The thesis comprises two parts: the first examines German Reformation dialogues from the period 1520 to 1525 in a general study; the second discusses six texts in detail. The introduction deals with the literary tradition of dialogue, with the place of Reformation dialogues among other contemporary forms of literature, with the rapid growth of printing and the output of polemical pamphlets, and with present-day evaluations of both German Reformation dialogues and the society which produced them. As most dialogues were published anonymously, the question of authorship is treated. The authors' aims, views and loyalties coincide in some instances and display dissimilarities in others. The broad anticlerical movement encompasses a variety of different shades of opinion. Common characteristics in the way polemical dialogues were written are determined, and variations noted. The 'common man' appears both as a frequent interlocutor in dialogues and as a recurrent topic of debate. It is the conduct and the role of the Roman church, however, which represents the predominant concerns of the dialogue-authors. The possibility that the 'common man' protagonist influenced the way in which commoners saw themselves and were seen by other social groups is examined, as is the possible effect of the literary 'common man' on social unrest among the contemporary lower classes. Part I concludes that there is no evidence to show that German Reformation dialogues played any direct or even indirect role in inciting rebellion. It is, moreover, doubtful whether significant numbers of the actual insurgents were influenced by or even familiar with the German Reformation dialogues. The pamphlets were primarily for the literate classes, the educated and semieducated. The dialogues studied in detail in Part II are Karsthans, Pfarrer und Schultheiß, Kunz und Fritz, Chorherr und Schuhmacher, Bauer, Belial, Erasmus und Dr. Faber, and Muntzerischer Schwarmer und evangelischer Bauer. This choice reflects the changing preoccupations of the authors from the beginning to the end of a singularly formative period in German history. This study aims to ascertain the particular concerns of each author and the manner in which he has sought to present them to the reader.

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Inaug.-Diss.--Jena. / Cover title.

The main focus of interest in this PhD dissertation is the Reformation historian and diplomat Johann Sleidan (1506-1556). Born in Schleiden and brought up together with Strasbourg's famous Jean Sturm, Sleidan soon entered a period of active political life with his employment at the chancellory of Cardinal Jean Du Bellay in Paris in the mid-1530s. There and later in Strasbourg his main concern was to encourage a rapprochement or possible alliance between France and the German Protestants. It was also in Paris that Sleidan discovered history as his second passion. After translating key French historians into Latin, Sleidan moved on to produce his own works of a political-historical nature. His main work, De statu religionis et reipublicae Carolo Quinto Caesare commentarii, 'Commentaries on religion and state under Emperor Charles V', published in 1555, was initially commissioned by the Schmalkaldic League as the official history of the Reformation. Despite early hostile reactions, this history was an immediate success with the buying public, published in numerous editions and by the year 1560 circulated in six different languages. Chapters one to three explore Sleidan's biography in depth. The collection and analysis of contemporary correspondence has provided the cornerstone for a new narrative of Sleidan's life in the second half of this thesis I move to a detailed study of his principal published works. Chapter four concentrates on Sleidan's main work, the Commentaries. After placing this history in the context of contemporary German history writing, I examine this work in detail, treating its genesis, character, and methodology. I examine the unexpectedly hostile reactions to the first edition and its very rapid success with purchasers. I then move on to consider the longer-term reaction to Sleidan's great work, first in Germany and then in France. I explore the controversies aroused by Sleidan's work, among both Catholics and Protestants, and in contrast, the great respect for his scholarship that also straddled the religious confessions. Sleidan provided the context through which I have been able to analyse the life of a scholar in the sixteenth century, and the works of one of the foremost historians of the new evangelical movement. His life and his works have not, until this point, been placed in a broader context. His work as a translator and historian provides an excellent example of the movement of text around the cultural communities of Europe. Sleidan played a vital part in this process by offering Latin translations of leading French historians which would later be translated into other languages, and by publishing his own works in German or Latin, which were then translated into many other vernaculars. But Sleidan was also engaged in the world of public affairs. Sleidan's position in Du Bellay's chancellery in Paris has provided a new picture of French evangelism. This contact was not given up when Sleidan moved to Strasbourg. The Franco-imperial city has been shown again as one of the cultural centres of Europe from where an intellectual and political elite operated on a cross-national and cross-confessional level. Strasbourg with its francophone scholars was also the Schmalkaldic League's gateway to France. Sleidan's connections as a diplomat linked Germany and France, and have formed the basis for a new study of those in the Franco-German world who shared Sleidan's concerns to promote peace across the religious divide.

