Jakob Lorber

Jakob Lorber ( born July 22, 1800 Kanischa, then Duchy of Styria, the Habsburg monarchy; † August 24, 1864 in Graz) was an Austrian musician and Christian writer. His work is assigned to the new revelations in the denomination known union literature; he described himself as a " servant of God writing ".

• 4.1 works with reference to the Bible
• 4.2 works on the creation
• 4.3 Works about the afterlife
• 4.4 Anthologies

• 5.1 writings of followers of the doctrine Lorber
• 5.2 Overviews
• 5.3 Theological Studies
• 5.4 Sociological and psychological studies

Life

Lorber was born as the first son of Michael Lorber and his wife Maria Tautscher, a long-established Catholic farming family in which members of the Lower Styria village Kanischa, parish Jahring - belonging today to the municipality Šentilj (St. Egidi ) in Slovenia - born. At age 17 he moved to Marburg an der Drau, where he was an assistant teacher and organist. Soon after, he went to Saint Johann im Saggautal, where he received instruction in Latin from a chaplain. The chaplain Lorber advised to prepare for the priesthood, after which he returned to Marburg to attend grammar school. After he had graduated five classes, he continued his high school studies in Graz. His livelihood, he played there as a tutor for singing, music (piano and violin) and drawing. In 1829 he attended the "higher educational course for teachers at primary schools " and received a very good report.

After the first unsuccessful bid as a teacher Lorber gave up this plan and devoted himself entirely to music. He composed songs and concert pieces and thus came with the famous composer Anselm Hüttenbrenner in contact. During this time, Lorber met the famous violinist Niccolò Paganini know who gave him a few lessons and became a model.

Jakob Lorber read aloud the details of his biographer Leitner next to the Bible books of Jakob Böhme, Johann Tennhardt, Emanuel Swedenborg, Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling and Justinus Kerner.

On March 15, 1840 at 6 clock in the morning heard Jakob Lorber, by his own admission, an "inner voice" in the vicinity of his heart, which prompted him to write. He dedicated this to him as " grace voice of the Lord Jesus Christ " -understood voice from now on his life and wrote her " dictation " following, some 20,000 manuscript pages down.

Lorber wrote not only himself, but dictated individual essays and even whole books to his friends, most of which Anselm Hüttenbrenner. He also worked occasionally at the same time on several pieces, which was documented in the large, like a diary out tomes of Hüttenbrenner. The manuscripts are consistently written in a train and contain only very few changes and improvements.

With the recording of his writing activity Lorber was dependent on the support of his friends; among them were Grazer dignitaries as the mayor Andreas Hüttenbrenner - a brother Anselm - the chemist Leopold Cantily and the poet and Styrian estates secretary Karl Gottfried von Leitner. This written about 1884 Lorber's biography. After Lorber age of 60 began to ease his physical forces, according to his biographer Leitner continued had the intellectual unimpaired. In 1864 he fell ill and had to spend three months in bed. Also during this time he dictated his friends. At the beginning of spring he recovered briefly again, but finally died on 24 August 1864 of lung disease. Lorber was buried in the cemetery in Graz to St. Leonhard, he was until recently a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

The manuscripts Lorber were first disseminated in manuscript of friends, because a print option not resulted in Austria. For publication, they were brought to Germany, but even there, there were obstacles: the 1852 printed in Stuttgart book " The youth of Jesus " was confiscated by the official censorship. The printing of books led his friend Johannes Busch continued, later Beck Christoph Friedrich country ( 1840-1921 ). With the proliferation of books by Jakob Lorber what happened after his death on a larger scale, formed in different places " Lorber - circles of friends ", which ultimately resulted in a Lorberbewegung. Were published for the still in its lifetime Lorber's books, the first publisher Justinus Kerner and Carl -Friedrich Zimpel, followed by Johannes Busch, Jakob Lorber moved never a fee. A total of Lorber's manuscripts - for a total of about 10,000 printed pages - printed in 25 books as well as many smaller fonts.

In Verlassenschaftsakt, which is located in the Styrian Provincial Archives, it is noted that the musician his violin, a piano, as well as multiple images and garments of his " natural daughter Maria Hochenegger " bequeathed. The correctness of this statement is, however, considered by some Lorberfreunden for various reasons in doubt. The biographer Leitner and other witnesses and previously publicly disclosed documents tell the tale of a natural or adopted daughter. Also surviving today descendants of the family Lorber know nothing of a daughter of Jacob Lorber, only Landenbeck mentions a " so-called daughter Lorber " in his autobiography, which had sold the manuscript Lorber from the Great Gospel of John for 2000 florins to a Viennese Lorberfreund.

Teaching

Lorber published in 25 volumes, an extensive body of work in which he, inter alia, to oriented to Jakob Böhme and Emanuel Swedenborg. He describes a cosmological system that is not created by God out of nothing, but had emerged in terms of emanation from the fullness of his mental powers. Its heavenly bodies ( planets, suns, stars, moons, etc.) caused by Lucifer case, who had freely against God's chosen order and self-love is forfeited. The heavenly bodies are understood as organic beings: So did the earth a funnel-shaped mouth at the South Pole, which is connected by a gastrointestinal tract with an excretory organ at the South Pole.

As the stars are also the people in need of redemption, but they could by following the double commandment of love, and through baptism and communion, which Lorber understood as memory and love feast, come on earth to perfection. This is being done by union with the " Spirit of God spark". The evolution of man to perfection set continued in a series of reincarnations and finally, in the afterlife. Thus, finally, all men would be saved in the sense of Allerlösung by this perfection of a chosen number. God is understood as the infinite Spirit, primal power and ground of all being, which is designed essentially in his Urmachtzentrum, as the most perfect Spirit - primitive man. Jesus Christ is understood as the garment into the matter wrapped ( incarnated ) human spirit Urmachtzentrum God to teach all the spirits of infinity and for the dead to redeem them out of their court and they again due to his father's house. The timing of the return of Christ is supposed to be about 2000 years after his ministry in Palestine (c. 30 AD).; However, at one point called Lorber an earlier date, namely around 1920; Thus Christ was at that time have said the following:

The Trinity of God and the doctrine of justification by faith refused Lorber.

Lorber himself understood his new revelations as God's word. What he knew, he knew only from God through a special and undeserved grace. Because of this claim Lorber was believed to be in possession umfänglichster knowledge. When his followers Lorber's writings are " equal to the Bible. " When According to Kurt Eggenstein Lorber New Revelation is a message of salvation, which explain the gospel, and fill up, because Jesus was the then people tell little of the mysteries of creation and His apostles also difficult to him were able to understand. Lorber's writings in numerous statements and concepts of quantum physics, and warnings would find in front of modern risks such as climate change, air pollution and deforestation.

Reception

Since the writings of Jakob Lorber published - partly already during his lifetime - there is a controversy about how they are classified. The proportion, the type and quality of operations in the auditory impression divine inspiration is controversial even among Lorberfreunden. Also controversial is the attitude of the critics.

Supporters and sympathizers

The writer and biographer of Jakob Lorber, Karl Gottfried Ritter von Leitner, was convinced a long-time friend and witness to the authenticity of Jakob Lorber's vocation and led it in his biography Lorber on several examples. He writes: "Not lonely and joyless Lorber went through life; for he had followers from the best families. These have also watched him in his divine writing and strict tested, which was particularly good for the offspring. For now no one can say that the words that were to respectable levels, are not of divine origin. (...) Especially the woman Großheim was not gullible, which is why they sometimes kept accurate and strict even in Lorber desktop charger and box look-up if he did not keep books or fonts. But he had no resources. His only book he ever had on hand, was the Bible. "

Adolf Josef Lanz ( a pseudonym Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels ) related to the development of its racially - occult doctrine ( " ariosophy " ) on Lorber and wrote this among other things, a representation in four issues.

Thomas Noack, pastor of the New Church ( Swedenborgian ), has written a number of representations to Lorber and highlights parallels to Swedenborg forth.

The economist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher situated in a popular book Lorber next to Edgar Cayce and Therese Neumann as a case before, " in which the higher possibilities of man manifested "; his writings contained " many strange things ", but also thoughts that anticipated physical developments and are not rationally explicable.

Reviews Protestant theologians

1930 published book The sects of the presence of Paul Scheurlen devoted one of 22 chapters of the New Salem Society ( Lorberanhänger ) - an indication that this community was then perceived as influential. Scheurlen won by Lorber the image " a louder personality," and he found in his writings " beads deep piety ", such as the " depiction of divine love." But he also pointed out that, for example, Lorber's "outdated messages from the astronomical science in material respects ", Lorber saw a strong speculative interest " in God and knowledge of the world ", and lamented: "The essence of the Protestant faith is not recognized. "

The Protestant Association for Philosophical Questions ( EZW ) is particularly critical of the claim that Revelation was dictated by Jesus Christ himself. It leads in their brochures psychological factors as possible explanation for the New Revelation, and refers inter alia to Stettler- warping ( see below).

Andreas Fincke, evangelical theologian and former employees of EZW, finds in the work statements are reasonable, the more Lorber's perspectives and the spirit of the times befänden represented as the Jesus of Nazareth.

In his standard work seer, brooder, enthusiasts Kurt Hutten judged the " new revelations " by Emanuel Swedenborg and Lorber. Hutten stressed that both " are located in the Enlightenment ' had, and described the then radical changes in the consideration of nature and the cosmos. While people formerly looked up and to some extent in heaven suspected the throne of God, they felt themselves now as residents of a small ball in a huge space - the view of the sky, especially with a telescope, they made ​​the vastness of the universe aware, and they felt a dark emptiness instead of the earlier security. Given this changed world view were Swedenborg and Lorber world designs help to find an intellectually comprehensible way from the natural to the supernatural - so Hutten, of the two as " the sky enlightened " einschätzte, which opened its readers " liberating horizons ". But also for Hutten Lorber inspiration understanding is problematic: If Lorber claims that his texts were literally dictated to him by Christ, then this claim is made for any errors in question. Hutten referred to Lorber's misrepresentation of the origin of the New Testament canon, on numerous stars circled " Central Sun ", strong exaggerations in figures or implausible alleged sayings of Jesus (about about " corn kernels ", but at that time in Palestine were unknown).

