Bethel Church University

Bethel Church University
activity	1905 - January 1, 2007
Sponsorship	ecclesiastical
place	Bielefeld
state	North Rhine-Westphalia
country	Germany
Rector	Christa Schäfer-Lichtenberger
Students	474
Website	www.kiho-wuppertal-bethel.de

The Church University of Bethel was an independent, state-recognized, church-sponsored academic university in the Bethel district of the Gadderbaum district of Bielefeld . In 1905 it was founded by Pastor Friedrich von Bodelschwingh as a "Theological School". It was the oldest Protestant university in Germany. On January 1, 2007, it merged with the Church University of Wuppertal to form the Church University of Wuppertal / Bethel - University for Church and Diakonia in Bielefeld and Wuppertal.

history

The Bethel Church University was founded in 1905 by Friedrich von Bodelschwingh as the Bethel Theological School . He called for a free church theological faculty and regular theological weeks at Bethel. They should accompany the diakonia critically and reflectively. Bodelschwingh's goal was to enable a theological education with a positive biblical character as a counterpoint to university liberal theology.

During the Third Reich , the university was closed on March 23, 1939 by the Bielefeld state police on the grounds that the state institutions were completely sufficient for the training of Protestant theologians . The theological and ecclesiastical proximity to the Confessing Church played a decisive role. It was only possible to reopen it on October 31, 1945 on Reformation Day after the Second World War. The Zionsgemeinde Bethel near Bielefeld became the legal sponsor. With the granting of doctoral and habilitation rights in 1979, the university was fully recognized by the state.

In 2005 the centenary of the oldest Protestant university in Germany was celebrated.

With a church contract of November 17, 2005, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, the Evangelical Church of Westphalia and the Von Bodelschwingh Foundations founded the Wuppertal / Bethel University of Applied Sciences (University for Church and Diakonia) based in Wuppertal. On January 1, 2007, it replaced the Wuppertal Church University and the Bethel Church University.

While the Bethel division concentrates on diaconal sciences, the Wuppertal division continues to train pastors. 7 of the 17 university lecturer positions are to be eliminated in the next few years, 2 in Bethel and 5 in Wuppertal. 4 professorships with a focus on diaconal science will then remain in Bethel. The merger is intended to relieve the budget of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland by one million euros.

Teaching

At the Bethel Church University, in cooperation with Bielefeld University, the Protestant theology course with the five classic disciplines of the Old Testament, New Testament, Church and Dogma History, Systematic Theology and Dogmatics , and Practical Theology has been offered since the re-establishment in 1945. There were also courses in the subjects of philosophy , classical philology , religious education , medical-theological border areas, missionary and religious studies, speech training , canon law , feminist theology .

Today, almost 500 women and men from Europe, Asia and Latin America study at the oldest Protestant university in Germany, including around 200 candidates for a parish, 250 candidate teachers and 50 guest students. They are taught by 9 lecturers, 4 assistants, 14 private lecturers and a number of scientists with teaching assignments.

In 2005, around 200 first-time students with the aim of parish / master's degree / diploma and 250 second-time students studied at the university in the bachelor's / master's degree offered jointly with Bielefeld University . They were taught by 9 lecturers, 4 assistants, 14 private lecturers and a number of scientists with teaching assignments.

The Bethel Church University was particularly popular with first-year students because of the language courses in Hebrew , Latin and Greek, as well as with exam candidates.

In the course of the merger with the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal in 2007, these teaching options were only offered until 2009. On February 13, 2009, theology courses were abolished. They are now only continued at the Wuppertal location of the Wuppertal / Bethel Church University. Alternatively, a Protestant theology course is offered at Bielefeld University. A new institute was founded at the Bethel location in 2009, which since April 21, 2009 has enabled cooperation with advanced master’s courses as well as a doctorate under the name of the Diakonie University of Applied Sciences . In this way, Bethel is now offering the focus on "Diaconal Studies" in a faculty that is unique in Germany.

Faculty

Pastor Bodelschwingh was particularly connected to the Swiss professor Adolf Schlatter , whom he eventually recruited to Bethel and who had a lasting impact on the school and the theological weeks. The Reformed Swiss theologian Wilhelm Vischer rendered outstanding services to the Old Testament . He had contributed significantly to the first version of the Bethel Confession . In 1933 he was expelled from Bethel by the leading Bethel physician and NSDAP district leader Hanns Löhr . Further members of the teaching staff were Herbert Girgensohn (1946–1955) and Hellmuth Frey , a representative of pneumatic biblical exegesis . With Willi Marxsen , who held a professorship for the New Testament here from 1956 to 1961, a representative of the historical-critical school came to the institution.

Lecturers

• Wilhelm Anz , 1955–1973
• Günther Bornkamm , 1937–1939 and 1945–1946
• Wilhelm Brandt , New Testament scholar 1927–1942 and 1945–1963
• Frank Crüsemann , Old Testament scholar 1980-2004
• Corinna Dahlgrün , professor for practical theology with a focus on liturgy and spirituality 2001–2004
• Hellmuth Frey , Old Testament scholar from 1946
• Alfred Jäger , Systematic Theology, 1986–2001
• Andreas Lindemann , New Testament scholar, 1978–2009
• Willi Marxsen , 1956–1961
• Georg Merz , 1930–1939
• Gerhard Ruhbach , church historian 1963–1999, focus on teaching practical community theologians, valued as an expert on Christian mysticism
• Edmund Schlink , 1935–1939 and 1945–1946
• Stefan Schorch , Hebrew lecturer and Old Testament scholar, 1999–2009
• Gottlob Schrenk , New Testament, 1912–1923
• Dietrich Stollberg , professor of practical theology with a focus on pastoral care and pastoral psychology and director of the pastoral care institute 1971–1979
• Wilhelm Vischer , 1928–1933

See also

• Augustana University in Neuendettelsau
• Church University of Wuppertal
• List of universities in Germany
• Lutheran Theological University of Oberursel

literature

• Frank-Michael Kuhlemann : The Church University of Bethel. Main features of their development 1905–2005 . Writings of the Institute for Diakonie and Social History at the Church University of Bethel, Vol. 13, Bielefeld 2005.
• Gerhard Ruhbach : Universities, ecclesiastical . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie 15 (1986), pp. 423-435.

Web links

Commons : Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bethel Church University on the new university site
• Competence center diaconal science

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kurt Meier: The theological faculties in the Third Reich . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1996, pp. 210-220.
2. ↑ Bethel Church College 100 years old, accessed on July 12, 2019
3. ↑ Press release of the City of Bielefeld 2005 ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2008 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. accessed on July 12, 2019. 
4. ↑ Gottfried Michaelis: The Vischer case. A chapter of the church struggle. A contribution to the history of Bethel 1932 to 1946 . Luther, Bielefeld 1994.

Coordinates: 52 ° 0 ′ 17.2 ″  N , 8 ° 32 ′ 12.4 ″  E