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Chapter 24. Pietism and revivalism. Questions to be addressed in this chapter. What theological development in seventeenth century German Lutheranism sparked a major Protestant renewal movement?
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Chapter 24 Pietism and revivalism
Questions to be addressed in this chapter • What theological development in seventeenth century German Lutheranism sparked a major Protestant renewal movement? • How did a revivalist movement in Oxford University and the Church of England birth a separate religious group called the Methodists? • Who was Jonathan Edwards, and what events did he foster which spread throughout the American colonies in the eighteenth century to change the face of colonial Christianity?
The Pietists • Pietism arose in the seventeenth century as a response to what some thought had become cold orthodoxy, moral laxity, and godless secularism. • Philipp Spener (1635-1705) started groups in homes for prayer and Bible study. They were more concerned with the proper feeling of the heart than with doctrinal purity. • August Hermann Francke (1663-1727) co-founded the Pietest University of Halle, and urged that all true Christians must have a genuine, heart-felt born again experience. • Nikolaus Zinzendorf (1700-1760) became the leader of the Moravian Church, which emphasized a deep, emotional devotion to Christ.
Three themes of Pietism • Conversion as manifest in a heartfelt, inward experience. • Focus on the Bible and its application to daily life and spiritual growth. • Personal holiness, reflected both in inward thoughts and outward lifestyle.
John Wesley and Methodism • While students at Oxford, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield formed groups to study the scriptures and encourage one another to live holy lives. • A trip to Georgia left John questioning his faith, but in 1738 he had a spiritual experience that would change his life forever. • Wesley’s and Whitefield’s preaching spawned a spiritual revival and the development of Methodism as a church separate from the Church of England. • The Wesleyan Quadrilateral and emphasis on sanctification are defining elements of Methodism.
Wesley’s “Aldersgate Experience” In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. (p. 414)
Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening • A Puritan in America who was strongly influenced by Calvin’s Reformed theology. • With Whitefield, Edwards led the Great Awakening revivalist movement in America, which crossed all denominational lines.
Summary of main points • Pietist Lutherans—most notably Philipp Spener, August Francke, and Nikolaus Zinzendorf—began to focus more on the subjective experience of salvation than on its objective characteristics. • Several Oxford students experienced a religious awakening which, under the leadership of John Wesley, provided the basis for Methodist prayer meetings, classes, and eventually a separate denomination with thousands of members. • Through his preaching and convictions, Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan theologian and preacher, played a central role in ushering in the Great Awakening—a series of revivals in the colonies that brought about a renewed religious enthusiasm and personal conviction and had a lasting impact on American Christianity.
