Christoph Blumhardt

Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt ( born June 1, 1842 in Möttlingen in Calw; † August 2, 1919 in Jebenhausen in Göppingen ) was a Württemberg Protestant theologian, pastor and hymn writer, and later member of parliament for the SPD. He is considered the founder of the religious and social movement in Switzerland and in Germany.

Life

His father Johann Christoph Blumhardt was also a priest and took a strong pietism, which counted with the power of the Holy Spirit in everyday life. He was known for a miraculous healing of a woman are considered incurable nationwide. In 1852 he acquired the Kurhaus in Bad Boll. At the local cemetery he have been buried and later his son.

Bad Boll

Christoph Blumhardt came to his study of Protestant theology in Tübingen and then Vicariate in 1869 as assistant and secretary to his father to Bad Boll. During his studies he became a member of the Association Normannia Tübingen. In 1870 he married Emilie Bräuninger, the daughter of a farmer. After the death of his father he took over in 1880, the line of Bad Boll. He won as a pastor and eloquent preacher a reputation far beyond his homeland. One of his guests was 1892 times the young Hermann Hesse, who had escaped from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Maulbronn andstaying his parents' wishes in Bad Boll. It was only in October 1896 Blumhardt experienced a kind of " revival " which certainly made ​​him that he must preach the message of God's infinite love to the world. It was said in his Christmas sermon in 1896:

Turning to socialism

For this impulse Blumhardt took junior now increasingly share in the acute everyday problems of the workers and the "social question ". In 1899, he pleaded to a workers' meeting in Göppingen as disciples of Jesus to "socialism". After a newspaper falsely reported that he had joined the Social Democratic Party, he was violently attacked in church circles. Then he joined the SPD and was actually under pressure from the church rectory on his authority. In December 1900 he was elected for the constituency of Göppingen in the Württemberg state parliament, where he worked six years.

Because of this turn Blumhardt lost many of his friends and his sphere as a preacher of repentance. Nevertheless, he stood beside his political work preachers and pastors for the guests of the meeting house Bad Boll. In poor health, he traveled to Egypt in 1905 and 1910, 1906 to Palestine. In 1907 he moved with Anna of spreaders joke that " God-sent " him partner of his last years ( Elisabeth Schönhut - great-granddaughter of Emily Blumhardt ), after Wieseneck in Jebenhausen and limited his pastoral work, but took more active interest in contemporary events. The outbreak of the First World War, he took position as:

At this eschatological hope Blumhardt held until his death. In October 1917 he suffered a stroke, but was praying for the church of Jesus and the salvation of the world:

Appreciation

Blumhardt's radical Kingdom of God expectation - " once and soon " - and his decision for socialism were rejected in the bourgeoisie and the Church of his time. But it is precisely this outsider prewar influenced those theologians who shaped the public theological debate after 1918, led by Karl Barth, but also Hermann Kutter, Leonhard Ragaz and Eduard Thurneysen.

Today the Evangelical Church in Germany recalls on August 2 with a commemoration in the Protestant calendar name to Blumhardt. Some of the street names, such as in Pforzheim and facilities, the community center in rock star named after Christoph Blumhardt or father and son Blumhardt.

Works

Ed. v. Eugene Jäckh:

• House Devotions for every day of the year, 1921
• From the kingdom of God. From sermons and devotions, 1922
• From the imitation of Jesus Christ. Second selection from sermons and devotions, 1923
• Evening prayers for every day of the year, 1937
• From the guidance of God. Letters to friends, 1955

Ed. v. Robert Lejeune:

• Selection of sermons and devotions, 4 volumes, 1925-32
• Works, in part volumes, published between 1938 and 1966.

Ed. v. John Harder:

• Words of the Protestant pastor and member of parliament Christoph Blumhardt, Wuppertal 1972
• Christoph Blumhardt - speeches, sermons, speeches, letters: 1865-1917, 3 vols, Neukirchen 1978