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[German Version] I. Religious Studies …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Philosophy of Religion and Historical Theology – III. Philosophy – IV. Dogmatics – V. Practical Theology – VI. Ethics I. Religious Studies Perceptions of animate and inanimate nature, dreams, ecstasy, trance, and death, as well as sickness and physical sensation, and finally self-reflection and self-transcendence have led to highly diverse models for interpreting …

[German Version] I. Catholic Usage In the strict sense, a prelate is the spiritual leader (Bishop: III, 1; or priest) of a particular church (also occasionally called praesul or antistes at Vatican II) or other incardination community. In this sense, CIC/1983 speaks of a territorial prelate as the head of a territorial prelature (c. 370; formerly “free prelature”). In this case we have a particular church that is similar in many ways to a diocese but for specific ongoing reasons has not developed a…

[German Version] I. Philosophy In philosophical usage, the term power is perhaps more protean than any other. Its spectrum of meanings extends from subtle influence to threat backed by naked violence; it therefore encompasses such diverse phenomena as intellectual and spiritual power, the modern media, the economy, technology, political institutions, and military might. These attributions are arbitrary until the …

[German Version] is a tool for congregational development and growth (Church growth) that originated in North American churches and has been influential in parish life since 1900. On the basis of the biblical use of the term (e.g. 1 Cor 4:1; 1 Pet 4:10), an attempt is made to employ the gifts and talents of church members as effectively and efficiently as possible in the service of the gospel. The background of the conception is the problem of support for the Free churches in the United States. To prevent financial considerations from dominating, every effort is made to understand the life of a parish or congregation in a larger context: every individual Christian is encouraged to contribute an appropriate portion of his or her time, talents, and material goods and financial means. The idea of stewardship pursues the goal of bringing liturgical worship out of the church into the life of the community and the homes where people live. The spiritual forces generated in worship should stream forth through the rest of the week in the daily lives of the congregation. Visits among members of the congregation serve to bridge the gap between the worshipers and all the others who do not take part in the liturgical celebration. During the 1952 plenary session of the Lutheran World Federation in Hannover, r…

[German Version] Wherever Christians assemble regularly, and with obligations, around word and sacrament, this social entity requires a mechanism of leadership responsible for doctrine, planning, and finances. In the NT, the question of the government (Cybernetics) of local congregations appears in the letters of Paul and in the Pastoral Epistels: προίστημι/ prohístēmi not only indicates the task of leadership, itself, but simultaneously implies care for the congregation and its individual members (e.g. 1 Cor 12:28; 1 Thess 5:12). Pastoral care and