Johann Gottfried Bischoff
Johann Gottfried Bischoff (born January 2, 1871 in Unter-Mossau , Odenwald , † July 6, 1960 in Karlsruhe ) was Chief Apostle of the New Apostolic Church from 1930 to 1960 and thus held the highest office of this religious community. During his tenure he dogmatized the imminent expectation of the second coming of Jesus Christ and proclaimed from 1951 that the second coming of Christ would take place during his lifetime. He plunged the community into a deep crisis for decades and was therefore jointly responsible for a number of splits and church exclusions.
Beginnings
Johann Gottfried Bischoff was born the son of a bricklayer and attended elementary school until he was 14. Together with his eleven siblings, he spent his childhood in great poverty. His family was one of the few Catholic residents of Unter-Mossau. After leaving school, he learned the shoemaker's trade, but also worked in agriculture on the side.
During his military service in Mainz he got to know the Apostolic Community in 1897 and received the baptism in the Spirit (sealing) on June 20 of the same year and thus membership in this religious community. This step met with incomprehension in his family. After his discharge from military service, he stayed in Mainz and made a living from a small tobacco shop.
On January 9, 1898, he was ordained a deacon and on February 27, 1898, he was appointed priest and first head of the Mainz congregation. On behalf of his apostle Gustav Ruff, priest Bischoff already traveled to other parishes and held services there. On September 9, 1903, he was ordained bishop by the highest church leader, Chief Apostle Friedrich Krebs . Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus , who has held the post since 1905, he became in 1905 an apostle helpers and on August 12, 1906 Apostle rejected. In this office he was in charge of the communities in Central Germany and Württemberg, at times also in Baden, Alsace-Lorraine and Switzerland.
In September 1907 he married the widow Margarethe Engel in Dresden, who brought a daughter from her first marriage. The young family moved to Frankfurt am Main. The couple had their sons Friedrich (1909–1987), Ernst and Otto (1910) (the latter died shortly after birth). They also took in three orphaned foster daughters, including the mother of the future Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber . Johann G. Bischoff went into World War I as a sergeant on October 1, 1916, the then apostle Carl August Brückner described the entry of Bischoff as follows: “... oh woe to the enemies of Germany, but now the ark of the Lord had come to the German army camp, now but the fate of the enemy was sealed. ”On May 12, 1917, he was dismissed from military service again because he had reached the age limit. From 1918 onwards, Bischoff became increasingly a close confidante of Chief Apostle Niehaus.
On October 10, 1920 he ordained him in the presence of all the apostles as his helper and deputy. Four years later, on December 14, 1924, Niehaus appointed Bischoff as his successor. The Saxon apostle Carl August Brückner was originally intended for this purpose. However, since 1917 he had questioned the leadership of Niehaus, which was increasingly guided by dreams and visions, and the claim to power of the Chief Apostle's office and was expelled from the church on April 17, 1921. Together with the Saxon apostle Max Ecke, many ministers and around 6,000 members, he founded the Reformed Apostolic Congregation Association .
On September 21, 1930, Bischoff took up the post of chief apostle in a festive divine service in south-east Berlin, after Niehaus had been retired by the apostles' assembly the day before. Niehaus was in bad health because he had not recovered from a fall that he suffered in Quelle on January 25, 1930, the day after his 25th anniversary in office. The Dutch apostle van Oosbree announced in Berlin that the apostles' assembly had already decided on August 25, 1930 that Bishop should take over the office during its meeting in Holland.
After his wife's death in 1934, he married Pauline Elsässer in 1936 and moved with her to a newly built house on Bernusstrasse in Frankfurt am Main. After the death of his second wife in 1944, he married Elisabeth Hofmann for the third time in 1945.
Official activities
Together with the Apostle Carl August Brückner, Bischoff originally represented quite “free-spirited” ideas in the then New Apostolic Congregation. In 1918 he wrote to his fellow apostle: “It is a delusion to believe that Jesus only lives in the flesh of the apostle… How hard one was towards those of different faiths! How did you damn them often ?! But - it has not been considered that there are many apartments in the father's house and that God has many teachers on earth ... Unfortunately, it happens all too often that the messengers [= the apostles] are given more honor than the sender, and there we must come so that the Lord comes as the foundation and cornerstone in the right place in his work ”. In 1919/1920, however, there was a break between Bischoff and Brückner, as Bischoff moved away from Brückner's Reformation line and stuck to Chief Apostle Niehaus more, while Brückner moved away from his line.
It was customary for church members not only to trust the Chief Apostle completely, but even to see him as a direct representative of Jesus Christ on earth. This tradition stems from the times of Chief Apostle Friedrich Krebs and his later so-called "Doctrine of the New Light", which said, among other things, that the head of Jesus Christ in the Chief Apostle and Jesus Christ in the Apostle ministry became flesh. In the guard's voice from 1949, the editor of which was JG Bischoff, it said:
“Whoever wants to use this key, which is in the possession of the Chief Apostle, must have the heart of that man who can call his own the complete trust of the Son of God. Not to trust him completely and to want to resist his word only in thought means to sin against the Son of God. Whom the Father puts his trust in, like the present Chief Apostle, we poor, weak people should trust them completely. But precisely in this lies the tragedy of a crowd particularly blessed by God, that they do not know how to appreciate the most noble thing they have. "
In 1932 Chief Apostle Bischoff recommended that his District Apostles hold the “Divine Service for the Sleeping [dead]” (a special teaching of the New Apostolic Church) on Christmas Day the impression of his “message” that the funeral services should take place three times a year.
Under the leadership of Bischoff, the New Apostolic Church's first "broadcast service" took place in Reutlingen in 1946, to which the neighboring congregation was connected by post cable via sound. These new technical possibilities culminated in a church service in Frankfurt am Main in 1956, to which 196,000 members in 321 congregations were connected via post cable. In the late 1940s, Bischoff also introduced cross-district children's services in the New Apostolic Church, which are still a tradition today.
In 1928 and 1956 he visited the congregations in North America, he did not undertake further long trips. It is known from stories that he loved the fast drive in motor vehicles and that he was driven to most church services in Germany and the surrounding areas. In the war and post-war years between 1941 and 1946 his travel activities were severely restricted, so that he usually held services in Frankfurt and the surrounding area. In 1933 he appointed Heinrich Franz Schlaphoff from South Africa as Chief Apostle Helper to look after the parishioners in Africa, Australia and Asia , who, according to various accounts, either returned his office himself in 1954 or was removed from office by Chief Apostle Bishop.
After the death of the Apostle van Oosbree, appointed by Niehaus as Chief Apostle Helper, a scandal broke out in Holland in 1946. In his will, he had designated Lambertus Slok as his successor, which was rejected in Frankfurt. Instead, Bischoff placed Jan Jochems as the Dutch apostle and thus went into opposition to the Oosbree followers. The majority of the apostolic believers separated: around 25,000 followed Slok, who founded the Apostolisch Genootschap, while Bischoff just 6,000 members remained.
District elder Jakob Bitsch from Gronau near Bensheim, whose father was friends with Bischoff from their time as a soldier, had been in a conflict with the Chief Apostle since at least 1948. He criticized “the lavish lifestyle of the Bischoff family” and the authoritarian Chief Apostle system and finally split off from the New Apostolic Church in 1949 with around 21 congregations. The approximately 1000 souls united under the name "Christians of our time".
In 1949 there was an attempt to get closer between some members excluded in 1921, who belonged to the Reformed Apostolic Congregation Federation, and the New Apostolic Church. Chief Apostle JG Bischoff rejected this, already under the influence of the approaching message.
74 apostles were ordained during Bischoff's term of office, that is more apostles than in the history of the New Apostolic Church. Eight of these appointed apostles were removed from office by him and these and others were excluded from the church.
