Thomas Hartmann (pastor)

Thomas Hartmann (* 1959 ) is a Protestant pastor and book author.

Life

Thomas Hartmann has been pastor in Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg at the historic Thalkirche since 1999 . He had already attracted media attention in the past through various sermons on controversial topics, especially through an address on therapeutic cloning (2001). In doing so, he came into opposition to the official church position due to his deliberate, generally positive attitude to the new procedure.

Hartmann is married and has two daughters and two sons.

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In autumn 2007 Thomas Hartmann published two books on different topics: Put an end to the taboo of violence. Why children have to shoot and fight and Jesus for everyday life. Impulses for the 52 weeks of the year .

At the end of the taboo on violence , Hartmann shows that a potential for violence or aggression is part of the natural makeup of humans. This needs suitable forms of sewerage so that it can integrate socially. He therefore calls for constructive "violence education" in kindergartens and emphasizes how harmful it is to suppress the natural instinct to play in children with toy weapons and in wild role-playing games (including "fun beating" and brawls, especially among boys). A larger part of the 260-page volume gives an introduction to computer games with violent elements (such as first-person shooters ) and denies a causal connection with an increase in real violence up to and including rampage. The author also gives advice on preventing violence in schools and in family houses. In a chapter on violence in the Bible (in it: "Jesus was not a pacifist") the theological background of the author becomes clear. The theses in the book generated strong media interest, which was reflected in interviews, debates and reviews, for example in Focus magazine, in the ARD program Polylux , in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit or on websites such as Telepolis , Golem and Krawall.de . When Jesus for everyday life is known as a calendar book. In it, Hartmann presents a biblical verse - mostly from Jesus from the Gospels - for 52 weeks of the year, regardless of the calendar or church year, comments on it briefly with an exegetical, literary and historical background, and then provides information in the "Suggestions" how the verse in question can be used personally in the sense of "spiritual growth". Hartmann does not only use Christian elements, but also eclectic elements and methods from Gestalt therapy , Zen Buddhism and autogenic training .

In the spring of 2009 his third book The Sense of Suffering: What Can Heal Us , which combines methods of positive psychology with Christian and spiritual approaches up to Buddhist Zen meditation , to show ways of overcoming suffering and illness. The Bible-Tüv followed in September 2010 . The book of books: rusty or guideline? , in which Hartmann tries in a total of 14 chapters to relate current issues such as “euthanasia”, “war effort”, “love and sexuality”, “homosexuality” or “alternative medicine” to the Bible in a critical discussion.

Books

• Put an end to the taboo of violence. Why children have to shoot and fight (Frankfurt 2007, Eichborn Verlag , ISBN 978-3-8218-5663-6 )
• Jesus for everyday life. Impulses for the 52 weeks of the year (Munich 2007, Kösel-Verlag , ISBN 978-3-466-36766-5 )
• The sense of suffering: What can heal us (Düsseldorf 2009, Patmos, ISBN 978-3-491-42133-2 )
• The Bible Tüv. The book of books: rusty or guideline? (Ostfildern 2010, Patmos, ISBN 978-3-491-72566-9 )
• God in heaven, evil on earth? Why there is illness, suffering and catastrophes (Regensburg 2013, Verlag Friedrich Pustet, ISBN 978-3-7917-2535-2 )

Web links

• Literature by and about Thomas Hartmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official website
• Interview in focus
• Article “Violence must be” at Telepolis.de
• Interview "The Bible is up to date" in the Frankfurter Rundschau