalian Confessing Church . From 1942 he worked as dean in Würzburg , where at the end of the Second World War he witnessed the destruction of the Protestant churches of St. Stephan and St. Johannes as well as the Inner Mission.

In 1945 he was appointed rector of the pastoral college he founded in Neuendettelsau in 1946 and of the Augustana University in 1947, which he also newly founded . From 1951 to 1957 he taught at this ecclesiastical university as a professor practical theology, Reformation history, and church history of the modern age.

Fonts (selection)

  • Religious Approaches in Modern Socialism. 2nd edition, Munich 1919.
  • The pre-Reformation Luther , Munich 1926.
  • Church proclamation and modern education, Munich 1931.
  • Freedom and discipline. The Reformation doctrine of freedom in its meaning for education, Munich 1932.
  • Faith and Politics in Luther's Action, Munich 1933.
  • Office and congregation (= Confessing Church, issue 26) , Munich 1935 .
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (= Confessing Church, Issue 31) , Munich 1935.
  • The Lutheran liturgy and the prayer of the fighting church (= Confessing Church, issue 48), Munich 1937.
  • Father Bodelschwingh's share in the theology of his time , Bethel 1938.
  • Priestly service in church activity, Munich 1952.
  • Bavarian Lutheranism , Munich 1955 .
  • About faith and life according to Luther's teaching. Selected essays. Introduced and ed. by Friedrich Wilhelm Kantzenbach , Munich 1961.
  • Ways and changes. Memories from the period 1892–1922. Edit after his death by Johannes Merz, Munich 1961.
  • The pastor and the sermon. Introduced and ed. by Friedrich Wilhelm Kantzenbach , Munich 1992 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (Ed.): Ecumenical Yearbook 1936–1937 . Max Niehans, Zurich 1939, pp. 240–247.
  2. ↑ Martin Elze : The Evangelical Lutheran Church. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001-2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 482-494 and 1305 f., Here: p. 491.
  3. ↑ Martin Elze (2007), p. 491.
personal data
SURNAME Merz, Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian (Lutheran) and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Walkersbrunn , Upper Franconia
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1959
Place of death Neuendettelsau