Ludwig von Gerdtell

Friedrich Siegfried Heinrich Ludwig von Gerdtell (4 February 1872 in Braunschweig - 1954) was a German theologian associated with the Disciples of Christ movement.

Ludwig von Gerdtell
Born	Friedrich Siegfried Heinrich Ludwig von Gerdtell (1872-02-04)4 February 1872 Braunschweig
Died	1954 (aged 81–82)
Nationality	German
Theological work
Tradition or movement	Disciples of Christ

Ludwig von Gerdtell was born into an aristocratic Prussian family, his father and grandfather were officers in the Potsdam Guards Regiment. He did not follow this tradition and studied law, then theology with an emphasis on New Testament Studies. From 1902 to 1908 he worked as a traveling secretary for the German Student Christian Association. In 1908/09 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Erlangen with his work on Rudolf Eucken's position on early Christianity. He came to the conclusion that the statements of the New Testament church and the state disagreed. Between 1905 and 1928 he published six titles in the series Brennende Fragen der Weltanschauung für denkende moderne Menschen (Burning questions for modern-minded people) dealing in a critical manner with dogmas and interpretations. He decided that the church needed reform on the basis of the New Testament and was initially close to the Baptists but broke with them and SCM in the summer of 1909. He continued for a period friendship with Eberhard Arnold in Leipzig.[1]

Then in 1912 Gerdtell was introduced by a friend in London to the Christadelphians in Birmingham, in particular Professor Thomas Turner, and through him began to associate with the German Christadelphians in Stuttgart and Berlin, from 1912-1930.[2] From 1926-1928 the German Christadelphian Albert Maier arranged for Gerdtell to lecture to large audiences in Stuttgart.[3]

Gerdtell also came into contact with the Disciples of Christ in America and influenced the association.[4] Shortly thereafter, under the leadership of Dean E. Walker, an organization in the U.S. who wanted to support his efforts. Then Gerdtell increasingly came to associate with the Disciples of Christ.

Gerdtell was a staunch opponent of Adolf Hitler's policies from the 1920s spoke more and more openly against the Nazis. In January 1934, he made a comment while shopping at the local tobacco shop at Schöneiche Berlin to the effect that Hitler was synonymous with war. Subsequently, he was denounced by a neighbor. Only because of the courageous intervention of municipal policeman Max Dittrich was it possible for Gerdtell to escape during the night to avoid arrest and the following day. After flight through Switzerland, Italy and England, he arrived in the United States. All his property was confiscated. With the assistance Dean E. Walker he found employment teaching at the Department of Religion of Butler University in Indianapolis. After the Second World War he founded the European Evangelistic Society.

Works

• Rudolf Euckens Christentum. Für Gebildete aller Stände, Becker, Eilenburg 1909
• Exreichskanzler Michaeli
• Die Urchristlichen Wunder vor dem Forum der modernen Weltanschauung Translated: Have We Satisfactory Evidence of the New Testament Miracles?

References

This article was partly translated from German Wikipedia

1. Markus Baum Against the wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof 1998 p62, p259 "Then, if von Gurten were to be identified as Ludwig von Gerdtell, the episode must have taken place in 1902 ... In any event, the description of "von Gurten" corresponds in its main characteristics with Ludwig von Gerdtell: "
2. Bogner, G. Geschichte der Christadelphians in Deutschland (1) "In Berlin hatte Bruder Ludwig Knupfer in Gemeinschaft mit Bruder Dr. von Gerdtell eine Gemeinde gegründet. Bruder Knupfer hat durch viele Übersetzungsarbeiten sehr viel an der Schaffung einer christadelphischen Literatur in Deutsch mitgewirkt und viele Jahre lang die Herausgabe einer Monatsschrift zur Verkündigung des biblischen Evangeliums geleitet. Bruder Dr. von Gerdtell war ursprünglich bei der Baptistengemeinde. Sein Studium der Bibel führte ihn jedoch zu Wahrheitserkenntnissen, die dem ursprünglichen Evangelium, wie es die Christadelphians vertreten, entsprechen. Als er diese Erkenntnisse der Baptistengemeinde vortrug, war der Bruch mit ihr unvermeidbar geworden. Er dachte zunächst, mit seiner Erkenntnis in Deutschland allein zu stehen. Er selbst berichtet darüber folgendes: „Ein in London lebender englischer Freund von mir, dem ich mein Neuverständnis des apostolischen Evangeliums im Jahre 1912 mündlich auseinandergesetzt hatte, sagte mir damals, dass ich mit meinen vermeintlich völlig einsam stehenden Überzeugungen keineswegs so allein dastünde, wie ich damals glaubte, sondern dass es in Birmingham, London und an vielen anderen Orten Englands, Amerikas, Afrikas und Australiens Kreise gäbe, welche meine Auffassung des Urchristentums teilten. Unter anderen wurde mir damals auch der Name von Herrn Professor Turner als einer Persönlichkeit genannt, die auf demselben Glaubensstandpunkte wie ich stünde. Diese kurze Mitteilung führte nach Beendigung des Weltkrieges erst zu einer Korrespondenz zwischen Herrn Professor Turner und mir und schließlich zu meiner zweimaligen Einladung nach Birmingham, der ich beide Male Folge gab.”
3. Gustav Bogner Geschichte der Christadelphians in Deutschland "In den Jahren 1926 bis 1928 hielt Bruder Dr. von Gerdtell auf Einladung von Bruder Albert Maier in Esslingen und Stuttgart öffentliche Vorträge. "
4. Douglas Allen Foster The encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell movement: Christian Church 2004 Page 310 "Some thirty years later this interest in Germany was given new life when an outspoken German theologian from Berlin named Dr. Ludwig von Gerdtell captured attention in America.