The Gütersloh publishing house, today part of the Random House publishing group, was founded in 1835 under the direction of Carl Bertelsmann. From the beginning, scientific, theological, and religious literature formed the focus of the program.
Today, the Gütersloh publishing house sees itself as a Christian publishing house with a Protestant character. It publishes books on religious life as well as on spiritual topics and questions of meaning and values. Works of scientific theology from all theological disciplines, titles on biblical exegesis, handbooks, editions of works, and source editions continue to occupy a large part of the program.
Highlights
Compendium of Jesus' Parables
The volume offers the interpretation of all known parable texts of the Gospel tradition (including the apocryphal Gospels and Agrapha). In addition to a brief overview of the history of research, an introductory part clarifies methodological and hermeneutical questions. In the main part, each parable is examined in a uniform form of interpretation in structure and exegetical guidelines. Narrative and metaphorical dimensions are taken into account as well as socio-historical, traditional and reception aesthetics. A collective of authors, mainly younger New Testament scholars, has written the interpretations, which comprise between 3 and 15 pages, depending on the history of the text's impact.
Iron Age
There is hardly anywhere on either side of the River Jordan where it is possible to explore the continuous history of the southern Levant in such a concentrated area as in the Wādī al-Arab. This deeply incised valley with all its diversity is an archaeological stroke of fortune. Numerous springs, fertile soil and a temperate climate afford excellent living conditions. As the only prominent natural elevation in the lower Wādī al-Arab, Tall Zirā‘a dominates the valley. Continuously occupied for at least 5,000 years, it offers unique insights into the way of life of the region’s people. Its outstanding archaeological significance results from the artesian spring in its centre, which created optimal settlement conditions over thousands of years. For this reason, Tall Zirā‘a offers a unique opportunity to compile a comparative stratigraphy for northern Jordan from the Early Bronze Age right through to the Islamic period.
Confirmation work during and after the Pandemic
Further developing confi work under changed conditions As a non-formal educational offer, confi work was particularly intensively affected by the protective measures taken after the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. The third nationwide study on confirmation work was conducted in the 2021/2022 confirmation class - one of the very few large empirical studies in the church context during the pandemic period. The study sheds light on the organizational and structural framework conditions that have suddenly been shaken by crisis. In addition, it offers insights into the perspectives and experiences of the participating young people as well as the full-time and volunteers. The long-term comparison with the first study from 2007/08 and the second study from 2012/13 reveals longer-term transformation tendencies and crisis-related slumps. The study looks back at the confi work during the pandemic in order to gain perspectives for the further development of this field of work.
Gütersloher Verlagshaus Copyright Year Collections