Publishing activities and "Friedrich-Bischoff-Verlag"
As early as 1918, Bischoff was regularly issuing printed circulars with sermon instructions to the officials in his work area, which from 1922 were even sent to all officials across Germany. From 1926 the circulars were called “Official Gazettes”. In November 1928, JG Bischoff, on behalf of the then Chief Apostle Niehaus, relocated the production of the writings of the New Apostolic Publishing House from Leipzig to Frankfurt. He appointed his 19-year-old son Friedrich Bischoff as managing director of the newly founded "New Apostolic House Printing" with a salary of 400 Reichsmarks. From January 1929, all of the magazines appeared in Frankfurt. Under his leadership, the books The Greatest Among Them , The Afterlife , The Completion and The Testimony of the Apostles were published between 1928 and 1933 . There have been allegations of plagiarism for the latter two works since the turn of the millennium. At least for the book The Perfection , the Church fully admitted in 2007 that it was plagiarism.
In June 1932, Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff signed a delivery contract with his son Friedrich Bischoff, which allowed the son to take over the former in-house printing of the New Apostolic Church for seven years. The Chief Apostle himself waived his salary as head of the church and lived on his literary royalties from the church's own publications. The contract for the now "Friedrich-Bischoff-Verlag" stipulated that it would be extended by five more years if it was not terminated. In 1950 the Chief Apostle extended the term until 1975 without the approval of the Apostle College. This extension was justified with a “high investment requirement” and the need for “long-term security”. The apostles college was subsequently informed. This led to discrepancies among the apostles of the New Apostolic Church. A lawyer checked the facts and found that the extension had been carried out at least legally.
On June 12, 1933, the "Deutsche Buchverlag", for which the Bischoff-Verlag was printing, was banned and Friedrich Bischoff was summoned to the Gestapo for interrogation. The reason was his close cooperation and friendly relationship with the book publisher's manager, Frank Arnau , an avowed Jewish opponent of the Nazi regime . In this situation, the church's own magazines also seemed to be in danger, so that Friedrich Bischoff applied for membership in the NSDAP. At about the same time he submitted an application for membership in the SS, which was later withdrawn.
Since December 17, 1933, the Friedrich-Bischoff-Verlag has also published the magazine “Our Family”. The first edition had to be made in good time before the prohibition of the establishment of new magazines planned by the Nazi government, since from 1934 a new magazine would no longer have been approved. The Bischoff family received this valuable tip from Frank Arnau. From that time on, National Socialist propaganda was increasingly printed in the church's own products. Likewise, a representative of the Reichsschrifttumskammer had to be forcibly employed in the publishing house. The magazines and the publishing house production were gradually discontinued during the war years from 1941 and the printing plant was forcibly leased. In 1949 the publisher resumed production.
In 1939 there was a dispute between the Swiss apostle Ernst Güttinger and Friedrich Bischoff, which could not be settled even through the influence of Chief Apostle Bischoff. Ernst Güttinger announced that the district councilors' meeting in Switzerland had decided that the publisher's Nazi-colored magazines would no longer be accepted and that the Swiss New Apostolic Church would produce its own printed matter. Although the publisher apparently had the right to deliver versions of the magazines that had been cleared of propaganda abroad, Friedrich Bischoff did not. The dispute seemed to have personal reasons as well as political implications. Ultimately, Friedrich Bischoff forbade the Swiss from using the German titles of the magazines, so that the New Apostolic Church in Switzerland published its own magazines until the 1960s. Contrary to claims in some older elaborations, according to current sources, possible export restrictions were not a reason for the cessation of deliveries to Switzerland. There are also no indications as to why JG Bischoff, as Chief Apostle, did not succeed in settling this dispute, or what his ultimate attitude to this question was.
Critics accuse the Bischoff family of wanting to enrich themselves by taking over the publishing house. In fact, the family around JG Bischoff and his son apparently achieved a great deal of wealth even in times of need.
In National Socialism
A leadership cult developed under Chief Apostles Krebs and Niehaus, who also believed that the state must be led by a leader. For this reason, nationalist thinking was quite common and was also supported by sermons or articles in print products. This was particularly evident at the time of the First World War, but even after that, Bismarck quotes in the “New Apostolic Review” were not uncommon. Niehaus wrote about the leadership culture in 1929 in the booklet “Is the Chief Apostle Office a divine institution”: “Every country has its leader. A purposeful, orderly government is also God's will and has always been in his providence. ” Or “ Without a leader chosen by God, the completion of the work of redemption is impossible. ” The transference and advocacy of the leadership cult to the New Apostolic Church also took place in another way clear, because the popular emperor's birthday song "Father, you crown with a blessing" was written for the chief apostle and apostle and sang on their birthdays.
Chief Apostle Bischoff grew up in this order and got to know the New Apostolic Church. He took over the leadership culture and still saw the duties towards the state and the authorities as an important characteristic of a New Apostolic Christian: “It is required of a New Apostolic Christian that he conscientiously fulfills his duties towards the state and authorities and that he is a valuable member of the human fellowship. ” In 1930, in“ Questions and Answers ”, a kind of catechism of the NAC, he resumed the tenth article of faith: “ I believe that the authorities of God are servants to us, and whoever opposes authority, opposes God Order because it is ordained by God ” (Romans 13)
In 1933, Bischoff had the new guidelines for the ministers of the New Apostolic Church published, it says on page 15:
“The brothers and sisters should also be particularly careful not to mention anything about politics or intervene in politics and thereby influence the siblings in any way. The NAK does not conduct any politics. "
Despite this unequivocal statement, Bischoff preached on the day of Potsdam , March 21, 1933, in a festival service about Sirach 10.5 , that now the leader sent by God had come. He had the text of the address sent to the Reich Chancellery along with many other documents . In a circular to the officials of April 25, 1933, it is said that if members of disbanded anti-state and free-thinking organizations apply for membership, in cases of doubt it will be good to “ submit the personal details of such persons to the responsible local branch of the NSDAP for verification” and only accept them afterwards the existence of a declaration of no objection from the NSDAP. On August 1, 1933, a report entitled “Our future lies in Germany” was printed in the “Frankfurter Nachrichten”. As a result, the commissioner of the NSDAP , Fritz Bischoff, said that the NAK has around 2,000 parishes with 100,000 members in Germany and most of them are National Socialists and provide their services to the government. Collections for charitable purposes are also mentioned.
On June 28, 1933, a ban on various New Apostolic congregations in Prussia brought about a radical change in the New Apostolic Church. Because of prophecies in the NAK church services in Prussia, there was misunderstanding on the part of the state and the congregations were banned. Bischoff, who, according to his own account, had noticed for 20 years that the prophecies were becoming more and more imperfect, on June 28, 1933, banned all prophecies within the New Apostolic Church.
“On the advice of the authoritative side, it is hereby ordered that the prophecies are to be completely omitted. The prophecies resulted in inconveniences and enormous misunderstandings, so that the above arrangement has proven to be necessary. "
“Today, June 28th, various congregations in Prussia reported that the New Apostolic congregations were forbidden. We then made inquiries in Berlin. It was explained to us by an authoritative body that as a result of the prophecies we would be placed in the class of Bible Students, Weissenbergers, and others. On the basis of this I have made the above arrangement with regard to these prophecies, and I ask the dear apostles to pass them on immediately for announcement in their congregations. "
He further warned in another letter that it was forbidden to express oneself derogatory about other churches in private or in worship.
In 1935 the Hebrew word “Zion” was deleted from the title of the magazine Guardian Voice from Zion . In the 1938 textbook of the NAK it was stated in response to question 172 that "the application for admission cannot be granted if the person to be admitted is in contradiction to the government, which allows the New Apostolic Church to carry out its pastoral activities."
The reasons for these changes were a sudden ban in early 1933 on all special religious communities and thus also the New Apostolic Church. Johann Gottfried Bischoff tried to build good relations with the National Socialist regime in order to lift some of the bans. According to the NAK, it was possible, with great difficulty, to reverse some of these bans. This was also pointed out by the other measures taken against the NAK: the Nazi government had charged the NAK with unusually high taxes, caring for the youth had been suppressed, the purchase of land and the construction of chapels had been refused, the victims were no longer allowed The publication of the church's own magazines had been banned, Bibles and hymn books were no longer allowed to be printed. The members of the community of Jewish descent were not repelled, but were supported in every possible way. As of September 1, 1940, according to the instructions of the Reich Minister for Church Affairs, members of the Wehrmacht were no longer allowed to be religiously cared for, so that the separated hosts were no longer sent by field post letters. Starting in 1941, the publication of all church-owned magazines was gradually banned and stopped.
Contrary to these representations, however, the NAK recorded quite a large increase in membership in Germany in the Third Reich, while other religious communities were forced to go underground.
After the end of the war, Johann Gottfried Bischoff had to evict his undamaged house and moved back to the church's own building on Sophienstrasse. Under the influence of an American member of the NAK in the occupying power, Bischoff was later allowed to move back into his house.
Post-war period - Bischoff's "message"
Origin of the "message"
As early as 1940, and then especially after the war, the wish to appoint a successor to the Chief Apostle, who was already over 65 years old, was discussed in the College of Apostles. The apostles voted among themselves in 1947 and at the first regular apostles' meeting after the war on May 21, 1948 in Frankfurt, District Apostle Peter Kuhlen from the Rhineland and Westphalia was unanimously elected as his successor in the second ballot using voting cards . He was then appointed Chief Apostle in a festive divine service on August 1, 1948 in the Oetkerhalle in Bielefeld and was to serve as Chief Apostle Helper until he took office.
In the period that followed, there were also changes to the statutes, which established a more collective church leadership through the apostles' college. The Chief Apostle and especially his son, the owner of the New Apostolic Press, did not like this and there were apparently intrigues against the designated successor Kuhlen. The Chief Apostle ordained a particularly large number of faithful apostles in 1950 and 1951, who shifted the majority in the Apostle College in his favor. In the New Apostolic press in particular, an indirect position was taken against the legitimacy of the successor, the "Official Journal" wrote on September 15, 1950:
“A number of people can express an opinion by majority vote without being one. The apostles of the Lord want to be one with the head given to them by God, just as the Son was and is one with the Father. For them there is no majority vote, no election and no voting ratio. Decisions made on such assumptions would not stand before the power of faith and would have to be rejected by all believers and faithful. ... Only people can become completely one in whom one and the same spirit rules. So if you do not fully agree with the Chief Apostle's thoughts, statements and arrangements and still have your own opinion, then - yes, there is a different spirit in those concerned. The Chief Apostle is not his head. Is it conceivable that a healthy member of a healthy body would want or would do something other than what the head wants? Can there be a different juice in a vine than in the trunk? - All of this is unthinkable in everyday experience as well as in God's work. "
This was followed by a sermon offensive in October in Württemberg. Then in November 1950 there was an article in the calendar for 1951, in which it said “that the Chief Apostle has not yet been shown a successor”. This was in open contradiction to the ordination and the work of Chief Apostle (helper) Kuhlen since 1948, who decided to resign on November 25, 1950 due to the many incidents.
At this time, there were conflicts in the communities in Saarland, which after the war were not allowed to be looked after by the German apostles because of their NSDAP membership. The Swiss apostles Ernst Güttinger and Rudolf Schneider looked after the Saarlanders for a while, but these were not accepted, especially by the German national members. Two groups formed in Saarland. When the age limit for apostles was set at 70 at the apostles' meeting on March 27, 1951, the apostles Güttinger and Schneider retired at the instigation of Chief Apostle Bischoff. Apostle Otto Güttinger from Switzerland and then Apostle Georg Schall from Württemberg took over the management at short notice without the conflicts being settled. A few months later, Apostle Chrétien Dauber from France was appointed as the new District Apostle for the Saarland, who also preached the Chief Apostle's emerging “message” with particular intensity. This intensified the fronts and the resistance, so that on December 17, 1951, over 1,200 members were expelled from the New Apostolic Church by a resolution of the Apostles' College and then the "Apostolic Congregation of the Saarland" was founded.
On Christmas Day 1951, Bischoff announced in Gießen that he would be the last Chief Apostle. Jesus will come again in his lifetime. Literally it said:
“We do not know the day and hour when the Lord will come. But I am personally convinced that the preparation of the royal priesthood will take place while I am still here ... The sign of this is that the Lord appears in my day and completes his work ... I am the last Nobody comes after me. So it is in the counsel of our God, so it is determined, and so the Lord will confirm it! "
For almost 60 years, this day was the first day of the preaching of the so-called message of JG Bischoff. For many years there have been various rumors about the emergence of the promise, which is still officially a taboo topic in the New Apostolic Church due to its non-fulfillment due to the death of the Chief Apostle in 1960. All the church's own sources were closed, and it was only in 2010 that Michael Koch, editor of the web magazine Glaubenskultur.de and member of the New Apostolic Church, delivered an initial New Apostolic elaboration and stated that the message did not arise suddenly, and consequently it was neither a revelation nor a revelation was proclaimed for the first time in Giessen. Similar approaches had already been taken in the 1950s by the split off Association of Apostolic Congregations and by Helmut Obst in his standard work Apostles and Prophets of the Modern Era , which appeared in the 1980s, or, for example, R. Stiegelmeyr in his message drafting from 2007 given.
At the beginning of Bishop's office as chief apostle, he was still clearly against a time limit for the second coming of Christ. The “Guardian Voice” printed an article on May 1, 1932: “It is not your time or hour to know… All who have dealt with it have had to experience a shameful disappointment up to now. For the children of God it is not the main thing to know when the Lord is coming ... ”But from the beginning of the 1940s he took the opinion in his sermons that the completion time had dawned, this was not an immediate doctrinal basis in the previous decades New Apostolic Church. In 1945, under the influence of the bombing raids in Germany at the end of the Second World War, he interpreted the time as the time of the pouring out of the seventh bowl of anger, of which John can be read in Revelation. From 1947, Bischoff began to preach that he would personally expect the Lord every day, but that this was his personal belief:
“I personally expect the Lord every day. I don't mean to say that it will come today, tomorrow or in 4 weeks or in 1 year or whatever; Nobody knows the day and hour. ... But nobody can hold it against me that I expect the Lord every day and adjust myself accordingly. "
However, this imminent expectation of the second coming of Christ has been a fundamental standpoint of faith since the founding of the Church and to that extent nothing special.
But he also preached:
“I'm not saying too much to you when I mention that we have various brothers and sisters, even ministers, who have already received the Lord's promise that they will no longer die but will be changed. Those are also divine promises! "
In June 1948, at a co-sermon by a minister, the Chief Apostle stated that he personally believed in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in his lifetime:
“Now I am particularly happy that you heard this once from the mouth of a district elder from another apostolic district; because when I said here and there: 'Every child of God has the right to believe that the Lord will come in the time of his earthly days,' then I was resented on various occasions and said: Yes, how can the Chief-Apostle where he is but is so old to say something as if the Lord would come in his time! I have never said: The Lord must come in my time! but rather said: I believe and hope that it will come in my time. - Every child of God may have this faith and this hope for his person. "
In the following years he relativized the statements that the Lord had to come in his lifetime. It is only his personal belief, said Bischoff, but he left every believer free to believe this as well: “I have never taught that the Lord should do that. To believe that the Lord is coming in our time, nobody can forbid us and is not forbidden, because those who have a goal in mind prepare accordingly. ”At that time, the church's own magazine“ The Official Gazette - Monthly for the ministers of the New Apostolic Church “by articles believing in the imminent return of Christ.
In October 1950, the Apostle Gottfried Rockenfelder from Wiesbaden, freshly appointed by JG Bischoff, preached for the first time that he had the rock-solid conviction “that God, our Lord, will keep us the Chief Apostle until the glorious morning of the first resurrection.” M. Koch wrote in the Elaboration on this: "It is the first time that such a conviction is openly represented: God will receive the Chief Apostle until Jesus comes to rapture his own."
