Peter Brunner (theologian)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Brunner (born April 25, 1900 in Arheilgen near Darmstadt, † May 24, 1981 in Heidelberg ) was a Lutheran pastor and theology professor (also resistance fighter / Confessing Church).

Life

After his studies and doctoral years in Marburg , at Harvard University and at the Sorbonne in Paris , Brunner became a private lecturer at the University of Giessen in 1927 , where he also worked as a student pastor from 1930. Shortly after his appointment as professor in Gießen in 1932, he came into conflict with the new National Socialist regime and lost the professorship, as well as the venia legendi in 1936 .

From 1932 Brunner was pastor in Ranstadt in Upper Hesse . Because of his commitment to the Confessing Church , of which he was one of the founders, he was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp for three months in 1935 . Afterwards he only worked in “illegal offices”, v. a. as pastor in Elberfeld and lecturer at the confessional college there. In 1945 he received a pastor's post in Elberfeld and a lectureship at the Church University of Wuppertal, which emerged from the Confessional University .

From 1947 until his retirement in 1968 Brunner was a full professor for systematic theology at the University of Heidelberg .

His students included the systematists Friedrich Beißer and Albrecht Peters .

Work and thought

In the war and post-war decades, Brunner helped shape the reorientation of the Protestant churches and the profile of Lutheranism in many writings, essays and theological reports and committees.

His major treatise On the Doctrine of Divine Worship of the Congregation Gathered in the Name of Jesus , published in 1954 in the first volume of the Leiturgia collection (new print Hannover 1993), can be considered the main work. With great systematic power, intensive reference to the Bible and church tradition, a strict Lutheran confessional orientation and at the same time the whole church, Brunner developed an almost Eastern Orthodox view of worship as a reciprocal communication and devotion between God and the congregation / church that connects heaven and earth Christ in the Holy Spirit.

He remained alien and hostile to the emerging empirical , psychological and sociological thinking in theology and liturgy. That, as well as his sophisticated style, made him an outsider in recent discussions. The ecumenical reflection on worship, as expressed for example in the Lima liturgy , and the high church movement , with which he himself had early contact in the person of Friedrich Heiler , owe him decisive impulses.

estate

The private and official estate of Brunner is kept in the archive of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland and is accessible via a finding aid.

Brunner's book estate is in the archive of Chrischona International , Bettingen near Basel; Since April 2011 this estate has been available to every researcher by prior arrangement. It is planned to integrate the electronically recorded holdings into the library catalog of the St. Chrischona Theological Seminary.

Honors

In 1936 the University of Basel awarded Brunner an honorary doctorate . In 2010 the square in front of the train station in Ranstadt was named after Peter Brunner.

Fonts (selection)

  • On Faith in Calvin , Tübingen 1925.
  • The alcohol question at Calvin. A contribution to understanding Calvin's ethics , Berlin 1930.
  • The Ten Commandments of God: interpreted in sermons , Zurich [1945/46].
  • Mercy. The Christian in the disorder of this world , Stuttgart 1948.
  • From the power of the work of Christ. On the teaching of baptism and Holy Communion (= Kirchlich-Theologische Hefte , IX), 1950.
  • The Lutheran Confession in the Union. A basic word for reflection, warning and patience , Gütersloh 1952.
  • Foundation of the Lord's Supper Discussion , Kassel 1954.
  • Nikolaus von Amsdorf as Bishop of Naumburg. An investigation into the shape of the Protestant bishopric during the Reformation , Gütersloh 1961.
  • Luther and the world of the 20th century , Göttingen 1961.
  • Pro Ecclesia. Collected essays on dogmatic theology , 2 volumes, Berlin / Hamburg 1962.
  • One thing is necessary. Eleven sermons from the Heidelberg University Church Service , Göttingen 1965.
  • Striving for the unifying truth. Essays , Göttingen 1977.

literature

  • Otto brother (pseudonym, real name: Otto Salomon ): The village on the mountain . EVZ-Verlag, 1960.
  • Edmund Schlink / Albrecht Peters (Hrsg.): On the construction of the body of Christ. Ceremony for Professor D. Peter Brunner on the occasion of his 65th birthday in 1965 , Johannes Stauda-Verlag 1965.
  • Alfred Klassen: Salvation History with Peter Brunner . Diss. Theol. Mainz 1990 ( online resource ).
  • Konrad Fischer: Prota. Eschata. Existence. Remarks on the theology of Peter Brunner . (Theological texts and studies. Vol. 5). Olms, Hildesheim 1994.
  • Konrad Fischer: A certain kind of indirect communication. In memory of Peter Brunner (1900–1981) on the occasion of his 95th birthday on April 25, 1995 . In: Lutherische Monatshefte 6, 1995, pp. 23–25 ( PDF file ).
  • Werner Führer:  Peter Brunner (theologian). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-073-5 , Sp. 834-837.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive  on 2007-06-13)
  • Tobias Eißler: Pro ecclesia. The dogmatic theology of Peter Brunner , Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2001 (Neukirchener theological dissertations and habilitations, volume 30), ISBN 3-7887-1866-8 .
  • Stefanie Huesmann: Courage to Confess: Peter Brunner's Resistance in the Emerging National Socialism . Freimund Verlag 2011.
  • Horst Schaffenberger: Form follows function. Impulses from Peter Brunner's doctrine of worship for a practice saturated with theology . In: Stefan Schweyer (Ed.): Free church services between liturgy and event . Münster: LIT 2012 (STB; 7), 47–58.
  • Solomon Strauss: Communion with the Holy. On the ecclesiology of Peter Brunner . Freimund-Verlag 2014.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ S. PDF file .
  2. ↑ Formerly Warner of Terror . In: Frankfurter Rundschau January 20, 2012 ( Memento from February 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
personal data
SURNAME Brunner, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lutheran pastor and professor of theology
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Arheilgen near Darmstadt
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1981
Place of death Heidelberg