Thomas Schirrmacher
Encyclopedia
Thomas Schirrmacher holds a chair in theology (ethics, missions, world religions), is a Christian moral philosopher and a specialist in the sociology of religion.
He is professor of the sociology of religion at the West University of Timişoara
and university lecturer in systematic theology
at the Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen and Chairman of the theological commission of the World Evangelical Alliance
.
Since 1996 he is the rector of the Martin Bucer European Theological Seminary and Research Institutes, a theological seminary seated in Bonn
, Germany
with campuses in several European countries. Since 2008 he is the director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom with offices in Bonn, Cape Town and Colombo.
), Dr.theol. (Ecumenical Theology & Missiology, TU Kampen, Netherlands), Ph. D. (Cultural Anthropology, PWU
, Los Angeles - unaccredited), Th. D. (Ethics, WTS, Lakeland, Florida), Dr. phil. (Sociology of Religion, State University, Bonn, Germany), honorary doctorates: D.D. (Cranmer Theological House, Shreveport), D.D. (Acts University, Bangalore,. India).
Schirrmacher graduated from the FETA Basel in 1982 and earned his doctorates in theology (missiology and Ecumenics) from the Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Dutch
: Theologische Universiteit Kampen voor de Gereformeerde Kerken) in Kampen
(Netherlands) in 1985, a Phd in Cultural Anthropology from the Pacific Western University
, LA in 1989 and in theology (Ethics) from the Whitefield Theological Seminary
, Lakeland
, FL in 1996. He earned an honorary doctorate from the Cranmer Theological House in Shreveport, Louisiana
in 1997. 2007 he earned a PhD in Comparative Religions / Sociologiy of Religion at State University of Bonn in 2007. He got honorary doctorates form the Cranmer Theological House and the Acts University in Bangalore.
From 1982 to 1986 he was pastor in Bonn and Erftstadt
, Germany. Later he was Theologian of the Evangelical Free Church in Bonn. From 1998 to 2000 pastor of the Free Reformed Church in the same town.
From 1994 to 1998 he was professor of missions
at the Philadelphia Theological Seminary and since 1995 he is professor for systematic theology at the Whitefield Theological Seminary.
Since 1996 he has been rector of Martin Bucer Theological Seminary, which has 11 campuses in Europe. There he also is professor for systematic theology, missiology and religious studies
.
He is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Gebende Hände gGmbH (German: Giving Hands charitable Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
), an internationally active relief organisation.
He has authored and edited 74 books, which have been translated into 14 languages. He is especially known for his works on religion in Nazi-Germany.
He is on the board of the German section of the International Society for Human Rights
(ISHR) since 2005. He is manager of the Religious Liberty Commission of the German and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, and director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom of the World Evangelical Alliance
.
from the State University of Bonn
, Germany, and is professor of Islamic Studies in Belgium. They have two children together.
13 that Christians should only elect representatives who have proved that they themselves act according to God's law and apply it to others. Christians have to obey to the authority of the state only as long as it is a Rechtsstaat
(a 'legal state', compare rule of law
). He also wrote about Precarity
(existence without predictability or security) in Germany.
Schirrmacher states that liturgy
invariably expresses doctrine, even if a congregation states not to have a liturgy at all. He approves every form of arts, including music in church service, because God gave man the ability to create and adore arts. According to him every art is Christian art.
In the field of pastoral care
, Schirrmacher advocates being very careful in telling someone God's will, because in many situations there are no divine orders which are applicable every time and on every place.
Schirrmacher views Marxism
as a secular form of the Judeochristian religion.
Schirrmacher scrutinised the Old Testament
for statements on Missiology and states that God not only speaks to pagans with judgement but also provides them with salvation
through conversion
and the promise of the Messiah
. He predominantly is interested in the arguments of the Old Testament for the mission in the New Testament
.
's religious self-perception and his loss of his Catholic faith. He combines the theories of intentionalism, the view that Hitler's program was expression of his inner conviction and of functionalism, that Hitler wrote his program only to maintain his power. For Schirrmacher both answers are correct: one answers to the How? and the other to the Why?. He holds Hans Naumann
not for a racist but for a propagandist of the Nazis.
He is professor of the sociology of religion at the West University of Timişoara
West University of Timisoara
The West University of Timişoara is a university located in Timişoara, Romania. Established in 1962, it is organized in 11 Faculties.-Organization:...
and university lecturer in systematic theology
Systematic theology
In the context of Christianity, systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs...
at the Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen and Chairman of the theological commission of the World Evangelical Alliance
World Evangelical Alliance
- Introduction :' is a global ministry working with local churches around the world to join in common concern to live and proclaim the "Good News of Jesus" in their communities...
