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[German Version] (Ger. Sattelzeit) has become a central concept in the exploration of conceptual history by German historians. It was coined spontaneously by Reinhard Koselleck in the planning stage of a lexicon sponsored by the Arbeitskreis für moderne Sozialgeschichte, Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Historisches Lexikon zur politisch-sozialen Sprache in Deutschland(8 vols. in 9, 1972–1997). It is possible that echoes of the concept of so-called axial or pivotal ages, developed by H. Freyer and C. Schmitt (among others), played a role. Kosel…

[German Version] (Jan 28, 1799, Posen [Poznań – Aug 20, 1867, Heidelberg), only son of a high-ranking Prussian official. Rothe began his theological studies in Heidelberg in 1817 and moved to Berlin in 1819; his teachers included C. Daub, G.W.F. Hegel, and J.W.A. Neander. In Neander’s home, he forged a friendship with F.A.G. Tholuck, who filled both with enthusiasm for the revival movement (Revival/Revival movements). In the fall of 1820, at the age of 21, he passed his first theological examinati…

[German Version] The expression kirchlich-sozial (“church-social”) first appeared in 1848 in the writings of J. Wichern. At that time, Wichern did not yet distinguish between “Church-social,” “Christian-social,” and “Protestant-social.” With the establishment of the Evangelisch-Sozialer Kongreß (Protestant Social Congress) in 1890, however, these adjectives denoted increasingly different positions with regard to Protestant social reform. The term “Protestant-social” was now claimed by the bourgeois …

[German Version] The term, propagated as Konfessionskunde by F. Kattenbusch in 1892, denotes a theological discipline that examines comparatively the differences between the various Christian denominations with a view to their confessions (of faith) or ¶ official doctrines, constructions of dogmatic identity, specific forms of ethos, liturgical practices, and religious lifestyles. Precursors of the new discipline – a discipline meant to integrate t…

[German Version] (Oct 14, 1796, Mußbach in the Rhine­land Palatinate – Dec 14, 1862, Munich) began studying philosophy and theology at Heidelberg in 1815, receiving his Dr.Phil. in 1820. Thanks to friendly contacts with G.W.F. Hegel, the pastor of Ungstein wrote Philosophie und Christenthum, oder Wissen und Glauben (1825, 21833), using the tools of speculative rationalism to resolve the positional pluralism of rationalism, mediation theology (his term), and restorative confessional theology. While pastor of the French ¶ Reformed congregation in Erlangen, he was able to e…

1. BegriffA. (von griech. átheos, »ohne Gott«, »gottlos«) bezeichnet einerseits in komplexer Vielfalt Weltdeutungen und Lebensentwürfe, welche durch die bewusste Ablehnung der Existenz eines oder mehrerer Götter, transzendenter Wesen oder Mächte geprägt sind (positiver A.), andererseits die bewusste Verneinung der irdischen Wirksamkeit solcher Götter oder Mächte bei gleichzeitiger Anerkennung der theoretischen Möglichkeit ihrer Existenz (negativer A.). Weil jedoch Ausdrücke wie Gott, Schöpfer, Absolutes, höchstes Wesen, Ursprung alles Seienden, letztes Pr…

1. Begriff und historischer KontextDer dt. Kollektivsingular P. kam erst im 18. Jh. auf, während das engl. und das franz. Wort ( protestantism, protestantisme) schon im 16. Jh. gebräuchlich wurden. Aber auch P. bezieht sich auf die reformatorischen Protest- und Reformbewegungen des 16. Jh.s und bezeichnet alle christl. Kirchen, Freikirchen und Gruppen, die daraus hervorgegangen sind und sich meist auf die Reformatoren Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Butzer, Ulrich Zwingli und Johannes Calvin berufen (Reformation 2.). Der Begriff betont das den Konfessionen (Luther…

1. BegriffF. ist ein Begriff aus der Zeit der nordamerikan. Religionskämpfe des frühen 20. Jh.s. Für die Nz. hat er insoweit Bedeutung, als die Erschließung von spätmodernen Religionskonflikten dazu beitragen kann, die für die nzl. Gesellschaften Europas typischen religiösen Auseinandersetzungen, konfessionellen Antagonismen und dogmatischen Kontroversen über religiöse Identitäts-Konstruktionen neu zu verstehen.Der Begriff F. wurde im Kontext der religionspolitischen Kämpfe zwischen konkurrierenden Gruppen im Protestantismus der USA um 1920 gebildet. Zunehme…

1. Terminology The word atheism (from Greek átheos, “without  God”, “godless”) denotes both a complex variety of interpretations of the world and life-designs shaped by conscious rejection of the existence of one or more gods, transcendent beings, or powers (positive atheism) and a conscious denial of the earthly influence of such gods or powers, while simultaneously recognizing the theoretical possibility of their existence (negative atheism). Terms such as “God,” “creator,” “absolute,” “supreme being…