From October 1, 1950, in numerous church services in southern Germany, Bischoff preached his conviction that the Lord would come in his time and that most of the believers would no longer die. In the church's own calendar for 1951, Bischoff's firm view was published for the first time throughout the church. The many statements, however, did not remain without effect, so the Chief Apostle relativized his conviction in February 1951 during a divine service in Stuttgart:
“My dear brothers and sisters, I would like to briefly mention here: nobody knows the day and the hour. ... But because we do not know that, therefore, at least for my person, I kept to the words of Jesus, in which he said: 'Watch, for you do not know what hour your Lord will come' (Matt. 24:42 ). … I expect the Lord every day! I have announced this often enough in church services and also in my writings, and every apostolic child of God has the right to believe it. I also believe that the Lord Jesus will come in my lifetime. But I didn't say that it had to come in time, I believe that it will come in my lifetime. I do not believe this on the basis of a dream or any other cause, but here too only his word is authoritative for me. "
This quote is also remarkable in that Bischoff said that he did not have a dream or any other formative event. In the following weeks, JG Bischoff fluctuated in his sermons between massive sermons of his conviction that the Lord would come to his lifetime and the relativization of that. In the fall of 1951, ten weeks before the actual so-called “message service”, Bischoff preached:
“I said months ago, I believe the Lord will come in my lifetime. When I said that, the waves of disbelief went up and the language became loud: How can he say such a thing, he is a mortal person just like the others! But that didn't change my conviction. If it pleases the good Lord that he sends his son in my time to take his own, who will prevent that? "
The Chief Apostle now increasingly justified his view with the many experiences and letters from church members who had corresponding inspirations and stories. As a result, the content of many of the Chief Apostle's sermons shifted away from Bible exegesis to retelling the dreams and visions of others who were supposed to testify to the truth of the “message”. In the following Christmas service in Gießen in 1951, at the beginning of the service the Chief Apostle was referred to by means of a poem as the one who would bring the bride home. This tendency led through the service and ended with the statement: “I am the last one, nobody comes after me. So it is in the counsel of our God, so it is determined, and so the Lord will confirm it! "
However, neither in the internal proclamation nor in the reporting in the magazine “Our Family” in March 1952 or in the “Guardian Voice” of April 1952 was this service mentioned as something outstanding, nor was the word “message” mentioned. In the following services, JG Bischoff also did not consistently advocate his view in every service. In an official service in Frankfurt in spring 1952, Bischoff read a few letters from members describing experiences and dreams that underpinned his convictions. The service therefore consisted only of a short introduction and reading the letters. It cannot be clearly read from this or many other services how JG Bischoff had gained his conviction. Once he spoke of a revelation, another time of several revelations or of a personal appearance through Jesus Christ. Allegedly, Bischoff should not even have told family members how he received the supposed revelation.
According to current sources, Apostle Friedrich Bischoff spoke of a message for the first time in April 1952, albeit not yet in retrospect on December 25, 1951: “When someone like that hears the 'message': 'Now the time has come for the Lord appears! ' and he would then say, 'I can't quite believe that, I can't believe it; How does the Chief Apostle come to preach such a thing? 'Is the obedience of faith complete? No, [...]. "
The “embassy time” and its consequences
The imminent expectation of the second coming of Christ was now even organizationally embedded, because in June 1952 Bischoff himself postponed the worship service, which takes place every year on the first Sunday in November, to July 6, 1952, because he was of the opinion that the Lord would come before November. Since then, the New Apostolic Church has been celebrating the worship service three times a year.
In a service on July 13, 1952 in Stuttgart-Süd, JG Bischoff himself spoke of "his message", which he preached on Christmas 1951. According to current sources, this service is considered to be the actual hour of birth of the "Message of JG Bischoff". Only from now on was the 1951 Christmas service the focus.
In the districts the message was initially passed on or preached with a certain tolerance. In the following years, however, this became more and more important within the NAK. Among other things, admissions to the NAK, the so-called seals , and appointments to the New Apostolic offices from September 1954 should be made dependent on the acceptance of the message. Later this also applied to other church activities. The proclamation of the “message” consequently resulted in a New Apostolic status confessionis . Officials were repeatedly urged through the so-called Official Gazette to clearly represent the “message”.
Separation of Bischoff and the NAK
From 1953 onwards, two fronts emerged in the New Apostolic Church, the advocates of the message and members and offices loyal to the Chief Apostle, as well as the message critics and reformers. The two groups formed across all social and official levels in the Church. The hot time of the resistances lasted three years.
Around 1000 parishioners and senior officials in Switzerland opposed the “embassy pressure” and were expelled in 1954, including the apostle Otto Güttinger, who founded the Association of Apostolic Christians with his father, the former apostle Ernst Güttinger .
From 1953 onwards, the message was rejected in South Africa, even with the tolerance of Chief Apostle Helper HF Schlaphoff, who was responsible for Africa, Asia and Australia. In South Africa in 1954 the apostles Philipus Jacobus Erasmus and Daniel Carel Smuts Malan were removed from office and excluded from the New Apostolic Church. According to various sources, Chief Apostle Helper Schlaphoff is said to have either returned his office himself after a trip to Europe or was removed from office by a telegram.
From 1954, the Netherlands held a special position. There the Hersteld Apostolic Zendinggemeente in de Eenheid der Apostelen existed , so to speak the Dutch branch of the New Apostolic Church, under the direction of District Apostle Gerrit Kamphuis. However, the latter did not preach Bishop's message sufficiently, so that Apostle Walter Schmidt, with the approval of the Chief Apostle, founded the Nieuw-Apostolische Kerk in Nederland (New Apostolic Church in the Netherlands) from Germany on April 1, 1954. It can be assumed that this happened on the initiative of the Dutch Bishop Beil and some members. In the newly founded community there was now the faction loyal to the bishop, which in the beginning comprised 21 parishes and around 1,070 members. So there were two different New Apostolic churches in the Netherlands at the same time.
In Germany, the first open disputes arose from 1954, most of which took place in the field of work of Apostle Peter Kuhlen, who was formerly ordained as Chief Apostle. In January 1955 in particular, scandalous scenes occurred in church services around Düsseldorf, for example on January 9, 1955 in Horrem, when the Apostle Dehmel was received with great rejection: “At the same time, everyone else in the congregation rose up and sent themselves off to leave the room. Individual threats against the apostle were expressed in that they too stood out in a threatening position in front of the altar. Bad names like: You are a liar, a deceiver, etc. the apostle had to put up with ... "Some shouted:" We don't want to have anything more to do with you, we are only connected to the Chief Apostle. "There is also tradition from Switzerland that after 1951 there was denunciation in the German-speaking area against alleged "embassy doubters" and tumults on the fringes of church services. The Rhenish District Apostle Peter Kuhlen and his two fellow apostles Dehmel and Dunkmann were removed from office on January 23, 1955 and expelled from the New Apostolic Church. With them went about 15,000 members. Some of the excluded founded new communities such as the Apostolic Community or the Association of Apostolic Christians in Switzerland, which joined forces in 1956 in Düsseldorf with other, previously excluded communities to unite Apostolic Congregations. In the NAK they were henceforth referred to as "doubters, right-wing people and loners".
In Württemberg, too, especially in the Heilbronn and Stuttgart area, there were disputes between 1953 and 1955, which almost led to another split in the church. As early as February 1954, the District Apostle division received an additional District Apostle, Gotthilf Volz, although Georg Schall was still in office. Bischoff worried about whether Schall would preach the message reliably enough. At that time Heilbronn was considered the center of the conflict, there the responsible bishop Wilhelm Pfäffle refused entry to the apostle Wilhelm Jaggi at a district office meeting because he and his officials were of the opinion that the apostle would not adequately preach the message. Instead, the assembly demanded District Elder Georg Thomas as apostle. He was ordained a short time later, and with him five bishops and two district elders. During the ordination service, Chief Apostle Bischoff addressed the disputes and asked for “the gap to be closed”. Nevertheless, the riot in Württemberg did not end, not even after Bischoff had visited the district again in late 1955 and clearly called for an end to the "brotherly dispute". On November 18, 1955, a district office meeting in Stuttgart-Süd took place in an act that was unique in the New Apostolic Church to calm the matter down. Apostle Walter Schmidt held the meeting with Apostle Friedrich Bischoff, discussed the disputes without further ado and demanded a fresh start. He asked each ministerial group to stand up and make a vow:
“First of all I would like to ask the dear bishops to get up. If you now confirm before God's face that you willingly put yourselves in the service of the Chief Apostle of the District Apostles and exalt them, walking hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder with them, and if you now vow that what is behind, that will disappear, it is not to be touched again, and if you vow that this matter will never be touched again, then confirm it with a yes. "
All ministers vowed to let the past rest, to follow the Chief Apostle and to remain silent about the matter in the future. This divine service report was handed over to all officials in southern Germany a few weeks later.
