Erich Sauer (1898-1959)

[bookslover]

Here's some basic information about Sauer (relatively difficult to find, by the way):

Eric Sauer was born in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, December 31, 1898 and died in Wiedenest, Germany, on Wednesday, February 25, 1959, at 60.

He was raised in the Open Brethren Church (Plymouth Brethren?) to which both his parents belonged. He was involved in a Bible school in Wiedenest from sometime in the 1930s until his death.

He authored (at least) five books:

The Dawn of World Redemption: A Survey of Historical Revelation in the Old Testament (1951)
The Triumph of the Crucified: A Survey of Historical Revelation in the New Testament (1951)
From Eternity to Eternity: An Outline of the Divine Purposes (1954)
In the Arena of Faith: A Call to a Consecrated Life (1955)
The King of the Earth: The Nobility of Man According to the Bible and Science (1962)

The first three books were translated from the German by one G. H. Lang. The remaining two have no translator listed (I'm presuming it's Lang). All years of publication are, obviously, for the English translations. I haven't seen any dates for the original German publications. I assume that the fifth book was his last work, in that it was published three years after his death.

F. F. Bruce wrote the foreward for the first book (which makes sense, as Bruce was also Open Brethren). A. Rendle Short wrote the foreward for the second volume. All five books were published by Paternoster Press in England and by Eerdmans over here.

So: my question is - aside from the above, does anyone on the PB know anything about this guy? Rumor has it that he was a dispensationalist. Other than that, I've heard that his books are well-written and saturated with Scripture.

Any guesses out there?

 

[JennyG]

I own the first two, but they are still working their way up the to-read list - I'd like to know more about Sauer too

 

[Zimon]

First of all, these are the German years of publication...

* Zweck und Ziel der Menschenschöpfung (1930/31)
* Das Morgenrot der Welterlösung (1937) (The Dawn of World Redemption)
* Der Triumph des Gekreuzigten. Ein Gang durch die alt- und neutestamentliche Heilsgeschichte (1937, 9. Aufl. 1974) (The Triumph of the Crucified)
* Vom Adel des Menschen (1939)
* Der göttliche Erlösungsplan von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit (1950) (From Eternity to Eternity)
* In der Kampfbahn des Glaubens (1952) (In the Arena of Faith)
* Gott, Menschheit und Ewigkeit (1952),
* Es geht um den ewigen Siegeskranz (1952)
* 1905–1955. Missionshaus Bibelschule Wiedenest. Ein Zeugnis von der Gnade Gottes (1955)
* Der König der Erde. Ein Zeugnis vom Adel des Menschen nach Bibel und Naturwissenschaft (1959) (The King of the Earth)

As far as I know, he was focussed on salvation plan theology (which he also outlined graphically) and was a member of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany. Many Germany look upon him very critically today for there were some "Nazi-theology" influences in his pre-1945 works (for example: Japhet is the father of the aryan master race while Sem and Ham represent the Asian and African races and shall be oppressed), so that he is not that popular today, even among German Evangelicals. But there still might be some positive points in his theology, I actually don't know him that good.