Strength to live

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Kraft zum Leben (original title: Power for Living) is a book that was published in German in 2001 and could be ordered free of charge from the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation as part of an evangelistic campaign . The original title appeared in the USA as early as 1983 and was distributed worldwide, the book was published in Japanese in 2007. The total circulation at that time was in the high double-digit million range, which is not specifically mentioned. The book was distributed around 13 million times in the United States.

distribution

Kraft zum Leben was advertised in Germany at great expense in the media through television spots, full-page magazine advertisements and on around 12,000 billboards nationwide. In Germany, the main criticism was that the campaign, on the one hand, concealed its authors and, on the other hand, was imported from the USA without any contact with the local Christian churches and organizations. Bernhard Langer , Cliff Richard and Paulo Sérgio , among others , were hired for the advertising campaigns, and they also have their say in the book. Some initial supporters withdrew after the critical reactions to the campaign and after information about the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation became known. After the joint advertising agency of the state media authorities had pointed out that religious advertising was forbidden by the interstate broadcasting agreement, some private channels such as ProSieben and Sat.1 stopped broadcasting the spots, while others such as RTL continued to broadcast them.

content

In the introduction to the book, numerous celebrities present how they found their way to God; in the further course of the book, ways to God are explained to the reader using practical examples.

criticism

The book was often criticized by the Evangelical Church , and it was also received positively in more evangelical organizations, such as B. in the Evangelical Alliance .

Hartmut Steeb , General Secretary of the German Evangelical Alliance , welcomes the campaign: “We welcome everything that serves to spread the gospel.” He regrets that the foundation did not invite you to take a joint approach in advance.

According to Reinhard Hempelmann from the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauungsfragen , Kraft zum Leben “can be assigned to the spectrum of conservative evangelicalism in terms of content … The language of the book remains limited to the internal area of ​​a certain form of piety. The connection between faith and action is not presented ... Christian faith is seen primarily from the perspective of individual salvation and reassurance. The campaign sees itself as a literary mission. " Michael Utsch , also from the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauungs questions - and described by various media as a decisive critic of strength to live - sees the book, however," kept clean evangelical ", it" could be a good starting point for conversations be used through the Christian faith ”. However, he criticizes the fact that the reader is asked to contact a church that is faithful to the Bible , but is not given any contact points.

Foundation, endowment

The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation was founded in 1955 by insurance company Arthur S. DeMoss in Palm Beach , Florida . After his death in 1979, his widow took over the management of the foundation with endowment assets of US $ 359 million. The foundation belongs to the fundamentalist evangelical spectrum in the USA and primarily supports the activities of the Christian right financially.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Eckhard Nickig: The “power to live” is welcome - a missionary campaign with celebrities becomes the talk of the day in Germany ; on the website of the German Evangelical Alliance. First published in the idea press service on January 9, 2002.
  2. ↑ Reinhard Hempelmann: Literature Mission without Sender - Comments on the Campaign “Power to Live” (PDF; 100 kB); Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauung questions: Material service of the EZW 2/2002, p. 33 f.
  3. ↑ Yassin Musharbash: Advertising for God and Biblical Law ; taz, January 4th 2001 edition

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