Christoph Schrempf (April 28, 1860 – February 13, 1944) was a German evangelical

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Life

Christoph Schrempf was a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

and writer from Besigheim,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He had a difficult childhood due to his father's alcoholism. His mother suffered from the violence until she fled, taking the children. Perhaps this made the young Christoph Schrempf sensitive to all forms of violence, including hidden violence. In his youth, Schrempf was an avid

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

reader. He studied religion and was

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

and assistant teacher in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

. The normal path of a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

Pastor seemed predetermined. He read the Bible with a critical scientific eye and explored the historical background of biblical texts. The question of truth and the correct understanding of

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

and confession kept him very busy. Schrempf became a pastor in the small village Leuzendorf in

Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It formerly ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire, which was divided between several branches. In 1806, the area of Hohenlohe was 1,760 km² and its estimated pop ...

, in the deanery Blaufelden. He tried to be a good pastor. But in 1892, he fell into a severe crisis of faith. When preparing for a baptismal sermon doubts surfaced. During the service, he refused the prescribed

creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...

Baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

. No one really noticed but he later shared his doubts and reasons with his congregation during church service. The churchgoers were shocked and outraged. The

church council A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

demanded his dismissal. In 1892 he was dismissed from the parish, because of "misconduct against the accepted official business". The dismissal was a trauma for Schrempf as he believed that his sincerity should be respected. Twenty years later the omission of creed of pastoral reasons in exceptional cases was allowed. He was not only radical in his search for truth to his church and its traditions but also a radical lover of peace. The Veterans' Association in Leuze glorified the War of 1871 and wanted to devote the town flags to war, but Schrempf refused to bless the flags. He was even more radical than the former peace societies. In a lecture at the 1886

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Branch of the German Peace Society, he said: ''tolerated Christianity and war are not. The

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

must be obliged by saying of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, on the so-called right of losing self-defense. Who lives in the conviction that the war is wrong, which must and consequences and explain to the magistrate that he would not bear arms and that he would rather die himself before he was ready to kill his enemy.'' Schrempf was convinced that a Christian must be a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

. This pacifist theology of peace was in his time a very lonely and isolated position. The Christians of his time went to war in good conscience and only a few pastors preached for just peace as he did. ''To overcome war and violence is an enduring task.'' Schrempf also suggested that: ''violence against women, violence in schools, the right-wing violence on our streets, violence against foreigners must be overcome.''

Collected works

His collected works appeared in Frommann Verlag, Stuttgart, 1930–1940, in 16 volumes. Posthumously published in several volumes, edited by Otto Engel in Fromman, other writings under the title "religion without religion" (Volume 3, 1947). *1: For the Church against the Church (1930) *2: Still under the spell of the Church (1930) *3: Still under the spell of morals (1931) *4: About the Rubicon (1931) *5: Confrontations 1 - Kant, Lessing (1931) *6: Confrontations 2, Goethe (1932) *7: Still on this side - even beyond (1932) *8: II Even beyond this world and beyond - this side. (1933) *9: Conflict 3 - Socrates, Nietzsche, Paul (1934) *10: IV disputes - Søren Kierkegaard, Part One (1935) *11: Ditto Part Two (1935) *12: ditto - Part Three (1935) *13: My Testament with Portrait (1937) *14: The basis of ethics. Treatise on the basis of the Evangelical Theological Faculty of Tübingen made price task (Spring 1884). Edited by Otto Engel (1936) *15: Many things on the road. Edited by Otto Engel (1939) *16: The Legacy. Edited by Otto Engel. (1940)

Translator

Schrempf translated many books written by Soren Kierkegaard into German beginning in 1890.Books by Schrempf Online Books
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Honors

The Christoph Schrempf High School (Christoph-Schrempf Gymnasium) in Besigheim, Germany, is named after him.

Sources

Books

Online

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schrempf, Christoph 1860 births 1944 deaths People from Besigheim People from the Kingdom of Württemberg 19th-century German philosophers 20th-century German philosophers German male writers