.
Since 1996 he is the rector of the Martin Bucer European Theological Seminary and Research Institutes, a theological seminary seated in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
with campuses in several European countries. Since 2008 he is the director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom with offices in Bonn, Cape Town and Colombo.
Academic and pastoral career
Thomas Schirrmacher holds chairs in ethics, in world religions and in international development in Germany, Romania, USA and India. He holds the following degrees: M.Th. (Staatsunabhängige Theologische Hochschule Basel (FETA), SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), Dr.theol. (Ecumenical Theology & Missiology, TU Kampen, Netherlands), Ph. D. (Cultural Anthropology, PWU
Pacific Western University
California Miramar University , is a nationally accredited private proprietary institution of higher learning and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the United States Department of Education...
, Los Angeles - unaccredited), Th. D. (Ethics, WTS, Lakeland, Florida), Dr. phil. (Sociology of Religion, State University, Bonn, Germany), honorary doctorates: D.D. (Cranmer Theological House, Shreveport), D.D. (Acts University, Bangalore,. India).
Schirrmacher graduated from the FETA Basel in 1982 and earned his doctorates in theology (missiology and Ecumenics) from the Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Theologische Universiteit Kampen voor de Gereformeerde Kerken) in Kampen
Kampen
Campen or Kampen may refer:* Campen, Germany, a village by the Ems estuary, northwestern Germany, home of the Campen Lighthouse* Kampen, Germany, a municipality on the island Sylt, Germany* Kampen, Overijssel, a town in the Netherlands...
(Netherlands) in 1985, a Phd in Cultural Anthropology from the Pacific Western University
Pacific Western University
California Miramar University , is a nationally accredited private proprietary institution of higher learning and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the United States Department of Education...
, LA in 1989 and in theology (Ethics) from the Whitefield Theological Seminary
Whitefield Theological Seminary
Whitefield Theological Seminary is an unaccredited conservative Reformed seminary located in Lakeland, Florida with no permanent faculty and degrees offered entirely through distance-learning. It derives its name from 18th century revivalist George Whitefield. The current president is Kenneth Gary...
, Lakeland
Lakeland
Lakeland is primarily a toponym:*United States**Lakeland, Florida**Lakeland, Georgia**Lakeland, Louisiana**Lakeland, Michigan**Lakeland, Minnesota**Lakeland, New York**Lakeland, Tennessee**Lakeland Village, California*Canada...
, FL in 1996. He earned an honorary doctorate from the Cranmer Theological House in Shreveport, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
in 1997. 2007 he earned a PhD in Comparative Religions / Sociologiy of Religion at State University of Bonn in 2007. He got honorary doctorates form the Cranmer Theological House and the Acts University in Bangalore.
From 1982 to 1986 he was pastor in Bonn and Erftstadt
Erftstadt
Erftstadt is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river which flows through it, the Erft...
, Germany. Later he was Theologian of the Evangelical Free Church in Bonn. From 1998 to 2000 pastor of the Free Reformed Church in the same town.
From 1994 to 1998 he was professor of missions
Missiology
Missiology is the area of practical theology that investigates the mandate, message, and mission of the Christian church, especially the nature of missionary work...
at the Philadelphia Theological Seminary and since 1995 he is professor for systematic theology at the Whitefield Theological Seminary.
Since 1996 he has been rector of Martin Bucer Theological Seminary, which has 11 campuses in Europe. There he also is professor for systematic theology, missiology and religious studies
Religious studies
Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...
.
He is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Gebende Hände gGmbH (German: Giving Hands charitable Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung is a type of legal entityvery common in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other Central European countries...
), an internationally active relief organisation.
He has authored and edited 74 books, which have been translated into 14 languages. He is especially known for his works on religion in Nazi-Germany.
He is on the board of the German section of the International Society for Human Rights
International Society for Human Rights
The International Society for Human Rights is an international non-governmental, non-profit human rights organization with Participative Status with the Council of Europe and is a member of the Liaison Committee of the Non-Governmental Organisations at the Council of Europe...
(ISHR) since 2005. He is manager of the Religious Liberty Commission of the German and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, and director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom of the World Evangelical Alliance
World Evangelical Alliance
- Introduction :' is a global ministry working with local churches around the world to join in common concern to live and proclaim the "Good News of Jesus" in their communities...
.
Personal
He is married to Christine Schirrmacher who holds a doctorate in Islamic StudiesIslamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
from the State University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
, Germany, and is professor of Islamic Studies in Belgium. They have two children together.
Theology
Schirrmacher rejects the Adiaphorists, who accept every state authority without exception, and derives from RomansEpistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
13 that Christians should only elect representatives who have proved that they themselves act according to God's law and apply it to others. Christians have to obey to the authority of the state only as long as it is a Rechtsstaat
Rechtsstaat
Rechtsstaat is a concept in continental European legal thinking, originally borrowed from German jurisprudence, which can be translated as "legal state", "state of law", "state of justice", or "state of rights"...
(a 'legal state', compare rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
). He also wrote about Precarity
Precarity (Social Christianity)
Precarity is a condition of existence without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare. The term has been specifically applied to either intermittent work or, more generally, a confluence of intermittent work and precarious existence.-Catholic Origins:In its English...
(existence without predictability or security) in Germany.
Schirrmacher states that liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
invariably expresses doctrine, even if a congregation states not to have a liturgy at all. He approves every form of arts, including music in church service, because God gave man the ability to create and adore arts. According to him every art is Christian art.
In the field of pastoral care
Pastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
, Schirrmacher advocates being very careful in telling someone God's will, because in many situations there are no divine orders which are applicable every time and on every place.
Schirrmacher views Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
as a secular form of the Judeochristian religion.
Schirrmacher scrutinised the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
for statements on Missiology and states that God not only speaks to pagans with judgement but also provides them with salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
through conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
and the promise of the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
. He predominantly is interested in the arguments of the Old Testament for the mission in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.
Histiography
In Hitlers Kriegsreligion ('Hilter's War Religion'), Schirrmacher wrote about Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's religious self-perception and his loss of his Catholic faith. He combines the theories of intentionalism, the view that Hitler's program was expression of his inner conviction and of functionalism, that Hitler wrote his program only to maintain his power. For Schirrmacher both answers are correct: one answers to the How? and the other to the Why?. He holds Hans Naumann
Hans Naumann
Hans Naumann was a German literary historian and folklorist .Naumann was born in Görlitz and died in Bonn...
not for a racist but for a propagandist of the Nazis.
Books (Selection)
- Thomas Schirrmacher: Human Rights Threatened in Europe.
- Thomas Schirrmacher: Hitlers Kriegsreligion: [die Verankerung der Weltanschauung Hitlers in seiner religiösen Begrifflichkeit und seinem Gottesbild]. Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, 2007. 3 Volumes, ISBN 978-3-938116-31-9 (German)
- Thomas Schirrmacher: Anwalt der Liebe: Martin BucerMartin BucerMartin Bucer was a Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled...
als Theologe und Seelsorger : Beiträge zum 450. Todestag des Reformators. Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, 2002, ISBN 9783932829338 (German) - Thomas Schirrmacher (ed.): Calvin and World Mission: Essays. Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft 2009, ISBN 978-3938116845
- Thomas Schirrmacher: The persecution of Christians concerns us all : towards a theology of martyrdom ; [70 biblical theological theses written for the German Evangelical AllianceEvangelical AllianceThe Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....
]. erl. für Kultur und Wiss. Bonn 2001. 3-932829-41-7 (English), 978-3-928936-62-0 (SwahiliSwahili languageSwahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
)) - Thomas Schirrmacher: World mission: Heart of Christianity. (PDF) RVB, Hamburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-928936-37-8
- Thomas Schirrmacher: Hope for Europe : 66 propositions. VTR Nürnberg 2002 (in 14 languages)
- Thomas Schirrmacher: Theodor Christlieb und seine Missionstheologie. Dissertation. Verlag und Schriftenmission der Evangelischen Gesellschaft für Deutschland, 1985, ISBN 3878572093
Articles (Selection)
- Thomas Schirrmacher: The Galileo affair: history or heroic hagiography? (PDF) CEN Technical Journal 14(1) 2000 pp. 99–100
- Thomas Schirrmacher: Medical Killing – An Evangelical Perspective. Christ Bioeth (2003) 9 (2-3): 227-244. doi: 10.1093/chbi.9.2.227.30287
- "The Biblical Prohibition From Eating Blood". Thomas Schirrmacher. Chalcedon Report 1995.
- "National Socialism as Religion". Thomas Schirrmacher. Chalcedon Report 1992 (reference to this article link can be found on p. 395 of Dawkins' The God DelusionThe God DelusionThe God Delusion is a 2006 bestselling non-fiction book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, professorial fellow of New College, Oxford, and inaugural holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that...
) - "The German Creationist Movement". Thomas Schirrmacher. (referenced on p. 544 of Ronald Numbers' The CreationistsThe CreationistsThe Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design is a history of the origins of anti-evolutionism, first published in 1992 by Ronald Numbers as The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism...
) - Partial list of Publications by Drs. Cristine and Thomas Schirrmacher.
External links
- www.thomasschirrmacher.net, official website