Andreas Gruenschloss (German: Grünschloß) (born 1957) is a German scholar and was Professor of

Religious Studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

from 2002 to 2023. An ordained

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, he is the author of books and scholarly articles about interfaith matters,

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Aztec religion The Aztec religion is a polytheistic and monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of '' teotl'' was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion te ...

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part of a wider re ...

and, lately, religious responses to the COVID19-crisis. He publishes both in German and in English and is a co-editor of the '' Marburg Journal of Religion''.

Academic career

Gruenschloss studied Protestant

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

and psychology at

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

(M.A. in Religious Studies, 1984) and

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. (Ph.D. in Religious Studies and Missionary Science, 1992, followed by

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1998,

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

).Home page
at the University of Göttingen website He is also an ordained Protestant

. Having first taught at

, he became Professor of Religious Studies at

in 2002. Gruenschloss has been a co-editor of the English-language '' Marburg Journal of Religion'', a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic Internet journal, since 1999. In his research and publications, Gruenschloss is concerned with interfaith matters, especially the empirical analysis of inter-religious perceptions and forms of trans-religious hybridization. He has authored a book-length German-language study of the work of

Wilfred Cantwell Smith Wilfred Cantwell Smith, (July 21, 1916 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian Islamicist, comparative religion scholar, and Presbyterian minister. He was the founder of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Quebec and later ...

(''Religionswissenschaft als Welt-Theologie: Wilfred Cantwell Smiths interreligiöse Hermeneutik'', 1994), described in the ''Journal of Ecumenical Studies'' as "the most comprehensive, balanced account and evaluation of the life and work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith". In ''Der eigene und der fremde Glaube: Studien zur interreligiösen Fremdwahrnehmung in Islam, Hinduismus, Buddhismus und Christentum'' (1999), he wrote about how members of one religion perceive those belonging to other faiths; he argues that as each religion postulates that it has privileged access to the knowledge of how things should be, it fails to see others as they really are, only ever perceiving them from a self-referential perspective as different: assuming a religious identity simultaneously creates the "other". Gruenschloss has also written about

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

s, notably

UFO religion A UFO religion, also called a UFO cult or flying saucer cult, is any religion in which the existence of extraterrestrial (ET) entities and communication with them is a core belief. Typically, adherents of such religions believe the ETs to be i ...

s such as Raëlism and

Fiat Lux "Let there be light" is an English translation of the biblical Hebrew , Hebrew (''yehi 'or'') found in Genesis 1:3 of the Torah, the first part of the Hebrew Bible. In Old Testament translations of the phrase, translations include the Greek l ...

, as well as

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...

and authors such as Erich von Däniken or

Graham Hancock Graham Bruce Hancock (born 2 August 1950) is a British journalist and author who promotes pseudoscientific ideas about ancient civilizations and hypothetical lost lands. Hancock proposes that an advanced civilization with spiritual technology ...

."Lieber nicht an Aliens glauben"
''Oberösterreichische Nachrichten''. Retrieved 2010-06-18. Gruenschloss puts the appeal of UFO religions down to several factors. The thought that there should be angels or aliens overseeing human development is profoundly consoling; and members' sense that they are becoming "light workers" by joining such a movement allows them to feel enhanced self-worth, as they believe they are among the chosen few destined to prepare the

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

. Lastly, Gruenschloss says, as the established religions lose their mass appeal, it is only natural that some will be attracted to "freelance" spiritual workers; he sees the most effective response to this development not in an assertion of church tradition, but in retaining the ability to engage in dialogue. Observing that UFO religions tend to combine

euhemerism In the fields of philosophy and mythography, euhemerism () is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that histo ...

(by reinterpreting celestial beings simply as morally and technologically more advanced aliens) with a distinctly "religious" personal quest, Gruenschloss has concluded that "UFO faith, therefore, can be understood to oscillate between ''disenchantment'' and ''re-enchantment''."Partridge, Christopher. ''UFO Religions'', Routledge 2003, pp. 25, 188–189,

Notes

External links

Home page
at the University of Göttingen official website

of Andreas Grünschloß via the University of Göttingen Internet provider GWDG * Many of his articles are accessible online via Academia.edu

as well as ResearchGate.net

* A full list of his publications can be obtained via his personal homepage at the University of Göttingen

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruenschloss, Andreas 1957 births Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Academic staff of the University of Göttingen German religion academics Heidelberg University alumni Living people Religious studies scholars Researchers of new religious movements and cults University of Chicago alumni

Academic career

Further reading

Books

Articles

Notes

External links