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[German Version] I. History of the Terms – II. Significance – III. Empirical Aspects – IV. Need for Conceptual Differentiation I. History of the Terms Toward t…

[German Version] (Aug 10, 1869, Liegnitz [Legnica] – Jun 11, 1944, Breslau [Wrocław]). After serving as a pastor in Silesia form 1895 to 1908, he taught at Gießen as professor of practical theology from 1908 to 1924. In 1924 he was appointed general superintendent in Breslau; in 1933 he was forced to retire. Actively engaged on a wide range of ecclesiastical, ecclesio-political, and theological fronts, Schian (with O. Baumgarten, P. Drews, et al.) was a protagonist of “modern,” empirical, subject-centered practical theology. He published standard works that were widely used, including treatments of homiletics and pastoral theology. He was particularly interested in questions of church “organization” and (synodal) government. With E. Sulze, he emphasized a religiously and diaconally “self-activating” congregation facilitating individual, pastoral, and communal practice.…

[German Version] When preparing a sermon (Preaching), it is advisable not to adopt a unilinear, deductive, text-to-sermon approach but to engage the factors text/topic, preacher, and congregation/situation interactively in terms of form and content. In most cases, this produces a rhetorically or didactically justified sequence of three steps, which simultaneously constitutes a process of spiritual experience. ¶ 1. Perception: In a first step, it is necessary to gather and methodically examine as many different observations, associations, and insights as possible…

[German Version] (May 25, 1778, Fahrstedt – Feb 1, 1855, Kiel), a miller's apprentice, studied theology in Kiel (1799–1802). He was shaped by F.D.E. Schleiermacher Reden über die Religion (1799, 1993; ET: On Religion, 1988) and idealistic and mystical literature (Novalis). He became pastor in Lunden in 1806, arch-deacon (second pastor) in Kiel in 1816. He declined to succeed Schleiermacher as preacher in Berlin in 1834 and thereupon became senior pastor and provost in Kiel in 1835. Far beyond his home, Harms first became renowned as a preacher: more than 300 sermons, some collected as postils, app…

[German Version] Since the Reformation, collections of model sermons (Postils) have served extensively as written preaching aids. In the 19th century, collections of sermon topics and model sermons (Preaching) were compiled (e.g. R.A. Kohlrausch, Vademecum Homileticum, 31909), addressing various social situations. In the early 20th century, “practical” or “homiletical” expositions of the lectionaries (including the revised lectionary of 1896; Pericopes) became common. Attendant on the Word of God theology and kerygmatic exegesis, …

[German Version] I. Forms – II. Law – III. Practical Theology I. Forms 1. Europe The multiplicity of churches in Europe, especially in the realm of the Reformation churches, has also brought about various forms of church membership, although the now common tendency to link church membership with baptism has had a unifying effect. Divided church membership may occur when a distinction is made between the church as a spiritual body based on its confession and its ecclesiastical principles and the church as a body constituted according to the law of the land (Church: XII). This distinction becomes an issue when it results in the existence of, on the one hand, the church organized according to its own law (canon or ecclesiastical/church law), and, on the other hand, a secular (civil or public law) church organization of the same church, as is often the case in Switzerland for the Roman Catholic Church (so-called dualism of canonical and cantonal church organization; Switzerland). The question then arises whether church membership can be limited (from the outset or later by withdrawal) to a membership in the canonical church organization only, thereby rejecting or excluding membership in the cantonal church organization. Since both forms of church organization are in many respects interrelated, such a division of church membership is rightly considered contrary to the Swiss system of church-state relations an…

[German Version] I. General Preaching (from Lat. praedicare, “proclaim publicly”) is spiritual or religious speech, in contrast, for example, to forensic speech, political speech, or celebratory speech. Its setting is the worship of the community (Ministerial offices), church activities such as evan…

[German Version] I. History – II. Christian Liturgy – III. Practical Theology – IV. Art History – V. Music I. History 1. Origins. “Christmas,” the nativity feast or birthday celebration of Christ on Dec 25, comes from Middle English Christmesse, Christ's Mass; cf. Dutch Kerstmis. The German Weihnachten, “holy nights,” refers to the twelve days between Dec 24 and Jan 6. The Lat. natalis, dies nativitatis, or nativitas domini nostri Jesu Christi is reflected in Span. navidad, Ital. natale. Gk ἡ γενέθλιος ἡμέρα τὰ γενέθλια, ἡ κατὰ σάρκα γέννησις τοῦ κυρίου/ hēgenéthlios h…