Loyalty to the bishop and the prime of the NAK
Chief Apostle Bischoff's reputation grew among those who stayed. In the magazine “Our Family” it was stated on September 15, 1959 in a report about the appearance of the Chief Apostle:
“The Chief Apostle has entered the hall with his company. We cannot see it yet, but we sense that an event of unearthly importance has now begun. A single movement lies over the assembled crowd, celestial forces have dissolved and flood through the room. "
On December 1st of the same year it read:
"There is no human being on earth through whom divinity comes as close to us as through the Chief Apostle ..."
Despite the church exclusions, the Bishop's era was one of the heyday of the New Apostolic Church, the magazine Der Spiegel reported on the New Apostolic Church on September 14, 1960: Bishop's message even won new members to the New Apostolic Congregation - mostly Christians who had belonged to regional Protestant churches. In April of this year (1960) alone 13,000 people expecting the end of the day attended the pre-Easter service in Berlin's Deutschlandhalle, in which Bischoff announced: "We are comforted by the knowledge that the Son of God is coming at our time and takes us to himself."
The further dogmatization of the message led to rash actions by some church members. Apprenticeships or study places were no longer taken up, the fields were not tilled or belongings were given away because the imminent return of Christ was imminent. The firm belief in the imminent second coming changed the social life of many members, because it was important to be prepared for the day of Jesus Christ. Too many earthly bonds and joys would, according to the beliefs of the time, have prevented the possibility of participating in the goal of faith. This fear of lack of worthiness also shaped the upbringing of children and young people at that time. It was not uncommon for children and adolescents to grow up isolated from their own kind or to live in fear of being left alone after their parents were brought home on Judgment Day. This fear was further stoked with statements such as: “The Lord sees everything, hears everything and knows everything!”. In particular, dropouts from the New Apostolic Church reported such psychological pressures in various media in the 1990s.
A parishioner, born in 1913, reported in the magazine "Spirit":
“The knowledge that the Lord is coming was firmly anchored in our souls. When Chief Apostle Bishop announced: 'The Lord let me know that I will not die, but that the Lord Jesus will come in my lifetime', that was a law for us. Like an established law: The Lord is coming now. ... You clung to the period. The Chief Apostle was already over 80 at the time. From then on, every year people thought that the Lord would come this year. "
In addition to the later District Apostle Friedrich Bischoff, the most important supporters of the message were in particular Apostle Gottfried Rockenfelder and the later Chief Apostles Walter Schmidt and Ernst Fahrtisen . Opinion leaders of the internal criticism of the dogmatization were, among others, the resigned Chief Apostle Helper Peter Kuhlen and the Swiss Apostle Otto Güttinger, who were excluded from the NAK due to their open distance from the proclamation of the message.
Death of Bischoff and the failure to fulfill the promise
On April 18, 1960, JG Bischoff suffered a sudden heart disease in his home in Frankfurt am Main. A doctor called the next day certified the family that Bischoff could never travel again. Bischoff took prescribed medication and did not follow the doctor's instructions because he was still firmly convinced that the Lord would come in his time. So his condition worsened until he finally agreed to the New Apostolic doctor Dr. To visit Walter Gorenflos in Karlsruhe. On July 5, 1960, Bishop confirmed to the future Chief Apostle Walter Schmidt that the promise would continue to exist. On Wednesday evening, July 6, 1960, Johann Gottfried Bischoff died in the arms of his foster daughter Gretel Jacob on the way to sleep.
A general meeting of the "Apostles College of the New Apostolic Congregations of Germany eV" was hastily called for July 7th in Frankfurt am Main, in which 17 German and one French apostles took part. They appointed District Apostle Walter Schmidt from North Rhine-Westphalia as the new Chief Apostle, although Bischoff's "message" clearly did not provide for a successor. He was formally elected only at an apostles' meeting in autumn, as the election in Frankfurt was not a quorum according to the statutes. Critics claim that this second election was also not in accordance with the statutes because the required 3/4 majority was allegedly not present, but so far there is no evidence for this claim. In a letter to the New Apostolic congregations, the prophecy that did not come true and the death of Bishop is explained as follows: God has " changed his will for inexplicable reasons " ... With the death of the Chief Apostle, God wants to “heal all believers and give them a grace period to prepare grant to the second coming of Jesus Christ ”. In the only biography of JG Bischoff, which was published by the church's own publishing house, it says:
“Why what, according to human understanding, would have been the logical consequence after the death of Chief Apostle Bishop, did not happen is one of the many miracles our Heavenly Father did and continues to do to his children. ... JG Bischoff's belief that the Lord would come again in his lifetime was not a consequence of his old age and also not a pious wishful thinking, but a firmly established one. We do not know why the message was not fulfilled. "
The magazine "Der Spiegel" described the time after Bischoff's death as follows: "The majority felt as if they were struck by the head - and now they don't want to believe anything at all ..."
A report from a church member, born in 1913:
“The first few days, you didn't see anyone you met who didn't stop and cry. I can't tell you what tears have flowed there. ... And maybe in many siblings there are also doubtful questions. ... There were some brothers and sisters who stopped coming to church, but it was a small percentage. … We knew from day one: And if he did go home, the Lord would come anyway and take us home. Nobody could do anything about this fact. We were just firmly rooted there. ... We were then told that the Lord can change His plan. He changed it at Hezekiah, etc. And if one then dealt with this thought, one could understand that the Lord also allowed this death to take place here to test his people. "
The death of the Chief Apostle, which came as a surprise to many members of the New Apostolic Church, led to a kind of spiritual and organizational silence. In the period that followed, many officials were unable to enter the service. The now new chief apostle also renounced the ordination of new apostles for several years because the near return of Christ was still expected. Furthermore, he forbade a discussion with outsiders about the message, his motto was: “We keep silent and go our own way.” The New Apostolic Church sank into a rigidity and did not allow external influences and social developments to penetrate the organization. Chief Apostle Schmidt rejected the invitation of the World Council of Churches to hold talks in 1963 . This led to further discussions being broken off for decades.
Despite the non-fulfillment of the message, the thousands of excluded members and officials were not asked to apologize or to cancel their expulsions from the church. Instead, for the most part, they continued to be viewed as outcasts and unbelievers. The leading minister, District Apostle Hermann Engelauf from Westphalia, was an exception.He was in close contact with Apostle Peter Kuhlen and his family from 1955 until his death in 2011. This former successor in the chief apostle office and then Apostle Kuhlen, who was then excluded from the NAK, wrote after Bischoff's death:
“But as much as it is regrettable that the once flourishing New Apostolic Church experiences such a collapse, after the development that the New Apostolic Church had taken in teaching, leadership and methods in recent years, the collapse of a building has now occurred that had become rotten in many ways. We even recognize in it the ruling hand of God, which had to withdraw its blessing from those who have caused so much sadness in his name. "
Kurt Hutten, then the sect representative of the EZW , wrote in an article in the material service of the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauung questions :
“According to all reports, the mental crisis triggered by Bischoff's death only lasted a very short time. After a few days the believers had recovered ... They succeeded. The New Apostolic Community remained a firmly established unit and withstood all advances from church and other sides ... From numerous reports from parish priests the same picture emerges again and again: There was no shock. The New Apostolics carry their heads up again and feel as safe and superior as ever. Any attempt to start a conversation with them about the questions raised by Bischoff's death will bounce off or be answered with the arguments contained in the word of the Apostles' College. "
Later dealing with the topic
Until the turn of the millennium there was no critical examination of the message and the lack of fulfillment. In many historical elaborations or textbooks for the church's own teaching of children, the painful events were only inadequately or not at all mentioned.
Chief Apostle Richard Fehr stated in an interview in 1996, also in response to the increasing confrontations by dropouts, that the question of why the message had not been fulfilled “could not ultimately be explained with the mind”, but this could “be explained by their divine [n] Character ”He invited several apostolic religious communities, which had their origins in the New Apostolic Church, to a meeting in Zurich called a“ council ”in 2000 and 2001. This meeting was the beginning of a first rapprochement between the excluded and the NAK.
The later (2005 to 2013) Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber (married to a granddaughter of Bischoff and himself the son of a niece of Bischoff) also commented on the message in an interview with the magazine idea Spektrum in 2006 and said: "The subject is no longer a dogma , everyone can form their own judgment about it. ”He said personally that Bischoff had received a message from God, but possibly misinterpreted it.
The first official apologies for dealing with skeptics at the time, not for the embassy itself, and attempts to get closer to the embassy time were formulated in 2005/2006 in Switzerland and Saarland. Furthermore, church service visits began again in the NAK by members of the Apostolic Congregation of Saarland.
Up until 2007, the New Apostolic Church never comprehensively dealt with the embassy crisis and its consequences. A review of history presented by the NAK in December 2007 was described as one-sided and unscientific by internal and external critics amid clear protests. A connection between the divisions in Saarland, South Africa , the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany with the “embassy” was fundamentally negated. The approaches and discussions between the NAK and the Association of Apostolic Congregations (VAG) were interrupted due to the drafting of the VAG. The New Apostolic Church only officially commented on the allegations four months later:
“In a letter that the head of the New Apostolic Church, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, has published in today's issue of the church magazine“ Our Family ”(issue 6/2008), he apologizes for the“ injuries ”that this evening caused. It was not his intention to hurt anyone, said the Chief Apostle. "In retrospect, we have to state that we did not expect such reactions in the run-up to this evening." The lecture was intended as a factual examination of the past, emotions and feelings should remain largely unaffected. "
During the divine service for the European Youth Day of the New Apostolic Church (EYD) in 2009, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber made a gesture of reconciliation to members of the Association of Apostolic Congregations who were present before the Lord's Supper. The church president said, among other things, in front of 42,000 worshipers and the television audience:
“I would like to admit that in public without going into detail: Yes, mistakes have also been made on our part, on the part of the New Apostolic Church. We reach out for reconciliation. "
This statement is one of the first public attempts at reconciliation of the international church leadership with the excluded communities since the separation. A survey of contemporary witnesses led by the Chief Apostle on what happened during the embassy in 2009 was published on the Internet and in the magazine “Our Family”. Critics complained that the survey was not conducted independently and that church members might not have expressed themselves openly in the presence of the Chief Apostle.
The pressure on the church leadership did not decrease in the following time, voices were raised from internal and external circles demanding a clear apology and the revocation of the history work. The detailed work was at least removed from the New Apostolic Church's website in 2010 due to public pressure from NAK critic Albrecht Schröter . Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber said:
“On the 50th anniversary of Chief Apostle Bischoff's death, I want to send another sign of reconciliation. Although the overall view of the years 1938–1955 worked out by the history group is still an important part of our own history, it should not remain a bone of contention. We meant well and made an assessment based on archival material. Nevertheless, I do not want to maintain a permanent rift with the other apostolic communities, but rather achieve an understanding among all those involved about these difficult years. Obviously that will only work if we remove the elaboration from the Internet without replacement. "
Also in 2010, on October 3, during the divine service in Frankfurt-West on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of JG Bischoff's death, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber received his first words of apology, but these statements were not later made public. The news agency "Our Family Online" reported:
"I am of the opinion that things must also be addressed," said Wilhelm Leber expressly on the message of Chief Apostle Bischoff, who died in 1960: his announcement that the Lord Jesus would come again in his own lifetime. Initially, the head of the church at that time expressly gave parishioners the freedom to share their belief in it, he quoted church services. Unfortunately, it came to a head later, Chief Apostle Leber added: The manifestation of faith was made a condition for appointments and seals. "That was not good." This meant that the message was given far too high a priority. He regrets it when believers have been turned away or restricted in their way of life. "I apologize to those concerned." "
The Apostles and Bishops of the Apostolic Communities in Europe welcomed the "positive development in dealing with the message".
External investigations, for example in the context of the work in the network of Apostolic History or the above. extensive work by M. Koch, led to new knowledge about the origin and spread of dogma. Accordingly, the message and the alleged vision of JG Bischoff developed through influences in the circle of the Apostles, as well as through leaked dreams and visions of individual members. On the basis of the historical research results, it can even be assumed that it was specifically promoted by the Chief Apostle's environment in order to make it impossible for unpopular apostles to follow suit.
Critics and parts of the church base continue to demand a revocation of the message and a public request for an apology from the church leader of the New Apostolic Church. Other parts of the church base want to finally let the chapter rest or have formed their own opinion on it. The message and its consequences continue to shape the New Apostolic Church 50 years after the death of Chief Apostle Bishop.
In May 2013, shortly before his retirement, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber wrote a letter to the German-speaking congregations. In it he states that Chief Apostle Bishop most likely received the message through a vision and first proclaimed it in 1951. Leber does not reflect the emergence of the message according to the scientific findings and historical evidence, but uses the opinion of the NAK that has been represented for decades. In the letter, Leber also speaks of the fact that the message had no biblical basis and that a dogma should not have been attached to a vision of a Chief Apostle. He therefore emphasizes that the New Apostolic Church no longer insists that the message was a divine revelation. In the statement, Chief Apostle Leber also stated that the statement of the College of Apostles in 1960 that God had changed his will was not biblically tenable. Chief Apostle Leber regrets that members had to suffer from the message and left the church, but does not include those who were excluded by the thousands from the church leadership:
“It is important to me to ask forgiveness from those who have suffered under the message of Chief Apostle Bishop or even turned away from the Church. I regret the hardships and doubts that many were exposed to. "
The New Apostolic Church has kept the research report Apostolic and New Apostolic Christians in dealing with the “message” under lock and key until today.
Today's assessment of the message
Introduced by the former Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, a joint declaration of the New Apostolic Church and the Apostolic Church on reconciliation was signed in a ceremony on November 29, 2014 in the church of the Apostolic Congregation in Düsseldorf. The purpose of this was to “clarify and reconcile with one another and to go into the future with mutual respect”. With reference to the message, it says in extracts:
“From the theological point of view, every message of God has to be fulfilled in principle. Since the message was not fulfilled - Chief Apostle Bischoff died in 1960 - the assessment can be inferred that it was not a divine revelation. It should not have found its way into teaching and preaching in this form. "
Furthermore, in this official paper of the church leadership you can find the apology of the New Apostolic Church to the ministers excluded from the church because of these events as well as to all who were affected by it.
Helmut Obst sees the incidents surrounding the “message” as a unique historical case study that underlines the special character of the New Apostolic faith in the self-sacrificing loyalty to the church office (see also the previous dogma of obedience to faith ). If the NAK had been characterized by an “intellectual-dogmatic belief” of the second coming of Christ (cf. biblical pietism ), according to him the historical episode would have ended in a “catastrophe”.
Reasons for the creation of the "message"
The historian Dominik Schmolz names three hypotheses on contextual factors that could have favored the development of the message:
- World political context: The bombing war against Germany in the later years of World War II, the widespread fear of nuclear weapons and the outbreak of the Cold War , and with it the expectation of a new world war , favored end-time beliefs in the early post-war period . That this was reflected in New Apostolic sermons is suggested, among other things, by testimonies from Chief Apostle Bischoff and the records of the State Security of the GDR .
- Ecclesiastical political context: The internal dispute about the direction that began immediately after the end of the war was seen by Bischoff as a divine sign of the times, which was associated with the prophecies and warnings in the letter to the Christian community of Laodicea from the Revelation of John ; allegedly another sign that the time until Christ's return is "fulfilled". Michael Koch also indicates this level, since, according to his research, obvious antipathies between the various conflicting parties in the post-war period and the situation around the church publishing house owned by the Bischoff family would have played a decisive role.
- Personal context: This includes Bischoff's confrontational approach to dissent and a noticeable reluctance to face death. According to Schmolz, the data does not reveal a single funeral service by Bischoff after 1948, which contemporary witnesses would have interpreted as a personal 'fear of death'. According to Schmolz, various quotes from Bischoff also speak in favor of the latter, in which the reverse conclusion from his “message”, consequently not to die any more, is prominently revealed. This could have led Bischoff to assume insignificant damage to the church in the event of his error and to aggressively demand belief in the “message”.
