Search

[German Version] Christianity in Sri Lanka can look back over a remarkably long history. After a sporadic presence on the island since the 6th century and a continuous presence since the early 16th, it subsequently went through a development that was sometimes in step with the various stages of European colonial rule and at other times took a significantly different course.…

[German Version] (also called Augustine Chong; 1760, Korea – 1801, Korea), Korean theologian and martyr. Yak-jong belonged to the pioneer generation of Confucian scholars around P.I.S. Hun who – long before the first European missi…

[German Version] Non-Christian religions have experienced repeated revivals, particularly after encounters with Christianity. The classic paradigm in the Early Church was the attempt of Julian the Apostate to restore pagan religiosity – an experiment that failed but was noteworthy because in many respects the revived spirit of “Hellenism” was unmistakably modeled on the example of the Christian church Julian opposed – moves to centralize the priesthood, liturgical regulation, and institutionalization of social welfare. In the context of the history of Christianity ou…

[German Version] (Madras). From the mid-19th century, there were repeated calls in Protestant India for a national church to which all Indian Christians would belong, irrespective of their confessional identity. Such efforts led, especially in Bengal and South India, to various experiments; the most important was the founding of the National Church of India in Madras in 1886. It sought to bri…

[German Version] The modern Western missionary movement led to an encounter with a multitude of non-European societies as well as different models for the resulting cultural contact. These have ranged from the various versions of a …

…

[German Version] (Aug 17, 1874, Vellalanvilai, South India – Jan 1, 1945, Dornakal), Indian church leader and one of the most distinguished representatives of the early Asian mission and ecumenical movements. The son of a village pastor, he came into contact with diverse Christian groups as the traveling secretary of the YMCA (Young Men's …

[German Version] (Oct 6, 1873, Tillicoultry, Scotland – Jan 27, 1962, London), Scottish educationist, missionary, and ecumenist in southern Asia and western Africa. Fraser was born in Ind…

[German Version] I. Europe – II. Asia, Africa, Latin America I. Europe 1. Concept The term “religious disputations” (or …

[German Version] I. History – II. Missiology I. History …

[German Version] I. Early Church – II. Middle Ages (to 1450) – III. 1450–1600 – IV. 1600–1800 – V. 1800–1890 – VI. 1890–1945 – VII. 1945– I. Early Church Christianity spread throughout the ancient world with remarkable speed. As early as 110, the Roman legate Pliny the Younger reported the presence in Bithynia in Asia Minor of a great number of Christians “of every age and class, and of both sexes,” both “in the cities” and “throughout the rural areas.” Toward the middle of the 3rd centur…

[German Version] I. History – II. Missiology I. History 1. Preliminary remarks As never before in its history, Christianity has become a “world religion.” Since the middle of the 1980s, the majority of the Christian population of the world no longer lives in the northern, but in the southern hemisphere. This development is the consequence of significant demographic shifts and of the differing growth dynamics of the churches of the North and the South. At the same time, most…

[German Version] I. Church History The policy of the state toward the church in National Socialist Germany had met with resistance since 1933, on the part of both Protestants and Catholics. As already demonstrated by the founding of the Pastors’ Emergency League in Berlin (by M. Niemöller), by the opposition to the National Socialist Deutsche Christen at the confessing synods of Barmen and Dahlem, and by the open criticism of the resolute faction within the Confessing Church (voiced in the position paper of the Second Provisional Church Directory fr…

[German Version] I. The Conference – II. Reception in Asia, Africa, and Latin America – III. Ecumenical Significance I. The Conference The “World Missionary Conference to consider Missionary Problems in relation to the Non-Christian World” met in the assembly hall of the United Free Church of Scotland in Edinburgh from Jun 14 to 23, 1910. Originally conceived as a successor to the conferences of London …

[German Version] The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) arose in the mid-19th century as the response of the revival ¶ movements (Revival/Revival movements) to changing social conditions in rising industrialization. The associations are interdenominational and offer groups for Bible study and prayer, educational programs and places of social protection. The YMCA was formed in Paris in 1855 as the first world ecumenical movement. The frequently stated purpose of its mem…

