Ulrich Wilckens

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ulrich Wilckens (* 5. August 1928 in Hamburg ) is Professor Emeritus of New Testament and was from 1981 to 1991 Bishop of the diocese Holstein Luebeck in the Lutheran Evangelical Church of North Elbe .

Life

Wilckens grew up in Hamburg, but completed his Abitur in Hinterzarten because his mother had moved there with him and his three siblings in 1941 to avoid the danger of bombs in Hamburg.

After a lecture by an SS officer in 1943, Wilckens volunteered for the Waffen SS at the age of 15 . According to his own statement in his memoirs published in 2019, he did this to please his father, a follower of Hitler , and to “save the honor of a school”; he was the only Hitler admirer in his class. In 1944 he broke internally with the SS, claims Wilckens. In 1945 he was called up for military service with the Waffen SS.

His father died near Berlin just before the end of the war. Ulrich Wilckens studied Protestant theology in Heidelberg and Tübingen and was active in the parish from 1953–1955. 1958–1960 he taught the New Testament at the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the University of Marburg . 1960–1968 he was professor for the New Testament at the Church University in Berlin . This was followed by teaching as a professor for the New Testament in the Protestant Theology department at the University of Hamburg . From 1981 to 1991 he was bishop of the Holstein-Lübeck district in the North Elbe Evangelical Lutheran Church. As a result of severe cancer, he had to forego re-election as bishop. After his recovery he was able to pursue his theological work intensively again.

He has been married to Pastor Inge Wilckens (* 1925 in Memel) since 1955 and they have three daughters.

plant

Wilckens translated and commented on the New Testament. He wrote interpretations of the Gospel of John and Romans as well as an extensive theology of the New Testament .

Wilckens is known as a staunch opponent of feminist theology ; u. a. In 1985 he initiated a corresponding statement by the North Elbe bishops. In 2006 he privately published a theological opinion condemning the Bible in fair language as ideological and contrary to the creed.

Based on his book Critique of Biblical Criticism from 2012, Graf-Stuhlhofer describes Wilckens ' approach to the Bible as "moderate-critical". Wilckens criticizes individual tendencies in biblical criticism, but without presenting “a fundamental reorientation”. He takes up conservative approaches such as that of Birger Gerhardsson and comes to conservative dogmatic consequences, for example with the order of creation and the understanding of marriage. So he regards same-sex sexuality as contrary to the Bible.

criticism

The Jewish New Testament scholar David Flusser accused Wilckens' translation of the Bible of anti-Judaism . Luise Schottroff , co-editor of the Bible in Just Language , also accused Wilckens' theological report on her translation of "fundamentalist and anti-Judaic criteria and assumptions".

Fonts (selection)

  • Wisdom and folly. An exegetical-religious-historical study on 1. Cor. 1 and 2 . Contributions to historical theology 26. Mohr, Tübingen 1959
  • The mission speeches of the Acts of the Apostles. Investigations in the history of form and tradition . WMANT 5th (1961) 3rd, revised and expanded edition, Neukirchener , Neukirchen-Vluyn 1974
  • God's revelation. A path through the New Testament . Book of hours 15. Furche , Hamburg 1963
  • Justification as freedom. Pauline Studies . Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1974
  • The New Testament , translated and commented by Ulrich Wilckens. 8th edition Gütersloher Verlagshaus Mohn, Gütersloh 1991 ISBN 3-579-03999-7 [1. Edition 1970]
  • Resurrection. The biblical testimony of the resurrection historically examined and explained . Gütersloher Taschenbücher 1416. 5th edition. Gütersloher Verlagshaus Mohn, Gütersloh 1992 ISBN 3-579-01416-1
  • Hope against death. The reality of the resurrection of Jesus . Hänssler , Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1996, 2nd edition 1997 ISBN 3-7751-2735-6 .
  • Scriptural interpretation in historical-critical research and spiritual consideration . In: Wolfhart Pannenberg / Theodor Schneider (eds.): Binding Certificate II. Explanation of the Scriptures - Teacher Training - Reception. Göttingen / Freiburg 1995, 13–66.
  • The gospel according to John . NTD 4th 18th edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2000 ISBN 3-525-51379-8 (generally understandable ).
  • The letter to the Romans . EKK 6 / 1–3. 3 vols. (One of the most important scientific commentaries on Romans)
  • The Son of God and His Church. Studies on the theology of the Johannine writings . FRLANT 200. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2003 ISBN 3-525-53884-7 .
  • New Testament theology . 2 vol. In 6 partial volumes. Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2002 ff.
    • Vol. 1: History of early Christian theology . 4 volumes:
Vol. 1/1: History of Jesus' ministry in Galilee . (2002) 2nd edition 2005 ISBN 3-7887-1894-3 .
Vol. 1/2: Jesus' death and resurrection and the emergence of the Church from Jews and Gentiles . 2003. ISBN 3-7887-1895-1 .
Vol. 1/3: The letters of early Christianity. Paul and his students, theologians from the field of Jewish Christian mission to the Gentiles . 2005. ISBN 3-7887-1907-9 .
Vol. 1/4: The Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of John, Revelation and the Origin of the Canon . 2005. ISBN 3-7887-2092-1 .
  • Vol. 2: The theology of the New Testament as the basis of church teaching . 2 volumes:
Vol. 2/1: The foundation . 2007. ISBN 3-7887-1908-7 .
Vol. 2/2: The structure . 2009. ISBN 3-7887-2259-2 .
  • Viewpoints - Fundamental Topics of Biblical Theology , Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2010.
  • Critique of Biblical Criticism - How the Bible can become Holy Scripture again . Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2012, ISBN 978-3-7887-2603-4 .
  • Study Bible New Testament , Fontis, Basel 2015, ISBN 978-3-03848-002-0
  • Study Guide Old Testament , Fontis, Basel 2015, ISBN 978-3-03848-056-3
  • What Christians Believe , Fontis, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-03848-142-3
  • Why I became a Christian. A thoughtful review of my life , Lutherische Verlagsgesellschaft, Kiel 2019, ISBN 978-3875032406

literature

  • David Flusser: Ulrich Wilckens and the Jews. In: Evangelical Theologie 1974, pp. 236–243.
  • Wolfgang Thielmann: Time to think about God. Ulrich Wilckens presents a theology of the New Testament. It is a declaration of war: the long-time bishop and professor questions the established method of historical biblical criticism. In: Rheinischer Merkur No. 41, October 10, 2002.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Late admission: Lübeck's former bishop Wilckens was in the Waffen SS. Retrieved January 12, 2020 .
  2. ^ Homophobic old bishop Wilckens was a member of the Waffen SS. Accessed January 12, 2020 (German).
  3. ↑ Karsten Huhn: Bishop: Easter is the central theme of my life. Interview in Idea , April 1, 2015, pages 26–29
  4. ↑ Konrad Dittrich: A conservative innovator. Former Bishop Ulrich Wilckens will be 85 tomorrow. Even in retirement he deals with questions of practical theology . Lübecker Nachrichten, Lübeck August 3, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Ulrich Wilckens: Theological report on the “Bible in Just Language” (PDF; 123 kB).
  6. ^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer: Review of Ulrich Wilckens: Critique of Biblical Criticism . In: Yearbook for Evangelical Theology 27, 2013, pp. 259f.
  7. ↑ Bible and homosexuality: The answer from former Bishop Wilckens in evangelisch.de
  8. ^ Luise Schottroff: Statement on the theological report by Ulrich Wilckens (PDF; 50 kB).
predecessor Office successor
Friedrich Huebner Bishop of the Holstein-Lübeck district of the North Elbe Evangelical Lutheran Church
1981 - 1991 		Karl Ludwig Kohlwage
personal data
SURNAME Wilckens, Ulrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant New Testament scholar and bishop in the North Elbian Evangelical Church
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg