Richard Rothe

Richard Rothe ( born January 28, 1799 in Poznan, † August 20 1867 in Heidelberg ) was a Protestant theologian.

Life

Richard Rothe grew up as the son of a Prussian official family in Szczecin and Wroclaw. He was influenced by Romanticism and therefore studied since 1817 Protestant theology and philosophy in Heidelberg, because here romantic embossed professors taught, especially the classical philologist Friedrich Creuzer influenced him. In Heidelberg Rothe also met the representatives of speculative theology Carl Daub, whose ideas influenced him greatly, and the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel know, was very convinced of its philosophy Rothe. That's why he also switched from WS 1819/1820 his study and went to the University of Berlin, where Hegel had accepted a call. Here he impressed the church and piety theologian Johann Wilhelm August Neander. Through him Rothe also met Friedrich August Gottreu Tholuck know who was leading him to the revival movement.

In Berlin, Richard Rothe put end 1820 from the First Theological Examination and then went to 1822 in the pietistic embossed seminary in Wittenberg. After that, he was a candidate in the Protestant church service in Wroclaw. His Second Theological exam and found his ordination in 1823 in Berlin in quick succession. Because the head of the Wittenberg Seminary Heinrich Leonhard Heubner had the Prussian Ministry of the spiritual, educational and medical Alan occasions 1823 Richard Rothe recommended as a candidate for the office of the Prussian Legation preacher in Rome, to the Rothe was also appointed on 16 December 1823. In 1828 he became a professor at the seminary at Wittenberg and 1832 second director and headmaster of this institution. In 1837 he was appointed by the Baden Government through the mediation of his Heidelberg teacher Carl Daub full professor of New Testament, dogmatic and practical theology at the University of Heidelberg. Here he was also director of the Heidelberg Seminary. During this period Rothe published his major work, the Theological Ethics. In November 1849, he accepted an appointment as Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Bonn. He returned because of poor health of his wife in 1854 back to the climatically favorable Heidelberg. Here he became Professor Carl Christian Ullmann, who took the place of the prelates of the Evangelical Church in Baden. Rothe now taught as professor addition to his previous subjects and church history. At the same time he had again held the office of university preacher.

Richard Rothe was in 1861 appointed associate member of the Karlsruhe High Church Council and in 1863 and 1865 by Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden appointed as a member of the First Chamber of the Baden Landtag. In the years 1843, 1855, 1861 and 1867, he participated in the General Synods of the Evangelical Church of Baden, and in 1863 participated in the founding of the German Protestant Association.

Rothe was also a founding father of the Academic Theological Society at Heidelberg, from which the fraternity ATHV Wartburg emerged.

Theological position

Richard Rothe wanted to escape the fields of religion and the church, the responsibility for morality and this should be reflected in a moral culture state. Thus, the institution of the Church would have come up in a Christian culture state. This culture state itself by Rothe as " absolute theocracy " that from which the " perfect kingdom of God" would arise. This line of thought emerged from Rothes speculative theology, which linked to no dogma, and had deviated from the established Church doctrine. Following the example of Friedrich Schleiermacher Rothe divided theology into the speculative, historical and practical theology. The unfolding of Rothe speculative theology was guided by the contents of the Bible and a devout God feeling. As this pious feeling of God but was less pronounced in the Christian churches, this speculative theology could only find in a Protestant State for Culture application after certain content Protestant piety. The importance of Rothes theology today is that the "God's sense of piety " was transferred to the idea of ​​God throughout the speculative theology.

Work

Richard Rothe was in the 19th century an important person of liberal Protestantism. The view of Rothes, the Church should be part of a moral culture state, was then held by many Protestants vehemently. This conviction does not fit today in the "basic principle of modernity ", which assumes, among others, an autonomy of the individual, it is not therefore a formative. - Some theologians of modern times close to the idea of Rothes again, Christianity was to exist outside of the church, since modern Christianity from a dogmatic church had changed to an ethical orientation.

Honors

• Honorary doctorate from the Theological Faculty of the University of Heidelberg
• Title of a Church Council by the Grand Duke of Baden
• Title of Privy Council of Churches by the Grand Duke of Baden
• Honoring the 100th birthday. Gift of a bust of Rothes by his disciples and followers to Heidelberger Peter Church, University Church.

Writings (selection )

• The beginnings of the Christian Church and its Constitution. Wittenberg 1837 (Reprint Frankfurt q.s. 1963)
• Theological ethics. 3 vols Wittenberg 1845-1848 ( 2nd edn, 5 vols 1867-71; Reprint, new ed and inlaid by Jürgen Albert: Waltrop 1991.. )
• To dogmatics. Gotha 1863 ( 2nd edition 1869, 3rd on. 1898)

Most of his lectures and sermons were published after his death by friends and students:

• Posthumous sermons. Edited by Daniel Schenkel and John Bleek. 3 vols Elberfeld 1868f
• Dogmatics. Edited by Daniel Schenkel. 3 vols Heidelberg 1870
• Lectures on church history. Edited by Hermann Weingarten. 2 vols Heidelberg 1875-76
• Silent hours. Aphorisms of the author's manuscript estate. Bremen 1872 ( online resource )
• Designs for the evening prayers on the Pastoral Epistles. Edited by Carl Palmié. Wittenberg (2nd edition, Bremen 1886) Volume 1: The letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus, together with an appendix: Luther Memorial Day. 1876
• Vol 2: The First Epistle of John, the story of the Lord, the Sermon on the Mount, Fixed texts and other pastoral texts. 1877