“If the Lord took me away from this earth before He came, it would not be a catastrophe for God's work; In the worst case scenario, it could be a disappointment for some. "
Helmut Obst suspects that the “message” was created with the intention of Chief Apostle Bischoff to get rid of Peter Kuhlen's succession without losing face and with divine legitimation. This is supported by, among other things, Bischoff's statement from 1953, according to which he was pressured to ordain Kuhlen against his will and without divine legitimation. Wilhelm Parzich, former NAK priest and in 1952 significantly involved in the schism of the Apostolic Congregation of Saarland , even went so far as to present the “message” as an invention of Friedrich Bischoff, who is said to have tried to gain his own claims to power and advantageous financial relationships with the church publishing house to protect against internal critics like Peter Kuhlen. In a report to the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR on the occasion of a church service on December 28, 1956 in Halle an der Saale , the author expresses that contemporary NAK members attributed the "message" to an alleged, mental confusion of the very old bishop.
See also
literature
- Peter Kuhlen: Events in the New Apostolic Church that led to the founding of the Apostolic Congregation Self-published, no year, probably around 1955, no ISBN
- Manifesto about the conditions and tendencies in the New Apostolic Congregation without an author, self-published / Switzerland, no year, no ISBN
- Herbert Schmidt: The Truth , self-published, no year, probably 1960s, no ISBN
- Kurt Hutten: seer - brooder - enthusiast ; 1982
- Karl E. Siegel: The message of JG Bischoff: A critical examination of one of the end-time messages of Lachesis 1994, ISBN 978-3-980407-60-1
- Susanne Scheibler: Johann Gottfried Bischoff Friedrich Bischoff Verlag Frankfurt, 1997 edition, without ISBN
- Helmut Obst: Apostles and Prophets of the Modern Age Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2000, 4th edition, ISBN 3-525-55439-7
- Network of Apostolic History: The Church on the Way - the Apostolic Communities through the 20th Century. (with contribution to the message of JG Bischoff by M. Koch) Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-939291-06-0
- Rudolf J. Stiegelmeyer: The tragic legacy of JG Bischoff: The message turns 60 , Books on Demand 2011, ISBN 978-3844809992
Web links
- Literature by and about Johann Gottfried Bischoff in the catalog of the German National Library
- The Chief Apostle went home. Article about JG Bischoff on a New Apostolic congregation website
- Jesus again in the center of expectation Article about the message from today's perspective on naktuell.de
- Chief Apostle Bischoff's message Document archive, available online
- Message from Chief Apostle JG Bischoff Statement from Chief Apostle Richard Fehr from 1998 on nak-wissen.de
- NAKI presents church history report on the information evening of the NAK 2007 on christ-im-dialog.de
- On the origin and effects of the message by Chief Apostle JG Bischoff (PDF file; 1.07 MB) Lecture on the message topic, given by members of the VAG and NAK in Bielefeld-Sennestadt
- Memories of Chief Apostle JG Bischoff (PDF file; 64 kB) Lead article in the magazine "Our Family" from June 20, 2010 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of JG Bischoff
- The dream of one who went out to preach his message ... Essay on the message of JG Bischoff by R. Stiegelmeyr
- List of all apostles of the New Apostolic Church with additional data on apwiki.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Witlof: By night to light Dresden 1921, page 91
- ^ Divine service report from September 21, 1930 in Southeast Berlin
- ↑ Kurt Hutten: seer - brooder - enthusiast ; 1982; P. 502
- ↑ JG Bischoff [Hrsg.]: Wächterstimme , 48th volume no. 1, October 1, 1949, p. 4
- ^ Günter Knobloch and Walter Drave: Das Entlafenenwesen , Zurich 1986, self-published, without ISBN
- ↑ Michael Koch: "Diverging tendencies in the NAK of the post-war years" 2011, accessed on December 23, 2011 at Glaubenskultur.de ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
- ^ Minutes of the apostles' meeting of August 2, 1948 in Quelle near Bielefeld
- ↑ Kurt Hutten: Seher Grübler Enthusiasten Stuttgart 1958, p. 642
- ^ JG Bischoff: Letter to the Apostles of September 2, 1949, p. 4
- ↑ apwiki.de - Apostles of the New Apostolic Church
- ↑ nak.org - Statement on plagiarism allegations on the Internet (PDF file; 56 kB)
- ↑ Andreas Rother: "History of Friedrich Bischoff Verlag", presented on October 2, 2011 in Frankfurt am Main on the occasion of a lecture event of the Network Apostolic History, based on a master's thesis from the 1980s and unpublished sources that had not been published until 2011.
- ↑ see also: The Spiritual Trust Council: Spiritual leadership for the German Evangelical Church on books.google.de
- ↑ Questions and Answers about the New Apostolic Faith , Ed. Apostelkollegium 1930, Question 254
- ^ "Frankfurter Nachrichten" of August 1, 1933
- ^ Arthur Landgraf: Circular No. 174 / Leipzig, June 30, 1933
- ^ Arthur Landgraf: Circular No. 180 / Leipzig, July 20, 1933
- ↑ Kurt Hutten: seer - brooder - enthusiast ; 1982; P. 477
- ↑ naki.org: History of the New Apostolic Church ( 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.
- ^ Susanne Scheibler: Johann Gottfried Bischoff Friedrich Bischoff Verlag Frankfurt am Main, 1997 edition, page 65 ff
- ^ "Official Journal" of September 15, 1950
- ↑ Dominik Schmolz: Brief history of the New Apostolic Church . 1st edition. Edition Punctum Saliens, Steinhagen 2013, p. 131-145 .
- ↑ Herbert Schmidt: The Truth , self-published, no date, probably 1960s
- ^ Minutes of the members' meeting of the Apostles College of the New Apostolic Church on December 17, 1951
- ↑ Peter Kuhlen: Events in the NAK that led to the foundation of the Apostolic Church ; P. 48; [no place, no year]
- ↑ The emergence of the dogma that the Lord would come during Johann Gottfried Bischoff's lifetime - A reflection of the years 1945–1952 by Miachel Koch in Church on the Way - the apostolic communities in the course of the 20th century , Edition Punctum Saliens , Bielefeld 2009 ISBN 978- 3-939291-06-0
- ↑ "The Birth of a Myth", elaboration series published on Glaubenskultur.de ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Helmut Obst: Apostles and Prophets of Modern Times Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2000, 4th edition, ISBN 3-525-55439-7
- ↑ Message article by Rudolf Stieglmeyr from 2007 as PDF
- ^ Material service of the EZW, Volume 19, 1956, Number 3, page 30
- ^ Report on the divine service held by Chief Apostle Bishop on May 20, 1945
- ^ Report on the divine service held by Chief Apostle Bischoff on May 25, 1947 in Stuttgart-Süd
- ^ Divine service on June 22, 1947 in Dinslaken. Quoted from “Letter from the Apostles, Bishops and District Elders of the Apostle District Düsseldorf to Chief Apostle JG Bischoff”, Düsseldorf, January 6, 1955
- ^ Report on the divine service held by Chief Apostle Bischoff on June 27, 1948 in Frankfurt-Southwest
- ↑ Bread of Life - Journal for the Promotion of the Faith of the New Apostolic Congregations in Switzerland , Volume 9, No. 20 of October 15, 1948, page 154, Ed .: New Apostolic Congregations of Switzerland
- ↑ Report on the divine service held by Chief Apostle Bischoff on August 13, 1950 in Bochum (afternoon)
- ↑ The emergence of the dogma that the Lord would come during Johann Gottfried Bischoff's lifetime - A reflection of the years 1945–1952 by Michael Koch in Church on the Way - the apostolic communities in the course of the 20th century. Page 186, Edition Punctum Saliens , Bielefeld 2009 ISBN 978-3-939291-06-0
- ↑ Report on the ministry service on Sunday afternoon, February 18, 1951, held by Chief Apostle Bischoff in Stuttgart-Süd, to which some of the women and ministerial brothers were invited.
