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Although the moderate form of mysticism that Spener infused into the mainstream of Lutheran theology was not revolutionary, it contained premises which lead to revolution. The effect of mystical theology generally is to foster a more "spiritual" or subjective understanding of the nature of Christian soteriology, especially sanctification. These were the main applications that Spener drew from his fusion of mysticism and biblically oriented Lutheranism. However, it would be naive to think that these same premises would not also, in time, lead to a more "spiritual" or subjective understanding of the church.
Brown points out that from the earliest time, the terms "pietistic" and "individualistic" have been used synonymously in theological parlance.167 Likewise, the mystic is alone with his God when most of the deep things happen. The mystical gospel calls for individual growth or attainment, and does not excuse the individual for carnality, even if he/she does go to church. Mystical theology tends to ask not "How is your community doing?" but "How is your personal walk with God doing?" This is why Alfred Hegler is plausible when he argued that "the basic source for . . .the `radical reform movements,' the `radical tributaries,' or the `left wing' of the Reformation was medieval mysticism."168
Heyd observes,
True, individual judgment had always been a constituent element of the Protestant tradition, but it is often forgotten that in the period of the Reformation and of Protestant Orthodoxy, the role ascribed to the individual was counterbalanced by the central position of the Church and public authorities in determining issues of doctrine and discipline. 169
This individualistic outlook would have been given added impulse by Spener's insistence that the individual study his Bible, and develop ministry.170 Once again, history teaches that the individual with the Bible in his hand is a force for spiritual revolution. It is not without cause that the established church has sometimes tended to avoid too many laymen with too many Bibles--such individuals might reach new conclusions: perhaps heretical conclusions, perhaps critiques of the existing church. Stoeffler feels that the biblicism of the Pietists, which was not a factor in mystical theology, accounts for the change in view regarding roles in the church.
It was this implicit, somewhat naive, trust in the Word, rather than in man's words about the Word, which is also responsible for the fact that Pietists really trusted the religious opinions of theologically untrained laymen. The theory was, of course, that the Spirit of God is able to commend the truth of the Bible to men's minds and hearts without the tortured interpretations of the professionals. Hence, to the consternation of the representatives of orthodoxy and ecclesiastical institutionalism, laymen were permitted to testify, to exhort, and even to preach. The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers was thus rescued once again from being a mere dogma and set free to exert its influence in the Church. 171
As some Pietists went into separatism, Spener tried to stem the tide that he had unleashed, with limited success. Brown explains;
[Spener] attempted to persuade all to return to the church. This was the purpose of his tract, The Use and the Misuse of the Laments Over Corrupted Christendom, which appeared in 1684 and was reprinted in 1687 and 1696. In this tract Spener stated that even though the church was corrupt, it was the true church from which no one should turn away.. . .
He repeatedly deplored separation, "claiming that it acted like a medicine which was more dangerous than the disease it was supposed to cure.. . .
Nevertheless, the extreme expression of self-assertion against external church authority which more and more emancipated itself from the restraints of tradition was the work of later Pietism.172
Spener's and Francke's individualism also tended to move them toward more democratic control in the churches. Brown says,
Spener and Francke were consistently Lutheran; nevertheless, they and their followers often stretched Luther's definitions in their appeal for a more democratic church polity and in the mystical tendencies inherent in the style of the conventicles. . .
Spener was criticized for the egalitarianism of his pastoral service and his small group meetings, in which servants were allowed to sit at the same tables as their masters.173
Naturally, the view of the individual before his God tended to render class and ecclesiastic distinctions meaningless.174
Another ecclesiological by-product of the fusion of Reformation and Mystical theology was the alteration of Lutheran sacramentalism. The platonism of the medieval mystics sometimes led to an anti-sacramental attitude. An example this can be seen in the Theologia Deutsch, which, after quoting Tauler as declaring, "There be some men at the present time who take leave of imagery [sacraments] too soon. . ." goes on to argue that only,
. . .as a man has thus broken loose from and overleaped all temporal things and creatures he may afterward come to perfection in a life of contemplation. For he who will have the one must let the other go. There is no other way.175
The argument here is not that one should avoid leaving sacraments behind, but rather that this should not be attempted by the immature. Likewise, Arndt did not usually speak of baptismal regeneration, as did his orthodox contemporaries.
He thus linked himself definitely with many of the later Lutheran Pietists to whom the Lutheran doctrine of baptismal regeneration as popularly held was always an occasion of regret or at least of embarrassment. . .[although] Arndt held the historic Lutheran view of baptism. In point of fact, however, he said little about it and put the emphasis on conversion, oneness with Christ, and a holy life." 176
It is not surprising then that Spener's and Francke's critics,
. . .accused them of adopting a mystical and spiritualistic interpretation of the sacraments. Spener, as customary, desired to walk the middle ground: "as in all things, two extremes are possible, it is a deviation to place your trust outwardly in the mere custom of the sacrament and be concerned little with the inward. But it is also a deviation when one chooses to despise and set aside the outward because of the inward."177
The tension between adult conversion and infant baptism became acute for Spener and Francke. This should be especially clear when one realizes that they did not accept the doctrine of unconditional election.178
Likewise, Spener's stress on the possibility of losing the new birth following baptism and on the new obedience which baptism requires significantly altered traditional baptism.
