The Narthex: A Publication of the Young Pietists

Pietist Heritage and Social Concern

Dr. F. Burton Nelson
former Professor of Ethics at North Park Theological Seminary

IN THE THREE CENTURIES since pristine Lutheran Pietism came to birth in post-Reformation Germany, the collection of criticisms and caricatures has sometimes reached ludicrous proportions. One of the choice examples can be found in a novel about the life of Philipp Jacob Spener by Karl August Wildenhahn written in the nineteenth century: “A Pietist is one who regards it as a mortal sin to wear an embroidered handker-chief and a wig; one who fasts every other day and wears shabby garments; one who talks from morning till night about godliness, and who, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, attends Spender’s examina. This is a Pietist.”

Although this colorful description may have fit a son or daughter of Pietism turned legalistic through the years, it is, like most caricatures and excessive criticisms, sadly overdrawn and generally inadequate to accord with accuracy. The same assertion can be made about a common view of Pietism in relation to social concerns, social ethics, and social institutions:

n That Pietism is individualistic, subjectiv-istic, and uninvolved in social aches and pains;
n That the pietist is like an ostrich with its head deeply buried in the sand;
n That the pietist has a blunted conscience;
n That Pietism encourages spiritual isola-tion and even spiritual snobbishness;
n That Pietism is so other-worldly that it has little or no connection with the this-worldly.

To continue reading please view the pdf here.