Valdemar Ammundsen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valdemar Ammundsen as bishop

Ove Valdemar Ammundsen (born August 19, 1875 in Nørre Felding (today Holstebro Kommune , Jutland), † December 1, 1936 in Haderslev ) was a Danish Lutheran theologian and the first bishop of the Diocese of Haderslev . He is also known as one of the pioneers of the ecumenical movement .

career

Ammundsen grew up in Copenhagen after the early death of his father, where he attended the Vestre Borgerdydskole . He began his studies at the University of Copenhagen in 1893 and completed it in 1899 with the candidate exam, after he had already won a university award in 1897 for an investigation into the Second Peter’s Letter . During a study trip to Germany in 1901 he was asked to apply for a professorship in church history in Copenhagen, which he finally received. When the Diocese of Haderslev was founded in 1922 (for the areas in North Schleswig that had come to Denmark after the referendum in 1920 ), Ammundsen was appointed the first bishop. Here he tried particularly hard to mediate the tensions between Germans and Danes.

Social and Ecumenical Work

Ammundsen worked in various organizations throughout his life. He gained his first ecumenical experience in the Christian Student World Federation , where he a. a. John Raleigh Mott met and served as chairman from 1915 to 1918. He took part in the World Mission Conference in Edinburgh in 1910 and in the founding meeting of the World Association for Church Friendship Work in 1914 in Constance . At the meeting of the World Federation in Oud Wassenaar near The Hague , he supported Nathan Söderblom's proposal for a major world conference in which the churches should jointly determine their position on social issues. When this was realized in 1925 as the “ Stockholm World Church Conference ”, Ammundsen took part as a delegate of his church and was elected to the World Council for Practical Christianity . In 1931 he made sure that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was elected youth secretary of the World Association for Friendship Work. At the meeting of the Executive Committee of the World Federation in Sofia in September 1933 and at the joint meeting of the World Federation and the Council for Practical Christianity in Fanø in August 1934 , he successfully advocated clear partisanship between both organizations for the Confessing Church and against those controlled by the NSDAP Imperial Church a. In 1934 he took over the chairmanship of the European Committee of the World Council, the next year also the presidency of the World Alliance for Friendship Work of Churches.

Ammundsen was also one of the founders of the Kristeligt-socialt Forbund in 1913 , an association in Denmark that is closely related to religious socialism with British characteristics ( Henry Scott Holland ).

theology

When Ammundsen became professor of church history in 1901, the church situation was essentially shaped by a confrontation between four wings: the two currents of awakening, Indre Mission and Grundtvigianism , the faculty theologians and representatives of the new movement that came mainly from Germany, liberal theology , which was influenced by the historical-critical principles that found their way into historical studies at the time. In the latter part of the 19th century empiricism and positivism were successful, and in 1900 Edvard Lehmann had translated Adolf von Harnack's The Essence of Christianity . In 1903 Eduard Geismar published Kristendom og Udvikling , the hitherto most detailed religious answer to Darwinism in Denmark, in which Geismar reinterpreted the Christian statements of faith with regard to evolution .

Theologically, Ammundsen based himself on liberal theology, which also found its way into Denmark around the turn of the century with the motto “free research and positive Christianity”; one of the leading figures was Frederik Christian Krarup . In the 1880s, Frants Buhl introduced the historical-critical method into Old Testament research.

In the 1920s, the Tidehverv movement criticized liberal theology and the dominant "experiential religiosity ".

Jens Holger Schjørring characterized Ammundsen's theology as: " som en pietisme med kristelig-sociale fortegn, eller måske rettere som samfundsengagement i pietisk iklædning " (German: " Pietism with a Christian-social sign, or perhaps more correctly than social engagement in a pietistic disguise.")

family

Ammundsen was a son of pastor Peter Ammundsen (1836-1889) and his wife Frederikke Augusta Sørensen (1840-1920). His older brother John Ammundsen (1872-1959) was also a theologian and officiated from 1923 to 1942 as bishop of the diocese of Lolland-Falster . Since 1903 Ammundsen was married to Charlotte Balslev (1877–1961). His children include the doctor and resistance fighter Esther Ammundsen (1906–1992) and the director Johannes Ammundsen (1913–1982).

Honors

Ammundsen was made a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog in 1913 , received the Dannebrog Cross in silver in 1923 and the Commander's Cross 2nd Class in 1932.

In 1917 the University of Oslo awarded him an honorary doctorate .

Publications (selection)

  • Novatianus and Novatianisms. Gad, København 1901.
  • Menigheden og theologies. Gad, København 1906.
  • The young Luther. V. Pios, København 1907.
  • Til Opbyggelse. Taler and Afhandlinger. København 1912.
  • Søren Kierkegaards Ungdom. Gad, København 1912.
  • Krig and krigsførende Kristne. Strejflys fra Tyskland, Frankrig, England. Gad, København 1916.
  • The Kristne Kirke is the nodding Aarhund speech. Gyldendahl, København 1925.
  • Social Kristendom. Fremstilling (og Vurdering) af W. Rauschenbuschs Kristendomssyn. Nyt Nordisk Forlag, København 1931.
  • Introduction. In: Edvard Lehmann: Grundtvig. Mohr, Tübingen 1932.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Schjørring: Kristendom og socialt engagement. V. Ammundsen og hans velvet. Berlingske Forlag, 1980, p. 236.
  2. ↑ Valdemar Ammundsen ( Memento of the original from July 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Portal , accessed on May 6, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dietrich-bonhoeffer.net
  3. ↑ Schjørring, Kristendom og socialt engagement. V. Ammundsen og hans samtid , Berlingske Forlag, 1980, p. 14.
  4. ↑ Adolf Harnack: Kristendommens Väsen . Oversat by Edvard Lehmann. V. Pios Forlag, København 1900.
  5. ↑ Geismar hos DarwinArkivet.dk, af Hans Henrik Hjermitslev
  6. ^ Poul Georg Lindhardt : Kirken i går og i dag. 1955, p. 92.
  7. ↑ Schjørring: Kristendom og socialt engagement. V. Ammundsen og hans velvet. Berlingske Forlag, 1980, p. 142 ff.
  8. ↑ Schjørring: Kristendom og socialt engagement. V. Ammundsen og hans velvet. Berlingske Forlag, 1980, p. 61 f.
  9. ↑ Egill Snorri Hrafn Snorrason, Merete Harding: Esther Ammundsen . In: Svend Cedergreen Bech , Svend Dahl (eds.): Dansk biografisk leksikon . Founded by Carl Frederik Bricka , continued by Povl Engelstoft. 3. Edition. tape 1 : Abbestée – Bergsøe . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1979, ISBN 87-01-77362-3 (Danish, biografiskleksikon.lex.dk ).
  10. ↑ Merete Harding, Palle Birkelund: Vibeke Ammundsen . In: Svend Cedergreen Bech , Svend Dahl (eds.): Dansk biografisk leksikon . Founded by Carl Frederik Bricka , continued by Povl Engelstoft. 3. Edition. tape 1 : Abbestée – Bergsøe . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1979, ISBN 87-01-77362-3 (Danish, biografiskleksikon.lex.dk ).
  11. ↑ Æresdoktorer ved Universitetet i Oslo 1911-1917 on the website of the University of Oslo, accessed on May 5, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Ammundsen, Valdemar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ammundsen, Ove Valdemar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish Lutheran theologian and bishop
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Nørre Felding
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1936
Place of death Haderslev