by Chris Wall, Associate Pastor
As you've heard a few times during the past month, I am in the final stages of my Doctorate of Ministry in Preaching and will be running an experiment over the summer as a part of my Thesis. The experiment centers on a certain theological and ecclesiological movement called Pietism. I want to see if preaching using Pietism's unique theological emphases might actually spark Spiritual Growth in you. Given that, I thought it might be a good idea to explain a bit about Pietism and what those theological emphases are.
Pietism was started by Philipp Jakob Spener, a Lutheran pastor in Germany in the 17th Century. About 150 years after Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, Spener looked out at his congregation and started to think that nothing much had changed. The Reformation, for all it's hubbub and controversy, hadn't led to a more vibrant faith among Christians, it just seemed to swap out the name from "Catholic" to "Lutheran." Spener felt that there must be more to this Christian faith than simply a title or a name, and so he put together 6 concrete proposals for reforming the Reformation in a booked titled Pia Desideria, which translates to "Pious Dreams."
Spener was dreaming of an ignited church, one where mental agreement with theology manifested itself in a person's life. Christians ought to know that they have encountered Christ and live a life that's different because of that. He pushed for integrity between what a Christian says they believe and what a Christian actually does because of that.
Spener emphasized the important role of the lay person in the Church, not only the role of the clergy, and that rubbed some clergy the wrong way. He wanted lay people to read scripture in small groups and interpret and apply it in their lives, with or without a pastor's oversight.
It might be surprising to us now, but that book caused quite the stir.
Still, Pietism offers an interesting challenge to us today. Are my actions and my beliefs in line? How do I know if I've really encountered Jesus?
Next month, we'll dive into Pietism's unique theological emphases (and you'll get to see if you can pick them out of our preaching!)