Walter Küppers
Walter Johann Küppers (born May 5, 1872 in Bonn ; † 1951 there ) was an old Catholic , later a Protestant clergyman.
Life
Walter Küppers was the son of a teacher and teacher seminar leader in Siegburg, Ignaz Küppers (1840-1925), who was one of the founders of the Old Catholic Church in Germany. He studied theology and philosophy a. a. in Bern. There he was awarded a doctorate in 1895 with a dissertation on "John Locke and Scholasticism". phil. PhD. In the same year he was ordained a clergyman of the Old Catholic Church. From March 22, 1903 to October 1925, he was pastor of the small Old Catholic parish in Königsberg , founded in 1872 , which included all of East Prussia , West Prussia and Danzig . He could not stop the rapid shrinking process of his community - in 1925 it had only forty members. In 1925 Kueppers joined the Evangelical Church and was accepted into its parish service.
Küppers was impressed by Charles Taze Russell's script studies . He was also in closer contact with pietistic circles. In order to avoid a conflict with his church leadership, he published many times under the pseudonym "Johannes Walther".
His fixation on the theme of the end times is characteristic . He believed he could more precisely specify the date of the return of Christ , calculated by Russell as 1914 (March 21, 1912). He did not join the Bible Students , but borrowed numerous from Russell.
After his prophecy had turned out to be inaccurate, Küppers was unable to criticize himself. At the urging of the church leadership, he responded with a declaration that he would no longer publicly represent his idiosyncratic theses. In the years 1915 to 1917, however, he again published numerous articles - mainly in the magazine Altkatholisches Volksblatt . In doing so, he radicalized his standpoint, in keeping with the spirit of the time, towards a German nationalist escalation.
Küppers was with Olga Küppers, geb. Textor, married. The couple had five children. One son, Werner Küppers (1905–1980), also became a theologian and until 1971 was director of the seminar for old Catholic theology at the University of Bonn . One of Küppers' son-in-law was the orientalist Rudi Paret .
Fonts
- John Locke and the Scholastic , Berlin: Hermann, 1895 (44 pp.).
- In the fight with the theological guild . A piece of life, Gr. Lichterfelde-Berlin: E. Runge in Komm., [1903] (47 pages).
- On God's miraculous path . The story of my vocation, Königsberg: Klucke in Komm., 1911.
- How God keeps his word , Königsberg i.Pr .: Klucke, 1911.
- The last four centuries in the light of the Bible , Königsberg i.Pr. : Klucke, 1911.
- A look back at March 21, 1912 , Königsberg i.Pr .: Masuhr., 1916 (12 pages).
- Dear Siblings [circular collection], Königsberg, 1913.
- Review and Outlook , Königsberg i./Pr .: Klucke, 1920 (24 pages).
Web links
- Literature by and about Walter Küppers in the catalog of the German National Library
- Dirk Klingner: Old Catholicism in East Prussia
Individual evidence
- ↑ Darmstadt registry office : marriage register . No. 66/1903.
- ↑ For him see Günter Eßer: Walter Küppers. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 30, Bautz, Nordhausen 2009, ISBN 978-3-88309-478-6 , Sp. 846-856.
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Küppers, Walter |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Küppers, Walther Johannes |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Old Catholic pastor, Bible researcher |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 5, 1872 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Bonn |
DATE OF DEATH | 1951 |
Place of death | Bonn |