Theological literary newspaper

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Theological literary newspaper

description Theological monthly
publishing company Evangelical Publishing House , Leipzig
First edition 1876
Frequency of publication per month
Sold edition 1300 copies
( Media data from the Evangelical Publishing House )
Editor-in-chief Annette Weidhas, Elisabeth Neijenhuis
editor Christoph Markschies
Web link Homepage of the ThLZ
ISSN (print) 0040-5671

The Theologische Literaturzeitung (ThLZ) is the oldest and most extensive review magazine for the scientific fields of theology and religious studies in German-speaking countries. It was founded in Leipzig in 1876 , is published today by the Evangelische Verlagsanstalt (Leipzig) and is edited by Christoph Markschies (Berlin) in conjunction with a college of specialist editors, which currently includes eight theology professors from German-speaking evangelical theological faculties. The editorial office (Annette Weidhas, Elisabeth Neijenhuis) is based in Leipzig.

history

The Theological Literature Newspaper was founded in 1876 by Emil Schürer with the assistance of Adolf von Harnack and published by J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buchhandlung (Leipzig).

In the founding manifesto for ThLZ (June 1875) stated:

“ The Theological Literature Newspaper should serve as much as possible all circles of Protestant theology in Germany. No direction will be excluded from cooperation in principle. The judgment of literary phenomena should be as factual as possible, only taking into account the scientific proficiency, not the party standpoint. But in that the editorial team will endeavor to do justice to everyone, they hope to be able to maintain a uniform, characterful attitude for the paper. The discussions should cover all products of scientific theology in Germany. The edification literature should be considered in at least one selection; also in selection the border areas of theology. The editorial team will pay particular attention to being able to report as fully as possible on the more important theological literature from abroad. "

The ThLZ was founded at a time when theological journals were mostly also organs of a certain theological direction. At first it was strongly influenced by reviews from the pen of Harnack and his theological friends and was therefore considered an organ of so-called " liberal theology ". It was therefore particularly under the pressure of competition from the “ Theologische Literaturblatt ”, which was launched in 1880 by Christoph Ernst Luthardt and was strictly Lutheran until it entered the ThLZ in 1943 under its last editor, Ernst Sommerlath . This made it possible to continue to redeem the claim "not to look at the [theological] party standpoint".

After the end of World War II , the Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung no longer received a license in the Soviet zone of occupation. The ThLZ came to the Evangelical Publishing House founded in 1946, which further promoted this work. It is thanks to her and the respective editors that the ThLZ did not go down in the turmoil of contemporary German history. In 1947, after two years of publication pause due to the war, it resumed its work under the difficult conditions of the Soviet occupation zone and the later GDR. After reunification, it survived the newly emerging economic difficulties, so that in 1992 the Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, newly founded in Leipzig, was able to take over sales and in 1995 a new main editor of a functioning review magazine.

The publishers of the ThLZ since 1876

1876–1880 Emil Schürer (1844–1910)
1881–1909 Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930), Emil Schürer
1910 Adolf von Harnack, Hermann Schuster (1874–1965), Arthur Titius (1864–1936)
1911–1921 Hermann Schuster, Arthur Titius
1921–1930 Emanuel Hirsch (1888–1972)
1930–1939 Walter Bauer (1877–1960)
1939–1941 Hans-Georg Opitz (1905–1941)
1941–1958 Kurt Aland (1915–1994)
1958–1983 Ernst Sommerlath ( 1889–1983)
1983–1995 Ernst-Heinz Amberg (born 1927)
1995–2000 Hans Weder (born 1946)
2000–2020 Ingolf U. Dalferth (born 1948)
since 2020 Christoph Markschies (born 1962)

Objective and task

According to Ingolf U. Dalferth (publisher until 2020), the main problem today is no longer (as was the case when the ThLZ was founded), but the lack of clarity of available information. In view of this new confusion, the magazine wants to offer reliable information and precise judgments based on transparent criteria, both for theology and for religious studies. The ThLZ can devote itself to this task because it has not been an organ of a particular school since it was founded; Well-founded but different theological positions are probably in the background of individual reviews, but not of the entire journal. Since 1876, the ThLZ has endeavored not only to incorporate the most important theological and ecclesiastical currents, but also to incorporate the changing discourses in the various specialist areas and to present them in a summarized manner in articles and literature reports.

From the beginning, the Theologische Literaturzeitung was not only concerned with German-language publications and it did not limit itself to publications on Protestant theology. The field of theology and religious studies has become more international over the past decades and is thus a sign of general globalization. The ThLZ, under its publisher Christoph Markschies, takes this into account by further increasing the internationality of the reviewed titles as well as the authors who review them.

Several times a year, the new publications in the individual disciplines are reviewed jointly by the editorial board and the reviewers to be requested are determined. This work is supervised by the editorial team under the direction of Annette Weidhas.

Editorial board, structure and frequency of publication

The editorial board currently includes : as main editor Christoph Markschies, Berlin (Church history: Old Church, Middle Ages); as specialist editor Albrecht Beutel , Münster (church history: Reformation times, modern times, contemporary history), Christfried Böttrich , Greifswald (New Testament, biblical studies), Beate Ego , Bochum (Jewish studies, biblical studies, Old Testament), Friedhelm Hartenstein , Munich (Old Testament, classical studies, Biblical Studies), Ralph Kunz , Zurich (practical theology, religious education), Friederike Nüssel , Heidelberg (systematic theology, ecumenism), Nils Ole Oermann , Lüneburg (systematic theology / ethics and social philosophy), Henning Wrogemann , Wuppertal (religious studies, missiology).

The ThLZ appears monthly (in January / February and July / August as a double issue) and discusses almost all major new publications in German-language theology, but also a wealth of publications from the Anglo-American and Scandinavian countries as well as other publications. a. French, Spanish and Italian titles. The reviews are usually published in German, but English and French-language articles are also possible. Each issue begins with a title article that deals with a specific topic. Over 500 reviews and around twelve articles are published in the ThLZ per year. There are also a number of short advertisements contributed by the editorial board or the editorial team. At the end of the respective categories, corresponding title shows of more recent literature appear in loose succession, which cannot be specifically discussed. At the end of the booklet, literature and research reports, congress reports, faculty news, personalities and notices of various kinds can be printed as required.

The review section is divided into the following sections, around ten of which are printed in each issue:

For the books intended for review and requested by the publishers, the editorial board draws up appropriate reviewers' suggestions. Recognized experts in the field are suggested, both internationally known and younger scientists, who work on the relevant publication.

Web links

literature

  • Gerhard Karpp: The theological literary newspaper . Creation and history of a review magazine (1876–1975) . Greven, Cologne 1978, ISBN 978-3-7743-0547-2 (= work from the librarian training institute of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia , vol. 47).