Historical Commission for the Study of Pietism
The Historical Commission for the Study of Pietism is a scientific association. It initiates and promotes editions and standard works on the history of the church reform movement of Pietism and organizes international scientific conferences on this . It is mainly supported by German Protestant regional churches , the Union of Evangelical Churches in the Evangelical Church in Germany and some other associations and institutions associated with the traditions of Pietism.
Goal and way of working
“With its work, the commission wants to achieve a deeper understanding of the history of Pietism in its various forms and currents as well as in its ecumenical connections. It is therefore dedicated to the scientific research of Pietism including its effects on church life and seeks to convey its results. "
With this goal in mind, it has been organizing public, international scientific conferences at various locations since 1969, e. Partly also in cooperation with other institutions of Pietism research. The presentations and results of these conferences are usually published. The Historical Commission promotes the next generation of academics by organizing conferences and working discussions with young academics at regular intervals from 1992 onwards who are preparing a qualification ( doctorate , habilitation ) on the subject of the history of Pietism.
Another focus of the commission's work is to be responsible for and finance the publication of standard works on the history of Pietism. This includes editions such as the writings of August Hermann Francke , Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf , letters from Johann Albrecht Bengel and other sources as well as the publication of bibliographies and monographs as well as the publication of an academic journal on the history of Pietism and more recent Protestantism. In addition, the commission supports external projects that serve research on pietism.
Through joint conferences and edition projects as well as through diverse personal relationships, the commission maintains numerous connections to other institutions and persons committed to pietism research as well as to interdisciplinary and international activities in this area of science.
construction
The commission is made up of more than 40 designated volunteer representatives, half of whom are sent by the church sponsoring institutions and appointed from the field of pietism research for a period of six years.
The chair of the commission is currently (until probably 2023) Thilo Daniel , deputy is Manfred Jakubowski-Tiessen . The chairmen are supported by the managing and planning committee. The editors of the publication series and the yearbook as well as the members of the publications committee are elected from the committee.
From the beginning, the management of the commission was with the church chancellery of the Evangelical Church of the Union and was taken over by the ICE in 2003. The current managing director is Albrecht Philipps from the Union of Evangelical Churches in the Evangelical Church in Germany, based in the EKD Church Office in Hanover. The commission meets once a year for a meeting which, if possible, is always combined with a scientific presentation or a conference.
history
The Historical Commission was founded in 1964 with the aim of examining and honoring Pietism as an independent theological movement with its own conceptual concept. The founding initiators were: Kurt Aland (1915–1994), Martin Schmidt (1909–1982), Erhard Peschke (1907–1996), Oskar Söhngen (1900–1983), Konrad Gottschick (1913–2012) and Gerhard Schäfer (1923– 2003). The commission implemented the model of direct involvement of church leaders in a scientific project, in which representatives of the supporting institutions, some of whom are themselves scientists, work together with leading researchers in the field of pietism. In addition, it was one of the few ecclesiastical institutions that achieved German unity in their work, despite the separation, by one institution working in two sections. The constituent meeting of the West Section took place on July 6, 1964 in West Berlin. Martin Schmidt took the chair. On November 14, 1964, the Eastern Section was constituted with Erhard Peschke as chairman. The management lay with the church chancellery of the Evangelical Church of the Union in Berlin West and Berlin East. Up to 1989 there were 14 regional churches from the area of the Federal Republic, the Evang. Church of the Union, the Evang. Brothers Unity and the Bund Evang. Free church congregations joined the commission. The regional churches in the GDR could not become members of the commission for formal reasons. In addition to church and academic representatives, the East Section also included delegates from the Gnadau community movement with guest status. Since 1985, the East Section has been the work of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in the GDR. In spite of this forced division, the commission always saw itself from the beginning as a unified entity that met from April 6, 1990 and from 1993 onwards a common order was established.
