Spiritual and Heavenly Home/Heimat in the Performative Practices of Christian Denominational Cultures

The notion of the church as a spiritual „Heimat“ only gained prominence in religious and theological discourse in the 20th century. However, even during the confessional age and the Enlightenment, changes in theological doctrine and in church rites and media, particularly hymns, revealed a growing desire to position the church as a spiritual “Heimat” on the path to the heavenly “Heimat“. Behind this development lie, on the one hand, denominational competition and the desire to emphasise loyalty to the respective denominational church. On the other hand, in contrast to the late medieval and Reformation focus on the hereafter, the Enlightenment period saw a shift towards the here and now and thus earthly affiliations. Theologically, this resulted in an increased focus on the church as a community and social form of life in which the proclamation of the Word and ritual practice (especially the sacraments) configure belonging and attachment. In accordance with the New Testament worldview, it is assumed that individual and communal life have the future Kingdom of God as their goal as the true “Heimat“ of humankind, thereby relativising earthly affiliations. At the same time, however, earthly community in the Church is gaining importance in various ways for the hope of the Kingdom of God in the denominations. The project examines how this development has progressed in the Lutheran and Reformed churches and in the Roman Catholic Church, and how it is reflected in the dogmatic interpretation of performative practices in ministry. To this end, exemplary works of dogmatic literature from the confessional age, Enlightenment theology and 19th-century theology are analysed and compared.