Siegfried Meurer (theologian)

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Siegfried Karl Meurer (born April 12, 1931 in Cologne ; † September 8, 2001 in Lauris / France) was a German Protestant theologian with a doctorate and habilitation and long-time Secretary General of the German Bible Society .

life and work

After the theological exam, Meurer completed a year of study at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and then worked as a vicar in Pennsylvania and Luxembourg . He was ordained in Goch on July 9, 1961 . After nine years in the parish parish in Wuppertal- Uellendahl , he became a consultant in the Diakonisches Werk of the Rhenish Church in 1971 . In addition, he gained further academic qualifications through a doctorate (1968) and habilitation (1973).

From 1974 until his retirement in May 1997, Meurer served in Bible societies and biblical ecumenism.

In 1974 Meurer was appointed general secretary of the then Evangelical Bible Works and managing director of the German Biblical Foundation, which in 1981 merged to form the German Bible Society (DBG). As general secretary for many years, he brought the various German state Bible societies together in the superordinate German Bible Society based in Stuttgart.

As general secretary, Meurer initially headed the new foundation at the side of the commercial director Gernot Winter, who, as head of the traditional Württemberg Bible Institute , had campaigned for the larger merger like him, and then after his retirement in 1990 together with Volkmar J. Löbel. The cooperation with the general assembly, the board of directors and the specialist committees also proved itself in the interests of the common cause.

Meurer promoted publishing and Bible missionary projects, promoted ecumenical Bible initiatives and anchored the responsibility for the worldwide distribution of the Bible in the awareness of a large group of donors. The “Bible and Culture” foundation that grew out of this is his legacy.

In terms of publishing, he expanded the program for the “Urtext editions” as well as promoting the contemporary “ Good News Bible ” and implementing the revised Luther Bible from 1984 . He anchored the multi-volume text edition of the Greek New Testament and the revision of the Biblia Hebraica in the program of the Bible Society.

The non-denominational “Year of the Bible” in 1992 was due to his commitment, as was the “Bible and Culture” foundation, which has been awarding an annual prize to those working in the arts since 1988 and organizing highly regarded youth competitions in different federal states. Here Meurer was able to work towards what was his life goal: "I want to awaken people's joy in the Bible and give them help to discover the Holy Scriptures as their book."

Meurer's concern was to find new and contemporary ways to convey the biblical message. Just as von Canstein made use of the new technique of standing sentence at that time , Meurer discovered the computer early on as a suitable medium to facilitate access to the Bible for daily work and to make it fruitful for study in a new way. Recognizing that the image is increasingly threatening to overtake the word, he promoted the conception and implementation of Bible comics and contributed significantly to the creation of an 18-part video series “Encounter with the Bible”.

It was particularly important to him that the Germans living in an affluent society make their due contribution to alleviating the worldwide biblical distress. It therefore called in 1975 as general secretary of the Evangelical Bible work the action world Bible Help to life. "Famine relief is necessary so that people can live, the Bible is necessary so that they also want to live," was his motto.

He assumed international responsibility in the service of the worldwide United Bible Societies . From 1984-1991 he was chairman of the Executive Committee Europe / Middle East, from 1991-1996 chairman of the executive committee of the overall organization of the 137 World Bible Societies.

On his retirement in May 1997, Ako Haarbeck wrote about him:

“A 'Doctor Biblicus' has gone to rest, to whom Christianity has a lot to thank far beyond Germany and across all confessional boundaries. Many Christians from all over the world have learned to appreciate the work of Siegfried Meurer. Not only his work: Lucien Accad, chairman of the regional committee Europe and Middle East once told me how Siegfried Meurer came to you in Beirut during the worst time of the Lebanese civil war , just like that, as a friend and brother. There was an air raid as soon as he arrived at the port. While the bombs were falling all around, Meurer calmly said: 'That'll be over soon. Let's rejoice that God has brought us together. ' - That too is Siegfried Meurer. "

Meurer spent his retirement in Steinenbronn in the Boeblingen district and regularly visited the holiday home in Lauris in France with his wife. There he died suddenly and surprisingly on September 8, 2001. He was buried in the Steinenbronn cemetery.