The Protestant Manual Religious communities and worldviews referred to Lorber's extensive work as " diffuse and unsystematic ." Lorber had left an extensive body of work in which he will design a comprehensive mental- monistic worldview. His cosmology postulates a purely spiritual " original creation " through the sense understood in Gnostic original idea spark of God. The material world is a result of solidification of the original living spirit world, now fallen with Lucifer human souls choose from in the complete freedom of whether they choose the path of their purification, and connection with their " pure spirit of God spark" or not according to Lorber. His Christology describe Jesus Christ as the incarnate God, who had gone as a model of the physical and spiritual people of purification to its logical conclusion, and so the complete unification achieved through spiritual rebirth with the Spirit of God spark. His eschatology reasons that many human souls rebirth in this life - not reach, but would continue to develop in worlds beyond - even at the possible reincarnations on earth or other material worlds. Lorber postulate as the final goal, the Allaussöhnung. Besides the grace of God will thereby " human performance emphasizes ".

Psychological reviews

Antoinette Stettler- warping diagnosed in her medical dissertation ( Jakob Lorber. Psychopathology of a champagne Stifter, 1966) a chronic paranoid schizophrenia with manic- depressive component in a self- präpsychotisch uncertain, anxious, neurotic and validity- addicted - hysteriform personality.

Catholic religious educator and psychologist of religion Bernhard Grom disagreed with this diagnosis ( in an issue of EZW texts 2003) and noted that psychotic Disturbed not be to services such as Lorber able. Although inspiration experiences, visions and auditions may be symptoms of mental disorders ( schizophrenia ), but also occur outside of this pathological context, namely in stress situations and in search of spiritual guidance. Grom arranges the New Revelation to this search for spiritual guidance and suspected self-induced hallucination.

Works

The literature includes 25 - Lorber sometimes very extensive works that have been written by Lorber in 24 years according to the " inner dictation ". The manuscripts are held by Lorber -Verlag in Bietigheim. Here are the 18 titles are listed, which the Lorber -Verlag as a " major works ".

Works with respect to the Bible

• The household of God ( 1840-44 ), ISBN 3-87495-142-1 ( Ln. ), ISBN 3-87495-200-2 ( Kt ). The first work (available in 3 volumes ) deals with fundamental religious issues, such as the nature of God, primary creation of the spirit world, the material world of creation, the creation of man and its prehistory to the Flood. A lexical attachment is sold separately.
• The Youth of Jesus (1843 ), ISBN 3-87495-164-2. This work sees itself as the New Revelation of the Protevangelium of James, an apocryphal Gospels Scripture.
• Scripture text explanations ( 1843), ISBN 3-87495-156-1. A number of interpretations, with the subtitle " Bible texts and their secret meaning."
• The Laodizenerbrief of the Apostle Paul (1844 ), ISBN 3-87495-124-3
• Correspondence between Jesus and Abgar (1845 /46), ISBN 3-87495-169-3
• The Great Gospel of John, 10 volumes ( 1851-64 ), ISBN 3-87495-130-8, text digitally at j - lorber. To be the most extensive and best-known work, a detailed commentary on the Gospel according to John and the other Gospels with the claim, complementing and interpreting the New Testament.
• Three days in the Temple (1859 /60), ISBN 3-87495-014- X. A "play" the discussion of the 12- year-old Jesus with the Doctors in the Temple.

Works on the creation

• Earth and Moon (1841 /47), ISBN 3-87495-165-0
• Saturn (1841 /42), ISBN 3-87495-048-4
• The natural sun (1842 ), ISBN 3-87495-128-6
• The Fly (1842 ), ISBN 3-87495-168-5
• The Grossglockner ( 1842), ISBN 3-87495-111-1

Works about the afterlife

• The spiritual sun (1842 /43), ISBN 3-87495-206-1 (Vol. 1 ), ISBN 3-87495 -207- X ( Volume 2 )
• Beyond the threshold (1847 ), ISBN 3-87495-163-4
• Bishop Martin (1847 /48), ISBN 3-87495-009-3
• From hell to heaven. The otherworldly guidance of Robert Blum ( 1848-51 ), ISBN 3-87495-558-3

Anthologies

• Sky gifts ( 1840-64 ), ISBN 3-87495-149-9 (Vol. 1 ), ISBN 3-87495-150-2 (Vol. 2), ISBN 3-87495-154-5 (Vol. 3). Summary of dictations that were given in addition to the main works.
• The great period of time (1841 ), ISBN 3-87495-176-6. Collection of poems and prayers.