The Pietists' need for subjective appropriation made it possible for some of the followers of Spener and Francke to minimize infant baptism in favor of the later conversion experience and to circumvent the objective efficacy of the sacrament. Francke and Spener, however, attempted to avoid this tendency.179
The churchly pietists were careful to not openly question the orthodox interpretation of the sacraments.
However, Brown credits Spener with a major role in undermining the Beischtuhl (confessional) permanently in Lutheranism. This in spite of the fact that Francke himself confessed to a neighboring minister four times each year before partaking of the Lord's supper.
The Beischtuhl . . .figured prominently in Pietist controversies. Although it was practically considered a sacrament by many of the orthodox, Spener and Francke felt freer to attack it than the two traditional Protestant sacraments. . . .its is very likely that Pietism, with its critical stance and opposition to compulsion, abetted the demise of the confessional.180
As we shall see, many of the later radical Pietists openly rejected or deprecated sacraments.
Spener held the first of his private meetings in his own home in Frankfurt am Main in 1670. With the popularity of the Pia Desideria, there were soon conventicles meeting all over Europe. Tappert affirms that,
Spener himself soon ascribed more and more importance to the collegia pietatis, which were given only passing attention in his Pia Desideria. If the church was to be renewed, he felt, a beginning would have to be made with the remnant of true Christians in every congregation.181
The responses to the advent of the collegia pietatis were two-fold--bitter attacks from the church,182 and terrific excitement from lay people. Two questions that must be answered are, "Why did such an enthusiastic reception greet the collegia?" and, "Why were they opposed so bitterly by the church?"
Regarding the first question, before a proper understanding of pietism can be gained, one must realize that there was a vigorous ferment of pietistic, spiritualistic and mystical strains already present in Europe at this time, independent of Spener's movement. This can be seen, for instance, when one considers how many tens of thousands of Anabaptists were killed from the time of the Reformation until the time of Spener.183 For Anabaptism to have still been a vital force in Europe despite this many casualties gives an idea of the profound thirst for religious authenticity and freedom that must have given rise to such endurance.
Many authors have insisted that the Thirty Years War, with its hundreds of thousands of deaths on all sides, had rendered institutional religion disgusting in the view of much of the public. Then there were the many thousands of cells or nuclei of various other groups who took a more inner view of Christianity.184 This spiritualistic underground was the well-spring that was uncapped by Spener.
When the Pia Desideria, with its concise and persuasive arrangement, not to mention its friendly and benign tone, was published by one with the prestige of the scholarly Spener, thousands rallied to it as a standard. It is very unlikely that all of these were persuaded for the first time by the book. They were probably already inclined to a more personal form of religious expression.185
Speaking of such an underground that had been a part of the European scene for several hundred years, Peters shows that the themes had always been the same;
In particular terms, the Reformists attacked the immorality of the clergy, the hierarchy, and the authority of the church; usually they also attacked the sacraments as unnecessary to salvation and as supposing the necessity of a mediating clergy between a man and his God.186
Regarding the second question, the attacks by the existing clergy were severe. "The charge of the theological faculty of the University of Wittemberg that pietists were guilty of at least 284 heresies suggests something of its bitterness. . .Spener was called a Quaker, a Rosicrucian, a chiliast, and a fanatic."187 The main reason the church attacked the collegia so vigorously seems to have been worry about their ability to control the situation. Brown observes,
Engendering the most criticism and accusations of subjectivism were the small group meetings known variously as Collegia pietatis, conventicles, ecclesiolae, or collegia philobiblica.188
Very soon after the first one was started in Spener's home, it became the occasion for separatist activity.189 As mentioned earlier, Spener tried to tie the meetings to the church by forbidding the Lord's Supper in the private gatherings. In spite of this and other safeguards, however, the conventicles continued to foster movements toward separation. Deeter comments,
The major problem of the colleges of piety was that they stimulated certain participants to a radical Christianity which could not be generally spread throughout the larger body of the Church. Then after repeated frustrations at the slowness of many fellow church goers to accept more radical Christian living, the unsatisfied converts often became separatistic. . . Moreover, they were often openly antagonistic to the compromisers within the larger Church who saw something of their vision but refused to break with its `half-way Christianity.'"190
August Hermann Francke was born in 1663, and studied theology at Liepzig. He started home Bible studies while there called collegium philobiblicum. Yet he suffered from doubt regarding inspiration of Scripture and even the existence of God. He was influenced by followers of Spener while in Liepzig.191 Then in 1687 he experienced a decisive conversion which left him sure of his relationship with Christ.192 He visited Spener for several months afterward and returned to operate his home studies in the Pietistic fashion. An investigation, initiated by a suspicious clergyman, led to the suppression of the home studies.193 After being ousted from a pastorate in Erfurt because of Pietistic activities, Spener was able to get him a professorship of Greek and oriental languages at the newly-founded university at Halle, along with a pastorate in a local church.194
Francke was different than Spener. He was much more decisive and active. He shared in common with Spener however, a practical bent, and the desire to avoid open separation from the Lutheran church.195 Francke exerted great influence at Halle, eventually unleashing a new phase in the history of Pietism.
