Erwin Fahlbusch

Erwin Fahlbusch was born on May 26, 1926, in Frankfurt am Main to Friedrich and Helma Fahlbusch. He attended primary and secondary school in Frankfurt until 1942, then began engineering training but was drafted into military service in 1944. Captured by U.S. forces in Normandy in September 1944, he returned to Frankfurt in July 1946. Following his wartime experiences, he pursued theological studies, enrolling in 1947 and earning his first theological exam in 1952 with a dissertation on Friedrich Julius Stahl’s theory of revolution. Fahlbusch worked as an editorial secretary for the *Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon* from 1953 to 1959, contributing several entries.

He served as a religion teacher in Bocholt and later as a synodal vicar in Mesum before being ordained as a pastor in Bochum-Weitmar in 1960. In 1964, he joined the Konfessionskundliches Institut in Bensheim, leading its Catholica department until his retirement in 1991. Fahlbusch was also an honorary professor of systematic theology at the University of Frankfurt from 1984 and lectured internationally at institutions like Charles University in Prague and the Reformed Theological Academy in Budapest.

His theological views were controversial, particularly his critiques of infant baptism and calls for church reform. In unpublished later works, he advocated for a paradigm shift in theology, emphasizing human daily situations over revealed truth. Fahlbusch received an honorary doctorate from Budapest’s Reformed Theological Academy in 1970 and authored several notable works, including *Kirchenkunde der Gegenwart* and contributions to the *Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon*. He died on August 10, 2007.