Confession Movement No Other Gospel
| Confessional Movement “No Other Gospel” e. V. |
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Registered association |
| founding | 1966 |
| founder | Bethel Circle |
| Seat | Nürtingen , Germany |
| motto | No other gospel |
| main emphasis | Pietism , dealing with the complex theological liberalism and modern enthusiasm |
| Action space | Germany |
| Chair | Johannes Frey |
| Managing directors | Walter Rominger |
| Website | www.kandersesevangelium.de |
The confessional movement “No other gospel” grew out of Pietism and wants to “resist the distortion of the biblical message in the Evangelical Church in Germany ”. In particular, she rejects the historical-critical exegesis and the demythologization of the Bible by Rudolf Karl Bultmann . The movement is a member of the Conference of Confessing Communities in the Evangelical Churches in Germany (KBG) and was one of its founding members. In the KBG she made a name for herself as a spokesperson and the most active of the confessing communities.
Surname
In its name, the confessional movement is based on the Confessing Church in the Nazi state , in whose direct continuation representatives of the movement see themselves as part of a church struggle, led against what they consider to be a distorting adaptation of the Evangelical Church to modern society and its zeitgeist . The second part of the name No Other Gospel is taken from the New Testament Letter to the Galatians :
history
The demand made by Rudolf Bultmann in a lecture in 1941 to free the message of the New Testament from its “ancient mythological dress” and to reinterpret it in the context of the experience of reality of modern man dominated in the 1950s as “theology of demythologization” or as “Existential interpretation” of the gospel the discussion of the theological faculties. On the other hand, there was massive criticism, especially in pietistic circles of the Protestant churches, which over time led to the formation of various so-called "confessional" groups and movements.
This included, for example, the Bethel Circle, named after the village of Bethel, which is usually chosen as the meeting place, which was formed in 1961 around theologians like Rudolf Bäumer and Hellmuth Frey without a specific foundation . This turned to the church leadership of the Protestant church communities united in the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and addressed requests to the council of the EKD. In 1963 a pastoral letter to the community of Jesus on the situation was published , in which the Bethel circle member Pastor Paul Tegtmeyer expressed his concern about theological developments. Another step towards founding the confessional movement was a public doctrinal confrontation that took place in 1964 between the “Bultmannian” Ernst Fuchs and the conservative Lutheran Walter Künneth in Sittensen . The conflict between liberal and conservative Protestants finally came to a head at the 1965 Evangelical Church Congress , which took place in Cologne and at which Dorothee Sölle, among others , gave a lecture on her God is dead theology .
Half a year later, the Westphalian members of the Bethel Circle came together under the name of Confession Movement No Other Gospel and went public on March 6, 1966 with a large rally, Confession Day in Dortmund . Around 20,000 visitors from all parts of Germany took part. This confession day is considered to be the founding date of the confession movement. In the further course the nationwide structure of the Bethel circle took over this name.
From the beginning, the Confessional Movement was a movement that professed itself in scriptures and provided interested believers (up to 35,000) with information on current theological positions through its information sheet.
Self-image
According to its own understanding, the confessional movement is “called by Jesus Christ to pray and struggle for the scriptural and confessional preaching of the gospel”. Her work should then be based "solely on the gospel of Jesus Christ, the sole Lord of his community" so that the Bible becomes "the perfect guideline for faith, doctrine and life".
present
Today, the confessional movement turns against two theological directions: on the one hand, it continues to accuse emancipatory , peace - moving or socially critical movements within the church, theological liberalism , on the other hand, it condemns charismatic awakenings in the church as “modern enthusiasm”. In both cases she accuses the other side of having "not considered the revelation of the triune God in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be sufficient".
As a counterpoint to the German Evangelical Church Congress , which is perceived as too pluralistic , the Confessional Movement has been organizing the parish day under the word since 1973 together with other groups from the evangelical-conservative spectrum . The event, which takes place every two years, usually attracts between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors. In addition, individual groups of the confessional movement offer Bible camps, seminars and other events. Membership numbers of the confessional movement are not known. The information letter she published every two months had a circulation of around 35,000 copies in 1998.
