Walter Kreck

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Walter Kreck (born June 7, 1908 in Weidelbach in Hesse ; † November 15, 2002 in Bonn ) was a German theologian .

Life

Kreck studied at the universities of Bonn , Tübingen and Marburg theology and completed this study successfully with a graduation . In his dissertation he treated the in the first half of the 19th century in Elberfeld acting Reformed theologian Hermann Friedrich Kohlbrugge .

Between 1935 and 1940 Kreck was pastor of the French Reformed community in Frankfurt am Main . He worked in the Confessing Church , whose seminary there he led together with the Lutheran theologian Karl Gerhard Steck . In the State Brotherhood Council and the Confessional Synod he campaigned against tendencies towards a free church re-establishment for resistance without giving up church structures. He was expelled by the Secret State Police from the area of ​​the then Evangelical Church in Nassau-Hessen , had a ban on speaking from the Reich and was convicted by a local court. After a year without office, he was pastor in the Westphalian church in Oberfischbach in the Siegen district before he was drafted into military service.

After returning from American captivity, Kreck was a pastor in Herborn , held camps for pastors returning home and taught at the local seminary. As a member of the constitutional committee of the new Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau and a synodal resident, he became director of this seminary in 1948 and at the same time had a teaching position for systematic theology in the philosophical faculty of the University of Frankfurt . In 1952 he became a "full professor for systematic theology and practical theology " at the University of Bonn . His theological work as a student of Karl Barth was always controversial, if necessary criticism of the preaching service and the work of synods and constituted churches. During the time of his teaching activity, too, he afflicted them with their confession and their responsibility instead of giving them up.

He participated in the Arnoldshain Declaration between Lutherans, Reformed and Uniate, which dealt in particular with the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, as well as in the Theological Committee of the Evangelical Church of the Union, as well as in the resistance against atomic weapons in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1950s . His activity took place again in close cooperation with a Lutheran theologian, Hans Joachim Iwand, who died in 1960 . After his retirement in 1973, Walter Kreck taught with a high number of students and combined the discussion of classic dogmatic questions with rousing sermons and socially critical engagement while taking up ecumenical initiatives. In the continuation of the thoughts of the Confessing Church also with those with a corresponding orientation in the German Democratic Republic, which he often visited, such as Walter Feurich , he dealt with Marxism .

Walter Kreck was active in the Easter march movement , the peace movement , in the anti-nuclear power movement , with Attac and in the Christian Peace Conference ; he particularly advocated dialogue between Christians and communists .

He is the father of the mathematician Matthias Kreck .

Klaus Wengst dedicated his study Oppressed Congregation and Glorified Christ (1981) to him.

Works (selection)

as an author
  • The doctrine of sanctification by Hermann Friedrich Kohlbrügge . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1936.
  • The victory of Jesus Christ. 9 sermons . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1940.
  • The sermon of the choice of grace. Karl Barth on May 10, 1951 . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1951 (together with Otto Weber and Ernst Wolf ).
  • The proclamation of the gospel and political existence . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1954 (together with Hans Joachim Iwand and Karl Gerhard Steck).
  • God's choice and our decision . Jugenddienst-Verlag, Wuppertal-Barmen 1957.
  • The future of what has come, basic problems of eschatology . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1961.
  • The freedom of the Christian in today's world . Press association d. Ev. Church in the Rhineland, Düsseldorf 1964.
  • The reality of God's word . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1966.
  • Basic questions of dogmatics . 1970.
  • Tradition and responsibility. Collected essays . Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1974.
  • ... that I light a fire on earth . Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1975.
  • Basic questions of Christian ethics . 1975.
  • Basic decisions in Karl Barth's dogmatics. To discuss his understanding of revelation and election . Neukirchener Studienbücher 11. Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen 1978.
  • Church in the crisis of the bourgeois world . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1980.
  • Basic questions of ecclesiology . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1981.
  • Peaceful coexistence instead of confrontation. What can Christians and churches do to help? Lectures and essays from the eighties . Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne 1988.
  • You have affirmed the right to revolution. Christians in the GDR, a contribution to 50 years of “Darmstädter Wort” . Weißenseer Blätter, issue 03/1997.
as editor

literature

  • Hans-Georg Geyer , Hannelotte Reiffen , Bertold Klappert : acquittal and freedom. Theological essays for Walter Kreck on his 65th birthday . Kaiser-Verlag, Munich 1973.
  • Richard Eberle, Max Koranyi, Rolf Wischnath (eds.): To exist in freedom. Walter Kreck on his 70th birthday . In: New Voice , Born 1978, Issue 6/7, Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne
  • Hannelotte Reiffen (ed.): Christians and Marxists in our society today. Walter Kreck on his 75th birthday; Festschrift . Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne 1983, ISBN 3-7609-0768-7 .
  • Walter Kreck on his 80th birthday . In: New Voice , born in 1988, issue 6/7. Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag Cologne

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kreck, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Weidelbach , Hesse
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 2002
Place of death Bonn