Briefwechsel

English summary: The Wuerttemberg theologian Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752) has had a long-lasting influence in the history of the church and theology. His contributions to New Testament textual criticism, his expositions of the biblical text, his combination of scholarly competence with edifying observations, such as we find in his Gnomon, have left their mark on generations of theologians and pastors. As part of this legacy we must also count Bengel's unsuccessful attempt to...
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English summary: The Wuerttemberg theologian Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752) has had a long-lasting influence in the history of the church and theology. His contributions to New Testament textual criticism, his expositions of the biblical text, his combination of scholarly competence with edifying observations, such as we find in his Gnomon, have left their mark on generations of theologians and pastors. As part of this legacy we must also count Bengel's unsuccessful attempt to calculate the dates in redemption history. This edition of Bengel's correspondence, comprising several volumes, offers for the first time the entirety of the extant material (more than 3,100 letters to and from Bengel). Texts important for Bengel's biography, theology, educational theory or pastoral counseling are printed complete; others appear as detailed summaries of content. Passages and terms in foreign languages are translated into German. The textual apparatus provides an overview of the transmissional history of each letter; the expositional apparatus offers information on persons, events and book titles mentioned. Each volume has indices of persons, places and biblical passages. The first volume contained correspondence from the early years (1707-1722); this second volume presents the correspondence of the middle period (1723-1731) of Bengel's Denkendorf years. Bengel the preceptor of the lower seminary comes into focus as a master educator and pastoral counselor. We get a glimpse of his work on his Novum Testamentum Graecum (published in 1734) and his Latin commentary on the New Testament, the Gnomon (first edition 1742). We also see him working on his eschatalogical calculations and hear their diverging reception among his circle of friends. The correspondence gives us a view of the hitherto unknown Bengel, even as the familiar portrait appears in a new light. Anyone who deals with Bengel must know his letters. German description: Der wurttembergische Theologe Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752) hat die Kirchen- und Theologiegeschichte nachhaltig beeinflusst. Seine textkritische Arbeit am griechischen Neuen Testament, seine Auslegungen des biblischen Textes, die Verbindung von wissenschaftlicher Arbeit mit erbaulichen Anmerkungen etwa im Gnomon, haben auf Generationen von Theologen ihre Wirkung nicht verfehlt. Dazu gehort auch Bengels gescheiterter Versuch, die Ereignisse der Heilsgeschichte zu berechnen. Die auf mehrere Bande angelegte Edition seiner Korrespondenz bietet erstmals das gesamte erhaltene Material: uber 3.100 Briefe von und an Bengel. Stucke, die fur Bengels Biographie, Theologie, Padagogik oder Seelsorge wichtig sind, werden als Volltext geboten; andere erscheinen als ausfuhrliche Inhaltsangabe. Fremdsprachige Schreiben werden ubersetzt. Der textkritische Apparat gibt einen Uberblick uber verschiedene Uberlieferungen eines Briefes; der erlauternde Apparat liefert Informationen zu genannten Personen, Sachbezugen und Buchtiteln. Register der Bibelstellen, Personen und Orte erschliessen jeden Band zusatzlich. Auf den im ersten Band vorgelegten fruhen Briefwechsel (1707-1722) folgt nun in Band 2 die Korrespondenz der mittleren Denkendorfer Jahre (1723-1731). Der Denkendorfer Klosterprazeptor gewinnt Konturen als Padagoge und Seelsorger. Wir bekommen Einblick in seine Arbeit am Novum Testamentum Graecum (erschienen 1734) und am Gnomon (1. Aufl. 1742), auch in das Zustandekommen seiner endzeitlichen Berechnungen und das geteilte Echo im Freundeskreis.