Theodor Kaftan

Theodor Christian Heinrich Kaftan (born March 18, 1847 in Loit near Aabenraa , North Schleswig , † November 26, 1932 in Baden-Baden ) was a Protestant theologian and church leader.

Life

Kaftan studied theology in Erlangen , Berlin and Kiel . 1873-1880 he was pastor of the Danish parish in Aabenraa. From 1880 to 1884 he worked as a government and school board in Schleswig thereafter provost in Tonder to be. In 1886 he became general superintendent for Schleswig . In 1917 he retired, but took over the pastoral office of the Evangelical Lutheran as emeritus. Parish of Baden-Baden ( ELKiB ).

Kaftan has had a significant influence on church development in Schleswig-Holstein. After the abolition of the “ sovereign church regiment ” in 1918, he was concerned with the separation of church and state and with the principle of the “ people's church ”, which he sought to implement through reforms of education, worship and liturgy . His ideas on questions of canon law and church politics had a significant influence on the later founding of the VELKD . Kaftan was also involved in ecumenical work. Theologically, he distanced himself from both orthodox and liberal attitudes and represented a Lutheran-Reformed approach, not least under the influence of his younger brother Julius Kaftan , who at the Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Berlin the former Chair of the famous theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher taken would have.

Works

• Experiences and observations - Gütersloh: Bertelsmann, 1931, 2., durchgearb. Ed.
• Experiences and observations of the former general superintendent of Schleswig D. Theodor Kaftan - Kiel: Verein f. Schleswig-Holst. Church history, 1924
• How do we compose the church according to its nature? - Leipzig: Dörffling & Franke, 1920
• State and Church - Berlin: Voss, 1919
• What now? - Leipzig: Dörffling & Franke, 1919
• Luther's catechism, as a householder should simply explain it - Schleswig: Bergas, 1919
• The state-free Volkskirche - Leipzig: Dörffling & Franke, 1918
• Reformation, not revolution - Leipzig: Deichert, 1917
• Reformation and Gustav Adolf Association - Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1917
• The current war situation and we Christians - Ratzeburg: Schlesw.-Holst. Writings Association, 1916
• On Protestant Education - Hamburg: Rauhes Haus, 1916
• Teaching Christianity - Schleswig: Bergas, 1914
• Why did I join the Evangelical Covenant? - Berlin: Evang. Bund, [1913]
• The man Jesus Christ, who is some mediator between God and man - Gr. Lichterfelde-Berlin: Runge, 1908
• Church, law and theology in four decades - Munich: Kaiser

literature

• Walter Göbell (ed.): Church, law and theology in four decades. The correspondence between the brothers Theodor and Julius Kaftan. 2 volumes. Kaiser, Munich 1967.
• Walter Göbell:  Kaftan, Theodor. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1977, ISBN 3-428-00192-3 , p. 17 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Werner Raupp :  Kaftan, Theodor Christian Heinrich. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-073-5 , Sp. 1133-1144.

Web links

• Literature by and about Theodor Kaftan in the catalog of the German National Library

predecessor	Office	successor
Bertel Petersen Godt	General superintendent for Schleswig 1886 - 1917	Friedrich Petersen