Wilhelm Vischer (theologian)

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Wilhelm Eduard Vischer (born April 30, 1895 in Davos ; † November 27, 1988 in Montpellier , France ) was a Swiss pastor and theologian specializing in the Old Testament , also a song writer.

Live and act

His father Daniel Eberhard Vischer-Koechlin (1865–1946) worked as dean in Davos from 1893 . The young Wilhelm spent a year and a half in a children's home, a private home of Blumhardt . Vischer spent his further childhood and youth in Basel .

In 1913 Vischer began studying theology in Lausanne ; other places of study were Basel and Marburg . Vischer was musically gifted: Vischer's numerous psalm settings have found their way into the hymn books of the evangelical reformed churches. From 1918 to 1928 Vischer was pastor in the parishes of Rupperswil , Zurich and Tenniken .

In 1927 he gave the lecture The Old Testament as God's Word , which brought him notoriety and ultimately a call to the Bethel Theological School in Germany . There he soon attracted the hatred of Nazi -minded circles because he saw the Old Testament as indispensable for the Christian faith and the Church and interpreted it consistently in a christological way: If we reject the Old Testament, we can no longer use the New Testament as saints Keep writing. “If we still keep it, then the separation from the Old Testament has given it a different meaning. The noun of the New Testament, namely 'Jesus Christ', then no longer says the same as before ”. According to Vischer in the lecture Does the Old Testament still belong in the Bible of the German Christian today? , 1932. The conflict escalated and when Vischer referred to Hitler as a “Balkanese”, he had to resign from his lectureship in 1933.

In 1934 he became pastor of the German-speaking Protestant community in Lugano . In the same year the first volume of his work The Christ testimony of the Old Testament , The Law, appeared . Here he presents the Christ testimony of the five books of Moses. In 1942, the second volume appeared with the subtitle The Earlier Prophets . Here the books Joshua through Kings are examined for their testimony to Christ.

From 1936 to 1947 he held a pastor's office in Basel, then (until his retirement in 1965) he became professor of the Old Testament in Montpellier .

Works (selection)

Title page of Vischer's 1934 book
  • The Old Testament as God's Word , in: Zwischen den Zeiten 5 (1927) 379–395.
  • The servant of God. A contribution to the interpretation of Isaiah 40–55 , in: Theodor Schlatter (Ed.): Jahrbuch der Theologische Schule Bethel 1 (1930) 59–115.
  • Does the Old Testament still belong in the Bible of the German Christian today? In: Beth-El. Glances from God's House into God's World 24 (1932) 91–101.
  • On the Jewish question. A short biblical discussion of the Jewish question in connection with the main principles of a lecture on the meaning of the Old Testament , in: Monatsschrift für Pastoraltheologie , 6 (1933), pp. 185–190.
  • The Old Testament testimony to Christ. First part: The Law , Zurich 1934.
  • The importance of the Old Testament for Christian life (Theological Studies, Volume 3) , Zollikon-Zurich: Evangelischer Verlag 1938, 2nd edition 1947.
  • Anti-Semitism in the light of the Bible. Presentation to the Minorities Commission of the World Federation for International Friendship Work of Churches, Geneva, August 8, 1939 , in: In Extremis 1 (1940) 10–14.
  • The Old Testament testimony to Christ. Part Two: The Prophets. First half: The early prophets , Zurich 1942.
  • The Jewish question - a decisive question for the church , Zollikon-Zürich: Evangelischer Verlag 1942.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vischer, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vischer, Wilhelm Eduard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss pastor and theologian
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Davos
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1988
Place of death Montpellier