Helmut Fischer (theologian)

Helmut Fischer (born February 4, 1929 in Chrostau Ölhütten , then a district of Mährisch Chrostau (Moravská Chrastová) in the district of Trübau , today district of Zwittau , northern Moravia, Czechoslovakia ) is a German Protestant theologian, publicist and icon painter .

Life

In 1945, at the age of 16, Fischer was interned for forced labor in the Litovel camp and expelled to Germany in August 1946 . He graduated from high school in Idstein / Taunus in 1949 . He studied Protestant theology , philosophy and psychology at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal as well as at the Universities of Vienna and Marburg, where he received his doctorate in 1958. theol. in systematic theology . He worked as a pastor in the old town near Hachenburg / Westerwald and from 1963 at the French Reformed community in Frankfurt am Main . At the same time, he began teaching as a lecturer at the Theological Convict Frankfurt / Main and as a substitute professor for practical theology at the University of Heidelberg . From 1976 to 1991 he was professor of theology (sermon, organization of services and linguistic communication) at the Friedberg Theological Seminary , of which he was also director. In 1991 he retired. Since then he has worked as an adult educator and author. He also made a vocation out of his hobby, icon painting, and has been an icon teacher since 1994.

Theology, teaching and authorship

Fischer is considered a master of rhetoric, who has taught generations of pastors how to speak clearly to their congregations. His main concern was to “enter into a dialogue on questions of faith and their spiritual penetration”. The aim of his theology should be "to help overcome confessional, cultural and ideological constrictions and to encourage traditional thinkers as well as skeptics, distant people and atheists to an open dialogue on questions of faith". Fischer's publications also serve this goal. Because he dealt with the topic of language all his life, “his texts are characterized by clear lines of thought and a language that is also understood by contemporaries who are shaped by modern thinking and can no longer be reached by the traditional language of the church ". The clarity of his books was also reflected in the clarity of his sermons and lectures. “He spoke slowly, loudly and clearly. His sentences were short, concise, grammatically correct, in short: everything was ready for printing ... Everything was so understandable, even for us laypeople, so plausible, so comprehensive ... ", reports one of his students. Fischer's liberal theology - he is a member of the Bund für Free Christianity - is shaped by his war and post-war experiences. “In my year as a slave laborer, I had already thought a lot about what shapes and supports our lives. I swore to myself that I would never again follow a concept of life or an offer of meaning that I had not examined myself with all my possibilities down to the last corner for its sustainability. ”From this critical attitude, his numerous books emerged in which he tries, to get to the core of the respective content - by clarifying how the Christian beliefs came about and what reality they express in their different language forms. This clarification of facts is based on the biblical testimonies and leads to the substance of the Christian statements of faith. ”In addition, this helps the reader“ to break away from historically conditioned ideas and to find their own understanding of faith in contemporary forms of expression ”.

Works

• Basic problems of the doctrine of the original and the case - a contribution to the question of method in theology. Central publishing house for dissertations Triltsch, Düsseldorf 1959.
• Statement of Faith and Language Structure. Furche-Verlag, Hamburg 1972.
• (as ed.) Language knowledge for theologians. Furche-Verlag, Hamburg 1974.
• Thematic dialogue service. Furche-Verlag, Hamburg 1975.
• Wedding ceremony currently. Analyzes, considerations and impulses for church action at marriage. Claudius Verlag, Munich 1976.
• Transaction analysis - impetus for critical discussion. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 1985.
• The icon. Origin - meaning - shape. Herder publishing house, Freiburg 1989; 3rd edition C. Albrecht Verlag, Hanover 2001.
• The world of icons. The religious image in the Eastern Church. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt 1996. 3rd edition 2005.
• Crash course CHRISTIANITY. DuMont Verlag, Cologne 2001. 3rd edition 2006. (Translation into Korean.)
• From Jesus to the icon of Christ , Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2005.
• Mary in the understanding of the churches. Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2006
• Paint, look at, hear the message. Icons from a painting workshop. Self-published 2006.
• Did Jesus have to die for us? Interpretations of the death of Jesus. Theological Verlag Zurich 2008. Translation into Italian.
• Do Christians Have Three Gods? Origin and understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2008.
• Creation and Big Bang. Clarification on the conversation between faith and science. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2009.
• Communion? On the understanding of the Lord's Supper by the major denominations. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2009.
• Unity of the church? On the understanding of the church by the major denominations. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2010.
• The miracles of Jesus (illustrated with icons by H. Rall), Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2010.
• Christian Faith - What Is It? Clarifying, critical, impetus. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2011.
• Belief in the resurrection. Origin, forms of expression, reality of life. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2012.
• Language and belief in God. How can one speak of God today? German Science Publishing House, Baden-Baden 2012.
• How the angels come to us. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2012.
• Theological encounters. Selected small writings and biographical information. Edited by Ecumenical Circle of Friends of Icon Painters for the 85th birthday of Helmut Fischer, BoD, Norderstedt 2014.
• Without alternative? - European Christians on the way to becoming a minority. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2014.
• The one truth? Truth in philosophy, science and religion. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2015.
• Can the Churches Still Be Saved? European Christians face the challenges of cultural change. BoD, Norderstedt: 2015.
• Do we all have the same God? To the God of the Hebrew Bible, Jesus and the Koran. BoD, Norderstedt: 2016.
• Religion without god? Talk about faith today. Theological Publishing House Zurich 2017.

Web links

• Own web presence

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Fischer: Origin, youth, training and start of work. In: Ders .: Theological Encounters. Selected small writings and biographical information . Edited by the Ecumenical Circle of Friends of Icon Painters for the 85th birthday of Helmut Fischer, BoD: Norderstedt 2014, p. 58.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Manfred Holtze: Encounter with the theological author and adult educator. In: Helmut Fischer: Theological Encounters, Selected Small Writings and Biographies. Published by the Ecumenical Circle of Friends of Icon Painters on the occasion of Helmut Fischer's 85th birthday, BoD: Norderstedt 2014, pp. 58–60.
3. ↑ Gert Riemann: Encounter with the icon broker. In: Helmut Fischer: Theological Encounters, Selected Small Writings and Biographies. Published by the Ecumenical Circle of Friends of Icon Painters on the occasion of Helmut Fischer's 85th birthday, BoD: Norderstedt 2014, p. 62.
4. ↑ Helmut Fischer: Origin, youth, training and start of work. In: Theological Encounters, Selected Small Writings and Biographies. Edited by the Ecumenical Circle of Friends of Icon Painters on the occasion of Helmut Fischer's 85th birthday, BoD: Norderstedt 2014, p. 36.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Helmut Fischer: Theologische Schriften. (No longer available online.) May 5, 2012, archived from the original on June 1, 2016 ; accessed on June 10, 2016 . 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.