The point of departure in this dissertation is the situation in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf region of East-Berlin, where, 17 years after the political turnaround, only three new Christian communities have established themselves., However it is, known that there have been many attempts at church planting during these years. In this district there seems to be a high percentage of people who are resistant towards western theology or ecclesiology respectively. That is why the focus of the dissertation is on those people who live in an a-religious context surrounded by post-socialistic influences. Social scientific approaches and methods have been integrated and utilised as part of this practical-theological research project. The benefit of this was the developing of aspects of a practical-theological perspective that could be used for a specific ecclesiology with special reference to church planting. Ultimately, three hypotheses have been developed. The implications of these hypotheses could serve as essential material for prospective church planting efforts in the area. / Practical Theology / M. Th. Missiology

German text / Seit dem Fall der DDR arbeiteten Kirchen jeder Couleur daran, unter der atheistischen Bevölkerung der neuen Bundesländer Gemeinde zu bauen, aber das erhoffte Gemeindewachstum blieb aus. Trotz vieler Fortschritte ist die Kirche nach wie vor lediglich eine Nische der ostdeutschen Gesellschaft. Auch freikirchliche Bemühungen sind bisher weitgehend erfolglos geblieben (Schröder 2007:2). Die Menschen im Postsozialismus scheinen gegen das Evangelium immun zu sein. Weil aber Gemeinde Jesu dazu gesandt ist, Menschen jeder Kultur und jeden Milieus mit dem Evangelium zu erreichen, muss sich Missiologie darüber Gedanken machen, wie Gemeinde dieser Sendung auch in Ostdeutschland gerecht wird. Wie kann es gelingen, das Evangelium im speziellen Kontext Ostdeutschlands zu beheimaten? Westliche Gemeindemodelle können in der kulturellen Prägung Ostdeutschlands nicht greifen. Der Besonderheit des ostdeutschen Kontextes muss im Gemeindebau Rechnung getragen werden. Die neuen Bundesländer brauchen einen kontextuellen Gemeindebau. Ausgehend von einem missionalen Gemeindeverständnis, das eingebettet ist in die missio dei (Reimer 2009:170), ist es deshalb Ziel dieser Studie einen kontextuellen Gemeindebau für die neuen Bundesländer zu entwickeln, der die Fragen und Nöte der Menschen im Osten kennt und das Evangelium für ihre Lebenswelt kontextualisiert. Mit Hilfe des bei der Unisa gebräuchlichen Praxiszyklus soll es dabei nicht nur um Theoriebildung gehen. Die vorliegende Studie mündet in Handlungsempfehlungen für die ostdeutsche Gemeindepraxis allgemein und ganz konkret für Magdeburg-Sudenburg. Diese Handlungsempfehlungen versuchen, sowohl dem ostdeutschen Kontext als auch den biblischen Leitlinien für missionale Gemeinde gerecht zu werden. / Since the fall of the GDR, churches have worked hard in the new German states. Despite that, the church is still only a niche in East German society. East Germans seem to be immune to the gospel. But how can Jesus' church fulfill her mission in East Germany, where western models of church planting have been largely unsuccessful. East Germany needs a contextual church planting. Starting from a missional church understanding that is embedded in the missio dei, this study develops a contextual church planting stratagy for the new states, that takes the uniqueness of East-Germany into account and contextualizes the gospel. This study should not end in theory. It leads to recommendations for the East German church in general practice and more specifically for Magdeburg-Sudenburg. These recommendations seek to meet the needs of both the East-German context and the biblical guidelines for missional church. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