1. The term and its historical contextThe collective singular noun Protestantism and its French equivalent  protestantisme were already in use in the 16th century; the German  Protestantismus did not come into use until the 18th century. The term refers to the protest and reform movements of the 16th-century Reformation and denotes all the Christian churches, free churches, and groups that emerged from it, most of which appealed to the Reformers Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Bucer, Huldrych Zwingli, and Jo…

1. The term The term  fundamentalism is a product of the religious conflicts in North American during the early 20th century. It is relevant to the early modern period because the exploration of late modern religious conflicts can contribute to a better understanding of the religious conflicts, confessional antagonists, and theological controversies over the construction of religious identity typical of Eurpean societies in the early modern period.The term was coined around 1920 in the context of the religio-political conflicts between competing groups with…

[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Church History – III. Systematic Theology I. Philosophy The concept of historicism came into currency in the 19th century and soon assumed critical and even polemical significance. Indeed, also G.W.F. Hegel's concept of reason freely actualized in history could be called historicism (J. Braniss, Die wissenschaftliche Aufgabe der ¶ Gegenwart als leitende Idee im akademischen Studium [The scientific task of the present as a leading idea in academic studies], 1848); but the understanding of historicism as a mode of tho…

[German Version] 1. Reinhold (Apr 5, 1859, Pööravere, Livonia – Oct 23, 1935, Ahrenshoop). After receiving his master’s degree, habilitation, and paid lectureship at Dorpat (Tartu), Seeberg was considered the great hope of theological conservatives. In 1889 he was appointed to a full profes-¶ sorship of theology, New Testament history, and patristics at Erlangen. After the death of F.H.R. Frank in 1894, he also lectured in systematic theology. As a late aftereffect of the Apostolicum controversy, Seeberg, who had written a massive Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte (2 vols., 1895/18…

[German Version] I. Politics and Culture On Nov 9, 1918 the foundation of a parliamentary and democratic form of government was laid for the first German republic. On Jan 19, 1919, still in the radicalizing phase of the revolution, the National Assembly was elected to draw up a constitution. It included the “Weimar Coalition,” in which Majority Social Democracy, the German Democratic Party and the Center Party formed a majority. On Aug 11, 1919 the Weimar Constitution came into force. It had been larg…

[German Version] I. Philosophy The term first appears in controversies about Italian Fascism, but in theoretical discussions it is also applied to Bolshevism (Communism) (see II below). When the National Socialists (National Socialism) seized power it became a central theme of political theory. The term became popular because the traditional categories of tyranny and despotism were inadequate to define the rising political deformations of the 20th century. Whereas political science attempted to defi…

[German Version] I. History The term Vormärz is usually employed in reference to the period of German history spanning the years 1830 to 1848. Unlike the competing designations Biedermeier and Restoration, it evokes the atmosphere of change in German society that finally erupted in revolutionary uprisings against the political authorities in March 1848 – events that hastened the pace of social reforms, although the possibilities of political participation remained extremely limited. The constitutional crisis of the 1840s, i.e. the Vormärz in the strict sense, manifested it…

[German Version] I. General – II. Judaism I. General Exile (Lat. exilium or exul) refers to the state-organized and politically, religiously, or ethnically motivated expulsion of people from their homeland or their forced resettlement in a land that they often would not have freely chosen as a place of refuge. The politically powerful have forced people into exile in all periods of history. The t…

[German Version] 1. Franz Martin Leopold (Aug 1, 1860, Gütergotz near Potsdam – Mar 17, 1937, Leipzig-Schleußig). After serving as a pastor in Westerland, Eisenach, and Preetz, Rendtorff directed the Preetz Predigerseminar from 1896 onward. He became a Privatdozent in practical theology in Kiel in 1902, honorary professor in 1906, and full professor for practical theology and New Testament in Leipzig in 1910, where he also became director of the Predigerkolleg in 1912 and rector of the university in 1924. He postulated a Liturgisches Erbrecht (1913, repr. 1969 [Liturgical law o…

[German Version] I. History and Church History 1. Historical and political context. National Socialism as a political movement was born in Munich in 1919 with the founding of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) appealing to a nationalistic and anti-Semitic lower middle class. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, it soon gained a following among almost all social strata in Germany. It became a political force to be reckoned with in 1930, when the worldwide economic crisis of 1929 furth…

[German Version] 1. Friedrich Adolf (Jul 13, 1767, Tecklenburg – Apr 4, 1845, Bremen), Reformed theologian. After working as a schoolteacher in Westphalia, Krummacher became professor of rhetoric in Duisburg in 1800, pastor in Kettwig an der Ruhr in 1807, general superintendent of Anhalt-Bernburg in 1812, and pastor in Bremen in 1824. Close to the revival movement (Revival/Revival movements), and a supporter of the union of churches (Unions, Church: I), Krummacher was active above all as a religious author ( Parabeln, 81848). Peter Maser Bibliography A.W. Möller, Friedrich Adolf K…