Heim, Karl (1874-1958)

German theologian and mission spokesman

One of the most influential German systematic theologians of the earlier twentieth century, Heim is remembered by generations of students for his concern for the Christian mission. A native of Württemberg, he taught at Tübingen University beginning in 1920, attended a World’s Student Christian Federation conference in East Asia in 1922, and took an active part in the world missionary conference at Jerusalem in 1928, both as a member of the German delegation and as one of the key speakers. Another important stage in his missiological development was marked by three essays he contributed to the first three issues of the newly founded Evangelische Missions-Zeitschrift in 1940; they dealt with the trinitarian foundation, the unity, and the purpose of mission. Appearing in the early stages of World War II, Heim’s missiological appeal made a remarkable impact on a wide Christian audience at a time when the cause of mission seemed to be more at risk than ever.

Hans-Werner Gensichen, “Heim, Karl,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 287.

This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Bibliography

Digital Texts

 Heim, Karl. Die Weltanshauung der Bibel. Erlangen and Leipzig: Deichert, 1921.

_____. The World: Its Creation and Consummation: The End of the Present Age and the Future of the World in the Light of the Resurrection. Translated by Robert Smith. Philadelphia, PA: Muhlenberg Press, 1962.

Primary

Heim, Karl. Leitfaden Der Dogmatik : Zum Gebrauch Bei Akademischen Vorlesungen. Veränderte Aufl. Halle (Saales): M. Niemeyer, 1916.
_____. Glaube Und Leben : Gesammelte Aufsätze Und Vorträge. Berlin: Furche, 1926.

_____. The New Divine Order. Translated by Edgar Primrose Dickie. London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1930.

_____. Der Evangelische Glaube Und Das Denken Der Gegenwart: Grundzüge Einer Christlichen Lebensanschauung. Berlin: Furche-Verlag, 1931.

_____. The Church of Christ and the Problems of the Day. New York: Scribner, 1935.

_____. God Transcendent; Foundation for a Christian Metaphysic. Translated by Edgar Primrose Dickie. London: Nisbet and Co., 1935.

_____. Spirit and Truth; the Nature of Evangelical Christianity. Translated by Edgar Primrose Dickie. London: Lutterworth Press, 1935.

_____. The Living Fountain; a Series of Sermons. Translated by John Schmidt. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1936.

_____. The Gospel of the Cross; a Second Series of Sermons. Translated by John Schmidt. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1937.

_____. The Power of God. Translated by L. M. Stalker. London: Lutterworth Press, United Society for Christian literature, 1937.

_____. “Responsibility and Destiny; the Difference between Hauer’s View and the Message of the Bible and the Reformers.” In J. W. Hauer, Karl Heim, Karl Adam., T. S. K. Scott-Craig and Rupert E. Davies, Germany’s New Religion; the German Faith Movement. New York: Abingdon Press, 1937.

_____. The Transformation of the Scientific World View. New York: Harper, 1953.

_____. Jesus Der Herr. [4. Neu durchgesehene Aufl.]. Der Evangelische Glaube Und Das Denken Der Gegenwart, Bd. 2. Hamburg: Furch-Verlag, 1955.

_____. Christian Faith and Natural Science. Translation by N. Horton Smith. New York: Harper, 1957.

_____. Jesus the Lord: The Sovereign Authority of Jesus and God’s Revelation in Christ. Translated by D. H. van Daalen. Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1959.

_____. Jesus, the World’s Perfecter: The Atonement and the Renewal of the World. Translated by D. H. van Daalen. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1959.

Secondary

Allen, E. L. Jesus Our Leader: A Guide to the Thought of Karl Heim. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1950. Orig. 1948.

Hodge, Caspar W. “The Person of Christ in Recent Religious Philosophy.” Princeton Theological Review 22 no. 4 (October 1924): 529-43.

Holmstrand, Ingemar. Karl Heim on Philosophy, Science and the Transcendence of God. Thesis/Diss. Uppsala University. Uppsala and Stockholm: distributed by Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1980.

Logan, James Cecil. “The Secular as a Theological Problem: A Study in the Theologies of Karl Heim, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Friedrich Gogarten.” Thesis/Diss. Boston University Graduate School, 1966.

Michalson, Carl. Worldly Theology: The Hermeneutical Focus of an Historical Faith. New York: Scribner, 1967. See esp. the chapter, “Apologetics and the Communication of Faith: Karl Heim’s Theology.”

Olson, Roger E. “Resurrection, Cosmic Liberation, and Christian Earth Keeping.” Ex Auditu 9 (1993): 123-32.

Pemberton, John. “Karl Heim’s Conception of the Apologetic Task of Christian Theology.” Ph.D. diss. Duke University, 1958.

Saunders, Nicholas. Divine Action and Modern Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Schwarz, H. “Karl Heim and John Polkinghorne: Theology and Natural Sciences in Dialogue”. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 9 nos. 1-2 (1997): 105–19.

“Who Was Karl Heim?” by Adolf Köberle. In German and English. Includes timeline and photograph portrait of Heim. http://www.karl-heim-gesellschaft.de/KarlHeimVita.htm