Otto Weber (theologian)

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Otto Heinrich Weber (born June 4, 1902 in Mülheim am Rhein , † October 19, 1966 in St. Moritz ) was a professor of Reformed theology.

Life

Weber studied theology in Bonn and Tübingen from 1921 to 1925. At that time he was under the influence of Adolf Schlatter and Karl Barth , about whose " church dogmatics " he was to write numerous reports later, from 1950 onwards. In the years 1925 to 1927 he completed his vicariate in Herchen an der Sieg ; during this time he was also a teacher at the local secondary school. After taking his second theological exam, he became a lecturer at the Elberfeld Theological School .

In 1933 he joined the NSDAP and the German Christians . In September of the same year he was appointed to the Spiritual Ministry in Berlin . The rally in the Berlin Sports Palace in November 1933 led to his resignation from the German-Christian movement; the following month he resigned as Minister of the Clergy. However, he remained until the end of 1934 as acting representative of the Reformed Confession in the Spiritual Ministry.

In 1934 he became professor for Reformed Theology in Göttingen . Soon afterwards his first extensive textbook, the " Biblical Study of the Old Testament" appeared in two volumes. In this work he presented the Old Testament as part of the Christian canon, but also used numerous anti-Semitic formulations.

One focus of his research was Johannes Calvin . From 1936 to 1938 he translated its Institutio Christianae Religionis . At the same time he acted as chairman of the National Socialist German Lecturer Association in Göttingen. In 1938 he received his doctorate under Emanuel Hirsch , whom he succeeded in the spring of 1939 to the post of dean. He held the office of dean with one interruption in 1943 until the end of the war. In 1943 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and used in a prisoner of war camp in Upper Silesia .

As a member of the Spiritual Trust Council, he belonged to the group of theologians who, in a letter to Bishop Theophil Wurm , advocated the expulsion of the “ non-Aryan ” believers from the German Evangelical Church .

In 1949 Weber's denazification process was completed. Although he had been awarded Category V discharge, he was still preoccupied with the subject of his guilt during National Socialism.

In the post-war period Weber was temporarily dean of the theological faculty in Göttingen, namely in 1950/51 and 1957/58. 1958/59 he was rector of the University of Göttingen . From 1958 he was presbyter of the Reformed congregation, 1963 to 1965 regional synodal of the Evangelical Reformed Church in north-west Germany .

From 1961 to 1966 he was chairman of the founding committee of the University of Bremen and from May 26, 1964 to May 16, 1966 the first founding rector of the University of Bremen . His successor as the second founding rector was the Kiel physician Wolfgang Bargmann . Even after his resignation as founding rector, Otto Weber remained a member of the founding committee.

Publications (selection)

  • Basics of dogmatics
  • The Question of Joy and the New Testament , Elberfeld 1928 [1929?]
  • The attitude to life of our time as a question to the church , Neukirchen 1932
  • Divine service and evangelical proclamation. An examination of the liturgical reform efforts of the present , Neukirchen 1933.
  • Yahweh, the god, and Yahweh, the idol , Neukirchen 1933.
  • The interpretation of the Holy Scriptures as a theological question , Neukirchen 1934
  • Old Testament biblical studies. A work book
    • Vol. 1: Law and prophetic history , Berlin
    • Vol. 2: Books of Prophets and Writings , Hamburg
  • Move away, you mourning spirits! A reflection on joy , Berlin 1938.
  • The Huguenots and the Franco-German Problem , Berlin 1938
  • The message of the Bible. Our faith. Teaching work for evangelical instruction ; also under the title: Outline of Biblical Studies , Göttingen 1949
  • Why Protestant? From protest to confession , Wuppertal-Barmen 1956
  • The word of release. Considerations about the individual pastoral conversation , Neukirchen o. J. [1957]
  • Sermons and considerations on the sermon , Neukirchen 1960
  • Word and answer. Sermons and considerations on the sermon , Neukirchen 1966
  • Sermon Meditations , Göttingen 1967
  • The Faithfulness of God and the Continuity of Human Existence , Collected Essays 1, Neukirchen 1967
  • The Faithfulness of God in the History of the Church , Collected Essays 2, with a bibliography by Otto Weber (BGLRK 29), Neukirchen 1968

literature

Archives

A compilation of the archives concerning Otto Weber can be found here: Vicco von Bülow, Otto Weber (1902-1966). Reformed theologian and church politician . Work on contemporary ecclesiastical history Series B Volume 34. Göttingen 1999, pages 421 to 434.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sources: Timeline for the history of the University of Bremen ; Birte Gräfing: Tradition Reform. The University of Bremen 1971–2001. Donat, Bremen 2011, p. 15, p. 128; Vicco von Bülow: Otto Weber (1902–1966). Reformed theologian and church politician. Works on contemporary church history B 34. Göttingen 1999, p. 380ff.
personal data
SURNAME Weber, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weber, Otto Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Mülheim am Rhein
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1966
Place of death St. Moritz