- ^ Report on the divine service on Sunday morning, October 14, 1951, held by Chief Apostle Bischoff in Munich
- ↑ Dominik Schmolz: Brief history of the New Apostolic Church . 1st edition. Edition Punctum Saliens, Steinhagen 2013, p. 131-145 .
- ^ "Official Journal", special issue of June 8, 1952
- ^ Divine service on March 16, 1952 in Ulm
- ^ Divine service on March 17th in Stuttgart-Süd
- ^ "Guardian Voice" of April 15, 1955
- ^ Susanne Scheibler: Johann Gottfried Bischoff Friedrich Bischoff Verlag Frankfurt am Main, 1997 edition, page 100
- ^ Report on the divine service on Easter Sunday afternoon, April 13, 1952, held by Chief Apostle Bischoff in Tübingen aN
- ↑ Manifesto about the conditions and tendencies in the New Apostolic Congregation , Otto Güttinger, Zofingen 1954, page 41
- ^ New Apostolic Church: The NAK from 1938 to 1955, developments and problems ; Zurich 2007; P. 37
- ↑ Dominik Schmolz: Brief history of the New Apostolic Church . 1st edition. Edition Punctum Saliens, Steinhagen 2013, p. 159-175 .
- ^ The message of JG Bischoff, Karl-Eugen Siegel
- ↑ Annual statistics of the Nieuw-Apostolische Kerk in Nederland for 1954
- ↑ Edwin Diersmann: You should recognize them by their fruits. , Rediroma-Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-940450-20-3
- ↑ Events in the New Apostolic Church that led to the foundation of the Apostolic Congregation o. O., o. J.
- ↑ Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber comments on the “message”. In: New Apostolic Church International (NACI). Retrieved January 31, 2015 .
- ^ Otto Güttinger: Manifesto on the conditions and tendencies in the New Apostolic Congregation. (PDF) Union of Apostolic Christians Switzerland, 1954, p. 24 , accessed on August 29, 2019 .
- ↑ Volker Knowledge: Called to Freedom - A Portrait of the Association of Apostolic Congregations and their Member Churches Re Di Roma-Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-86870-030-5
- ↑ Michael Koch: Embassy time: How Württemberg narrowly escaped the split faith culture 2007, accessed on December 20, 2011: www.glaubenskultur.de ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Report on the ministerial meeting on Sunday afternoon, February 21, 1954, held by Chief Apostle Bischoff in the Stuttgart-Süd church for the ministers of the Apostle District Stuttgart
- ^ Kuhlen, Peter: Thoughts on the message of Chief Apostle JG Bischoff… , Düsseldorf 1955; P. 15f.
- ^ Report on the meeting of offices for the district offices of Württemberg, held by Apostle Walter Schmidt on Friday evening, November 18, 1955, in Stuttgart-Süd with the participation of Apostle F. Bischoff
- ↑ spiegel.de - The last one
- ↑ Horst Hartmann: In the world, but not from the world. The children of God of the New Apostolic Church. Books on Demand 2000, ISBN 978-3831104994
- ^ "Spirit" edition 04/2003, Friedrich Bischoff Verlag Frankfurt am Main
- ^ Susanne Scheibler: Johann Gottfried Bischoff Friedrich Bischoff Verlag Frankfurt am Main, 1997 edition, page 117 f
- ^ Susanne Scheibler: Johann Gottfried Bischoff Friedrich Bischoff Verlag Frankfurt am Main, 1997 edition, page 119 f
- ↑ spiegel.de - The last one
- ^ "Spirit" edition 04/2003, Friedrich Bischoff Verlag Frankfurt am Main
- ↑ Kurt Hutten: Seher, Grübler, Enthusiasten Stuttgart 1981, page 512
- ↑ nak.org - New Apostolic Church and Ecumenism (PDF file; 93 kB)
- ↑ Peter Kuhlen in "Der Herold" from August 15, 1960
- ^ Material service of the EZW from September 1, 1960
- ↑ “Our Family”, Volume 56, 1996, number 2, page 19
- ↑ ideaSpektrum No. 25/2006, pp. 15-17
- ↑ Interview from the magazine Our Family , January 5, 2007 issue
- ^ A "Mea culpa" in Saarbrücken. Approaches between NAK and AGdS. March 3, 2006, accessed April 25, 2014 .
- ^ "Unworthy, incomprehensible and unacceptable". In: naktuell.de. December 21, 2007, accessed September 2, 2019 .
- ^ Christian Ruch: Critical remarks on the processing of history in the New Apostolic Church. (PDF) In: EZW Berlin. Materialdienst, Zeitschrift für Religions- und Weltanschauung, 2010, pp. 11-17 , accessed on August 29, 2019 .
- ^ NAK International: Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber answers the letter from Gerrit Sepers. In: nak.org. January 14, 2008, accessed September 2, 2019 .
- ^ Response of the VAG to the information evening of December 4, 2007 on the history of the NAK from 1938–1955. (PDF) In: Association of Apostolic Congregations in Europe. December 18, 2007, accessed August 7, 2019 .
- ↑ DECLARATION of the Apostles and Bishops of the Association of Apostolic Congregations in Europe for the processing of common history with the New Apostolic Church from February 1, 2008 ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 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. as pdf for download at apostolisch.ch
- ↑ nak.org - I am serious about the will to reconciliation
- ↑ nak.org - We reach for reconciliation
- ↑ nak.org - Reconciliation should be continued and supported
- ↑ nak.org - Transcript "On the history of the New Apostolic Church 1938–1955 - Conversation with contemporary witnesses" (PDF file; 30 kB)
- ↑ nak.org - History paper will be removed from the Internet
- ↑ bischoff-verlag.de - Chief Apostle Leber addresses the Bischoff message
- ↑ apostolisch.de of November 25, 2010 - Developments in the New Apostolic Church
- ↑ The emergence of the dogma that the Lord would come during Johann Gottfried Bischoff's lifetime - A reflection of the years 1945–1952 by Michael Koch in Church on the Way - the apostolic communities in the course of the 20th century. , Edition Punctum Saliens , Bielefeld 2009 ISBN 978-3-939291-06-0
- ↑ nak.org - Statement on the message of Chief Apostle Bischoff (PDF; 25 kB)
- ↑ nak.org - Declaration on Reconciliation between the Apostolic Community and the New Apostolic Church (PDF), last accessed on January 23, 2017
- ↑ ibid., Page 2
- ↑ Helmut Obst (2000): Apostles and Prophets of the Modern Age . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Verlag, p. 105
- ↑ Dominik Schmolz (2019): The Origin of JG Bischoff's “Message” in the context of world and church politics. Presentation in the archive of the “Network of Apostolic History” in Brockhagen on April 27, 2019
- ↑ The emergence of the dogma that the Lord would come during Johann Gottfried Bischoff's lifetime - A reflection of the years 1945–1952 by Michael Koch in Church on the Way - the apostolic communities in the course of the 20th century. , Edition Punctum Saliens , Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-939291-06-0
- ↑ According to Peter Kuhlen ("Thoughts on the message of Chief Apostle JG Bischoff") there are divine service quotes from 1954 that could be used to make a different assessment of Bischoff.
- ↑ Official Journal August 1, 1951, No. 15, p. 118
- ↑ Obst, H. (1996). New Apostolic Church: the exclusive end-time church? . Friedrich Bahn Verlag. P. 57
- ^ The New Apostolic Church in the period 1938–1955. Developments and Problems , Working Group History of the New Apostolic Church International, written on November 6, 2007; P. 21
- ↑ William Parzich: special issue Febr./März 72 - The truth according to the will of the Eternal . Homburg March 1972.
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↑ Source SAPMO-Barch, DO 4, 744. Quoted in: Olaf Wieland (July 20, 2010): Publication of the research on the New Apostolic Church in the GDR “Socialist Citizens of New Apostolic Faith”. Public report to Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Hermann Niehaus |
Chief Apostle of the New Apostolic Church 1930–1960 |
Walter Schmidt |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bischoff, Johann Gottfried |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chief Apostle of the New Apostolic Church |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 2, 1871 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Unter-Mossau , Odenwald |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 6, 1960 |
| Place of death | Karlsruhe |