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[German Version] (1478 – Apr 28, 1550, Balga am Frischen Haff [Kaliningrad]), bishop of Samland from 1519. Polentz belonged to the Meissen nobility; after studying in Leipzig and Italy, he was a lawyer in papal and imperial service, before entering the Teutonic Order (Orders of Germany) in 1511 and becoming commander in Königsberg (Krolewiec, Poland) in 1516. Betwe…

[English Version] I. Stadt und Bistum Nachdem Bf. Albert I. von Livland 1201 nahe einem Handelsplatz gotländischer Kaufleute vor der Mündung der Düna in die Ostsee die Stadt R. gegründet hatte, machte er sie sogleich zum Sitz des 1186 von Bf. Meinhard in Uexküll (etwa 25 km flußaufwärts) begründeten Missionsbistums. Schon 1202 setzte die Zuwanderung aus Deutschland ein. R. wurde auch Sitz des Ordensmeisters in Livland. Seit 1207 Reichslehen, wurde R. 1255 zum Erzbistum erhoben. Seine Suffragane waren…

[English Version] I. Stadt und Bistum 1224 nach der Eroberung einer alten Festung am Embach, der Wirz- und Peipussee miteinander verbindet, durch den Schwertbrüderorden gegründet, ist T. (estnisch, dt. Dorpat, russ. Jur'ev) die älteste Stadt Estlands (baltische Länder) und mit 101 000 Einwohnern (2001) die zweitgrößte. Der 1219 für die Esten berufene Bf. Hermann nahm 1224 seinen Sitz in T. und begann 1228 mit der Errichtung der Domkirche St. Peter und Paul, die im 14. und 15.Jh. zum größten Sakralbau…

[German Version] I. City and Bishopric Albert I, bishop of Livonia, founded the city of Riga in 1201 near a Gotland merchants’ trading center on the Daugava river, not far from the Baltic Sea. He immediately made it the seat of the mission diocese founded in 1186 by Bishop Meinhard at Ikšķile (about 25 km up-stream). Immigration from Germany began as early as 1202. Riga also became the seat of the master of…

[German Version] I. Western Church – II. Eastern Church I. Western Church CD=Corpus (Corpora) doctrinae, CO=Church Order 1. Concept and Content. Articles of faith are officially authorized, textually authenticated doctrinal statements (Confession [of faith]), confession collections, CD) through which a constitutionally organized (Church order) Christian church articulates its own confessional insights, formulates a normat…

[German Version] I. City and Bishopric Tartu (Estonian; Ger. Dorpat, Russ. Yuryev) is the oldest city in Estonia (Baltic countries); with a population of 103,000 (2009), it is also the second largest. It was founded in 1224 by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after their capture of an ancient fortress on the Emajogi, connecting Lake Võrtsjärv with Lake Peipus. Bishop Hermann, appointed as bishop for the Ests, established his residence in Tartu in 1224 and in 1228 began construction of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the 14th and 15th centuries the largest spec-¶ imen of sacred architecture in the Baltic region. After joining the Hanseatic League around 1360, Tartu enjoyed its greatest economic prosperity in the 15th century. In 1524 the Protestant preacher Hermann Marsow was called to the church of St. Mary by the city council; the bishop’s objections forced him to leave, but he was able to return in 1529. M. Hoffmann also was active in Tartu until he was banished from the country in 1526. The knights of Tartu were still considered faithful Catho…

[English Version] I. Kirchengeschichtlich 1.  Begriffsgeschichte Der Orthodoxiebegriff (vgl. auch Orthodoxie: I.) stammt aus dem hell. Judentum. So empfiehlt Flavius Josephus »τη`n̆ ο᾿ρϑη`n̆ δο´ξαn̆ περι` Θεου˜/tē´n orthē´n do´xan peri´ Theou´« anstelle der griech. Mythen und überliefert, daß die Essener die anderen Juden als »ε῾τερο´δοξοι/hetero´doxoi« betrachtet hätten (Flav.Jos.Apion. II 256; Bell. II 129). Dieser Sprachgebrauch griff seit dem 2.Jh. auch auf das Christentum über. Entscheidend für seine kirchl. Ausprägung wurde 843…

[German Version] I. Church History – II. The Branches of Orthodoxy – III. Orthodoxy throughout the World – IV. History of Orthodox Theology I. Church History 1. Terminology. The term orthodox (cf. also Orthodoxy: I) goes back to Hellenistic Judaism. Flavius Josephus, for example, commends τὴν ὀρϑὴν δόξαν περὶ Θεοῦ/ tḗn orthḗn dóxan perí Theoú…

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Catholic Catechisms – III. Orthodox Catechisms – IV. Protestant Catechisms – V. Catechetical Instruction I. Terminology Linguistically and semantically, the word catechism is derived from the Greek verb κατήχειν/ katḗchein, “to echo.” This etymology suggests a semantic connotation, according to which the transmission of the faith is fundamentally seen as a mediation of the content of the faith through personal testimony (cf. the Lat. personare, “to sound through”). Only when used in a transitive sense does κατήχειν acquire the meaning “to instruct,” ¶ as…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. The Early Church – III. Middle Ages, Reformation, Counter-reformation – IV. The Modern Period – V. Martyrs of the Orthodox Church – VI. Judaism – VII. Islam – VIII. Missiology I. History of Religion The term martyrium (Greek μαρτύριον/ martúrion) was coined in early Christianity, where it denotes a self-sacrificial death in religious conflict as a witness to faith Historical and systematic references are found in many contexts, in which comparable terms imply something slightly different. For example, the Islamic šahīd, “witness…