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Notes From a Wayfarer: The Autobiography of Helmut Thielicke
Translated from the German by David R. Law. Foreword by H. George Anderson. xxi, 422 pp.
- GenresBiography
416 pages, Hardcover
First published July 31, 1995
About the author
Helmut Thielicke
170 books23 followersHelmut Thielicke (1908–1986) was a German Protestant theologian, pastor, author, and influential Christian thinker whose work explored the relationship between faith, ethics, culture, and modern life.
Born in Wuppertal, Germany, Thielicke studied philosophy and theology at the University of Erlangen, earning doctorates in both disciplines. His academic career developed during the increasingly hostile climate of Nazi Germany. A member of the Confessing Church, he faced repeated interrogation by the Gestapo and was eventually dismissed from his professorship in Heidelberg in 1940. Despite restrictions on his teaching, preaching, travel, and publishing, he continued to speak and write widely, becoming known for addressing Christian faith in language that engaged directly with the realities of ordinary life.
During the Second World War, Thielicke preached extensively and maintained contact with members of the German resistance, while also developing his vision for rebuilding Germany's intellectual and spiritual life after the war. His ideas contributed to the founding of the Evangelical Academy at Bad Boll in 1945.
After the war, Thielicke returned to academic life, first at the University of Tübingen and later at the University of Hamburg, where he helped establish a new theological faculty. He served as rector of the University of Hamburg from 1960 to 1978 and was also pastor of Hamburg's celebrated St. Michaelis church.
Thielicke became widely known beyond Germany through his books, sermons, lectures, and international travels. He lectured throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, meeting figures including Billy Graham and President Jimmy Carter.
His writing is noted for its combination of theological depth, philosophical reflection, and pastoral warmth. Rather than treating Christianity as an abstract system of ideas, Thielicke sought to explore what faith means in the midst of doubt, suffering, moral responsibility, culture, and everyday human experience.
He died in Hamburg in 1986, aged 77. His books remain valued by readers interested in Christian theology, ethics, philosophy, and the challenges of living out faith in the modern world.
Born in Wuppertal, Germany, Thielicke studied philosophy and theology at the University of Erlangen, earning doctorates in both disciplines. His academic career developed during the increasingly hostile climate of Nazi Germany. A member of the Confessing Church, he faced repeated interrogation by the Gestapo and was eventually dismissed from his professorship in Heidelberg in 1940. Despite restrictions on his teaching, preaching, travel, and publishing, he continued to speak and write widely, becoming known for addressing Christian faith in language that engaged directly with the realities of ordinary life.
During the Second World War, Thielicke preached extensively and maintained contact with members of the German resistance, while also developing his vision for rebuilding Germany's intellectual and spiritual life after the war. His ideas contributed to the founding of the Evangelical Academy at Bad Boll in 1945.
After the war, Thielicke returned to academic life, first at the University of Tübingen and later at the University of Hamburg, where he helped establish a new theological faculty. He served as rector of the University of Hamburg from 1960 to 1978 and was also pastor of Hamburg's celebrated St. Michaelis church.
Thielicke became widely known beyond Germany through his books, sermons, lectures, and international travels. He lectured throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, meeting figures including Billy Graham and President Jimmy Carter.
His writing is noted for its combination of theological depth, philosophical reflection, and pastoral warmth. Rather than treating Christianity as an abstract system of ideas, Thielicke sought to explore what faith means in the midst of doubt, suffering, moral responsibility, culture, and everyday human experience.
He died in Hamburg in 1986, aged 77. His books remain valued by readers interested in Christian theology, ethics, philosophy, and the challenges of living out faith in the modern world.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 29, 2020
I read this back in 2003 and made the following notes at the time:
It's great for the first two-thirds, and then in the last chunk tails off into a ‘list’ of what happened in his administrative years, plus a long piece on his visit to a Zen master (obviously culled from an earlier writing) – you long for the sense of the very thing that made him still memorable – that ability to communicate great truths in a readable and graspable way.
However it’s interesting to note that he says something along these lines himself late in the book! Obviously he feels some concern that he doesn’t lose his reader in the last stages.
It's great for the first two-thirds, and then in the last chunk tails off into a ‘list’ of what happened in his administrative years, plus a long piece on his visit to a Zen master (obviously culled from an earlier writing) – you long for the sense of the very thing that made him still memorable – that ability to communicate great truths in a readable and graspable way.
However it’s interesting to note that he says something along these lines himself late in the book! Obviously he feels some concern that he doesn’t lose his reader in the last stages.
September 30, 2012
Interesting read on Thielicke's life. He was a German Theologian who overcame some amazing obstacles to become one of the 20th century's greatest preachers. I rated it only three stars because the book was simply a chore to get through. It was a class assignment otherwise I would've never finished it. Had to soldier through this one, but I'm glad I did. It had its rewards.
March 20, 2020
Perhaps one of my favorite books of all time. Think of your dear and aged grandpa reliving stories of wartime and love and God while he smokes a pipe with one hand and sips lemonade with the other. That's what reading this book is like.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews