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Bishop of the Diocese Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl

no name given · Landesbischof Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl – Predigten und Texte · 2026-09-15 · Stuttgart · Source

God's promise to make all things new is not a consolation deferred to the afterlife, but a present encouragement to live from God's radical friendliness toward humanity and to bear witness to it in word and deed, because it will ultimately shatter all hostility toward humanity at the end of time.

God's radical friendliness toward humanity shatters all hostility toward humanity at the end of time. This certainty is not a consolation deferred to the afterlife. It is the encouragement to live from God's friendliness toward humanity and to bear witness to God's friendliness with our means in word and deed.

The text is a New Year's message that picks up the frequent greeting 'A happy new year' and interprets it as an expression of a deep longing for a good fresh start. The speaker names ancient life-hostile forces such as greed, fear, hatred, and violence, which continue to operate even under the new, and states that innovation alone is not a value in itself. As a countermeasure, the verse of the year for 2026 from the Book of Revelation is invoked: 'God says: See, I am making all things new!' This promise is addressed to persecuted communities and promises a radical transformation that goes beyond mere improvement. God's radical friendliness toward humanity is described as a force that shatters all hostility toward humanity at the end of time. This certainty is explicitly not interpreted as a consolation deferred to the afterlife, but as an encouragement to live from God's friendliness toward humanity and to bear witness to it in word and deed. The text closes with a request for God's blessing and a wish for a good and blessed new year.

What, according to this text, is the root of the evil?

Hostility, hatred, the breakdown of community; Pressure on one's own community from outside (inferred)

Where does the evil reside?

in the epoch itself, in the condition of the age

What helps against it?

God's grace, redemption that is not deserved; practical action towards the neighbour, good works

What is human being according to this text?

described above all as one who is accepted and given to

Where is history heading?

a turning point, a coming, a new order is about to arrive

What does the text base its claim on?

on the holy scripture of its own tradition

To whom does the text's call for devotion apply?

also to animals, plants, and all of creation

Where is the text's criticism directed?

the text does not criticise

• aus Gottes Menschenfreundlichkeit leben (inward)
• Gottes Freundlichkeit in Wort und Tat bezeugen (interpersonal)
• Gott um seinen Segen bitten (ritual)

Off 21,5

Basic stance

1 from -2 to 2

Insistence

2 of 3

Reach

5 of 5

Concreteness

1 of 3

Boundary

0 of 3

Time

past 1, present 2, future 3

Analysed with qwen3.8-27b, version v3. The same standards apply to every tradition, see Values.