Karl Heim (theologian)

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Karl Heim (born January 20, 1874 in Frauenzimmern ; † August 30, 1958 in Tübingen ) was a German Protestant theologian and professor of systematic theology in Tübingen from 1920 to 1939. Heim's concern was to revive the beliefs challenged by modern world views and intellectual currents to provide a secure foundation. For this purpose, he devoted himself in particular to two subject areas: the “certainty of faith” and a religious “view of life” based on a contemporary scientific “worldview”. For the sake of the second objective, he also worked out a material-rich determination of the relationship between faith and natural science in the context of his six-volume main work The Evangelical Faith and Contemporary Thinking .

Life

Origin and early time

Heim came from a pastor's family. His paternal grandfather was Friedrich Jakob Philipp Heim (1789–1850), the founder of the children's diaconal “Paulinenpflege” in Winnenden. His second eldest son, Christian Heim, was influenced by the Bible theologian Johann Tobias Beck (1804–1878) and the Pietist Ludwig Hofacker (1798–1828) and passed this attitude on to his son. Heim could also look back on Catholic ancestors through his mother, whose simple piety in prayer was exemplary for him. His ecumenically open gaze was also widened by an uncle who belonged to the London Baptist church of Charles Haddon Spurgeons .

After a childhood that was perceived as “heavenly” in his birthplace Frauenzimmern in Zabergäu and attending the Latin school in Kirchheim unter Teck , Heim had to pass the Württemberg state examination in order to benefit from state support, like many talented but modest students get. He then completed the “lower seminars” (preparatory facilities for studying theology) first in Schöntal and then in Bad Urach , where he passed the “bankruptcy”, a more stringent high school diploma. In 1892 Heim joined the Tübingen Abbey . Towards the end of the century, Albrecht Ritschl's liberal theology (1822–1889) dominated theologically . Instead of joining a “penal association” as would have been the custom, he joined a Bible study group. In this way he got in contact with the German Christian Student Union (DCSV) under its then director Eduard Graf Pückler (1853-1924).

In 1893 he accepted an invitation to Frankfurt am Main, where a large Christian student conference with the China missionary Hudson Taylor , Count Pückler and the revival preacher Elias Schrenk (1831-1913) took place. The encounter with the latter should change his life in a decisive way. Under the impression of a sermon by Schrenk, Heim sought a personal conversation with the preacher, which, in Heim's own words, had the following effect: “There was a short but liberating and refreshing conversation in which there was unconditional surrender and thus a radical new beginning, Schrenk had spoken of. That was the creative new beginning of my life. "

In August 1896, Heim passed his first service examination and earned the grade IIb for his doctoral thesis. He then stayed at the University of Tübingen for another six months and received first prize for drafting a prize assignment from the Tübingen Theological Faculty on the subject of "Faith and History".

In church service and as a missionary

As vicar in Giengen an der Brenz (probably from the spring of 1897), he then experienced a “practical shock”: Instead of the sick pastor, he was immediately supposed to take over preaching and pastoral care alone. Especially the pastoral service for someone seriously ill from alcohol was a great challenge for him. After half a year the young vicar came to the Christian elementary school teacher seminar in Tempelhof near Crailsheim to give lessons there. Because of the impressions there and in order to be more effective in pastoral care, Heim joined the White Cross .

Then he received an inquiry from the German Christian Student Association as to whether he would not succeed Heinrich Witt in the office of travel secretary. After a period of reflection, Heim took on this task in 1900, which meant for him to visit all universities and technical colleges and to found student circles. During this time, his youth publication was The World View of the Future. A debate between philosophy, science and theology made.

In 1905 he succeeded Carl Stange (1870-1959) Konviktsinspektor at the Silesian student convict in Halle an der Saale , which was headed by Martin Kähler (1835-1912). This position gave him the opportunity to do his habilitation; the habilitation took place in 1907 at the University of Halle with the text The teaching of the gratia gratis data according to Alexander Halesius for the subject systematic theology. This writing formed a basis for his book The Certainty Problem in Systematic Theology up to Schleiermacher . One of his students at the University of Halle was Erich Schnepel , who began his theology studies in Tübingen and temporarily interrupted it in favor of the Halle theological faculty. Schnepel was one of the 12 students that the private lecturer Lic. Theol. , Dr. phil. Karl Heim invited a theology student from Halle to his private apartment after his wedding. Schnepel remained on friendly terms with Karl Heim beyond his studies. Heim visited Schnepel in Berlin and appeared with him for the last time in 1939 during a pastor's training period with clergy from Transylvania , to which they both traveled together via Austria and Hungary to Romania.

Theology professor in Münster and Tübingen

In autumn 1914 Heim was appointed to the chair for systematic theology at the newly established theological faculty of the University of Münster . The outbreak of the First World War interrupted the teaching he had just begun, which he could not resume until 1918. During the war he worked as a military pastor in the German internment camps in Hald, Denmark, and Löken , Norway .

In 1920 Heim was appointed to Tübingen as the successor to Theodor von Haering (1848–1928), his academic teacher. He prevailed against the well-known Rudolf Otto (1869–1937), which he owed not least to the special advocacy of Adolf Schlatter (1852–1938).

Heim's relationship to the Third Reich is evident from an article published in 1933 entitled Deutsche Staatsreligion or Evangelische Volkskirche . Already at the beginning of the Nazi regime, he advocated that “the gospel ... should (should) be preserved unabridged.” He was consistently hostile to the German Christians [DC] movement. However, he was also not a member of the Confessing Church , although he was personally close to many of the leading men in this group. The reason for maintaining the distance was “that my spiritual home was Swabian Pietism and the Christian Student Union . As members of this association, our faith and our fellowship with one another were very much concerned with the personal decision of the individual for a life of devotion to Christ. From this location it looked to me as if the fight against the DC and the entire Hitler regime was at the center of the 'Confessing Church' . As I can see in retrospect, that was a completely one-sided view. [...] But from my point of view at the time, the 'Confessing Church' involuntarily became a collection point for all who, for all sorts of reasons, perhaps just because of an opposing political conviction, were opponents of the Hitler government. "

Heim received the inquiry in March 1937, after briefly giving the Sprunt Lectures in Richmond, Virginia and staying as a guest at Princeton University to see if he was ready to accept a chair in the theological seminary at that American college. However, Heim could not make up his mind to "abandon my homeland and especially my home church in its most difficult situation and to withdraw from the suffering that the struggle of this church for its freedom of belief necessarily resulted in." So he declined the offer and did not accept the offer of a visiting professorship later, albeit for health reasons. In 1939 he retired , but worked in Tübingen as an early preacher until 1948 . In the years from 1948 to 1950 he also worked for the Evangelical Academy Bad Boll .

The Karl Heim Society

The "Karl Heim Society for the Promotion of a Biblical-Christian Orientation in the Scientific and Technical World", which was founded by Horst Waldemar Beck on Karl Heim's 100th birthday in 1974 in Freudenstadt , has been publishing a yearbook since 1988, initially under the title: Faith and Thinking , since 2016 under the title Yearbook of the Karl-Heim-Gesellschaft , edited by Ulrich Beuttler, Markus Mühling and Martin Rothgangel .

Furthermore, the Karl-Heim-Gesellschaft has been running a magazine since 1980 under the title: Gospel and Science. Contributions to the interdisciplinary discussion . Their contents are also listed on the Karl-Heim-Gesellschaft website.

After all, the Karl Heim Society has been awarding the Karl Heim Prize at irregular intervals since the year 2000 for work that is historically or systematically related to a fundamental topic from one of the following three subject areas:

  • Relationships between the Christian faith and the knowledge of the natural or human sciences;
  • Philosophical questions regarding the relationship between theology and the natural or human sciences;
  • Specific problems of the general area of ​​tension between the Christian faith on the one hand and secular thinking or the secular reality of life on the other.

Honors

Works

Early writings

  • Psychologism or Antipsychologism? Draft of an epistemological foundation of modern energetics , 1902
  • The world view of the future. A dispute between philosophy, science and theology , 1904
  • Peace with god. Lecture by Karl Heim , Berlin-Lichterfelde, German Christian Student Association . From: "Furche", Volume 4. Issue 4.
  • Unresolved Issues Form an Obstacle to Faith , 1905; 9. A. 1930
  • The essence of grace and its relationship to the natural functions of man in Alexander Halesius , Verlag von M. Heinsius Nachhaben, Leipzig, 1907

About certainty of belief

  • The problem of certainty in systematic theology up to Schleiermacher , 1911
  • Certainty of belief. An investigation into the vital question of religion , 1916; 4th A. 1949

The main work

  • The evangelical faith and thinking of the present. Basics of a Christian view of life , 6 volumes:
    • Volume 1: Belief and Thought. Philosophical foundation of a Christian view of life , 1931; 7. A. 1957
    • Volume 2: Jesus the Lord: The authority to lead [later: authority to rule] Jesus and the revelation of God in Christ , 1935; 4th A. 1955
    • Volume 3: Jesus the World Perfector: Belief in Reconciliation and the Transformation of the World, 1937 (1952, 3rd edition)
    • Volume 4: Christian belief in God and natural science. Foundation of the conversation between Christianity and the natural sciences , 1949; 2nd A. 1953
    • Volume 5: The change in the scientific worldview. Modern science before the question of God , 1951
    • Volume 6: World Creation and End of the World. The origin of the world from a scientific point of view - world creation and world future in the light of the biblical Easter faith , 1952; 2nd A. 1958

