Olav Hanssen

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Olav Hanssen (born October 1, 1915 in Geestemünde ; † February 7, 2005 in Goslar ) was an Evangelical Lutheran theologian, educator, author and head of the mission seminar in Hermannsburg from 1957 to 1979.

Live and act

Hanssen's grandparents were already part of the revival and missionary congregation in Hermannsburg. After graduating from high school, he first learned the profession of bricklayer and from 1937 studied architecture in Hanover. There he was also active in the evangelical youth work of the YMCA Herrenstrasse, which was operated undercover from 1939. He was used as a soldier on the Eastern Front in World War II; In 1941 he decided to study theology. He was taken prisoner by Russia, where he became terminally ill and was released after a year and after the end of the war.

From 1946 he studied Protestant theology in Göttingen . The New Testament scholar Joachim Jeremias was an important teacher for him and later accompanied his doctoral thesis. In 1951 he was appointed vicar for the Barmer superintendent Stöver and ordained on February 28, 1954 in Wuppertal - Barmen . From 1950 to 1952 he was a theological teacher at the Johanneum Evangelist School in Wuppertal, as he was recommended to the then director Otto Schmitz. He remained an active member of this school until 1986.

In 1957 he became head of the mission seminar in Hermannsburg . On September 1, 1979, he retired and became prior of the Celibate Gethseman Brotherhood in the Ratzeburg Cathedral Monastery . In 1990 he moved to the newly founded Gethsemane monastery in Riechenberg near Goslar, where he continued to devote himself to retreat and pastoral care. He lived here until his death in 2005.

Teaching

For Hanssen , studying the Bible was a kind of worship service; he did his thorough exegetical work in front of God and in the awareness of his dependence. He conveyed the spiritual value of the Lectio divina to his students and also paid attention to the structure of the text, contexts and details of the basic Greek text. He renounced any personal and denominational appropriation of the Bible and church polemics. He tried to understand his counterparts, took on mediating positions and, despite his shyness, had considerable influence on many personalities.

Works

  • God all in all. Exegetical insights into the New Testament , Göttingen 1999
  • The contemplative prayer , Göttingen 1997
  • The best is still ahead of us. Contemplation and outlook in the annual cycle , Göttingen around 1995
  • Studying theology in crisis. Shown using the example of a mission seminar, Hermannsburg 1974
  • To live is to see. Instructions for meditation , Göttingen 1972 (3rd edition)
  • Redesign of the theology course. A documentation , Hermannsburg 1969
  • New morals !? , Hermannsburg around 1968

literature

  • Ecclesiastical gazette for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover , 5/2005, p. 104
  • Georg Gremels: Olav Hanssen. Building blocks of a biography , Marburg an der Lahn 2005
  • Brigitte Schur: The world is not enough. Olav Hanssen - A Pilgrim's Life , fontis, Basel 2015

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.blaue-koinonia.de/zur-geschichte.html
  2. ↑ http://www.gaebler.info/oekumene/hansen.htm
  3. ↑ https://www.johanneum.net/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente/Das_neue_Fasten.pdf
personal data
SURNAME Hanssen, Olav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran theologian, educator and author
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Geestemünde
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 2005
Place of death Goslar