Publications (selection)

As an author

  • The advocacy of the Spirit of God in the biblical testimony , Basel 1969.
  • The law in the service of reconciliation and peace. Study on the question of law according to the New Testament , Zurich: Theologischer Verlag 1972.
  • Limits and Chances of Disseminating the Luther Bible. Lecture at an academy conference on the revision of the Luther Bible on September 29, 1981 in Tutzing , in: Renewal from the Bible , 1982, pp. 205–214.
  • The work of the German Bible Society. [Report for the Biblesynod of the EKD in November 1981 in Fellbach] , in: Renewal from the Bible , 1982, pp. 141–152
  • German Bible Society: Evangelical Bibles in the Federal Republic of Germany and in West Berlin. Portrait of a public service company . In: Journal for Public and Public Sector Enterprises , Vol. 5/1982, pp. 199–204, ISSN  0344-9777 .
  • God's Word for All , Stuttgart: German Bible Society 1993.
  • Preface . In: The history of the Luther Bible revision from 1850 to 1984 , ed. v. Klaus Dietrich Fricke and Siegfried Meurer, Stuttgart 2001, pp. 13–32.

As editor

  • Diakonie and social change , Wuppertal: Youth Service 1973.
  • The bestseller without a reader. Considerations for the meaningful transmission of the Bible , Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung 1976.
  • Betrayal of Luther? Results of a Bible revision , Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung 1977.
  • One Bible, many translations. Need or Necessity? Stuttgart: German Biblical Foundation 1978.
  • Renewal from the Bible (The Bible in the World, Vol. 19) , Stuttgart: German Bible Society (DBG) 1982.
  • Focus on the Bible. Ulrich Fick on his 60th birthday , Stuttgart: DBG 1983.
  • The new Luther Bible . Contributions to the revised text 1984 (The Bible in the World, Vol. 21) , Stuttgart: DBG 1985.
  • The Apocryphal Question in the Ecumenical Horizon . Stuttgart: DBG 1989, 2nd edition 1993.
  • The forgotten sisters. Women-friendly language in the Bible translation (Bible in conversation, Vol. 1) , Stuttgart: DBG 1993.
  • "What Christ does". Martin Luther and his Bible translation (Bible in conversation, Vol. 4) , Stuttgart: DBG 1996.
  • The Bible and Culture Foundation 1988–2000. A documentation , Stuttgart: DBG and Katholisches Bibelwerk 2001.

As a series editor

  • Texts and works on the Bible , Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag 1985 ff., 5 volumes:
    • Vol. 1: Joachim Gnilka (ed.): The translation of the Bible - task of theology , 1985
    • Vol. 2: Wilhelm Gundert: History of the German Bible Societies in the 19th Century , 1987
    • Vol. 3: Kurt Aland (Ed.): Science and Church. Festschrift for Eduard Lohse , 1989
    • Vol. 4: Hartmut Hövelmann: Key passages of the Luther Bible , 1989
    • Vol. 5: Karl-Fritz Daiber , Ingrid Lukatis: Biblical Piety as a Shape of Lived Religion , 1991
  • Works on the history and impact of the Bible , Stuttgart: DBG 2001 ff., 2 of 7 volumes:
    • Vol. 1: Klaus Dietrich Fricke (ed.): The history of the Luther Bible revision , 2001
    • Vol. 2: Walter Groß (Ed.): Bible translation today. Historical developments and current challenges. Stuttgarter Symposion 2000. In Memoriam Siegfried Meurer , 2001 (still prepared, published posthumously)

literature

  • Ako Haarbeck : Thanks to Siegfried Meurer , in: Hannelore Jahr (Hrsg.): The new good news Bible. Dedicated to Siegfried Meurer as a farewell (Bible in Conversation 5) , Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft 1998, pp. 7-10.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ecclesiastical gazette of the Protestant Church in the Rhineland of November 23, 2001, p. 18
  2. ↑ Walter Kasper , Walter Klaiber , Eduard Lohse , Paul-Werner Scheele , Theodor Schober , Theo Sorg (eds.): With the Bible through the year 1992 , Stuttgart: Kreuz 1990.
  3. ↑ Hellmut Haug: A life in the service of the Bible , die-bibel.de, obituary of September 11, 2001.
  4. ↑ Ako Haarbeck: Thanks to Siegfried Meurer , in: Hannelore Jahr (Hrsg.): The new good news Bible. Dedicated to Siegfried Meurer as a farewell (Bible in Conversation 5) , Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft 1998, pp. 7-10, here p. 9.
  5. ↑ https://de.findagrave.com/memorial/22302360/siegfried-meurer
  6. ↑ http://d-nb.info/890623481
  7. ↑ http://d-nb.info/027192210
personal data
SURNAME Meurer, Siegfried
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meurer, Siegfried Karl (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant pastor, general secretary of the German Bible Society
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 2001
Place of death Lauris