The Pietist Impulse in Christianity - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0227680006 ISBN 13: 9780227680001

Publisher: James Clarke & Co, 2012

Synopsis

Pietism is a reform movement originating among German Lutherans in the 17th century. It focused on personal faith, reacting against Lutheran Church's emphasis on doctrine and theology over Christian living. The movement quickly expanded, exerting an enormous influence on various forms of Christianity, and became concerned with social and educational matters. Indeed, Piestists showed a strong interest in issues of social and ecclesial reform, the nature of history and historical inquiry, the shape and purpose of theology and theological education, the missional task of the church, and social justice and political engagement. Though, the movement remained largely misunderstood, especially in Anglo-American contexts: negative stereotypes depicted Pietism as a quietist and sectarian form of religion, merely concerned with the "pious soul and its God". The main proposal of the editors of this volume is to correct this misunderstanding: assembling a deep collection of essays written by scholars from a variety of fields, this work demonstrates that Piestism was a movement characterized by great depth and originality. Besides, they show the vitality and impulse of Pietism today and emphasize the ongoing relevance of the movement for contemporary problems and questions.

Table of Contents

Foreword―James (Jay) H. Barnes III
Foreword―Peter C. Erb
Acknowledgments―Christian T. Collins Winn, Christopher Gehrz, and G. William Carlson
Introduction―Christian T. Collins Winn, Christopher Gehrz, and G. William Carlson
Part one: Pietism and the Pietist Impulse
Part two: Continental German Pietism
Part three: The Pietist Impulse under the Conditions of Modernity
Part four: Wesley the Pietist
Part five: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Trans-Atlantic Scandinavian Pietism
Part six: The Pietist Impulse in North American Christianity
Part seven: The Pietist Impulse in Missions and Globalizing Christianity
Part eight: Benediction
List of Contributors
Index

About this title

About the Author:

Christian T. Collins Winn is Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic theology at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is author of "Jesus is Victor!" the Signicance of the Blumhardts for the theology of Karl Barth (2008) and Series Editor for the Blumhardt Series (Cascade Books). G. William Carlson is Professor of History and Political Science at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of numerous articles on Baptist General Conference history, Swedish Pietism, religion in the Soviet Union, and comparative evangelical political thought. Christopher Gehrz is Associate Professor of History and coordinator of the Christianity and Western Culture program at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Eric Holst is a graduate of Bethel Seminary, with an interest in contextual theology and theories of Christian education.

Review:

The Pietist Impulse in Christianity has often been viewed as a negative stereotype of Protestantism. In this book, edited by Christian Collins Winn, Christopher Gehrz, William Carlson, and Eric Holst, a more positive assessment is given. The essays trace the origins and effects of the fast-moving reform movement, which originated with the German Lutherans.


‘...a good entre into the complex world of the Pietists in Europe and America.’ (Craig D. Atwood Church History, volume 81)

“The essays share an effort to defend Pietism from charges that the movement’s emphasis upon religious experience and regeneration frequently degenerated into individualism and anti-intellectualism, an egregious charge for authors defending and promoting pietism as the key to evangelical higher education.” (Carter Lindberg Catholic Historical Review)

[This volume] remains a good resource for selective reading based on research needs. The authors successfully dispel antiquated notions and demonstrate Pietism’s rich intellectual and theological impact throughout history. (Hoon J. Lee Reviews in Religion and Theology, Vol.21, No.1, January 2014)

One aspect of this work as a whole that makes it particularly valuable is its discussion of several German, Danish, and Swedish Pietists about whom very little has been written in English. (Andrew Kloes The Expository Times, Vol.125, No.5, February 2014)

...an excellent introductory resource into the polyphone of voices comprising pietism within protestant Christianity, and yet communicates the intricacies, nuances, and regional diversities through its collection of easily accessible essays. [...] the work is not only a helpful text for those new to the study of pietism and its impact on global Christianity, it also continues to explore the deeper - and highly nuanced - impact pietism has had on Protestantism since the reformation. (Joseph McGarry, University of Aberdeen Theological Book Review, Vol. 25, No.1, 2013)

About this edition

• Publisher: James Clarke & Co
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0227680006
• ISBN 13: 9780227680001
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 366
• Editor: Winn Christian T., Collins Gehrz, Christopher Carlson, Holst Eric