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[German Version] I. New Testament 1. The historical figure. Peter, originally called Simon, was born around the turn of the era in a Jewish household in Bethsaida, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 1:44; Gal 2:14f.); his father’s name was John (John 1:42) or Jonah (Matt 26:17: Simon bar Jonah; the plural bar Yone [“brigands in the wilderness”] as a term for Zealots is not supported by Giṭ. 56ab and does not suggest that Peter had Zealot sympathies). Peter lived in Capernaum with his wife, his mother-in-law, and his brother Andrew all under one roof (Mark 1:16…

[German Version] I. Church History – II. Theology – III. Ecumenics I. Church History The unity of the church as a theological term does not appear explicitly in the New Testament; it emerged during the early history of the church, although the concept itself is a central NT theme. A further difficulty for a historical presentation is the nature of unity: is it ethical and theological (consensus in faith and conduct; cf. Eph 4:1–6) or juridical and structural (singularity)? The t…

[German Version] The term Catholic Eastern churches refers to those churches that originally belonged to the old Eastern or Orthodox churches. In the process of the Orthodox separation from the Roman Catholic Church, they either remained in communion with the pope or later entered into unions with Rome. They acknowledge the primacy and infallibility of the pope, but have their own church law and celebrate the ¶ liturgy according to the respective Eastern Church rite so that they hardly differ from their Orthodox mother churches. Accordin…