Sasse, Herman

German was born into the family of the pharmacist German Zasse and his wife Maria (the eldest of five children). In 1913 he entered the theological faculty of the University of Berlin, where he studied under the liberal theologian Adolf von Harnack . During the First World War he was drafted into the army. During the trench warfare in Flanders, he was one of six survivors of the whole battalion.

June 13, 1920 in the church of St. Matthew was ordained a pastor, after which he served in parishes in Brandenburg. Then, as an exchange student, he spent one year at the Hertford Seminary (1925-1926). In 1928 he married Charlotte Naumann. In this marriage, he had three children.

Zasse was a delegate at the first world conference “Faith and the Church Movement” (Lausanne, Switzerland, 1927) and attended the disarmament conference in Geneva (1932).

After coming to power, the National Socialists criticized the new regime. In 1933, together with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he wrote the Bethel Confession, in which he protested against the persecution of Jews. However, the following year, he left the synod, at which the Barman Declaration was created.

Since 1933 - professor of church history at the University of Erlangen, Bavaria. Despite the opposition to the Nazi regime, he retained his post during their reign.

After the war, he criticized the principles of creating the Evangelical Church of Germany and joined the Free Church . In 1949 he emigrated to Australia, where he worked in the seminary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia. Contributed to the unification of the Lutheran denominations of Australia into a single Lutheran Church of Australia ).

Zasse kept an active correspondence with the evangelical clergy, which was published under the title Letters to Lutheran Pastors , in which he defended confessional doctrines. Nevertheless, such a position was not an obstacle to participation in interfaith dialogues, including with Catholics.

He is the author of more than 400 publications, of which the most famous were “On that we stand” and “This is My body.” In 1972, he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Killed during a fire in his own house.

• “ We Stand On It, ” Lutheran Heritage Foundation , 2000

• Sasse, Hermann Otto Erich ( 1895 - 1976)
• Hermann Sasse and the Liturgical Movement by John T. Pless
• Selection of Prof. Dr Hermann Sasse's Writings (Confessional Lutherans Australia)
• Luther's Legacy to Christianity: We Are Beggars by Hermann Sasse
• Church and Lord's Supper by Hermann Sasse
• We Are Not Ashamed of Their Ardent Struggle by Hermann Sasse
• Hermann Sasse on "Lies"
• Herman Sasse on "Controversies in the Church"
• Preface to Vom Sakrament des Altars by Hermann Sasse