Hilko Wiardo Schomerus

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Hilko Wiardo Schomerus (born January 7, 1879 in Marienhafe / Ostfriesland , † November 13, 1945 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German missionary and later professor of missiology and religious history at the University of Halle .

life and work

After studying at the seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Leipzig , Schomerus worked from 1902 to 1912 in the service of the Leipzig Mission in South India . While still a missionary he wrote The Saiva Siddhanta . A mysticism of India that appeared in 1912 and was positively received by experts, including Rudolf Otto and Nathan Söderblom . Studies in Indology and religious studies at the Universities of Kiel and Leipzig followed. His teachers and supporters included the Indologist Paul Deussen , the systematic theologian Erich Schaeder and again Söderblom, whose assistant he became in Leipzig. Among other things, through Schaeder's influence, Schomerus was awarded the Lic. Theol. hc awarded. From 1914 to 1920 he worked as a pastor in Rendsburg . In 1920 he received his habilitation at the University of Kiel. In 1923 he received an honorary doctorate from the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the University of Breslau . In 1925 he was appointed associate professor at the University of Kiel, and in 1926 he was appointed professor of missiology and religious history at the theological faculty of the University of Halle , where he worked until his death. In 1929/30 the Prussian Ministry of Culture financed a study trip that took him to the Far East via India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. At times he was dean of the theological faculty. After the Second World War , he and his theologian colleague Otto Eißfeldt tried to reopen the university, which he did not live to see.

Schomerus was a recognized connoisseur of South Indian languages ​​and translated a number of sources of religious studies from Tamil . He tried to open up the religious world of India to Christian-European theologians and prospective missionaries. Theologically he was concerned with questions of the comparison of religions , whereby he turned against a superficial evaluation of alleged or actual parallels, which attacked the independence of Christianity and the Christian - but from an internal perspective more or less existing in every religion - claims to absoluteness . In the 1920s and 30s, this topic was not only of internal church and mission theological importance, but also of political relevance, as ethnic groups, such as Mathilde Ludendorff , denied the originality of Christianity with reference to Indian sources. Schomerus was therefore compelled to take a position several times against arguments that were considered pseudoscientific. His conduct with integrity during the so-called Third Reich is generally recognized.

Even if he pursued religious studies out of theological interest, Schomerus endeavored to present foreign religions in a methodically clean, objective manner.

Schomerus died on November 13, 1945 at the age of 66 in Halle. He was buried in the Laurentiusfriedhof . His son was the theologian and historian Johann Gerhard Schomerus .

Fonts

Own writings

  • Saiva-Siddhanta, a mysticism of India. Edited and illustrated from the Tamulian sources. Leipzig 1912.
  • Indian doctrines of salvation. Their significance for the understanding of Christianity and for the missionary sermon. Leipzig 1919.
  • Indian theological speculation and the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Berlin 1919.
  • Steiner's anthroposophy and India. Leipzig / Erlangen 1922.
  • India and the West. Wernigerode 1925.
  • India and Christianity. 3 volumes. Halle 1931–1933: 1. Indian piety ; 2. The struggle of Christianity for the Indian people ; 3. The penetration of India into the dominion of Christianity .
  • Parallels to Christianity as a religious-historical and theological problem. Gütersloh 1932.
  • Does the Bible Depend On India? Munich 1932.
  • Mission Studies (= Theological Textbooks. Vol. 2). Leipzig 1935.
  • Master Eckehart and Manikka-Vasagar. Mysticism on German and Indian soil. Gütersloh 1936.
  • Religious History and Outer Mission. Leipzig 1938.
  • Indian and Christian end expectation and hope of redemption. Gütersloh 1941.

Translations

  • The hymns of the Māṇikka-Vāsaga (Tiruvāsaga). Translated from Tamil by HW Schomerus. Eugen Diederichs, Jena 1923.
  • Sivaitic saints legends: Periyapurāna and Tiruvātavūrar-Purāṇa. Translated from Tamil by HW Schomerus. Eugen Diederichs, Jena 1925.
  • Aruṇantis Śivajñānasiddhiyār: The attainment of knowledge of Śiva or of salvation. With the addition of an introduction and Meykaasadeva's Śivajñānabodha, translated from Tamil and commented on by Hilko Wiardo Schomerus. Edited by Hermann Berger . 2 volumes. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1981.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schomerus, Hilko Wiardo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German missionary and missiologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Marienhafe , East Frisia
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1945
Place of death Halle (Saale)