Protestantenverein

The 'Protestantenverein' was a society in Germany the general object of which was to promote the union (Verein) and progress of the various Protestant established Churches of the country in harmony with the advance of culture and on the basis of Christianity.

It was founded at Frankfurt am Main in 1863 by a number of distinguished clergymen and laymen of liberal tendencies, representing the freer parties of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches of the various German states, amongst whom were the statesmen Bluntschli and von Bennigsen and the professors Richard Rothe, Heinrich Ewald, D. Schenkel, A. Hilgenfeld and F. Hitzig.

The more special objects of the association are the following: the development of the Churches on the basis of a representative parochial and synodal system of government in which the laity shall enjoy their full rights; the promotion of a federation of all the Churches in one national Church; resistance to all hierarchical tendencies both within and without the Protestant Churches; the promotion of Christian toleration and mutual respect amongst the various confessions; the rousing and nurture of the Christian life and of all Christian works necessary for the moral strength and prosperity of the nation. These objects include opposition to the claims of Rome and to autocratic interference with the Church on the part of either political or ecclesiastical authorities, efforts to induce the laity to claim and exercise their privileges as members of the Church, the assertion of the right of the clergy, laity and both lay and clerical professors to search for and proclaim freely the truth in independence of the creeds and the letter of Scripture.

Membership in the association is open to all Germans who are Protestants and declare their willingness to co-operate in promoting its objects. The means used to promote these objects are mainly (I) the formation of local branch associations throughout the country, the duty of which is by lectures, meetings and the distribution of suitable literature to make known and advocate its principles, and (2) the holding of great annual or biennial meetings of the whole association, at which its objects and principles are expounded and applied to the circumstances of the Church at the moment. The theses accepted by the general meetings of the association as the result of the discussions on the papers read indicate the theological position of its members.

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