The point of departure in this dissertation is the situation in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf region of East-Berlin, where, 17 years after the political turnaround, only three new Christian communities have established themselves., However it is, known that there have been many attempts at church planting during these years. In this district there seems to be a high percentage of people who are resistant towards western theology or ecclesiology respectively. That is why the focus of the dissertation is on those people who live in an a-religious context surrounded by post-socialistic influences. Social scientific approaches and methods have been integrated and utilised as part of this practical-theological research project. The benefit of this was the developing of aspects of a practical-theological perspective that could be used for a specific ecclesiology with special reference to church planting. Ultimately, three hypotheses have been developed. The implications of these hypotheses could serve as essential material for prospective church planting efforts in the area. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. Missiology

German text / Seit dem Fall der DDR arbeiteten Kirchen jeder Couleur daran, unter der atheistischen Bevölkerung der neuen Bundesländer Gemeinde zu bauen, aber das erhoffte Gemeindewachstum blieb aus. Trotz vieler Fortschritte ist die Kirche nach wie vor lediglich eine Nische der ostdeutschen Gesellschaft. Auch freikirchliche Bemühungen sind bisher weitgehend erfolglos geblieben (Schröder 2007:2). Die Menschen im Postsozialismus scheinen gegen das Evangelium immun zu sein. Weil aber Gemeinde Jesu dazu gesandt ist, Menschen jeder Kultur und jeden Milieus mit dem Evangelium zu erreichen, muss sich Missiologie darüber Gedanken machen, wie Gemeinde dieser Sendung auch in Ostdeutschland gerecht wird. Wie kann es gelingen, das Evangelium im speziellen Kontext Ostdeutschlands zu beheimaten? Westliche Gemeindemodelle können in der kulturellen Prägung Ostdeutschlands nicht greifen. Der Besonderheit des ostdeutschen Kontextes muss im Gemeindebau Rechnung getragen werden. Die neuen Bundesländer brauchen einen kontextuellen Gemeindebau. Ausgehend von einem missionalen Gemeindeverständnis, das eingebettet ist in die missio dei (Reimer 2009:170), ist es deshalb Ziel dieser Studie einen kontextuellen Gemeindebau für die neuen Bundesländer zu entwickeln, der die Fragen und Nöte der Menschen im Osten kennt und das Evangelium für ihre Lebenswelt kontextualisiert. Mit Hilfe des bei der Unisa gebräuchlichen Praxiszyklus soll es dabei nicht nur um Theoriebildung gehen. Die vorliegende Studie mündet in Handlungsempfehlungen für die ostdeutsche Gemeindepraxis allgemein und ganz konkret für Magdeburg-Sudenburg. Diese Handlungsempfehlungen versuchen, sowohl dem ostdeutschen Kontext als auch den biblischen Leitlinien für missionale Gemeinde gerecht zu werden. / Since the fall of the GDR, churches have worked hard in the new German states. Despite that, the church is still only a niche in East German society. East Germans seem to be immune to the gospel. But how can Jesus' church fulfill her mission in East Germany, where western models of church planting have been largely unsuccessful. East Germany needs a contextual church planting. Starting from a missional church understanding that is embedded in the missio dei, this study develops a contextual church planting stratagy for the new states, that takes the uniqueness of East-Germany into account and contextualizes the gospel. This study should not end in theory. It leads to recommendations for the East German church in general practice and more specifically for Magdeburg-Sudenburg. These recommendations seek to meet the needs of both the East-German context and the biblical guidelines for missional church. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

