Pietismus und Orthodoxie

The third volume of essays by Johannes Wallmann contains 20 individual studies of the church history of the 17th and 18th centuries, mainly of pietism. By comparing pietism and orthodoxy, towards which pietism was antagonistic, it is the author's intention to make pietism visible as an historical phenomenon and to counteract a typological expansion of the concept of pietism as a timeless international piety movement. The author deals with a wide variety of subjects, ranging from the differentiation between church and radical pietism, the relationship between pietism and mysticism, the attitude towards the Old Testament and the way in which pietism distanced itself from orthodoxy and became more well-disposed toward Jewish worship. There are further essays on the research history, printing and distribution of Spener's Pia Desideria and the beginning of pietism in Middle Eastern Europe.