Other books on dogmatic and biblical-theological topics

Title page of Heim's generally understandable interpretation of the Gospel of Mark
  • Guide to dogmatics. For use in academic lectures . Two parts, 1912; 3rd A. 1923/25
  • The Worldview of the Bible , 1920; 8. A. 1931
  • The essence of evangelical Christianity , 1925; 5th A. 1929
  • Religion and Modern Spiritual Life. Scientific lectures on religious questions , 1927
  • The new world of God. An answer to the question about the meaning of life , 1928; 4th A. 1929
  • The letter to the Romans . Lecture transcript, Erlangen 1931
  • Belief in Eternal Life , 1934; 2nd A. 1938
  • The resurrection of the dead. The meaning of the resurrection message and the victory over the demonic power of death , Furche-Verlag, Berlin, 1936
  • The coming promise and the church of Christ , 1939
  • The kingdom of God. Based on texts from the Gospel of Mark , 1940; 2nd A. 1948
  • The Sermon on the Mount of Jesus. Designed for the present time , 1946; 3rd A. 1959
  • What awaits us after death . Biblical Lecture, 1948; 7. A. 1960
  • The Church of the Risen One . Tübingen lecture on 1st Corinthians, 1949
  • Christian ethics . Tübingen lectures. Written and worked out by Walter Kreuzburg, 1955
  • I remember the times past. Memories from eight decades , Hamburg 1957

Collections of articles

  • Faith and life. Collected essays and lectures , 1926; 2nd A. 1928
  • Living by faith. Contributions to the question of the meaning of life , Berlin 1932; 2nd A. 1934
  • Reconciliation and World Perfection , ed. by A. Köberle 1982
  • The salvation of the world. The Message of Christian Mission and Non-Christian Religions , ed. by Friso Melzer 1986
  • Time and Eternity , ed. by A. Köberle 1987

Sermon collections

  • Silence in the storm . Sermons by Karl Heim, Tübingen 1923; 6. A. 1951
  • The living source . Sermons, 1927
  • The word from the cross . Sermons, 1931
  • The power of God . Sermons by Karl Heim, Stuttgart 1936
  • God's word is not bound . Sermons, 1940
  • The unshakable reason. Annunciation of Christ for modern people . Sermons, 1947
  • In the hands of the master . 12 sermons, 1949
  • Living power . 12 sermons, ed. by Hans Beck, 1950
  • The divine hour . Reading sermons. Selection and epilogue by Hans-Rudolf Müller-Schwefe, 1965

Quotes

"Prayer not only includes bringing our concerns to the Lord, but also becoming still and waiting for his answer."

- Wilhelm Busch Library Volume 5, p. 22

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Heim, I commemorate the previous times , Hamburg 1957, p. 49
  2. ^ Revised edition, Aussaat-Verlag, Wuppertal, 1980; ISBN 3-7615-4658-0
  3. ↑ Address book for Halle Saale and the surrounding area 1906, Part I, p. 73 column 1, Halle address of Konviktsinspector Karl Heim in 1906; Digitized by the university library. Hall.
  4. ↑ The "free gift", dictionary Fernkurs Würzburg ( Memento from February 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Entry on Karl Heim in the Catalogus Professorum Halensis (accessed on May 24, 2019)
  6. ^ Address book for Halle Saale and the surrounding area 1914, part I, p. 87 column 3; Digitized by the university library. Hall
  7. ↑ Erich Schnepel: My life has content. Current sketches from the 20th century . R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal, (1977), p. 19; ISBN 3-417-20255-8
  8. ↑ Erich Schnepel: My life has content. Current sketches from the 20th century . R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal, (1977) p. 21; ISBN 3-417-20255-8
  9. ↑ A portrait photo of Prof. Karl Heim from that time, including Erich Schnepel, can be found in: The Christmas books of the Furche Verlag ... with special consideration of the new publications of 1936 ... (flyer collection, user Schudi 45).
  10. ^ Karl Heim: I commemorate the previous times , Hamburg 1957, pp. 87-101
  11. ↑ Issue 85 of the voices from the German Christian student movement ; Furche-Verlag, Berlin, 1933: 15 pages; Paperback
  12. ^ Heim, Karl: Deutsche Staatsreligion or Evangelische Volkskirche Berlin, 1933, p. 3 u. 15th
  13. ↑ Heim, I commemorate previous times , Hamburg 1957, p. 274
  14. ^ Karl Heim: I commemorate the former times , Hamburg 1957, p. 220
  15. ↑ About us: Karl-Heim-Haus. Retrieved October 13, 2015 .
  16. ↑ See press release of Ev. Tabor University ( Memento from May 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ^ Furche-Verlag, Berlin, 1914
personal data
SURNAME Home, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian and professor of systematic theology
DATE OF BIRTH January 20, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Frauenzimmern , Germany
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1958
Place of death Tubingen , Germany