Text in German / Die Arbeit ist eine ekklesiologisch-rnissiologische Untersuchung einer Migrantengruppe, der uber eine Viertelrnillion zahlender Russlanddeutscher, evangelisch freikirchlicher Tradition, die innerhalb von 35 Jahren, beginnend rnit 1963, als Aussiedler aus der vorrnaligen Sowjetunion in die Bundesrepublik Deutschland eingewandert sind. Die Aussiedlung und Einwanderung geschah in Absprache beider Staaten als Farnilienzusarnrnenfiihrung von Menschen deutscher Volkszugehorigkeit, die durch den zweiten Weltkrieg getrennt worden waren. Ethnisch ein Tei! von rund 1.900.000 Menschen, die oft nach vielen, anstrengenden aber entschlossenen Bernilhungen die Erlaubnis erlangten auszureisen. In Deutschland wurden sie unerwartet freundlich und hilfreich aufgenornrnen. Da keine offiziellen Angaben fiber die Anzahl der eingewanderten freikirchlichen Aussiedler vorliegen, war das erste Ziel der Studie, ihre zahlenrnaBige GroBe festzustellen. Ergebnis: Etwa 270.000 Personen sind als Farnilien der baptistischen und rnennonitischen Freikirche zuzurechnen. Von ihnen hatten sich rund 55.000 Erwachsene dern christlichen Glauben zugewandt und sich diesen Gerneinden angeschlossen. Die anderen waren Minderjahrige oder der Gerneinde bisher ferngeblieben. Erst nach der Aufnahrne in das Land ihrer Yater rnerkten viele, dass sie Frernde in der Heirnat waren. Wollten sie nicht Frernde bleiben, rnussten sie sich sozial, kulturell und kirchlich durch Anpassung integrieren. Dieser Prozess ist schwer, weil der einzelne Einwanderer sich dazu verandern rnuss. Zunachst aber wollen viele bleiben wie sie sind und so leben, wie sie in der alten Heirnat gelebt hatten. Besonders schwierig erweist sich die kirchliche Integration. Etwa sechs von sieben freikirchlichen Aussiedlern ( etwa 48.000) haben eigene Gerneinden gegrilndet, die anderen ( etwa 7 .000) haben ihre geistliche Heirnat in bestehenden Gerneinden gefunden. Diese neugegrilndeten Gerneinden weisen flir die BRD eine uberdurchschnittliche Wachsturnsrate auf. Ein zweites Anliegen ging der Frage nach, wie diese Gerneinden wachsen: Durch neuen Zuzug aus der GUS oder durch Bekehrung und Taufe? Ergebnis: Von den rund 62.000 Mitglieder (aus den ursprilnglichen 48.000) in Aussiedlereigenen Gerneinden (Stand 1998) sind rund 24.500 Glaubige in Verbindung rnit der Taufe zur Gerneinde gekornrnen. Die Zahl der Aussiedler-Taufen in den einheirnischen Gerneinden ist nicht bekannt. Drittens wurde diskutiert, inwiefern die Gerneinden ihre Lebensordnung bewahren und trotzdern ihren Missionsauftrag wahrnehrnen konnen. / The thesis is an ecclesio-missiological study of a migrant group of more than a quarter of a million Russian Germans, by tradition free church evangelicals. Beginning in 1963, they migrated from the former Soviet Union as 'Aussiedler' (re-settlers) to the Federal Republic of Germany. The resettling - agreed upon by both states - was a program of re-uniting families that had been separated during the Second World War. Ethnically, part of a larger group of 1,900.000 German people who, after exhausting but determined efforts, were permitted to leave for Germany. Here being welcomed and given generous material and social support. As no statistics about evangelical free church family immigrants are recorded, the first aim of the research was to establish their numerical size. The result:: By 1998 some 270,000 family members of this confession had entered Germany. Of these about 55,000 were adult Christian believers who had become members of a Baptist or a Mennonite Church. The rest were minors or adults with no confession of faith to date. In the country of their forbears many of the 'Aussiedler' realised: ,,We are strangers in our homeland. If we do not want to remain strangers, we need to adjust culturally, socially and religiously". Initially many resisted change. Change in to religious customs was particularly difficult. As a result, many did not join existing churches but established new congregations where they could practice their faith in the traditions familiar to them. Since the new 'Aussiedler' churches have been growing at an above average growth rate, the second goal was to investigate the reasons for this phenomenon. How much growth was by immigrantion? How much by conversion and baptism? It was found that of the ca. 62,000 members in the Aussiedler congregations (1998) ca. 24,500 had joined through baptism. The others had come in by immigration. A third area of discussion related to the question: In how far can immigrant Christians retain their own culture and still be faithful to their missionary calling? / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)