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[German Version] I. Philosophy of Religion – II. Dogmatics – III. Practical Theology I. Philosophy of Religion The term pantheism (from Gk πᾶν/ pán, “all,” and ϑεός/ theós, “God”) is a product of the 18th-century critical debates about religion. Coined in discussions about B. de Spinoza, it refers to religio-philosophical conceptions that undertake to relate God and the world through the idea of an all-embracing unity. Its central concept is the immanence of God (Transcendence and immanence) in the totality of all that ex…

[German Version] I. General – II. Church History – III. Systematics – IV. Practical Theology – V. Missiology I. General The expression liberal theology became prevalent in the “Saddle Period” (Reinhart Koselleck) of Neo-Protestantism between 1780 and 1820; it denotes a type of “modern theology” that combines strong demands for individual freedom through criticism of religious tradition, differentiation of subjective faith from ecclesiastically defined confessions of faith, an individualistic understanding of reli…

[German Version] (Sep 25, 1851, Kassel – Mar 11, 1913, Cologne). After attending school and military service, Jatho studied theology in Marburg and Leipzig. In 1876, he entered the service of the church (pastor in Bucharest and Boppard am Rhein). After 1891, he held office in Cologne. In 1903, Jatho published the first collection of his sermons. This publication and subsequent others of a similar nature attracted great attention because of their vibrant expression of religion, although they also e…

[German Version] (May 13, 1874, Beerfelden – Feb 13, 1971, Berlin) became pastor in Rüsselsheim in 1905, in Eisenach in 1918, and was professor of religion at the Pädagogische Akademie (teacher training college) in Kiel from 1931. Fuchs was dismissed from the civil service in 1933. During the Third Reich, he was forbidden to engage in any form of public activity. For a time, he joined a Quaker congregation. Disappointed by postwar developments in the West, he accepted an appointment as professor o…

[German Version] (Jun 2, 1816, Weißensee near Berlin – Jun 8, 1868, Weißensee), studied theology in Berlin from 1834 onward and received his Lic.theol. in 1845. After having been refused a Habilitation, Krause was active as a liberal Protestant journalist: he became editor of the Zeitschrift für die unirte evangelische Kirche in 1848 and of the popular journal Der Protestant in 1851. From 1854 until his death, he was editor of the Protestantische Kirchenzeitung für das evangelische Deutschland. In 1848, Krause was one of the founders of the Berliner Unionsverein (Berlin …

[German Version] The Religiöser Menschheitsbund (Religious Humanity Alliance) was founded in 1921 by R. Otto in analogy to the League of Nations. As an inter-religious group it aimed to bring the ideals of social justice and peace to bear at an international level. Through the gathering of representatives of various religions, attention was to be drawn to the ethical implications of political action, and a contribution made to the “actualization of common moral goals” (Otto). In its orientation to…

[German Version] (Sep 17, 1809, Bahn, Pomerania – Jan 17, 1884, Breslau [Wrocław]). From 1835 Nagel was a pastor in Colzow, Wollin Island. Although influenced during his theological studies in Berlin by F.D.E. Schleiermacher, Nagel was very critical of church union. His attitude led in 1847 to his resignation as pastor of Trieglaff, Pomerania province, a post he had held since 1841, and to his withdrawal from the Protestant Church of Prussia. Nagel joined the separate, not officially recognized Lu…

[German Version] (May 27, 1777, Bünde, Westphalia – Apr 19, 1840, Altena), 1801 pastor in Lüdenscheid, 1802 in Kronenberg, 1808 head of the Bürgerschule in Schwelm, between 1815 and 1840 pastor in Altena on the Lenne, from 1824 to 1827 superintendent in Iserlohn (1808 Dr.phil., Heidelberg). Rauschenbusch published numerous theological and historical works, including the Leben Jesu im Zusammenhange dargestellt (1837 [The life of Jesus presented in context]). He was joint editor of the hymnal, Bergisches Gesangbuch (1808), and author of a small reform education manual ( Erziehungsbü…

[German Version] (Jun 30, 1892, Turoschein, East Prussia – Jun 9, 1966, Bonn-Bad Godesberg), studied theology and philosophy from 1911 to 1914 (Lic.theol., Dr.phil.); this was followed by military service until 1919. In 1919 he became pastor in Berlin-Neukölln, in 1928 in Berlin-Britz; he was removed from office in 1934 following disciplinary proceedings. After medi-¶ cal studies, he practiced as a doctor from 1938. In the 1920s Piechowski took part in founding religious socialist organizations. Around 1930 he was one of the best-known representativ…

