Peter C. Erb

As one who grew up cradled by evangelicalism, the Pietists have exerted their influence on my religious understanding; however, the denomination I now find myself in (Evangelical Covenant Church) is more explicit about its Pietist heritage. And so, I read to understand.

First a word about this edition. The Harper Collins Spiritual Classic Library series basically prints the same 'classic literature' that you find in Paulist Press's Classics of Western Spirituality, including the same translation for a great price. What is missing that the Paulist Press volumes have, is the lengthy critical introduction. Harper Collins substitutes for this by providing their own forwards for the series, written by people who have an appreciation for the contents of the book. Sometimes, these forwards are brilliant, like Marilynne Robinson's reflections on John Calvin, other times they are not, like Phyllis Trickle's reflections here.

This book presents selections from the writings of 8 pietists. They are in order, Phillip Jakob Spener, August Hermann Francke, Johan Anastasius Freylinghausen, Johann Friedrich Strack, Gottfried Arnold, Gerhard Tersteegen, Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, and Nicolas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Spener was my favorite, followed by Francke. The rest of these essays and hymns were hit and miss for me, especially because they tend to dip and dive into the otherworldly mysticism of radical pietism rather than the early real world engagement of the movement's founders (and Zinzendorf, got to give Hernnhut some props!).… (altro)