Rudolf drilling

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rudolf Bohren (born March 22, 1920 in Grindelwald ; † February 1, 2010 in Dossenheim near Heidelberg ) was a Protestant theologian with a focus on practical theology from Switzerland who, with his pneumatological approach and with his suggestions for a theological aesthetic, developed practical theology For 50 years, from 1959 to 2009, played a key role.

Life

Bohren studied Protestant theology in Bern and Basel , especially with Eduard Thurneysen and Karl Barth . He wrote a dissertation on “The Problem of Church discipline in the New Testament” (1952) with Oscar Cullmann . On May 16, 1945 he was accepted into the community of Reformed preachers in Bern as Verbi Divini Minister (VDM).

From 1945 to 1958 he was pastor in Bern , in Holderbank in Aargau and in Arlesheim , a suburb of Basel. The experiences in the different structured communities have shaped his scientific work. In 1958 he was appointed professor for practical theology at the Wuppertal Church University . In 1972 he was offered a professorship at the Church of the University of Berlin , and in 1974 at the University of Heidelberg , where he set up a sermon research center.

theology

His scientific work was determined by four main areas:

The existence of the church in the world

The casual practice was subjected to critical reflection by Bohren in his much discussed work: "Our casual practice - a missionary opportunity?" (ThEx 1979, 5th edition). A lecture on practical ecclesiology that was held in dialogue with his assistant Grün-Rath is now available in printed form in Edition Bohren (Spenner-Verlag 2005). Individual essays have been published on both lay practice and church reform.

sermon

The Sermon Doctrine , published in 1971 , has since seen five further editions, translations into Korean and Japanese, e. Sometimes also in English. Bohren tries to gain a new theological approach to preaching from pneumatology . - Numerous volumes of sermons have accompanied homiletics : “The mystery of the present”, 1965; “Prophet in needy time,” 1969; “Rebirth of the Miracle”, 1972; “Beatitudes of the Bible - Today”, 1974. - Individual homiletic essays were bundled in “Spirit and Judgment. Works on Practical Theology ”, 1979. - Bohren developed a method of sermon analysis together with Gerd Debus and presented it in 1986 in an international scientific forum (cf. R.Bohren / KPJörns (ed.), Die Predigtanalyse als Weg zur Predigt, 1989) . A Societas Homiletica developed from the science forum, which is composed internationally and holds international conferences every two years. An ecumenical association for the promotion of preaching was also established in 1988 and published the magazine “Preaching in Conversation” four times a year.

Pastoral care

In a polemical escalation, Bohr's endeavors in pastoral care after Christoph F. Blumhardt became clear as early as 1960: “Pastoral care - consolation of the soul or call to the kingdom?” Bohren advocates making church history and its pastoral experience fruitful. "Great Pastoral Care" - this frequently held lecture was published in two volumes in 2007 by Dietrich Stollberg in the Bohren edition. Bohren entered into a literary conversation about pastoral care with his teacher Eduard Thurneysen: “Prophetie und Seelsorge” (1982). Two of Luther's writings were commented on by him under the title "Consolations" in 1983. A strongly biographical text appeared in 1990: “In the depth of the cistern. Experiences with sadness ”. Polemically a discussion with J. Scharfenberg: "Psychology and theology - a profit and loss account for pastoral care" (1996).

aesthetics

Bohren sought a conversation with modern literature in his sermon teaching and then in further essays (e.g. Johannes Bobrowski , Peter Handke , Nelly Sachs , Kurt Marti , Eugen Gomringer ). Bohren published lyrical texts himself: "bohrungen" (1967), "heimatkunst" (1987). "Schnörkelschrift" and "Texts zum weiterbeten", for which he received the 1988 literature prize of the Canton of Bern.

Bohren thinks through the problem of a theological-mystical aesthetic in “That God will be beautiful. Practical Theology as Aesthetics ”(1975). In the publication "Lifestyle", Bohren made his experiences with a guest semester in India (Bangalore) fruitful, while a church-culinary travel diary entitled "Declaration of love to the Far East" deals with his first trip to Japan in 1980. A second trip to Japan followed in 2002.

bibliography

Bibliography on Bohren's work up to 1990 in: Jürgen Seim / Lothar Steiger (eds.), Lobet Gott. Contributions to theological aesthetics. Rudolf Bohren on his 70th birthday, Munich 1990.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ecumenical Association for the Promotion of Preaching eV, register number VR 331565, Mannheim District Court. Association homepage
  2. ↑ ZDB -ID 2203653-2
personal data
SURNAME Drilling, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss theologian
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Grindelwald
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 2010
Place of death Dossenheim