Harm Willms

Harm Willms

Harm Willms , also written Willems (born October 31, 1822 in Ihrhove ; † August 2, 1893 in Weener ), was a Baptist clergyman and missionary who belonged to the founding generation of German Baptism and, as a theological autodidact and writer, had a significant influence on the time young free church movement had. His catechetical and literary talents led to his being called a theologian in peasant skirt .

Life

Harm Willms was a farmer in Ihrhove . Even after he was appointed pastor of the Your Baptist congregation , he earned his living on his farm. He was interested in theological questions even in his youth. An intensive turn to the Christian faith did not take place until later years. The decisive impetus here was reading Martin Luther's introduction to Romans , which initially plunged Willms into internal religious struggles. There was a breakthrough during threshing on the hallway of his farm. In his memoirs, Willms reported that he had thrown the flail away and exclaimed with great joy: "Now I know that Jesus is also my Redeemer!"

His further search brought him into contact with your Baptist church . There he received the baptism of believers on September 21, 1853 . Two years later he was called to be a deacon . In 1858 the congregation elected him their elder and preacher. He held this office until his death. During his service, the congregation grew to 428 members who gathered at 9 places of worship with many friends. Five church buildings were built during this period. In addition to Willms, four travel preachers and three so-called missionary assistants were active in the parish .

In addition to his missionary commitment, Harm Willms worked primarily as a teacher. His theological knowledge, which his opponents also attested to, he acquired through permanent self-taught studies. The core of his theology was the Reformation doctrine of the justification of sinners solely through faith . Johann Gerhard Oncken , the founder of German Baptism, considered him a “born theologian” and wanted to appoint him as a teacher at the newly founded mission school in Hamburg . But Willms refused.

Harm Willms gained notoriety - even beyond the boundaries of his own denomination - through the publication of apologetic writings in which he dealt primarily with baptism and related ecclesiological questions. The reason for his writings were usually polemical representations of the Baptist understanding of baptism, which appeared in the Lutheran , Reformed and Old Reformed press. Through his writing activity, Willms contributed significantly to the spread of Baptism in East Frisia and the neighboring Netherlands.

Harm Willms died in Weener Hospital after a long illness.

Selected works

• De Kinderdoop de Gereformeerden. Leer 1863.

literature

• Theodor Duprée: Harm Willms. In: Truth Witnesses. Journal of the Association of German Baptists. No. 31, No. 33, 1893.
• Theodor Duprée: Harm Willms - a theologian in peasant skirt. Hamburg 1896.
• Joseph Lehmann: History of the German Baptists. Volume II (revised by Friedrich Wilhelm Herrmann), Cassel 1922, pp. 40, 299.

Web links

• East Frisian landscape: written reproduction of the presentation by Hero Jelten: The development of Baptism in East Frisia. (PDF; 62 kB) Aurich, January 13, 2006, accessed on September 14, 2012
• History of the Ihr Baptist Church , accessed September 20, 2009

Individual evidence

1. ^ Theodor Duprée: Harm Willms - a theologian in peasant rock. Hamburg 1896
2. ↑ Quoted from the homepage of the Dutch organization "Totheil des volks." ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed September 21, 2009 
3. ↑ Joseph Lehmann: History of the German Baptists. P. 299.
4. ↑ s. for example H. Potgeter in: Der Grenzbote. June 15, 1886.
5. ↑ Joseph Lehmann: History of the German Baptists. P. 40.