The work of the commission concentrated on the edition of sources, monographs and bibliographies on the history of Pietism and on the organization of public meetings and scientific symposia. Its own yearbook has been published since 1973. At the end of the seventies, preparations began for a new, comprehensive overall presentation of Pietism, which was published as a four-volume work from 1993 to 2004. With the new rules of 1993 (amended in 1998), the ongoing work of the commission was largely shifted to the committees. The Commission, on the other hand, deals more intensively at its meetings with the prospects for its projects and seeks to make its research results available to a wider public. To this end, the commission combines its annual meetings and conferences with public lectures and the series "Small Texts of Pietism", which has been launched in 1999 and "Edition Pietism Texts" since 2010, pursues a generally understandable edition of texts from the piety-historical, cultural and literary tradition of Pietism, which should also reach interested laypeople and students.
The Historical Commission developed into a coordination point for research on pietism in general, which over the years has had a stimulating effect on further differentiations, such as the Moravian research, the edition project of Philipp Jacob Spener's letters by the Saxon Academy of Sciences and the 1993 in Halle / Saale founded the interdisciplinary center for pietism research of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , which mainly focuses on pietism in Halle and has developed into another important coordination point for pietism research. The Historical Commission is closely networked with all of these institutions.
Publications (as of 2019)
Works on the history of Pietism (AGP)
Published monographs (volumes 1–16 in Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld; from volume 17 onwards in Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen):
- Volume 1-63, 1967-2019
Bibliography on the History of Pietism (BGP)
Bibliographies published by Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York:
- Volume 1-3, 1972-2015
Small Texts of Pietism (KTP) and Edition Pietism Texts (EPT)
Published smaller texts for a broader readership (in the Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig):
- KTP Volume 1-12, 1999-2008
- EPT Vol. 1-13, 2010-2019
History of Pietism (GdP)
Published overall presentation of Pietism (published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen):
- Volume 1-4, 1993-2004
Yearbooks on the History of Pietism (JGP) and Pietism and Modern Times. A yearbook on the history of modern Protestantism (PuN)
Yearbook published by the commission (volumes 1–3 by Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld; from volume 4 by Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen):
- Volume 1-3, 1974-1977
- Volume 4-45, 1977 / 78-2019
Texts on the history of Pietism (TdP)
Scientific text editions on Pietism (sections II, III, VII and VIII [vol. 1-2] in Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York; sections IV V, VI and VIII [vol. 3-5] in Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen):
- August Hermann Francke, Writings and Sermons: Department II, Volumes 1,4-5,9-10, 1981-1989
- August Hermann Francke, handwritten estate: Department III, Volumes 1-6, 1972-2002
- Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Works: Department IV, Volume 6 / 1,7 / 1-2, 2008-2015
- Gerhard Tersteegen , Works: Department V, Volume 1,7 / 1-2,8, 1979-2008
- Johann Albrecht Bengel, Works and Correspondence: Department VI, Volume 1-2, 2008-2012
- Friedrich Christoph Oetinger : Department VII, Volumes 1-3, 1977-1999
- Individual figures and special groups: Department VIII, Volumes 1-5, 1979-2007
Web links
- Homepage of the Historical Commission for the Study of Pietism .
- Homepage of the Union of Evangelical Churches in the Evangelical Church in Germany
- Homepage of the Interdisciplinary Center for Pietism Research
- Homepage of the Spener letters edition of the Saxon Academy of Sciences
Individual evidence
- ↑ Regulations of the Historical Commission for Research into Pietism of November 1 , 2008 , § 1 b. In: Thilo Daniel u. a. (Ed.): Historical Commission for the Study of Pietism. History. Meetings. Projects. Publications. Church Office of the EKD, Hanover 2019, p. 7.
- ^ Gerhard Schäfer: The historical commission for the research of Pietism. In: Martin Brecht, Klaus Deppermann, Ulrich Gäbler, Hartmut Lehmann i. A. The Historical Commission for the Study of Pietism: History of Pietism. Volume 4: Beliefs and lifeworlds. Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, Göttingen 2004, pp. 673–692.
- ↑ Thilo Daniel u. ai A. of the Historical Commission for the Study of Pietism (Hrsg.): Historical Commission for the Study of Pietism. History. Meetings. Projects. Publications. Church Office of the EKD, Hanover 2019, p. 29-44 .