Halfdan Høgsbro

Halfdan Raunsøe Høgsbro (born March 27, 1894 in Copenhagen , † April 26, 1976 in Gentofte ) was a Danish Evangelical Lutheran theologian and bishop .

Life

Høgsbro was born the son of the lawyer at Højesteret and later Danish Minister of Justice, Svend Høgsbro and his wife Louise Raunsøe. His parents' home was marked by strong national and Grundtvig traditions. In 1911 he graduated from high school in Østersøgade in Copenhagen and finished his studies in theology in 1917. In his youth he was strongly influenced by the KFUM , the Danish branch of the YMCA , and the Christian student movement. From 1917 to 1919 he was secretary in German prisoner-of-war camps, then in the headquarters of the KFUM in Copenhagen and in 1920 in its soldiers' mission in North Schleswig ; In 1922 he was Sognpriest in Abild Sogn , in 1931 Danish Sognpriest in Sønderborg and in 1941 provost of Sønderborg Provsti . In 1937 he was a candidate in the election of bishops in the Diocese of Haderslev .

The first phase of Høgsbro's journalistic work was characterized by the “religious wave” of the 1920s; In 1924 he published a book on Francis of Assisi and translated Pontus Wikner's major religious work, but he also dealt with theological and social problems ( Jesu Kristi Opstandelse og de 40 Dage ( German : The Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the 40 Days ), 1928 ; Kirken og Proletariatet (German approximately: The Church and the Proletariat ), 1930). When dialectical theology found its way into Denmark, he became a staunch Barthian , a position that he should maintain in the future insofar as he always fought against secularism and adhered to the church's right and duty to exert a formative influence on society. As one of the first theologians, he took a sharp and clear position in relation to National Socialism and Communism : Influential publications were: De nye Religioner (German: The new religions ) and De antikristelige Tendenser og Kirken (German: the antichristian tendencies and the Church ), both 1933, but was particularly important - only because it seemed like “a word at the right time” - Politisk Drøm og kristent Haab (German: Political Dream and Christian Hope ), 1934. In it he exposed the dream of new political religions from the perfect society as typical "opium for the people" and harshly criticized the church influenced by liberal theology and the awakening movement , which to a certain extent is to blame for the modern arbitrariness in the religions, since it is its main task that proclamation , have forgotten in favor of social, political and cultural activities and Jenseitigkeits -Tröstungen.

But shortly afterwards, Høgsbro took another turn and wholeheartedly joined the Oxford Group Movement , following his Barthian teacher Emil Brunner in it , and often appeared at their events (see Oxford-Noter (German: Notes on Oxford ) and his contribution on the movement to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Reformation, both in 1936). In addition, he continued his journalistic activities in several areas: Fortid og Fremtid (om ydre mission) (German about: past and future (on the outer mission )) , 1937; Kirken i Grænselandet (German about: The Church in the Border Country ), 1938; forklaringer til kirkeårets evangelietekster (German approximately: Explanations of the Gospel texts of the church year ) in Haandbog i Kristendomskundskab (German approximately: Handbook of Christian Religious Studies ), 1943; Hverdagsbogen - en andagtsbog (German about: The everyday book - a devotional book ), 1945.

In 1941 the seminary was reorganized and expanded considerably. In 1942 Høgsbro became its director, but its efforts to popularize the institution with graduates failed to achieve any major success. After he had become a candidate in the bishopric of Ribe in 1949 , he was elected bishop of the Lolland-Falster diocese in 1950 - in an extremely confused election process - and was to hold this office until 1964. Even before this point in time, he had a seat and vote in numerous church and social governing bodies, for example at Kirkens Korshær (German: Kirchliches Kreuzheer ), a church aid organization , Sønderjyske fængselsselskab (German: South Jutian prison society ), Sammenslutningen af danske børnehaver i Sønderjylland (German: Association of Danish Kindergartens in South Jutland ), at the Danish Mission Society and at the Diakoniestiftung etc. After the Second World War he was chairman of the Danish Joint Ecumenical Council from 1945 to 1948, and chairman of its executive committee in 1949. He was also head of church services for refugees in Denmark from 1945 to 1948 and a member of the Ecumenical Refugee Commission in Geneva - among other things for his services to German refugees, he was awarded an honorary theological doctorate in 1949 by the theological faculty of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel . He was also a delegate of the World Council of Churches for Germany from 1948 to 1950 . At the same time he was appointed to the leadership of the Nordic-German Church Convention. He was also chairman of the Danish Mission Council (1952), the Nordic Mission Council (1958) and a member of the World Mission Commission of the World Council of Churches (1961). He was also chairman of the Danish Bible Society .

Awards

• 1953: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Web links

• Halfdan Høgsbro in Den Store Danske (Danish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Johannes Langhoff: Nordisk-tysk Church Convention - Report on the 50th Anniversary of the Nordic-German Church Convention , in: Kristeligt Dagblad of November 4, 1999, accessed on October 28, 2012 (Danish).