Hanover Catechism Controversy
The Hanoverian catechism dispute was a dispute within the Evangelical Lutheran regional church of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1862. It was triggered by a catechism that King George V had decreed as a binding basis for Lutheran religious instruction in church and school in the exercise of the sovereign church regiment.
prehistory
Most of the Lutheran congregations of the Kingdom of Hanover, founded in 1814, used the catechism of Christian doctrine for use in the Protestant churches and schools of the royal. Braunschweig-Lüneburg Kurlande , the Georg III. Introduced in 1790. It was written under the direction of General Superintendent Johann Benjamin Koppe in the spirit of the Enlightenment and contained only selected parts of Martin Luther's Small Catechism .
In the first half of the 19th century, romanticism and political restoration in Lutheranism was accompanied by a return to the theology of Martin Luther and the Lutheran confessions ( Neuluthertum ). This did not happen without opposition from the rationalist and liberal currents.
Introduction of the Catechism
Georg V, a personally pious man, tended towards the restorative-Lutheran direction, as did general superintendent Eduard Niemann and the consistorial councilor and court preacher Gerhard Uhlhorn, as well as the leading minister Wilhelm von Borries , who linked it with a strictly anti-liberal policy. In 1856 the king set up a commission of four clergymen and two teachers to work out a confessional Lutheran catechism. The initiative for this came from Albert Lührs , who also headed the editorial work; he became superintendent in Celle in 1859 .
The result was a book that contained Luther's Small Catechism in full and explanations based on Michael Walther's 1653 Catechism Book . The theological faculty of the State University of Göttingen approved it unanimously. Gerhard Uhlhorn used this new catechism for the confirmation classes of Crown Prince Ernst August and advocated its binding introduction by ordinance without consulting the communities. The king dated the introductory decree on April 14, 1862, the Monday following Palm Sunday on which his son was confirmed.
reaction
Protest mood in the country
In the weeks that followed, the new catechism became the subject of heated controversy across the country. In terms of content, the resistance was mainly sparked by the individual confession with absolution by a pastor. Martin Luther and Lutheran Orthodoxy had highly valued this act because Christ himself instituted it. However, it ceased to be used by the mid-18th century and the 1790 Catechism did not contain the relevant passages of the Small Catechism. Other points of criticism were the interpretation of baptism as liberation from the rule of the devil and the mention of the sign of the cross in Luther's morning and evening blessings . All of this was felt by many as a relapse into the Middle Ages and Catholicism .
Formal criticism was that the catechism had been introduced without the congregations forming their own will. Here the religious opposition joined the political controversy of the time over the constitution and popular representation .
Baurschmidt
The spokesman and symbolic figure of the opponents of the catechism was Karl Gustav Wilhelm Baurschmidt , parish priest in Lüchow , who had not yet emerged nationally . With the support of his church leaders , he published the small text Prüfet Alles - Ein Wort über die neue Katechismus in Lüchow in June , in which he summarized the points of criticism. The writing quickly spread throughout the kingdom and met with enthusiastic approval, but also with counter-criticism. Since she publicly opposed a decree of the king, she also put the author personally and professionally in danger.
In August 1862 Baurschmidt was summoned to Hanover by the royal consistory to answer for himself. His arrival on August 6 was a triumphal procession. From the train station to the consistory building, Baurschmidt's path was lined with thousands of people, who encouraged him and singed hymns such as A strong castle is our God and Now thank God . Newspapers compared the event with Luther's visit to the Reichstag in Worms .
On August 7th and 8th, Baurschmidt was questioned by the consistory members Eduard Niemann, Gerhard Uhlhorn and Brandis. Details of the course are not known. Only in the following year was the consistory's 47-page statement completed, which severely rebuked Baurschmidt's text Prüfet Alles , attested that he had “a lack of knowledge of Scripture and church doctrine” and imposed “diligent study of the Holy Scriptures” on him. Apart from an official reprimand, however, there were no sanctions against him.
On the evening of August 8th there was a riot in Hanover. Window panes were thrown in at the house of General Superintendent Niemann. Baurschmidt's departure was again a triumphal procession, the carriage and the train with which he was traveling were wreathed with flowers.
consequences
With an ordinance of August 19, 1862, George V revoked the binding introduction of the catechism and left its use free for the congregations - a significant event in the history of the relationship between state and church in Germany. There were dismissals in the cabinet and in the consistory. On October 6, 1863, as a result of the experiences of 1862, a 72-member presynod met in Hanover to give the Evangelical Lutheran regional church of Hanover , which until then had only been administered consistorially, a regulated self-representation.
Web links
- When the king gambled away (Regional Church of Hanover)
- The Lüchower Pastor CGW Baurschmidt and the Hanoverian Catechism Controversy (Summary by Carl Gehrcke: Pastor Baurschmidt and the Hanoverian Catechism Controversy . In: Am Loom der Zeit. Local history supplement of the Elbe-Jeetzel-Zeitung , 1961, by Rolf Adler, 2001)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Ordinance concerning the Evangelical Lutheran Catechism , April 14, 1862
- ↑ Hans Otte: On the way to the office of bishop in German Protestantism. Gerhard Uhlhorn (1826–1901)
- ↑ not Friedrich Brandis († 1854), but senior consistorial councilor Dr. Brandis, member of the Hanover State Council in 1865
- ^ Ordinance concerning the Evangelical Lutheran Catechism , August 19, 1862
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