Was British devotional literature a major factor in the rise of German Pietism? Beginning in the very first decade of the seventeenth century, eighteen books by the Puritan William Perkins were put into German for the benefit of Calvinist readers. He has been called the "father of Pietism." Works by other Pietistic Puritans were also translated into German at an early date. Three books rapidly gained official access to the Lutheran church. Edmund Bunny's Protestant version of Robert Parsons's Booke of Resolvtion was put into German and published in 1612. It was quickly adapted and expanded for Lutheran use, and it went through at least forty-eight editions by 1750. Lewis Bayly's Practice of Pietie, which had been translated into German and published at Basel in 1628, was adapted for Lutheran use in 1631. By 1750 it had gone through at least sixty-eight editions. Joseph Hall's Arte of Divine Meditation, which was put into German in 1631, went through at least sixty-one editions by 1750 as the second part of The Practice of Pietie. Although Daniel Dyke's Mystery of Selfe-Deceiuing did not gain official access to the Lutheran church, it was widely disseminated in Lutheran areas and went through at least twenty editions by 1728. British writers enjoyed great popularity in Germany. At least thirty-one works by Joseph Hall, thirty by Richard Baxter, and nine by John Bunyan, for example, were put into German; and some of them went through a number of editions. The party for reform within Lutheran orthodoxy, Pietism's immediate predecessor, was greatly influenced by British devotional books; and some of its leaders introduced them to the Lutheran church. In the course of time, they became thoroughly familiar with the ideals proclaimed in these books and made them their own. By 1750 more than 690 British religious works, most of which were devotional in character, were translated into German. Although the authors of some of them are not known, 301 or more of them were written by known British writers. Collectively these works involve approximately seventeen hundred editions and impressions. As Pietism advanced, more and more of them were translated into German and published by Lutherans. Johann Hülsemann began a controversy over British devotional literature in 1654 that lasted well into the first decades of the eighteenth century. Much of the criticism that was leveled against this body of writings is exactly the same as the criticism that was directed against Pietism. The cumulative effect of the available evidence creates the impression that German translations of British devotional books were a major and decisive factor in the rise and development of the Pietistic movement in Germany.

Thesis--Amsterdam. / Stellingen inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 162-164).

During the Protestant evangelical awakenings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, widely-circulated hymnals carried the message of evangelicals by way of mouth across great periods of time and vast geographic expanses. This study traces the cultural route of specific religious expressions in these hymns as they crossed national, linguistic, ecclesiastic, social, and other cultural barriers to become ubiquitous expressions found in religious, social, and political discourses. More specifically, this dissertation traces the route of fleshly-spiritual imagery in Baroque Lutheran and German Pietist hymns as they traveled to England by way of the Wesleys during the eighteenth-century evangelical revival and eventually surfaced during the Methodist revivals of the Second Great Awakening in nineteenth-century America. Fleshly-spiritual imagery, that concretizes spiritual experience in the human body, expressed a change in religious subjectivity experienced by Protestant revivalists in the period. This imagery captures an epistemological change in progress as individuals took authority from the clergy to commune directly with the Divine and judge the validity of that experience for themselves. Rather than framing this work as a study of specific authors or literary movements, I have traced the historical trajectory of a set of discursive practices as they were used by hymn authors, re-written by hymn editors, and often spontaneously reedited by participants. This discursive approach without regard to authorship and often in absence of standard texts more clearly illuminates the convergence of religious and public rhetoric, an intersection that remains occluded by traditional studies of a single author, genre, literary period, or national literature. / text

In this thesis attention is focused on two religious movements, Mysticism and Pietism, both of which made significant contributions toward the enrichment of the German language. The 14th century was the "golden age" of German Mysticism. For this reason special consideration is given to this period of history and to the three most prominent 14th century German mystics: Meister Eckhart, Johann Tauler, and Heinrich Seuse. In order to understand their struggle with the language a brief synopsis of mystic theology is given in particular their concept of how the unio mystica, the mystical union of the soul with God, can be realized. It is shown that in their attempts to “express the inexpressible” they employed several stylistic devices which greatly enhanced the language by expanding the vocabulary and exploiting the various possibilities of expression. Though separated by several centuries in time, Mysticism and Pietism shared a common bond. The late 17th century and early 18th century pietists were responsible for reviving the terminology of the mystics, and for helping incorporate their vocabulary into the German language. The religious lyric of Gerhard Tersteegen has been singled out as representative of the influence which pietism exerted on the German language. Tersteegen was greatly influenced by the 17th century quietists, who in turn were influenced by the mystics of the Middle Ages. His language bears a striking resemblance to that of Meister Eckhart. From the 18th century even down to the present his songs have struck a responsive chord in the hearts of German speaking people and have helped mold German religious thinking. One of the key words found repeatedly in the vocabulary of both the mystics and the pietists is the term Gelassenheit. I have, therefore, chosen this word as an example of the impact which Mysticism and Pietism have had on the language. As used by both the mystics and the pietists Gelassenheit meant “submissive acquiescence to the will of God”. In the course of time the word lost its religious connotation and acquired the meaning of “calmness, serenity, or inner tranquility” The importance of Gelassenheit is not so much the change in meaning, but the fact that it is still used in modern German thanks to the influence of the mystics and pietists.