The statements against the charismatic movement as well as against the evangelical organizations ProChrist and Willow Creek Community Church led to serious disputes in the community in 1998, as some members of the federal working group and parts of the working groups at the regional church level saw it as the fight against "religious brothers and sisters".
The Ludwig Hofacker Association and the Evang knew each other from Württemberg . Collection of the confessional movement within the framework of the conference Confessing Communities in the Evangelical Churches in Germany (KBG) associated with the confessional movement. Internal disputes in the confessional movement resulted in the membership of the two Württemberg groups in the Conference of Confessing Communities in 2001. Active in this leading association of the KBG, as well as in the theological convent , which is important within the KBG, was also the now emeritus STH and EFT professor Georg Huntemann , who has published his socio-political views in a large number of books since the 1960s and has been pastor of the avowed St. Martini congregation in Bremen .
Hansfrieder Hellenschmidt was chairman of the association from 1997 to spring 2014. He was replaced by Pastor Friedemann Schwarz, who resigned after a six-month term. In 2016 Pastor Johannes Frey from Stuhr near Bremen took over the office of chairman after a provisional period.
Periodicals
literature
- Friedhelm Jung: The German Evangelical Movement. Baselines of their history and theology. (Zugl .: Marburg, Univ., Diss., 1991) 3rd, extended edition, Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-932829-21-2 .
- Roger J. Busch: Confessing Christianity: an investigation into the self-understanding, claim and meaning of confessing Christians in a pluralistic society; carried out with special consideration of the confessional movement "No other gospel" (Gal 1,6). Augustana-Hochsch., Neuendettelsau, dissertation, 1994 [microfiche edition].
See also
- List of important institutions and works of the evangelical movement in Germany
- Conference of Confessing Communities in the Evangelical Churches in Germany
Web links
- Literature by and about the confessional movement No other gospel in the catalog of the German National Library
- Official website
- History of the Movement and Relationship with Evangelicals
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhard Scheerer: Confessing Christians in the Protestant Churches in Germany 1966-1991. History and shape of a conservative evangelical awakening. Haag and Herchen, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-86137-560-5 , p. 23ff.
- ↑ Friedhelm Jung: The German Evangelical Movement. Baselines of their history and theology. (Zugl .: Marburg, Univ., Diss., 1991) 3rd, extended edition, Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-932829-21-2 , pp. 106f.
- ↑ Friedhelm Jung: The German Evangelical Movement. Baselines of their history and theology. (Zugl .: Marburg, Univ., Diss., 1991) 3rd, extended edition, Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-932829-21-2 , p. 108.
- ↑ Georg Huntemann: This church has to be different! End of the national church - future of the confessional church. Verlag der Liebenzeller Mission, Bad Liebenzell 1979, ISBN 3-88002-080-9 , p. 63
- ↑ Stratmann 1970, p. 43ff
- ↑ Ulrich Affeld / Helmut Burkhardt: Confessional Movement “No Other Gospel” , in: Gemeindelexikon (Ed. Helmut Burkhardt, Erich Geldbach, Kurt Heimbucher), Wuppertal 1986 (special edition), p. 53, Sp. I
- ↑ a b History and goals of the confessional movement. Confession Movement No Other Gospel, archived from the original November 1, 2011 ; Retrieved September 9, 2010 .
- ↑ Busch, Roger J, Einzug in die Festen Burgen, Hanover 1995, p. 228
- ↑ Churches, Free Churches, Christian Movements , p. 220.
- ↑ Georg Huntemann: This church has to be different! End of the national church - future of the confessional church. Verlag der Liebenzeller Mission, Bad Liebenzell 1979, ISBN 3-88002-080-9 , information on the spine.
- ^ A b Pastor Hansfrieder Hellenschmidt is dead , idea.de, message from October 16, 2015.
- ↑ Friedemann Schwarz is the new chairman of "No other gospel" ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , epd.de, notification from April 2, 2014.
- ↑ Johannes Frey leads the confessional movement “No other gospel” , Idea , message from May 16, 2016.
