Hermann Rentzel (clergyman)
Hermann Rentzel (born March 19, 1764 in Hamburg ; † December 8, 1827 there ) was a German Protestant - Lutheran clergyman and deacon at the St. Jacobi Church in Hamburg . He was a staunch advocate of rationalism .
Origin and family
Rentzel was born in Hamburg as the son of the licentiate Garlieb Rentzel (1727–1796) and his wife Anna Margaretha Sillem (1732–1788), daughter of councilor Joachim Sillem (1691–1737). In 1796 Rentzel married Johanna Elisabeth Barbara Gries (1763–1826), daughter of councilor Franz Lorenz Gries (1731–1803) and older sister of the council syndicate Johann Michael Gries (1772–1827) and the translator Johann Diederich Gries (1775–1842) . The marriage remained childless. The couple therefore took in a foster daughter, the Lüneburg pastor's daughter Elisabeth Merckel (1798–1889), who married Senator Heinrich Geffcken (1792–1861) in 1816 . The senior secretary and councilor Eduard Rentzel (1772-1832) was his brother.
Career
After attending the scholarly school of the Johanneum in Hamburg, Rentzel studied theology at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen . Back in Hamburg he worked as a catechist from 1790 . In 1795 he became a deacon at St. Jacobi - his duties in the community also included monitoring and giving religious instruction in schools. In addition, he preached at the hospital from 1810 and, after its inauguration in 1823, at the new general hospital . He also did pastoral work at the Hamburg factory and penitentiary and the spinning house .
Positions and arguments
Rentzel was one of the most radical representatives of the theological rationalism that prevailed in Hamburg at the time. As early as 1821, he attacked the emerging revival movement so sharply that the Spiritual Ministry , which was largely rationalist, distanced itself from him and the senior Heinrich Julius Willerding, who was also rationalist, gave him instructions. Both were done to protect the religious peace in Hamburg, because the reactions of the opposing side also fell under the censorship , a speech by Martin Hieronymus Hudtwalcker in the council was not made public.
After the tensions between the New Orthodox Lutherans and supporters of the revival movement on the one hand and rationalists on the other had increased, a dispute arose from 1826 that was also perceived supraregionally - which was mainly due to Rentzel's uncompromisingly radical position. The trigger was a report written by Amandus Augustus Abendroth , which made "mysticism creeping in the dark" and "religious enthusiasm" - meaning the awakening movement - responsible for an increase in the number of mentally ill people. Councilor Hudtwalcker, a supporter of the revival movement, wrote a reply to this report, to which Rentzel in turn responded with a pamphlet, referred to in the title as "frank statements".
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In this publication Rentzel spoke out in favor of placing the concept of church teaching on the basis of the principles of reason and utility. As a result, he rejected the doctrine of atonement in the Symbolic Books as unreasonable, the doctrine of the Trinity of God as useless, and both as impossible to be communicated by God to man. It goes against the spirit of Protestantism to submit to the "religious compulsion of the symbolic books". Since he has to obey God more than men, he does not have to obey his own oath on these books. In the same writing he turned against "the worst of the local Zealots ", by which he meant Johann Wilhelm Rautenberg , who was not named but recognizable from the context. Rentzel's "frank statements" met with approval but also rejection and caused unrest among Hamburg's believers. The Ministry of Spirituality also feared that individuals might renounce their faith after a respected clergyman had turned against the foundations of the Lutheran Church. In the meantime, Hudtwalcker had turned against Rentzel's writing anonymously and Rentzel had taken up a self-defense against its misinterpretation. In order to counteract discord among Hamburg's Protestants and also to satisfy the attacked Rautenberg, the ministry issued a reprimand to Rentzel and commissioned August Jacob Rambach with the creation of a pamphlet that should strike a balance between rationalists and Orthodox Lutherans. Differences of opinion arose between the council and the spiritual ministry, which lasted until after Rentzel's death in December 1827.
Hermann Rentzel is commemorated on the double collecting grave plate, main pastors to St. Jacobi / pastors to St. Jacobi of the Althamburg Memorial Cemetery, Ohlsdorf Cemetery .
Fonts (selection)
- Communion book for all those who wish to have true edification and lasting benefit from enjoying the Lord's Supper , Bohn and Hofmann, 1799 (edification)
- Considerations on promoting the high esteem of the Lord's Supper and its worthy enjoyment , Hoffmann & Campe , Hamburg 1822 (edification)
- German language teaching for community schools and private lessons - initially for Lower Saxony , Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1824 (textbook)
- Cheerful remarks induced and compelled by Senator Hudtwalcker's writing , Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1827 (polemic)
- Necessary self-defense against misinterpretations of my last writing , Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1827 (polemic)
literature
- Obituary. Hermann Rentzel . In: Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung . Edited by Christian Gottfried Schütz . Volume 44, 49, February 1828. CA Schwetschke and Son, Halle an der Saale 1828, p. 393–395 ( digitized on the pages of the Thuringian University and State Library Jena).
- Friedrich Georg Buek : The Hamburg upper elders, their civil effectiveness and their families . Perthes-Besser & Mauke, Hamburg 1857, p. 84 ( digitized from Google Books).
- Hans Schröder : Lexicon of the Hamburg writers up to the present . tape 6 , no. 3173 . W. Mauke's Sons, Hamburg 1873 ( facsimile on the pages of the Hamburg State and University Library).
- Ingrid Lahrsen: Between awakening and rationalism. Hudtwalcker and his circle . F. Wittig, Hamburg 1959.
Web links
- Literature by and about Hermann Rentzel in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b quoted from Ingrid Lahrsen: Between Awakening and Rationalism. Hudtwalcker and his circle , Wittig, Hamburg 1959, p. 77
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rentzel, Hermann |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Protestant clergyman, deacon in Hamburg |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 19, 1764 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hamburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 8, 1827 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |