Wilhelm Franz Sintenis

Wilhelm Franz Sintenis (born August 26, 1794 in Dornburg an der Elbe, † January 23, 1859 in Magdeburg ) was a German Protestant theologian and a representative of theological rationalism .

Life

After studying Protestant theology at the University of Wittenberg, Sintenis worked in Roßlau from 1818 , initially as an adjunct to his father, pastor Johann Christian Sigismund Sintenis, and later as a school inspector . In 1824 he became the second preacher at the Heilig-Geist-Kirche in Magdeburg and in 1831 he moved up to the first position he held until his death.

It is of particular importance because of the Magdeburger Bilderstreit (also called Magdeburg Prayer Controversy) of 1840, which is also named after him , a violent dispute between rationalist and neo-Orthodox theologians. Sintenis triggered it with a letter to the editor to the Magdeburger Zeitung in which he refused the prayer to Jesus , because only God the Father was worshiped. He provoked violent reactions from other Magdeburg preachers as well as a reprimand from the Magdeburg Consistory under General Superintendent Bishop Bernhard Dräsecke . This in turn prompted rationalist colleagues and the liberal bourgeoisie (such as the church council of the Heilig-Geist-Kirche under the direction of Judge Aemil Funk and the Magdeburg magistrate under August Wilhelm Francke ) to protest against the curtailment of Protestant freedom of teaching.

The events in 1841 gave the impetus for the formation of the internal church opposition movement of the Protestant friends (" friends of light ") under the leadership of Leberecht Uhlich . Sintenis was involved from the start, but stayed in the background and tried to maintain a good relationship with his superiors again. He was involved in the Gustav-Adolph-Verein and only intervened in the literary controversy in 1846 after police reprisals against Uhlich and the Lightfriends Movement with sharp arguments and party writings against the restorative church policy course of the general superintendent Johann Friedrich Möller . However, he did not take part in the founding of a free community in Magdeburg and was also reluctant to face the bourgeois-democratic aspirations after 1848. In 1855 he was retired as a result of a general church visit.

Works

• Four sermons were delivered in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Magdeburg on February 16 and 23, and March 1 and 8, 1840 . 1842
• The cause of the Gustav-Adolph-Verein is presented according to its origin and purpose and according to its necessity and glory . 1844
• Möller and Uhlich. Illumination of Möller's document No. 7 . 1847
• Dr. JF Möller's work in the Consistory and in the General Superintendent of the Province of Saxony. 1849.

literature

• Paul Tschackert :  Sintenis, Wilhelm Franz . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, pp. 406-408.
• Martin Friedrich : The Prussian regional church in Vormärz . 1994
• Martin Friedrich:  Sintenis, Wilhelm Franz. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 10, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-062-X , Sp. 527-529.