Yesterday, at the big state “evangelical” church in the center Continue reading
The Battle For Wittenberg 2017 Begins
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Tag Archives: Germany
A WW2 story
Every war has a big story and thousands of little stories. The little stories are Continue reading
The Pastor of Buchenwald with Parallels
This book (see biblio info at end) is a nice companion to the Wentorf biography of this dear German Reformed pastor who died Continue reading
Buchenwald Inmate #2491: Christian martyr
Paul Schneider was a German Reformed minister whose early ministry coincided with the ascendancy of the National Socialist movement in the 1930s. His critique of the folk’s movement in view of the Word of God as well as a series of stands for the independent rights of the church vis-à-vis the state led to continual conflicts with Party functionaries, and penalties of increasing severity. At length, the conflict culminated in consignment to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, where his life ended. Continue reading
(DVD) Stalingrad, 2003
Not to be confused with another movie with the same title, this is a documentary about the Battle of Stalingrad which was fought between the German and Soviet armies during the fall and winter of 1942-43. Before making a few comments, a little background about the battle may be helpful. Continue reading
Jena the Battlefield
The British were willing to negotiate with Napoleon, and in August 1806 made generous concessions, only asking for unmolested control of Hannover; Talleyrand favored the agreement, but Napoleon nixed it. Continue reading
Francke and Halle
The return from Lutheran bare orthodoxy to inward change, known as Pietism, was begun by Jakob Spener, though anticipated in the earlier writings of Johann Arndt. It grew wings, however, as a result of the life of August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), and transformed the city of Halle in remarkable ways. This is a brief rehearsal of this amazing story. Continue reading
Wotan vs Mormonism’s god
My point in this endeavor is not to give a full exposition of either Mormonism or Wagner’s Ring cycle, but simply to compare and contrast Mormonism’s Jehove and Wagner’s Wotan for the purpose of reflecting on whether love for the story of Wotan is rational. Continue reading
Book: Spener. Pia Desideria
Philip Jacob Spener wrote this initially as a preface to an edition of some sermons by J. Arndt; it became popular in its own right and subsequently was published by itself Continue reading
Jena the town
Jena (pron. YAY nuh) is a quiet little town on the Saale River. The Saale forms the left segment that, with the Elbe, defines the triangle in which the Saxons finally Continue reading
Book: Arndt. True Christianity
Johann Arndt (1555-1621) was a Lutheran minister that was troubled by formalism or dead orthodoxy among the German people. He wrote this book, True Christianity (Wahre Christenthum) to counter this trend, arguing that mere assent to correct doctrines Continue reading
Book: Carsten. Princes and Parliaments in Germany
What does a fifteenth century German Diet have to do with American Continue reading
Berlin’s Park to Honor the Soviets
In the east-end district of Berlin called Treptow, the Soviet masters constructed a park to their own glory: the Sowjetisches Continue reading
Dresden vor 62 Jahren
Speaking of Dresden… today is the 62nd year anniversary of its destruction by the Allies.
When I studied at the Goethe Institute in Lüneburg Continue reading
Book: Barnes. Prophecy and Gnosis
Review of Robin Bruce Barnes, Prophecy and Gnosis: Apocalypticism in the Wake of the Lutheran Reformation (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1988). BT 819.5 .B35 1988
Under the rubric of apocalypticism, this book weaves together a story about views of time and history, eschatology, astrology, magic and secret societies in Lutheran Germany in the century following the Reformation.
Prof. Barnes (of Davidson College) defines apocalypticism as a view of the future combining prophecy and Continue reading
Dresden today
When I arrived in Dresden, I had a sense of urgency, both due to a mental tic by which I was under the impression that Tristan and Isolde was to be performed that very night (whereas it proved to be the next night, so I really had plenty of time, but didn’t know it), and due to the usual WC need: all of which caused me to think I lost my parking ticket, and on top of that it was snowing, and there were no typical tourist signs pointing things out, so I went jigging around in the snow, fretting about the parking ticket, freezing, and not knowing north from left. Continue reading
Leipzig
In the later twelfth century, Leipzig Continue reading
Naumburg
Naumburg is a town on the Saale River roughly in Continue reading
The Ring: A brief survey of performances and works
For those interested, I have put together a brief Continue reading
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Over the next several months (perhaps years, we’ll see) I plan Continue reading
Köthen
The town of Köthen (sometimes spelled with a C) is southwest of Dessau and due north from Halle. It doesn’t even show up on the Google map until you zoom in pretty far; but as so often with German towns, it turns out to be quite substantial once you get there. (Pix is of the palace complex: it is quite modest, though there is a bit more to it than meets the eye here.)
The founder of German pietism, Johann Continue reading
On visiting East Germany
The former communist-block part of partitioned Germany, whose rulers called it the “German Democratic Republic,” can still be referred to by the name current both then and now, namely Continue reading
Book: Zahn. The Influence of the Reformed Church on Prussia’s Greatness
This is a pamphlet I discovered at the WTS library containing a speech by one Adolf Zahn to the evangelical faculty of the Royal and Imperial University in Vienna in around 1871. It is interesting for two reasons.
First, it is fascinating to discover an intellectually vigorous Reformed movement Continue reading