Samuel R. Külling

Samuel Robert Külling (born January 9, 1924 in Glattfelden ; † December 15, 2003 in Basel ) was an Evangelical Reformed theologian, pastor, Old Testament scholar and founder and rector of the state-independent theological college (STH) in Riehen near Basel.

Life

Külling grew up in Thun in a simple family that was part of the Salvation Army . From 1945 to 1952 he studied Protestant theology at the University of Bern and at the New College in Edinburgh . He found it inappropriate that many professors treated the biblical texts critically and theologically “as a human product like any book of world literature” instead of interpreting them as the Word of God and Holy Scripture . From 1953 to 1959 he was pastor in the Protestant Reformed parish in the predominantly Roman Catholic Porrentruy . During this time he also learned Dutch and Akkadian . From 1959 to 1960 he completed a year of study in Jerusalem and received his doctorate in 1964 from the Free University of Amsterdam in the Old Testament . The dissertation on Genesis 17 placed the covenant of God with Abraham in the context of the oriental cultures of the 2nd millennium BC. From 1964 to 1970 Külling taught at the Preachers' Seminar and Bible School St. Chrischona in St. Chrischona near Basel, and from 1965 also at the Faculté Libre de Théologie Evangélique in Vaux-sur-Seine near Paris . From 1965 to 1979 he was chairman of the Bible Association and editor of the magazine Bibel und Gemeinde .

Foundation of FETA

In 1966 he published Das Uebel an der Wurzel haben , which gave rise to an association that wanted to establish a theological college that was faithful to the Bible in the German-speaking area. In 1970, this association received from the Basel government, against the will of the University of Basel, permission to “establish and manage a teaching facility for the training of pastors, independent of the state and the university”. The school was called the Free Evangelical Theological Academy (FETA). The lecturers from evangelical, reformed and free churches from all over the world had to support the following points: “Whole inspiration of the Bible by the Spirit of God, whole truth in every respect and whole unity without real contradictions”. In addition, Külling attached great importance to learning the basic languages Hebrew , Aramaic and Greek . In 1980 the school in Riehen already had over 180 students, more than the theological faculty in Basel. Külling had to fight for recognition of the training by the Protestant regional churches of the German-speaking area; in Switzerland and Austria he was able to book partial successes. He was an authoritarian rector from both a factual and disciplinary point of view, so that there were conflicts with professors and students and from 1985 the number of students decreased again.

From 1978 to 1988 Külling worked in the "International Council for Biblical Inerrancy" (ICBI), from which the three Chicago Explanations on the Bible arose. 1980 to 2003 he also published the exegetical and church-political journal Fundamentum .

In 1987 he was able to set up a seminar for doctoral studies in Geneva , but only 6 people completed it.

Works

As an author, co-author and collaborator

with Merrill Frederick Unger : Bible current. Volume 3. The Prophets. Schulte 1970
with Merrill Frederick Unger: Bible current. Volume 6. Hebrews through Revelation. Schulte 1971

To date the "Genesis P-pieces" by name of chapter Genesis 17. 2nd edition. Immanuel, Riehen 1985. ISBN 978-3-9520-1381-6
Another theologian training. Immanuel, Riehen 1986
The creation account and scientific questions. Immanuel, Riehen 1987
with Ernst Hoffmann : If someone takes away ... spiritual gifts today. 3. Edition. Immanuel, Riehen 1998. ISBN 978-3-9521-1571-8

Editorships

Theology under the word. Contributions from FETA (Free Evangelical Theological Academy Basel) to teaching and research. Immanuel, Riehen 1984, ISBN 3-9520138-0-3
Jacob Klapwijk : Philosophical Critique and Divine Revelation. About criticism of religion, cultural criticism, social criticism and criticism of reason in modern thinking. Immanuel, Riehen 1991. ISBN 978-3-9520-1383-0
Herman J. Hegger : The Catholic Church on the Test Stand. 3. Edition. Immanuel, Riehen 1995, ISBN 978-3-9520-1387-8
James M. Boice , John H. Gerstner , Gleason L. Archer , Kenneth S. Kantzer , James Innell Packer , Robert Charles Sproul , Francis Schaeffer : The Infallibility of the Bible. 2nd Edition. Immanuel, Riehen 1995. ISBN 978-3-9520-1388-5
Andreas Symank : Will all people be saved? Reflections on the Doctrine of All Atonement. 3. Edition. Immanuel, Riehen 1997. ISBN 978-3-9521-1570-1

literature

Heard his voice and didn't follow fables. Festschrift for Samuel R. Külling. Immanuel, Riehen 1983

Web links

Literature by and about Samuel R. Külling in the catalog of the German National Library
Literature by and about Samuel R. Külling in the bibliographic database WorldCat

Individual evidence

↑ Fundamentum. The quarterly magazine of the Free Evangelical Theological Academy Basel. Riehen
↑ Samuel Külling: What is biblical fundamentalism? General attack against biblical "fundamentalism" quoted from Fundamentum 4/2001, efg-hohenstaufenstr.de, accessed on April 12, 2014.

personal data
SURNAME	Külling, Samuel R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Külling, Samuel Robert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss Protestant Reformed theologian, Old Testament scholar and Rector of FETA / STH
DATE OF BIRTH	January 9, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH	Glattfelden
DATE OF DEATH	December 15, 2003
Place of death	Basel

[1] Fundamentum. The quarterly magazine of the Free Evangelical Theological Academy Basel. Riehen

[2] Samuel Külling: What is biblical fundamentalism? General attack against biblical "fundamentalism" quoted from Fundamentum 4/2001, efg-hohenstaufenstr.de, accessed on April 12, 2014.