Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Bickel, Rev. Dr. P. W., was born in Weinheim, grand duchy of Baden, Germany, Sept. 7, 1829
Daily Baptist EncyclopediaBickel, Rev. Dr. P. W., was born in Weinheim, grand duchy of Baden, Germany, Sept. 7, 1829
FiltersBaptist Church History7h · Daily Baptist EncyclopediaBickel, Rev. Dr. P. W., was born in Weinheim, grand duchy of Baden, Germany, Sept. 7, 1829. In his youth he received a thorough training in the dead languages in the Bender Classical Insti- tute of his native place, where he studied for six years. An enthusiastic adherent of liberal politi- cal views, he became involved in the struggle in Baden in 1848. ‘he revolution being overthrown, Mr. Bickel left his native land and came to America, spending the first years of his sojourn as a printer, and engaging also to some extent in literary efforts and teaching. At that time he was a confirmed infidel. But it pleased God to give him the light of heavenly truth. He was converted and baptized into the membership of the Baptist church of Wau- kegaw, Wis. Feeling impelled to preach the faith which hehad formerly attacked, Mr. Bickel repaired to Rochester, N. Y., where he graduated from the Rochester Theological Seminary in 1855. Even while he was a theological student his ability as a talented writer manifested itself. His first field of labor was Cincinnati, O., where, among a German population of formalists and avowed skeptics, he succeeded in gathering a warm, loving German church. He labored as German city missionary in Cincinnati, O., from 1855 to 1857; was ordained pastor of the German church formed through his labors in September, 1857, and continued his pas- torate with increasing success from 1857 to 1865. During a large portion of his pastorate he was editor of the monthly periodical of the Western German Baptist Conference, and of a Sunday-school paper, superintending at the same time the publi- cation work of that Conference. In 1865 the Ger- man Baptists in America uniting in a Triennial Conference appointed Mr. Bickel secretary of the newly-formed German Publication Society, and editor of its weekly periodicals. This position he filled ably, wielding a facile pen and showing great practical talent in furthering the publication work. As a recognition of his various and eminent ser- vices the degree of Doctor of Divinity was. conferred upon him by Granville College, Ohio. In 1878, Dr. Bickel was selected by the American Baptist Publication Society, and by the Baptists in Ger- many, to establish and superintend a Baptist pub- lication work in Germany. Dr. Bickel is now performing these duties in Hamburg, and editing at the same time the new weekly Baptist paper issued in Germany. ‘The work is in a very pros- perous condition. Dr. Bickel is an excellent writer, a good poet, a man of high culture, gifted with great practical talent, one of the most useful of the German Baptist ministers, a man whose life and work will prove a lasting blessing to German Bap- tists in Europe and America.From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William Cathcart
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