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[German Version] I. Germany and Europe The term “church unions” refers to mergers of churches of previously separate confessions. They take place at the institutional level, are based on a common foundation of confession of faith and doctrine (II), and have a common office. In Europe, on the one hand, there are various Eastern churches (Unions with Rome) united with Rome that belong to the Roman Catholic Church and acknowledge the primacy of the pope, but have retained their Orthodox liturgy and spiri…

[German Version] (Jan 6, 1835, Neuhausen, near Königsberg (Kaliningrad) – Sep 7, 1912, Freudenstadt). Kähler, the son of a Lutheran pastor, grew up in Neuhausen, near Königsberg, and after 1841 in Preussisch Holland (Pasłęk). At his father's request, he began to study law at Königsberg but soon shifted to theology. In 1853 he went to Heidelberg, where R. Rothe awakened his interest in systematics. He continued his studies in Halle with Julius Müller and F. Tholuck, who encouraged and heavily influ…

[German Version] I. Denominations: Lutheran Churches in History – II. Lutheran Churches Today – III. Statistical Survey – IV. Missions – V. Ecumenism I. Denominations: Lutheran Churches in History 1. General Lutheranism denotes that portion of Christianity that traces its historical and theological origin to the Reformation of Martin Luther and uses his works as its theological foundation. The Latin terms Lutherani and Lutheranismus were coined originally by Roman Catholic opponents of the Reformation movement in order to identify it as heretical (firs…

[German Version] (Dec 18, 1725, Saalfeld – Mar 14, 1791, Halle). I. The son of a Lutheran pastor, Semler began his theological studies in Halle in 1743, passing his master’s examination in 1750. His most important teacher was S.J. Baumgarten, who got him interested in history and introduced him to the Lutheran confessional tradition. After a brief stint teaching at the Coburg Gymnasium, Semler was appointed professor of history and Latin poetry at the University of Altdorf. In 1753 he accepted a call to th…

[German Version] I. Philosophy of Religion The phenomenon of unio mystica within mysticism is of interest to the philosophy of religion because recent analytical approaches in religious studies and the psychology of religion permit a more precise assessment of the philosophical issues involved, and also because it brings to light (so much better) a philosophically discussable connection between religious behavior or experience and rational cognition (Epistemology). Although the term itself is not always u…