[German Version] (Sep 27, 1873, Sayda, Saxony – Jan 9, 1954, Leipzig). While studying theology in Leipzig, he began teaching in Zittau and Leipzig in 1899. In 1906 he earned his habilitation in Leipzig and in 1907 in Marburg, where he was appointed associate professor in 1911 and full professor of systematic theology in 1919. In 1922 he moved to Halle and in 1926 to ¶ Leipzig, where he retired in 1938 but continued to teach until 1949. Stephan followed in the footsteps of F.D.E. Schleiermacher and the tradition of liberal theology ( Geschichte der evangelischen Theologie seit dem Deutsc…

[German Version] (Nov 4, 1865, Greifswald – Oct 12, 1945, Frankfurt am Main) became pastor in Hirschberg im Riesengebirge (Polish: Jelenia Góra), from 1895 to 1935 in Frankfurt am Main (a German Evangelical Reformed congregation). From 1891 to 1903, Foerster edited the Chronik der Christlichen Welt . In 1915, he became honorary professor of the philosophy and history of religion at the University of Frankfurt. Initially a proponent of a liberal Protestant cultural theology, from the mid-1920s on Foerster moved closer to K…

[German Version] (Feb 18, 1829, Birnbaum, Posen – Jul 2, 1896, Berlin). Following his studies of theology in Halle (with F. Tholuck and Julius Müller) and Berlin, Kögel taught at a Gymnasium in Dresden from 1852 to 1854. From 1857, he was pastor of the German Protestant congregation in The Hague. In 1862, he was appointed the fourth court chaplain at Berlin Cathedral and chief councillor at the ministry of education and cultural affairs. In 1868, he received his Dr.theol. in Bonn. In 1881, Kögel, …

[German Version] Precursors of an explicit Protestant theological antidogmatism go back to the Reformation period. It played a central role in the theology of the Enlightenment. Numerous theologians and philosophers of religion in the late 18th century presented the beliefs of the Christian faith with a massive criticism of dogma (e.g. J.G. Herder, Von Religion, Lehrmeinungen und Gebräuchen, 1798). The phrase became a shibboleth in theological politics in the last third of the 19th century. It was mostly theologians holding ecclesiastical positions that…

[German Version] (Jan 11, 1879, Niederbobritzsch, Saxony – Jul 22, 1950, Mügeln near Leipzig). From 1897 to 1903, Mulert studied theology and philosophy in Leipzig, Marburg, Berlin, and Kiel. After some years as a pastor and teacher of religion, he was from 1907 a university lecturer in Kiel. In 1917 he became assistant professor, and in 1920 full professor of systematic theology at the University of Kiel. In 1935 he resigned his chair in protest against National Socialist higher education policy. Mulert was one of the protagonists of liberal Protestantism in the first half …

[German Version] (Oct 6, 1880, Dorlisheim, Elsaß [Alsace] – Jan 20, 1959, Tübingen). In 1906 he was appointed tutor in Straßburg, where he became associate professor of systematic theology in 1915. In 1920 he was appointed professor of systematic theology at Münster, in 1927 at Halle, and in 1921 at Tübingen. From 1923 to 1955 he was an editor of the Zeitschrift für systematische Theologie. In his theology, Wehrung attempt to overcome the problems of substantiation raised by the debate over historicism through an understanding of religion grounded in ethics ( Geschichte und Glaube, 1933…

[German Version] I. Terminology; Natural Science – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Dogmatics I. Terminology; Natural Science The term panentheism originated as a theological concept, but it is also used in the natural sciences. It expresses the view that the world exists in God, even though God is more than the world (Transcendence and immanence: I; see also II and III below). The major arguments for panentheism from the perspective of the natural sciences include the standard arguments for classical philosophical theism (Natural theology). Panentheists a…

[German Version] (Jun 18, 1885, Hildesheim – Dec 1, 1955, Hamburg). Knolle, a cofounder of the Luther Society in 1918, became chief pastor of St. Petri in Hamburg in 1924. In 1929 he received his D.theol. from Halle. In 1933 he was appointed general superintendent in Hamburg, but conflicts with the Deutsche Christen (German Christians) forced him to resign his office the next year. In 1950 he was appointed professor of practical theology at the Kirchliche Hochschule in Hamburg; in 1954 he became regional bishop of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hamburg. Matthias Wolfes Bibliography W…

[German Version] I. Church History Talk of a “new” or “modern” Protestantism surfaced sporadically c. 1800, but did not achieve a firm foothold until the hardening of deep religious and cultural divides between “liberal theologians” (Liberal theology), mediation theologians (Mediation theology), theological Hegelians (Hegelianism), and Neo-Lutheran confessionalists (Neo-Lutheranism) during the 1830s. The neologism neo-Protestants was initially used in the late 1830s as a pejorative description of Protestant theologians who interpreted the Reformat…