Max Geiger

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Max Geiger (born April 27, 1922 in Bern , † December 2, 1978 in Basel ) was a Swiss Protestant clergyman and university professor.

Life

Max Geiger was the son of the engineer of the same name, Max Geiger, and his wife Emma (née Brunner).

From 1937 to 1941 he attended the Cantonal School of St. Gallen , enrolled at the University of Zurich and began studying theology , which he continued at the University of Basel .

In 1945 he began his vicariate in Gelterkinden and in 1946 he was ordained . From 1950 to 1961 he was pastor in Tenniken and Zunzgen ; During this time he received his doctorate in 1951 with a thesis on the Basel High Orthodoxy for Dr. theol.

In 1956 he qualified as a professor and in the same year was significantly involved in the Basel landscape church order of March 5, 1956 and worked for several years in the management of the Theological Publishing House in Zurich . He was also one of the initiators of the talks between the Lutheran and Reformed churches in Europe that led to the Leuenberg Agreement in 1973 . From 1973 to 1976 he was chairman of the coordination committee of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe .

In 1961 he succeeded Ernst Staehelin as a full professor for recent church and dogma history at the University of Basel; In 1968 he was dean of the theological faculty . He represented Helmut Gollwitzer at the Free University in Berlin for one year .

In the ecumenical conversation between the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and the German Bishops' Conference , he became Reformed Vice President in 1966.

In 1971 he took in thirteen young people who had fled the Uitikon labor education institution during a demonstration of the home campaign after a mass flight and were supposed to appear in front of the press in a media-effective manner.

He was the initiator of the Bern Declaration , which was established as an association in 1971 and paved the way for third-world shops with the launch of Fairtrade coffee from Tanzania in 1974 , as well as selling 250,000 fair-trade jute bags from Bangladesh in the Jute Instead of Plastic campaign .

He was shaped by Karl Barth , for whose theological legacy he endeavored; so he published the theological studies founded by Karl Barth for many years and supported the Karl Barth Foundation; Finally, he founded the scientific series of Basel and Bern studies on historical and systematic theology .

Max Geiger had been married to the rhythm teacher Ursula, daughter of pastor Hermann Kutter (1893–1980) from Beggingen , since 1946 . His brother-in-law was Markus Kutter .

Writing

Max Geiger presented church-historical works on Basel high orthodoxy and the revival movement as well as on ethical and political topics; In addition, he endeavored in many ways to solve social problems, and he spoke out on the death penalty , the right of resistance , conscientious objection to military service , nuclear energy and development aid . He also published regularly in the Basler Nationalzeitung .

A biography that Hermann Kutter had begun could no longer be completed by him; an edition of Kutter's letters appeared posthumously .

Fonts (selection)

  • The Basel Church and Theology in the Age of High Orthodoxy . Zollikon-Zurich: Evangelischer Verlag, 1952.
  • Forces of History or Gospel? on the problem of theological historiography and its method: an investigation into Emmanuel Hirsch's "History of Modern Evangelical Theology" . Zollikon-Zurich: Evangelischer Verlag, 1953.
  • Nature and task of the church order . Zurich: Evangelischer Verlag, 1954.
  • Regulations of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft dated March 5, 1956 . Gelterkinden, 1956.
  • Contribute: a reflection on the church-political position . Zurich: EVZ-Verl, 1962.
  • Enlightenment and awakening . Zurich, EVZ-Verlag 1963.
  • Max Geiger; Meinrich Ott; Lukas Vischer : The race question . Zurich: Evz-Verlag, 1963.
  • Max Geiger; Heinrich Ott; Lukas Vischer: Church, War and Peace. A church statement on the nuclear weapon issue . Zurich: EVZ-Verl, 1963.
  • Ernst Gaugler ; Max Geiger; Kurt Stalder : The letters of John. Zurich: EVZ-Verlag, 1964.
  • The German Church Struggle 1933–1945 . Zurich: EVZ-Verlag, 1965.
  • Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling : Christian belief between orthodoxy and modernity . Zurich: EVZ-Verl, 1968.
  • Max Geiger; Günter Stratenwerth : Ethical present problems in theological and legal assessment: a seminar report . Zurich: EVZ-Verlag, cop. 1968.
  • Bonhoeffer: Witness in Church and World . Basel: Reinhardt, 1969.
  • Conscientious Objection - A Peace Effort or a Criminal Offense? Zurich 1969.
  • Calvin, Calvinism, capitalism . Basel and Stuttgart: Helbing & Lichtenhahn 1969.
  • God's kingdom and human kingdom. Ernst Staehelin on his 80th birthday . Basel; Stuttgart: Helbing & Lichtenhahn 1969.
  • Max Geiger; Werner Fritschi : Shocked company . Solothurn Schweizer Jugend-Verlag, Stuttgart Eulen-Verlag 1970.
  • Conscientious objection to service . Lucerne 1970.
  • Agreement of Reformation Churches in Europe: draft; Lutheran reformed talks at European level; General assembly in Leuenberg / Basel, September 1971 . Hanover: Scherrer, 1971.
  • Then you will recognize: from the knowledge of God in the technical age . Zurich 1974.
  • Max Geiger; Günter Stratenwerth; Hans Saner : No to the death penalty: a panel from Amnesty International . Basel: F. Reinhardt 1978.
  • Church, state, resistance: historical passages and current location . Zurich: Theological Publishing House 1978.
  • Max Geiger; Andreas Lindt (editor): Hermann Kutter in his letters , 1983.

literature

  • Furler Frieder and Mettler Armin: Max Geiger in memory . March 1979 (with list of publications 30–36).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Rich: The Basel Church and Theology in the Age of High Orthodoxy. In: Swiss History Journal, Volume 5. 1955, accessed on December 27, 2019 .
  2. ^ Christiane Tietz: Karl Barth: A life in contradiction . CH Beck, 2018, ISBN 978-3-406-72524-1 ( google.de [accessed December 27, 2019]).
  3. ↑ Lukas Vischer, Rudolf Dellsperger: Ecumenical Church History of Switzerland . Saint-Paul, 1998, ISBN 978-3-7228-0417-0 ( google.de [accessed December 27, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Kevin Heiniger: Crises, Criticism and Sexualnot: The "re-education" of male adolescents in the Aarburg institution (1893-1981) . Chronos Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-0340-1350-5 ( google.de [accessed December 27, 2019]).
personal data
SURNAME Geiger, Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geiger-Kutter, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Protestant clergyman and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH 2nd December 1978
Place of death Basel