"Zeitgeist" and Christianity. The magazine "Christian World" as a medium of cultural Protestantism

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jörg Lauster
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 454317254

The "Christliche Welt" (1886 to 1941) is regarded as one of the most important journals of German Protestantism in the modern age. It was an essential part of its program to target a larger public. This results in a thematic breadth that goes far beyond the programme of a specialist journal. At the same time, the newspaper is the most prominent organ of cultural Protestantism. The study of the "Christliche Welt" thus serves as a thorough and precise exploration of the world of ideas of cultural Protestantism. Since the "Christliche Welt" with its publication period covers the epoch of the most serious upheavals in recent German history, it is also an outstanding source not only of theology but also of the intellectual and cultural history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and thus of interdisciplinary relevance.The systematic dimension is linked to the historical dimension. In the elaboration of this world of ideas it is inevitable to ask about the contemporary relevance of the questions raised at that time and their attempts to answer them for our present. It is important to learn from the strengths and weaknesses of the "Christliche Welt" for the challenges today.After thorough preliminary work, the enormous breadth of the topics negotiated can be bundled into a perspective that makes it possible to present the cosmos of ideas of cultural Protestantism in an exemplary way. The handling of the classical doctrines of Christianity is in the foreground, so the project has to reveal the "dogmatics" of the "Christliche Welt". In addition the contributions give information about the self-conception of Protestantism in the worldwide ecumenism in that epoch of manifold upheavals. The journal makes an excellent contribution by its extensive occupation with literature, art and music to how cultural Protestantism interpreted the Christian in the cultural forms of its time and at the same time tried to shape culture as a Christian task. Due to its theological and cultural-historical significance, it seems necessary to make the "Christliche Welt" accessible to a broader public and researchers at the level of the standards of today's digital publication culture. In particular, the University Library of the LMU Munich, in cooperation with the applicant, has already carried out very labor-intensive and investment-intensive preparatory work, which is to be brought to a conclusion with the help of this application.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants