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1. Biblical Framework “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). This classic NT definition covers the whole field of the Christian striving for assurance of salvation. Faith as the response to salvation, as its appropriation, is not something that we see or have. It is a pilgrimage (Phil. 3:12). It is unthinkable without the element of the “not yet” (see 1 Cor. 13:12). It is not skeptical vacillation, however, or a nomadic course of life with no goal. As hopeful confidence and well-founded conviction, faith str…

[German Version] The Christian doctrine of perseverance (or endurance) addresses the persistence of the relationship between the faithful and God, enabled by the working of the Holy Spirit (Spirit/Holy Spirit) in the midst of the changes and challenges that threaten it in the lives of the faithful. The New Testament itself uses varied language to address the problem (abide – depart, endure – fall away, stand – fall, etc.; John 15:4f.; Matt 24:13; 1 Cor 10:12f.). Augustine ( De correptione et gratia; De praedestinatione sanctorum; De dono perseverantiae) was the first to consider i…

[German Version] I. Old Testament Sanctification, the “setting apart” of spaces, times, objects, and persons to make them sacred (cf. Lat. sacer) is represented in the Old Testament by the verb קדשׁ/ qdš piel and niphal, its antonyms חלל/ ḥll I piel and חל/ ḥl, and the antithesis “clean–unclean” טהר–טמא/ ṭhr–ṭmʾ (with reference to holiness: Lev 11:43ff.; 16:19; cf. Deut 14:3ff.; purity and impuraty). Since YHWH represents holiness per se (Isa 5:16, etc.), sanctification means translating the object in question into the immediate divine realm (cf. the regulati…

[German Version] I. Dogmatics – II. Ethics I. Dogmatics The focus of the problems addressed by the Protestant doctrine of ordo salutis is the relationship between the action of God’s grace ( gratia dei applicatrix) and the human experience of salvation. Based on the Reformers’ doctrine of justification but also going beyond it, it describes the working of the Holy Spirit or God’s grace in the life of the justified believer in all its unity and diversity. The beginnings of the doctrine are already visible in the Augsburg Confession of 1530 ( CA 6 and 12) and – in greater detail – in the…

[German Version] The term biblicism does not refer to a chronological period of theology or to a theological orientation, but to an assessment of the Bible (mostly held in Protestantism) in whole or in part. It is essentially characterized by the fact that it takes all biblical statements literally, that it hardly assigns greater or lesser importance to any on…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Christian Theology – IV. Buddhism I. Religious Studies Verbalizing the internal light (Symbols/Symbol theory) of the mysteries and mysticism, enlightenment denotes salvific knowledge that comes through sudden ineffable existential experience. Interreligious contacts (reception of ancient conceptions of enlightenment in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; modern encount…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. New Testament – III. Dogmatics I. History of Religion Gathering disciples around themselves was part of the work of those who founded, renewed and established religions (Buddha, Jesus, Confucius, Lao Tsu, Mahāvīra, Mani, Muḥammad, Nanak, Zarathustra) as well as of other – if not all – prophets, …

[German Version] Around 1800, a number of German-speaking congregations came into existence in America on the Methodist model. Known as “Albrechtsleute” [Albrecht's people], they had come into being through the evangelistic activity of the farmer and kilner Jakob Albrecht (1759–1808), who was of German provenience. The first formal “Annual Conference” of the associates – five iti…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Greco-Roman Antiquity – III. Bible – IV. Church History – V. Systematic Theology – VI. Practical Theology – VII. Missiology – VIII. Judaism – IX. Islam I. History of Religions “Conversion” denotes the religiously interpreted process of total reorientation in which individuals or groups reinterpret their past lives, turn their backs on them, and reestablish and reshape their future lives in a new network of social relationships. The phenomenon was initially …

[German Version] I. Religious History 1. Since the dawn of time, human birth has been associated with many religious ideas, rituals, and customs, including the idea of rebirth or regeneration. As a rite of passage (Rites of passage), birth is not merely a natural process; it can repeat a previous birth, view death as a passage to new life, or distinguish within a lifetime between a corporeal and a spiritual birth, separated by a ritual death. The Greek terminology is not uniform, using ἀναγεννᾶν/ anagennán, ἀναβιοῦν/ anabioún, μεταγεννᾶν/ metagennán, πάλιν γίνεσϑαι/ pálingínesthai, an…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Dogmatics – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Church Law – IX. Judaism – X. Islam I. History of Religion In the following comments the term community will refer exclusively to a religiously motivated association of people. From the standpoint of the history of religion, the formation of communities is more the exception than the rule. The fact that associations such as tribes, as well, howe…

[German Version] (WMC). The WMC unites 77 Methodist (Methodists: II) and united churches in 132 countries, a community of over 80 million (2011). Founded as the Ecumenical Methodist Conference in London in 1881 (present name since 1951), it meets every five years for discussion and consultation (2011 Durban, South Africa). It has standing committees for ecumenical relationships (membership in the WCC; since 1967 doctrinal conversations with other churches and church families), education, theologic…

[English Version] I. Religionsgeschichtlich 1. Die menschliche Geburt ist in der Religionsgesch. seit jeher Gegenstand mannigfaltiger Vorstellungen, Riten und Gebräuche, darunter auch W. Als rite de passage ist die Geburt kein bloß natürlicher Vorgang, sondern kann eine vorherige Geburt wiederholen, den Tod als Durchgang zu neuem Leben ansehen oder innerhalb des Lebens einen physischen von einem geistigen Geburtsakt mit dazwischen liegendem rituellen Tod unterscheiden. Die griech. Terminologie ist uneinheitlich und verwendet α᾿n̆αγεn̆n̆α˜n̆/anagennán, α᾿n̆αβιου˜n̆…

[English Version] . Die christl. Lehre von der P. erörtert die durch das Wirken des Hl. Geistes (Geist/Heiliger Geist) ermöglichte, im Wechsel lebensgesch. Herausforderungen und Veränderungen gefährdete Beständigkeit der Gottesbeziehung der Glaubenden. Die bereits im NT vielfach mit verschiedenen Begriffen (bleiben – weggehen, ausharren – abfallen, stehen – fallen, etc.) angesprochene Problematik (Joh 15,4f.; Mt 24,13; 1Kor 10,12f.) wird von Augustin (De correptione et gratia; De praedestinatione …

[English Version] I. Dogmatisch Anliegen und Problematik der prot. Lehre vom o.s. liegen in der Verbindung des göttlichen Gnadenhandelns (gratia dei applicatrix) einerseits und der menschlichen Heilserfahrung andererseits. Auf der Grundlage der reformatorischen Rechtfertigungslehre und zugleich über sie hinausgehend wird das Wirken des Hl. Geistes bzw. der göttlichen Gnade im Leben der Gerechtfertigten in seiner Einheit und Vielfalt beschrieben. Erste Ansätze dazu finden sich bereits im Augsburger …

[English Version] (WMC). Der WMC (dt. »Weltrat methodistischer Kirchen«) verbindet 76 methodistische (Methodismus: II.) und vereinigte Kirchen aus 132 Ländern, eine Gemeinschaft von etwa 74 Mio. (2003). 1881 in London als Ecumenical Methodist Conference gegründet, trifft er sich alle fünf Jahre, seit 1951 unter dem jetzigen Namen, zu Ratstagungen und Glaubenskonferenzen (2006 in Seoul). Abteilungen bestehen für Ökumene (Verbindung zum ÖRK; seit 1967 Lehrgespräche mit anderen Kirchen und Kirchenfam…