Profile

The Evangelical Social Encyclopaedia (ESL) is a standard reference work on Protestant social ethics – in its nine printed editions to date and now in digital form. It aims to provide information on issues of social ethics, highlight different positions and thereby clarify the Protestant viewpoint: in an informative, dialogue-oriented and open-minded manner, grounded in theological reasoning.

• Informative: The articles provide basic information on socially relevant issues. Experts with a high level of expertise in social ethics highlight the key aspects and challenges.
• Dialogue-oriented and open-minded: The article presents not a single position, but the various positions on socially relevant issues. Interested readers can form their own view of the positions put forward. At the same time, the articles aim to make clear how the Protestant viewpoint relates to non-religious reasonings. Our aim is to engage in dialogue with other viewpoints – that is, after all, what being Protestant is all about!
• Theological grounds: The articles set out a comprehensible theological reason for why the Protestant viewpoint is held in a certain way.

The ESL is overseen by eight editors from the fields of social ethics and diaconia, who reflect the diversity of Protestant viewpoints. Articles are peer-reviewed in five specialist working groups covering the areas of ‚Social Ethics‘, ‚Business and Corporate Ethics‘, ‚Political Ethics‘, ‚Diaconia‘ and ‚Technology, Environmental, Bio and Medical Ethics‘.

Audiences

The ESL is aimed at practitioners working in churches and parishes, diaconal organisations and businesses, schools and other social institutions. We also hope to reach students and lecturers in theology, the social sciences, social work and other disciplines with the ESL, and we welcome anyone interested in gaining a basic understanding of social ethics.

Technical Realisation

The ESL collaborates with the editors of SysLex, coordinates keyword with them and utilises the technical requirements specified in the SysLex concept. The academic standards required by SysLex are also applied in the ESL.

History

The ESL was first published by Friedrich Karrenberg in 1954. Nine printed editions covered topics of social relevance. If a keyword has already appeared in the printed editions, these articles are listed in the appendix to the digital version of the ESL – for those interested in how the keyword has been addressed over the past eight decades.

Support and Cooperations

This project would not have been possible without the generous support of funding bodies. These include (in alphabetical order):

• Ecclesia
• Evangelische Bank
• Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Württemberg
• Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland
• Evangelische Stiftung Protestantismus, Bildung, Kultur
• KD-Bank-Stiftung
• Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der EKD
• Sparkassenverband Baden-Württemberg
• Stiftung Sozialer Protestantismus