Under the influence of Francke, Pietistic spirituality was increasingly interpreted in an outward, in addition to an inward way. This had the effect of providing an outlet for Pietistic zeal other than perfectionism, and may have had more impact on the course of church history than any other part of the Pietistic movement.
He founded numerous social relief institutions a Halle, including a school for poor children, a very large orphanage, an institute for training of teachers, and later a publishing house, medical clinic, and others businesses where the indigent could work and pay their way.
In addition, Francke had a "lifelong concern for evangelism and missions."196 He eventually turned Halle into a training center for missionaries who went all over the world. This was important because neither the Lutheran nor the Reformed churches had the slightest interest in missions at that time. Glover explains,
The roots of modern missions reach back to the Reformation . . .Yet, as already remarked, the Reform leaders, and the Reformation church as a whole, were for at least a full century almost completely devoid of missionary spirit or effort. . .As Dr. George Smith expresses it, the seeds of controversy sown by Lutheran orthodoxy began to bear a harvest which would have been fatal to the spirituality of the Church but for the Pietist Movement, which by example and preaching gradually aroused the Church to a deeper spiritual life and, as a natural consequence, to renewed missionary zeal and action.197
Francke was not the first to see the evangelistic implications of the Pietistic message. Spener had stated in the Spiritual Priesthood,
Is there anything else that we should offer to God?
Yes; namely the doctrine of the gospel and thereby our fellow man who by it is converted and sanctified (Malachi 1:11; Rom. 15:16; Is. 60:7; Phil. 2:17,18. . .). 198
However, this was problematic when the entire society was already considered Christian. The only groups who were considered "unsaved" were the Jews and the Roman Catholics. These were the groups that Spener had suggested should be won.199
By moving in the direction of foreign missions, Francke was the first to put effective action to the concept of outreach as a fruit of spiritual growth.
A careful study of the biography of Francke is outside the scope of this paper, but the main points along with source material can be read in Pietists: Selected Writings, Peter C. Erb Ed.
Zinzindorf was Francke's student at Halle, and Spener's godson. He underwent an awakening while studying, and proceeded to organize a group of refugees from Moravia into collegia pietatis within the Lutheran church. Later, they formed the basis of the re-vitalized Moravian Brethren church.200 This group exerted global influence, and are perhaps the main river flowing out of the churchly Pietistic movement.
Properly speaking, William Carey should not be called the father of the modern missionary movement. Sixty years before Carey went out, and 150 years before Hudson Taylor went out, the Moravian Brethren began sending out their first missionaries. Their first outreach was to St. Thomas Island in the West Indies in 1732.201 They reached out to twelve more areas of the world within the next twenty years, and eventually sent out 2,158 missionaries within the next 150 years! The well known English social reformer, William Wilberforce wrote of the Moravians, "They are a body who have perhaps excelled all mankind in solid and unequivocal proofs of the love of Christ and ardent, active zeal in His service."202
Most reading evangelical Christians are aware that Wesley was impressed by the Moravian Brethren missionaries he met while he was still an unconverted priest on his way to Georgia. Later, Wesley attended a Moravian meeting at Aldersgate St. where, while hearing Luther's introduction to Romans, he had an experience in which he said "I felt my heart strangely warmed. . .."
However, many do not realize that within two weeks of this experience, Wesley decided to go to Germany and spend time studying under the Pietists at Halle. He recounts the reasons for the decision,
"I hoped that conversing with those holy men who were themselves living witnesses of the full power of faith, and yet able to bear with those that are weak, would be a means, under God, of so establishing my soul, that I might go on from faith to faith. . ." 203
Wesley then spent the next four months with the Pietists at Halle. Subsequently, we find many elements of the Pietistic agenda present in Wesley's ministry.
He began to include a distinct call for conversion in his sermons. He organized conventicles, which were called "classes," "societies," or "bands," depending on their size makeup, and purpose. Attendance at a band required that the member bring his or her penny for the poor (recalling the practical relief concerns of the Halle group). His theological outlook reflects that of Francke and Spener very much. Finally, he sought to do all of this within the bounds of his own confession (Anglican).
For these reasons, the Methodist movement is considered by historians and theologians to be in the mainstream of the churchly Pietistic movement.
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