RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Germany G-ernler
The church authorities agree that, in combating sects, appeals to the secular powers are to be rejected. An effective opposition must recognize that the religious needs which attract mem- 4. Means of bers of the state churches to the sects Combating must be satisfied within the Church. Sects. Every appearance of a sect is a warning to the Church of defects and abuses , and to remove such faults is the way to preserve members for the Church, and meet the accusations of sectarians. It is an open question what measures of discipline should be followed against members who have associated themselves with sects without severing their connection with the State Church. It is maintained by some that occasional participation in the services of sectarians or even in their celebration of the Lord's Supper does not exclude a person from the State Church. Others would refuse the sacrament of the State Church to apostatizing members. There seems to be agreement on the following points: (1) clergymen of the state churches can not remain in office if they stand in any connection with a sect; (2) school authorities must tolerate no teacher of religion who has joined a sect; (3) adherents of a sect must not be admitted to honorary positions in the Church, such as that of elder and the like; (4) the receiving of a second baptism is to be treated as an actual separation from the State Church.
Accurate statistics of sects in Germany are not available. According to Pieper's Kirchliche Statistik Deutschlands (Tubingen, 1899), 5. Statistics, which is based on the census of 1895, Prussia has besides 20,351,448 members of the Evangelical State Church, 119,245 members of " other Protestant church communities," i.e., almost 6 per cent of Evangelicals who do not belong to the State Church. According to the statistics of Prussia in 1900 there were 45,594 Old Lutherans, 14,543 Old Reformed, 4,031 Moravians, 13,876 Mennonites, 38,143 Baptists, 5,226 Methodists and Quakers, 32,215 Irvingites, 2,557 belonging to English churches, 272 members of the Salvation Army, 8,400 belonging to " Free Congregations," 27,679 " dissidents," and 5,635 " other Christians." The statistics of the German Empire for 1890 showed besides 31,000,000 of Protestants belonging to the State Churches, 145,- 000 adherents of smaller communities. Such figures are inaccurate, since many adherents of sects have not formally separated from their respective State Churches, and many who simply call themselves " Evangelical " are not counted. Later statistics show that the number of sectarians is increasing. (G. Kawerau.)
Bibliography: For sources there is nothing comparable to the MGH. Consult also P. Jarfe1, Bibliolheca rerum Germanicarum, 6 vols., Berlin, 1864-73: J. von Hartzheim, Concilia Germanice, Cologne, 1759-63; and for a general history the work of J. Janssen, Geschichte des deutschen Volkes, 8 vols., Freiburg, 1903, Eng. transl., 10 vols., London, 1907. A satisfactory review is given in E. F. Henderson, Short Hist, of Germany, 2 vols., New York, 1902. On the early religion consult P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, Religion of the Teutons, Boston, 1902; and for origins compare F. B. Gummere, Germanic Origins, New York, 1892. The early period of church history is treated in the works on the history of the Church in
Germany by Friedberg. Rettberg, and Hauck, and in W. Stubbs, Germany in the Early Middle Ages, 476- 1250, ed. A. Hassall, 1908. For German Protestantism consult: C. F. A. Kahnis, Internal Hist, of German Protestantism, Edinburgh, 1856; J. I. Good, Origin of the Reformed Church in Germany, Reading, Pa., 1887; S. B. Gould, The Church in Germany, London, 1891; R. Rocholl, Geschichte de" evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Leipsic, 1897; C. Tischhauser, Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche Deutschlands in der ersten Halfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, Basel, 1900; G. Ecke, Die evangelischen Landeslcirchen Deutschlands im 19. Jahrhunderte, Berlin, 1903; R. Seeberg, Die Kirche Deutschlands im 19. Jahrhunderte, Leipsic, 1903; E. Foerster, Die Entstehung der preussischen Landeskirche unter . Friedrich Wilhelm
III., vol. ii., Tubingen, 1907. For the Catholic Church consult: H. Briick, Geschichte der katholischen Kirche im 19. Jahrhunderte in Deutschland, 4 vols., Mainz, 1887- 1901; G. Goyau, L'Allemagne religieuse. Le Catholicisms 1800-1848, 2 vols., Paris, 1897-1905; A. Werminghoff, Geschichte der Kirchenfassung Deutschlands im Mitlelalter, Hanover, 1905. For the relations between Protestants and Catholics read: J. A. Moehler, Neue Untersuchungen der Lehrgegensatze zwischen den Katholiken und den Prolestanten, Regensburg, 1900; P. Majunke, Geschichte des Kulturkampfes in Deutschland, Paderborn, 1902. For a general view of religious life consult: E. F. Williams, Christian Life in Germany as Seen in the State and the Church, New York, 1897. For statistics consult: P. Pieper, Kirchliche Statislik Deutschlands, Tubingen, 1899; H. A. Krose, Konfessionsstatistik Deutschlands, Freiburg, 1904; Von Hirschfeld, in Zeitschrift des koniglichen preussischen statistischen Bureaus, iii (1863), iv (1864); J. Schneider, Kirchliches Jahrbuch (an annual; 35th issue, 1908). On sectarianism in Germany consult: Allgemeine Kirchenblatt, 1853, 1855, 1884, 1885 (gives reports of discussions in the Eisenach Conference on the question of sects); H. Schmidt, Die Kirche. Ihre biblische Idee und die Formen ihrer . Erscheinung, pp. 189 sqq., Leipsic, 1884; H. F. Jacobson, in ZKR, i (1861), 392 sqq.; idem, Evangelisches Kirchenrecht, i. 124-125, Halle, 1864; C. Palmer, Die Gemeinschaften und Sekten Wurttembergs, Tubingen, 1877; L. von Ronne, Staatsrecht der preussischen Monarchic, ii. 2, pp. 151 sqq., Leipsic, 1882; Richter, Kirchenrecht, pp. 318 sqq.; E. Dresbach, Die protestantischen Sekten der Gegenwart, Diisseldorf, 1887; W. Rohnert, Kirche, Klrchen und Sekten, Leipsic, 1900; E. Kalb, Kirchen und Sekten der Gegenwart, Stuttgart, 1905; J. Jungst, Der Methodismus in Deutschland, Giessen, 1906.
GERNLER, garn'ler, LUKAS: Swiss Reformer; b. at Basel Aug. 19, 1625; d. there Feb. 9, 1675. After completing his theological studies at the age of twenty, he visited Geneva, and then made a tour of France, England, Holland, and Germany. On his return to Basel in 1649, he was appointed deacon in general for all the churches of the city, and in 1653 was made archdeacon (assistant pastor) at the cathedral, becoming president and first pastor three years later. At the same time he was appointed professor of polemics and the encyclopedia of theology, a position which he exchanged for a professorship of the Old Testament in 1665. His opposition to the overtures of John Durie (q.v.) for union resulted in their rejection in 1662 and 1666, and his hostility toward the theology of Saumur was equally marked. He was the chief author of the Syllabus controversiarum, which appeared at Basel in 1662, and prepared the way for the Helvetic Consensus Formula. His theological writings are of minor importance, though several collections of his sermons have been published. He induced the council to erect an orphan asylum in Basel, and in 1666 edited the Agenda in a form which remained unchanged for the Church of Basel until 1826. Under the title of Antiquitates Gernlerianm he published a collection of documents which are one of
Gerok Grerson