Heinrich Ott (theologian)

Heinrich Ott at the lectern in the National Council

Heinrich Ott (born September 1, 1929 in Basel ; † May 24, 2013 in Riehen ) was a Swiss Protestant Reformed theologian , pastor, professor of systematic theology in Basel from 1962 to 1999 and a politician ( SP ).

Life

Heinrich Ott was a son of the Basel lawyer Georges Ott (1893–1982). As a high school student he became interested in theology through reading works by Karl Barth . During his theology studies at the University of Basel , Barth was his most important teacher. Rudolf Bultmann was also significant for him in Marburg . He did his doctorate on Bultmann under Barth. During his studies, he joined the Swiss Zofinger Association , to which Karl Barth was already a member. In 1952 he became a pastor in Castiel , Graubünden . He married Ingeborg Rehberg, the couple had three daughters and a son.

Ott was already politically active in Castiel. He joined the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) and together with others founded the interest group for the mountain farmers' collection . In 1957 he took over the parish in Arisdorf - Giebenach - Hersberg , Basel-Land . He became a member of the Basel district council and was national councilor from 1979 to 1990 .

Ott completed his habilitation with a thesis on the theological relevance of Martin Heidegger . The philosopher Ulrich Hommes wrote in a review of the habilitation thesis in 1962: "One can say without exaggeration that on the part of Protestant theology it is the most thorough and important contribution to the conversation between theology and Heidegger's thinking."

In 1962, Ott was appointed to the Basel Chair for Systematic Theology as Karl Barth's successor , which he held until his retirement in 1999. Hermeneutics and dialogue - between the theological schools, across denominations and with philosophy - remained the focus of his thinking and teaching.

Fonts

• History and salvation history in the theology of Rudolf Bultmann , Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 1955
• Annunciation and Existence , Zurich: Gotthelf-Verlag 1956
• Eschatology , Zollikon: Evangelischer Verlag 1958
• The question of the historical Jesus and the ontology of history , Zurich: EVZ 1960
• Dogmatics and Annunciation , Zurich: EVZ 1961
• Faith and Confession , Basel: Reinhardt 1963
• The teaching of the First Vatican Council , Basel: Reinhardt 1963
• Reality and Faith , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
  • Vol. 1. On the theological legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer , 1966
  • Vol. 2. Personal God 1969
  • Vol. 3. Creation and Redemption 1976 (with Fritz Buri and Jan Milič Lochman )
• Gott , Stuttgart: Kreuz-Verlag 1971
• The answer of faith , Stuttgart / Berlin: Kreuz-Verlag 1973
• Does Mary stand between denominations? Zurich: Paulus Academy 1975
• Talking about the unspeakable , Stuttgart / Berlin: Kreuz-Verlag 1978
• The answer of faith , Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1981, 3rd edition 1999
• Faith that sets us free to live , Trier: Spee-Verlag 1981
• Apologetics of Faith , Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1994
• On the phenomenology of faith , Basel: Reinhardt 1999
• Paths of knowledge of theological thinking , Altenberge: Oros-Verlag 2001
• Thinking and praying , Waltrop: Spenner 2007

Web links

• Literature by and about Heinrich Ott in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature by and about Heinrich Ott in the SUDOC catalog (Association of French University Libraries)
• Over there. The theologian Heinrich Ott turns 70 , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , September 1, 1999
• Believing and thinking in dialogue , kirchenbote-online.ch (on the 80th birthday of Heinrich Ott; with picture)
• Jan Pagotto-Uebelhart: Ott, Heinrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Heinrich Ott's estate in the University Library of Basel

References and comments

1. ^ Baselbieter old SP National Councilor Heinrich Ott has died
2. ↑ ^{a b} kirchenbote  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Schweizerischer Zofingerverein, Schweizerischer Altzofingerverein (Ed.): List of Members 1997. Zofingen 1997, p. 22. (Available in the Swiss National Library , call number SWR 1338.)
4. ↑ Philosophisches Jahrbuch 69 (1962) 419.
5. ↑ NZZ
6. ↑ The date of birth mentioned there on September 11th contradicts the date of the two «birthday articles» from 1999 and 2009, see web links.