The Wittenberg theologian and church politician Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558) developed a model for welfare and social services in which Christian love was always to be given priority. Tim Lorentzen shows both the theory and the reality of Reformed relief for the poor.

The assistance given to the poor and the ill during the Reformation has up to now been mainly interpreted as a field of state social disciplining. Tim Lorentzen looks at this from a theological perspective. During his organizational activities for the Reformation in Northern Germany and Scandinavia, the Wittenberg parish pastor, professor and church politician Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558) developed a model for welfare and social services in which Christian love was always to be given priority. It was here that exegesis led to organizational and economic consequences. Detailed comparisons with late medieval, humanistic and Southern German approaches show how innovative Bugenhagen actually was. In true-to-life studies which have been reconstructed from the archives, Tim Lorentzen proves for the first time how Bugenhagen's orders on relief for the poor functioned well in everyday life. This book marks the 450th anniversary of his death.

Autorentext
Geboren 1973; Studium der Theologie und Germanistik mit Philosophie und Pädagogik in Kiel und Greifswald; 2007 Promotion; seit 2003 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der Abteilung für Kirchengeschichte, Ev.-theol. Fakultät der LMU München.