International Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society, Reformation Movement

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International Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society, Reformation Movement
General
branch Protestantism
Belief Adventists
distribution 120 countries
president Tzvetan Petkov
founding
Establishment date 1919
Place of foundation Frankfurt / Main
Origin and development
Spin-offs

Community of the Seventh Day Adventist Reformation Movement

numbers
Members 31,000
Others
Tax position Free Church
Also called: IMG (abbreviation)
Website https://reform-adventisten.net/

The International Missionary Society, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Reform Movement (short: IMG. English: "International Missionary Society, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Reform Movement") is a Protestant free church that is part of the Seventh-day Adventist community, today Seventh-day Adventist Free Church . Its members are commonly referred to as Reform Adventists .

history

At the beginning of the First World War , the German leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Community called on its male members to make themselves available as fighting soldiers and also to fight on the Sabbath , the biblical day of rest sacred by the Adventists. This decision was declared a principle and was communicated in writing to the War Ministry in writing just four days after the start of the war. This change caused unrest among many members of the community. 2000–3000 parishioners, officially referred to by the community as “unsobled elements with foolish ideas” and “deceivers” who did not accept this change, were excluded “because of their unchristian behavior” and “as threats to internal and external peace”. Various newspapers all over Germany - in Cologne, Dresden, Stuttgart, and Berlin - reported, partly as a press release by the community, about these expulsions of community members. The leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship even had other exclusions notarized. Until shortly before the end of the war, the former parishioners were officially referred to as “traitors”, “agitators” and “threats to internal and external security” and were excluded. These exclusions from parishioners who were not in favor of war were referred to as "cleaning actions".

The former members united after the turmoil at the time of the war and in the aftermath and organized themselves as the "International Mission Society of the Seventh-day Adventists, Reformation Movement" (IMG), which came together in 1925 for its first general conference (colloquially world synod) and founded his own organization.

Eleven years later, in 1936, which prohibited Nazis by Reinhard Heydrich , the Community on the grounds that it pursues "goals that are contrary to the philosophy of National Socialism." Community property was confiscated and all but one typewriter was lost. Divine services held in secret in the forest (Mannheim, Lahr, Leipzig, Chemnitz) and in the cemetery (Düren) during this prohibition period (1936–1945) were monitored by the Gestapo with informers, the participants reported and sentenced. Whole communities (Aachen, Bielefeld, Chemnitz, Dresden, Essen, Frankfurt, Hanover, Kattowitz, Lahr, Leipzig, Mannheim, Memmingen, Munich, Pforzheim, Schwerin, Stettin, Solingen, Wuppertal) sat together in the dock of the Nazi special courts and were judged in a fast-track process (sometimes lasting 30–45 minutes). Attending two evening services in Mannheim meant six weeks in prison; attending the Lord's Supper in Frankfurt meant a fine of one month's wages. In Bielefeld, membership and participation in a forest walk meant four months in prison. In Wuppertal, parishioners were sentenced to fines for attending church services that amounted to up to ten months' income. Prison terms were given for periods ranging from one month to two years. Many parishioners were subject to postal surveillance and the pastors were wanted on a wanted list.

After the beginning of World War II , conscientious objectors were sentenced to death and executed in the ranks of this community. Other Reform Adventists, some of them out of prison, were taken into so-called protective custody and sent to concentration camps. There are reports of survivors in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (Friedrich Bradtka, Eugen Bidlingmaier, Arnold Seelbach) and of those who died (Johann Hanselmann). The community was a persecuted underground church from late 1936. Because of the postal surveillance, the few contacts with each other could only be maintained verbally. Sometimes children (municipality of Aachen / Alsdorf) brought information because the adults were monitored. Regular community operations and pastoral care were impossible until the end of the Nazi regime. It was not until autumn 1945 that the first spiritual meeting after the Nazi period took place in Dresden-Pillnitz.

Among the Protestant free churches, the Reform Adventists in the Third Reich had the highest number of both martyrs and conscientious objectors . Pacifists in the ranks of the Reform Adventists, who paid for their convictions with their lives, were among others. a. Anton Brugger , Johann Hanselmann, Gottlieb Metzner, Alfred Münch, Viktor Pacha, Ludwig Pfältzer , Günter E. Pietz, Gustav Przyrembel, Julius Ranacher, Leander Zrenner and Willy Thaumann. The community accounted for 37% of all religiously motivated conscientious objectors who could not be assigned to Jehovah's Witnesses.

After the Second World War, the community in Germany started at zero. The IMG also had to completely reorganize in other European countries. In 1951 a larger group split up under the leadership of Dimitru Nicolici, who came from Romania. At the General Conference (World Synod), a personnel decision was made against his proposal. Thereupon Dimitri Nicolici left this synod with his followers. In retrospect, it may be significant that just a few days after the separation, the group that separated was organized around the world. Initially, both organizations kept the original name; Since 1952, Dimitru Nicolici's group has been operating under the name of the Seventh-day Adventist Reformation Movement (STA-REF). Towards the end of his life, Dimitru Nicolici described this separation as the biggest mistake of his life.

present

The world leadership of the International Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society, Reformation Movement, general conference , is located in Cedartown, Georgia, USA . The German organization is located in Mosbach (Baden) . The IMG is active as a mission company in over 120 countries around the world.

Teaching

The theological orientation is based on the entire Bible as the highest spiritual authority. The Bible is considered to be in error. Only the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments of the Protestant count (excluding the Apocrypha ) are considered canonical. As the name suggests, the center of the teaching is the return of Christ. The understanding of God is based on the unity of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Jesus' representative on earth. The Reformation ideas of Protestantism sola scriptura , sola fide , sola gratia , solus Christ are an elementary part of the understanding of faith. The prophetic books Daniel and the Revelation of John enjoy special attention and are the supporting pillars of a Bible-oriented end-time theology. In contrast to the worldwide Adventists , pacifism is practiced in the question of participation in military service . All of Ellen G. White's writings are considered inspired, and she is referred to not as a prophet but as a messenger. A healthy lifestyle and vegetarianism follow. The consumption of tobacco , alcohol and other intoxicants is rejected. The baptism of believers is practiced based on the understanding of the Bible . Ecumenical endeavors are rejected because they are seen as a syncretism that undermines biblical faith. The IMG represents the biblical 7-day creation because of the exclusive theological focus on the Bible. The historical-critical method of interpreting the Bible is not accepted.

The Sabbath is instituted as a reminder of divine creation (“and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it”; Genesis 2: 3) and as instituted by God in the Ten Commandments (“Remember the Sabbath day that you keep it holy”; Exodus 20: 8) and celebrated accordingly. In the New Testament, Jesus used to attend worship on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16). Beyond Christ's death, the validity of the Sabbath is established (“But ask that your flight not take place in winter or on the Sabbath”; Matthew 24:20). There is no basis for sanctifying Sunday in either the Old or New Testament.

According to the understanding of the IMG, the Bible must not be mixed up with other doctrines, traditions and reports. Due to the weekly Sabbath School, now mostly called the Bible School, which is an integral part of the worship service, the members in most cases have a good knowledge of the Bible. Reform Adventists are built democratically from the ground up. The services and meetings are public and are basically open to every visitor.

literature

  • Herrmann Ruttmann: The Adventist Reformation Movement 1914-2001: The International Mission Society of Seventh-day Adventists, Reformation Movement in Germany. Teiresias-Verlag, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-934305-39-3 .
  • International Mission Society of Seventh-day Adventists, Reformation Movement (ed.): The Way of the Adventists. Jagsthausen / Heilbronn 1974.
  • Hans Fleschutz: And follow their faith! Memorial book for the martyrs of the Seventh-day Adventist Reformation Movement. Evidence of loyalty and steadfastness from Germany's dark days. Jagsthausen / Heilbronn 1967.
  • Internationale Missionsgesellschaft (ed.): “You collect my tears.” Memories of the martyrs and loyal believers… in the years 1933–1945. Edelstein-Verlag, Naumburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-933032-59-1 .
  • Marcus Herrberger: Because it is written: “You shouldn't kill!” Verlag Oesterreich, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7046-4671-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dresdner Neue Nachrichten of April 12, 1918
  2. ↑ Bundesarchiv Berlin, R 43 II, No. 179/62
  3. ↑ Johannes Hartlapp, Seventh-day Adventists in National Socialism . V&R unipress, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-89971-504-0 , p. 95
  4. ^ Oskar Kramer: My life , p. 14 manuscript, self-published
  5. ^ Dresdner Neue Nachrichten of April 12, 1918
  6. ^ Dresdner Neue Nachrichten of April 12, 1918
  7. ^ Dresdner Neue Nachrichten of April 12, 1918
  8. ↑ Berliner Lokalanzeiger, August 24, 1918
  9. ↑ Kölner Zeitung of September 21, 1915
  10. ^ Dresdner Neue Nachrichten of April 12, 1918
  11. ↑ Stuttgarter Neues Tagblatt from September 26, 1918
  12. ↑ Berliner Lokalanzeiger, August 24, 1918
  13. ↑ April 5, 1917 at the notary's office in Berlin-Charlottenburg (notary register No. 107)
  14. ^ Letter from the Senator and Police Officer to the Hamburg High Senate of December 7, 1917
  15. ↑ Stuttgarter Neues Tagblatt from September 26, 1918
  16. ↑ Stuttgarter Neues Tagblatt from September 26, 1918
  17. ↑ Johannes Hartlapp, Seventh-day Adventists in National Socialism . V&R unipress, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-89971-504-0 , p. 103
  18. ↑ Bundesarchiv Berlin R58 / 405 fol. 41
  19. ↑ International Mission Society of the SDA / Reformation Movement eV - German Union (ed.): You collect my tears: Witnesses of faith in National Socialism . Edelsteinverlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-933032-59-1 , pp. 114 and 145-160
  20. ↑ International Mission Society of the SDA / Reformation Movement eV - German Union (Ed.): You collect my tears - witnesses of faith in National Socialism . Edelsteinverlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-933032-59-1 , p. 114
  21. ↑ Hans Fleschutz: And follow their faith - memorial book for the martyrs of the Seventh-day Adventist Reformation movement; Evidence of loyalty and steadfastness from Germany's dark days. Self-published, Jagsthausen 1973
  22. ↑ Harald Schultze, Andreas Kurschat, Claudia Bendick: Your end looks at ... - Protestant martyrs of the 20th century . Leipzig, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt 2006, p. 92 ISBN 978-3374023707
  23. ↑ International Mission Society of the SDA / Reformation Movement eV - German Union (Ed.): You collect my tears - witnesses of faith in National Socialism . Edelsteinverlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-933032-59-1 .
  24. ↑ Sabbath Watcher, special edition , volume 91, 2016, Edelsteinverlag, p. 22 f.
  25. ↑ Marcus Herrberger: Because it is written: "You shouldn't kill!" . Wien, Verlag Österreich, 2005 p. 43 ISBN 3-7046-4671-7