Hi again after such a long time

I find libraries cool. So I took some pictures of the one in Jena and the one in Berlin (when I was there).

The main library building in Jena is dedicated to the humanities. Which is why the theology section is in there too, because (contrary to common belief) theology is about people, not about God. (I am waiting to hear objections… ;-) ) Luckily, we (the theologians) were humble enough not to take the top floor, we are at the third of five - high enough to be looked up at, but low enough to be accessible without discomfort.

When entering the library in Jena, you get the impression of two houses build into another, bigger one:

A staircase inside:

And a few rows of shelves:

In Berlin, the faculty of theology has it’s own library building, right next to it. And of course it’s styled with cool quotes, one on each level

From top to bottom:

Gen 1:27 (in ancient Hebrew) “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (King James Bible)

2 Cor 4:6 (in ancient Greek) “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (King James, but I think that one should translate both for the sake of correctness and comprehensibility: “Thus God, who said: ‘A light may shine!’, shone in our hearts for the enlightenment of the comprehension/insight/knowledge of the glory of God before Jesus Christ.”

The last one is from Martin Luther but unfortunately I can’t read the exact location on the photo any more. I believe it comes from his commentary to Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. My Latin is a bit rusty (and no, this is not ancient Latin, it is late medieval Latin :-) ) but it should more or less mean this: “Faith consummates divinity and, thus I say, faith is the creator of divinity, not in the substance/existence of God, but in us. Because without faith God loses his glory, wisdom, justice, truth, compassion/mercifulness and so on inside us. In fine: God has no majesty and divinity, where faith is not.” (Now before the non-believers among my readers conclude that Luther says they can get rid of God so easily, let me mention that he also says that everyone has some god… Rejecting the one goes with adopting another one. The quoted quote points out that faith is the key to God. It also points out that one can only talk about God by talking about one’s faith, by talking about man [in the sense of “mens”]. Which is why it is there, because that is the leading thought in the Berlinian’s systematic theologian’s theology. Of whom I happen to be a big fan.)

And finally a last cool picture of the center lightwell in the library, taken opposite from where the previous picture was taken. It’s great, the coldness of the daylight from above and the warmth of the light from below.

So far for now - have fun! I hope you are happy and well!