Kategorie: English Texts

“If I want to be a Christian, I must also wear the colors of the court” – Martin Luther on Martyrdom: „Where the apocalyptic reality of God in Christ is trusted, martyrdom with its bodily passivity can come into its own. Martyrs cannot lose the life won with Jesus’ word on the cross, “It is accomplished” (John 19:30), in their own dying. Their “bodily confession” – far more than just lip service – takes place in the salvation space of Christ’s Passover mystery.“

It is 500 years since the two Augustinian Hermits Hendrik Vos or Voes and Jan van Essen were executed as … Mehr

Karl Steinbauer’s leaflet „For if one believes with the heart, he is justified, and if one confesses with the mouth, he is saved. (Romans 10:10)“ written calligraphically on March 21, 1939 in cell 18 of the Neu-Ulm District Court Prison: „A faith which we do not confess is no faith! ‚I believe, therefore I speak!‘ That is a death sentence, that one speaks oneself, if one says: ‚Pastor, I think exactly like you, but one may say nothing.‘ – I know how difficult it often is to open one’s mouth, but let us admonish and encourage one another to open our mouths for our Lord Christ, and let us look to Him alone, to whom all authority is given in heaven and on earth.“

After pastor Karl Steinbauer was imprisoned in the district court prison in Neu-Ulm on January 15, 1939, following a nocturnal … Mehr

Karl Steinbauer’s Confirmation sermon on Ephesians 6:10-20 (1939): „As I write these lines, I am sitting in my cell in prison. – You who later go to the table of the Lord and strengthen yourselves for the battle that is decreed for you, and you are incorporated into the fellowship of the body and blood of Christ, into the fellowship of the King of all kings – that is how I was able to strengthen myself yesterday with my wife in the Holy Supper. In one hour I will leave the prison here and will be taken to the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen. I thank you all, especially you dear confirmands, for your faithfulness, which you have testified to me again, and I know: It was not meant for my person, but for our faithful Savior, who was faithful for us even unto death …“

The confirmation sermon with reference to Ephesians 6:10-17 and Luther’s „Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott“ (Our God is a … Mehr

Julius Schniewind, Joy in the New Testament: „God rejoices in the lost, especially in the lost. This is not a lesson that can be learned, or even taught, but it is the reality of Jesus; he in person is the joy that God has in the lost. He „rejoiced in spirit,“ and glorified the Father in heaven, that he hid such things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to babes. His whole life, from his birth, is under this sign. The message of joy of the angels says that God is pleased with us people of the lost world, that he rejoices in us as he once rejoiced in his perfect crea­tion.“

Joy in the New Testament By Julius Schniewind We cannot speak of the joy that the New Testament proclaims without … Mehr

Resistance to the Nazi State and Disobedience to Compromising Church Leadership. Life and Legacy of Karl Steinbauer (1906-1988): „On January 8, 1939, Steinbauer preached a sermon on the infanticide of Bethlehem, denoun­cing Nazi youth education that was hostile to Christianity and the eradication of Christianity announced by party officials. He announced the ban imposed on him to give religious instruc­tion and justified his refusal of the Aryan certificate by stating that according to the National Socialist race law the Lord Christ would be incapable and unfit to preach his own message and would not be allowed to enter a school.“

Resistance to the Nazi State and Disobedience to Compromising Church Leadership. Life and Legacy of Karl Steinbauer (1906-1988) Karl Steinbauer … Mehr

Eugene H. Peterson about Gerhard von Rad and his commentary on Genesis: „On page after page I found confirmation of my first impressions of the commentator: strong, spare, ascetic, mystic. In and behind the sinewy scholarship, I was conscious of urgency and faith. Lives were at stake here. Every sentence counted. Theology was wedded to philology.“

About Gerhard von Rad and His Commentary on Genesis By Eugene H. Peterson I met Gerhard von Rad only once, … Mehr

Gerhard Sauter, To Give an Account of Hope: „Dogmatics is accused of closing all discourse instead of opening it. But carefully investigated, dogmatics relies on tried and tested experiences in thinking to be thought through again and developed further. It is a movement in thinking that is addressed by God’s immense, tireless, and often disturbing actions and blessed with the abundance of God’s promises.“

To Give an Account of Hope By Gerhard Sauter I was born on May 4, 1935, in Kassel (Hesse), in … Mehr

Georg Froelich (1500-1575) as the first Protestant advocate of religious tolerance in his writing ‚Whether Secular Government Has the Right to Wield the Sword in Matters of Faith‘ (March 1530): „Christians, Jews, Anabaptists, etc., all would be free to establish and observe without hindrance those doctrines and ceremonies which they regard as right and by which they hope to come to God, but in separate places, namely the Christians in their churches, the Anabaptists and Jews in their designated houses or synagogues.“

In general, Sebastian Castellio (1515-1563) is regarded as the first Protestant scholar who had spoken out for comprehensive religious tolerance. … Mehr