1. OT 1.1. Historiography and Historical Thinking To a greater extent than is sometimes realized, ancient Israel (§1) shared in the very diverse “mythical” historical thinking of the surrounding world. It read present events in the light of past events, beginning in a distant primal period, which would both explain and if necessary validate them. It thus narrated, established, and handed down the stories of the past, not least of all in the cult. The course of history was determined by human conduct in…

[German Version] I. General – II. Latin America, Asia and Africa I. General Catechumenate is a term, derived from Gk κατήχειν/ katḗchein as used by Paul (e.g. Gal 6:6), for the institution through which the church, with reference to baptism, forges the necessary link between Christian faith and learning. It is found, after precursors in the scholarly Latin of the 16th and 17th centuries, in the early 19th century as a term for Early Church instruction, but it then quickly became the designation for programs of catechesis and church reform (Henkys). 1. Early Church baptismal catechu…

[German Version] I. The Concept Nationalism may be described as an integrative ideology that claims that loyalty to the inclusive body of the ¶ nation has absolute priority over all other commitments. Such competing loyalties include loyalty to a particular estate or social class, a dynasty, a local state, a region, a tribe, a denomination, or a religion. While the concept of a nation played a role in political debates in medieval Europe, its reference was not to the totality of the people but to the ruling class (the nationes of the nobility and the clergy). Modern nationalism emer…

[German Version] I. General – II. History and Culture – III. Religious History – IV. History of Christianity I. General The designation “India,” Gk ἰνδός/ indós, Latinized as indus, goes back to Sanskrit sindhu (orig. “boundary”?) through the intermediary of Old Persian hindu; it is a designation of the River Sindhu and of the Indus region, from which Persian Hindūstān, “Place/territory of the Hindus,” is derived. The Indians themselves called the land (among other designations) Bhārata, “[Land of the] Descendants of Bhārata” (the l…

[German Version] I. Geopolitical Considerations, Concept – II. History of Religions – III. Modern Asian Religions outside Asia – IV. Christianity I. Geopolitical Considerations, Concept Culturally, economically, and politically, Asia is extraordinarily heterogeneous. The Islamic states of the Near East with their oil wealth are part of this continent, as are the multireligious societies of South and Southeast Asia, relatively poor in resources, and the countries of East Asia with their extraordinarily dynamic economies (at least through the mid 70s). Equally diverse are the…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Church History – III. Survey of the Christian Confessions – IV. Systematic Theology I. Religious Studies For an overview of Christianity at the end of the second millennium of its development, it is reasonable to give a comparative presentation against the background of the world of religion. It must be remembered, however, that “religion” is not an immutable, ahistorical quantity: it is variable and controversial. The modern concept of religion is …

[German Version] I. Concept, Presuppositions – II. Development – III. Middle Eastern Church History and Historiography – IV. Religious Education I. Concept, Presuppositions 1. Concept The concept of church history has not yet been studied sufficiently, but it is already clear that since antiquity extraordinarily different conceptions of Christian historiography have been in simultaneous competition over the interpretation of past, present, and future. Often the different methodological option…

[German Version] I. General – II. The West – III. Theology and Practical Theology – IV. Orthodox Churches – V. Asia, Africa, Latin America I. General Churches are built to provide a physical setting for the Christian celebration of the Eucharist, in order to shelter it and also to give it a place of prominence set apart from the outside world. The Bible does not discuss the legitimation and need for churches as distinct structures; historically, church buildings made their first appearance at th…

[German Version] I. 1st to 19th Century – II. 20th and 21st Centuries I. 1st to 19th Century 1. Early Church The concerns of the first centuries of the church were less with the establishing of fellowship than with its preservation – focused in the fellowship of the Lord's Supper – among Christians and congregations (Paul, Saint, Apostolic Council, Clement I (Romanus), Ignatius [Ignatian …