History shows that Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a devout member of the Lutheran faith. Studying Bach’s life reveals that two sects of Lutheranism were the most influential to him, Orthodoxy and Pietism. A brief historical study of these two sects’ founders and their theology are presented in this document. All of Bach’s compositions are a reflection of his Christian beliefs but none is greater than his St. Matthew Passion. Although Bach is known to be a member of the Orthodox denomination, by observing the parallels between the beliefs of the two sects and the St. Matthew Passion, this document reveals Bach to take a more liberal view. This thesis intends to show that Bach’s St. Matthew Passion is a universal piece of Christian music that transcends religious denomination. Ultimately, Bach’s faith was centered on Jesus Christ and His message. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

For over four hundred years historians and theologians have been unable to come to a consensus as to where Johann Arndt (1555-1621) fits on the spectrum of orthodoxy in the Lutheran church, what age he best represented, and how he should be understood. Arndt has been credited with reviving medieval mysticism, as being a subversive innovator within the Lutheran church, and as being the father of Pietism. All of this confusion seems to come from the variegated nature of his work. Arndt was willing and able to borrow from a variety of traditions as he sought to revive the church of the Reformation on the eve of the Thirty Years’ War. This work is an investigation into the private world of Arndt through his correspondence as he wrote to individuals with varying theological temperaments. In a sense this thesis follows the pioneering work of Friedrich Arndt, who attempted in 1838 to investigate Arndt’s self-understanding on the basis of his correspondence; his work, however, was severely limited by the fact that only ten letters were known at the time. The Verzeichnis der gedruckten Briefe deutscher Autoren des 17. Jahrhunderts published in 2002 listed twenty-three known letters of Arndt. For my research and using the footnotes and appendices of secondary literature on Arndt and with help from the Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha, I have collected fifty-two letters written by Arndt. This work is the first to treat the letters exhaustively and proposes to present a fuller biographical picture of Arndt and to explore his self-understanding as a prophet of spiritual renewal in the Lutheran church.

Not available / text

Text in German, English and German summaries / Die Masterthesis zeigt auf, wie das Reich-Gottes-Verständnis die Theologie und die missionarische Praxis im hallischen Pietismus bei August Hermann Francke beeinflusst hat. Mittels einer Literaturarbeit wird in missionstheologischer Perspektive das hallische Gottesreich-Verständnis erforscht sowie aus missionsgeschichtlicher Sicht die Praxis der hallischen Pietisten dargestellt. Beide Blickwinkel werden miteinander in Verbindung gesetzt, so dass die Zusammenhänge zwischen Reich Gottes und Gemeindepraxis herausgearbeitet werden. Es zeigt sich, dass die Reich-Gottes-Rede die Rahmenbedingungen, den Bezugspunkt, die menschliche Partizipation, die Ganzheitlichkeit sowie die Reichweite des missionarischen Handelns in Halle maßgeblich beeinflusst hat. Auf Basis der Forschungsergebnisse werden Schlüsse und Praxisimplikationen für die heutige Diskussion um den Reich Gottes Begriff und die missionarische Praxis gegeben. / This study shows how the concept of the Kingdom of God has influenced the theology and missionary church practice of August Hermann Francke. By means of a literature study, the concept of the Kingdom of God in Halle Pietism is researched from a perspective of mission theology. In addition to that the church practice of Francke will be presented from a perspective of mission history. Both points of view are linked to each other so that the relations between the Kingdom of God and church practice are worked out. It is obvious that the view of the Kingdom of God has decisively influenced the framework, the point of reference, human participation, the holistic approach, as well as the range of missionary activity in Halle. On the basis of the research results, conclusions and practical implications for today’s discussion about the concept of the Kingdom of God and missionary practice are given. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)