Rahtmann quarrel

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The Rahtmann controversy was a theological controversy in the Lutheran orthodoxy of the 17th century. In this dispute, the Lutheran teaching of the Holy Scriptures was developed and the relationship between the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit was clarified.

Historical background

prehistory

In the important trading city of Danzig there was a wide range of denominational diversity around 1600. In the city council there was a considerable influence of Reformed council families, the German bourgeoisie was for the most part Lutheran, the simple Polish population and the Ladadel in the area mostly Catholic. This sometimes led to arguments.

In 1617, Dr. Johannes Corvinus appointed an aggressive Mecklenburg theologian to the office of the first pastor of St. Marien and senior of the spiritual ministry , who was to change the denominational weights in the subsequent period. The first thing he did was to start debating Reformed views and practices. He recommended his congregation to avoid fellowship with Calvinists and no longer to sponsor them. In response to specific inquiries from office colleagues, at least one false knowledge of Reformed theology emerged.

Rathmann quarrel

Next he accused his Lutheran counterparts Hermann Rathmann and Daniel Dilger , who represented the views of Johann Arndt von der Kanzel, of heresy. Opinions from Protestant faculties and individual theologians were then obtained from them, all of which confirmed the general legality of his writing, albeit with some reservations.

In 1621 Hermann Rathmann published the book "Jesus Christ, the King of all kings and Lord of all Lords of Grace" , in which he took the view, among other things, that for the work of the Word in the Holy Scriptures the gift of grace of the Holy Spirit was necessary, and even this to be placed above the written word. Now this was the impetus for further activities by John Corvinus. He requested expert opinions from several faculties and enclosed eleven questions in which he pointed out individual formulations that, in his opinion, should be questioned. In doing so, he dispensed with the previous steps that were actually common in such cases: a conversation with the accused, as well as a disputation in the local context, i.e. in front of the city council, in order to first discuss these questions. This annoyed Hermann Rathmann and his supporters, who were convinced of the correctness of their theological views. Two camps formed, which in the following years often discussed each other in writing. The reports from four universities supported Corvinus in the fact that different teachings were represented in Rathmann's writing; only the University of Rostock found his views compatible with Lutheran teachings and urged peaceful dealings.

In 1626 Hermann Rathmann was transferred from the Marienkirche to the Katharinenkirche, in 1628 he died. This took the aggravation away from the dispute. The remaining theologians agreed on compromise formulations in the following years. In 1630 the conflict was officially ended after several talks.

Further development

Johann Gerhard , the leading representative of Lutheran Orthodoxy, wrote a position paper on this topic in 1626. Other theologians also expressed themselves in the following decades on this basic problem of Lutheran orthodoxy.

Theological positions

Hermann Rathmann

Hermann Rathmann's views were strongly influenced by Johann Arndt's True Christianity . He attached great importance to the work of the Holy Spirit.

In his writing of 1621 Rathmann wrote that the Holy Spirit had been given to the biblical authors so directly that they wrote down the Bible without mistake. However, the word itself has no power to awaken faith in itself, but the reader must first be filled with the Holy Spirit, regardless of the scriptural word, so that he understands it and the word works in him.

After his death, his supporters distanced themselves from some extreme formulations, but continued to affirm the basic statements of this theological view.

Lutheran Orthodoxy

Orthodox Lutheran theology assumes the effectiveness of Scripture without any further preconditions.

The word is not like an ax to which the power must first be added when it is used, but just as the baked bread already has the power in it to satisfy hunger, so the word coming from outside also has the power to awaken faith in itself. Word and spirit must not be torn apart, the “inner word” must not be placed above the “outer” word.

These positions were enshrined in the following decades as a result of the conflicts. The Rahtmann controversy contributed to the fact that the "doctrine of the Holy Scriptures" became a separate lesson in their dogmatic works.

Theological meaning

To this day, the question of whether a scientific exegesis of the biblical scriptures is justified depends on which position one takes in Rahtmann's dispute: If the scriptures can only be understood by "spiritually gifted" people, then the door is open to arbitrariness in the interpretation and scientific investigation biblical texts meaningless. But if the spirit works through the word and not independently of it, then the most accurate effort possible to obtain the historically correct literal meaning of the biblical texts becomes a theologically necessary task.

literature

  • Liliana Lewandowska : Danzig in the midst of denominational disputes in the 17th century. In: Heinrich Assel , Johann Anselm Steiger , Axel E. Walter : Reformatio Baltica. Cultural effects of the Reformation in the metropolises of the Baltic Sea region. Walter de Gruyter, 2017. pp. 511–522, here pp. 513–515
  • Richard H. Grützmacher: Word and Spirit. A historical and dogmatic inquiry into the means of grace of the word. Leipzig 1902, esp. 220-312.
  • Eduard Schnaase : History of the Protestant Church of Danzig presented by act . Danzig 1863, pp. 238-247
  • M. von Engelhardt: Der Rahtmannische Streit , in: Zeitschrift für die Historische Theologie 24, 1854, pp. 43-131

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Udo Sträter: Rahtmann controversy. In: Meditation and Church Reform in the Lutheran Church , 1995, pp. 69, 71, 84
  2. ↑ cf. Eduard Schnaase : History of the Protestant Church of Danzig presented by act . Danzig 1863, p. 565f., And more often
  3. ↑ Schnaase, history
  4. ↑ Eduard Schnaase : History of the Protestant Church in Danzig presented by act . Danzig 1863, pp. 237-261 , detailed description of the events, with content reproductions of texts
  5. ↑ 'JG Walch: Historical and theological introduction to the religious disputes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church . online on Google Books. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  6. ^ Johann Gerhard - Loci theologici (1610-1625). Retrieved online January 27, 2016.
  7. ↑ Johann Anselm Steiger : The word they should let stahn. The discussion of Johann Gerhard and Lutheran Orthodoxy with Hermann Rahtmann and their implications for the theology of the Last Supper and Christology. In: Journal for Theology and Church. 95, 3. 1998). Pp. 338-365 information

See also