The Pietist histor_Spener, Francke, Zinzendorf and John Wesley and Methodism 

The Pietist option : history

 

 

◩ Pietism?

- It came out for a response to the cold dogmatism of the theology and the rationalism of the philosophers.

- The movement advocated a living, personal faith, and the manner or time in which one came to it was not of prime importance.

- The most significant contribution of Pietism was the birth of Protestant missions.(1707)

- The Great Awakening(North America) would be an indication of the degree to which Pietism was making inroads into the Reformed tradition.

 

 

 

1) Spener

① He called the "father of Pietism".

② He published his Pia desideria,

(where he outlined a program for the development of piety. This became the fundamental charter of Pietism.)

③ He insisted on the need to return constantly to Scriptures, and to read them with a spirit of devotion and piety.

④ He convinced that Lutheranism should lay more emphasis on the need for sanctification.

⑤ He made himself vulnerable by his apocalypticism.(mistake)

(As has happened so often in difficult times, he became convinced that the prophecies of the book of Revelation were being fulfilled, and that the end was near.)

⑥ a pastor in Frankfurt.(Germany)

⑦ Founder of colleges of piety, groups of Bible study and devotion

 

 

 

2) Francke

① Spener's great follower.

② His background was a Lutheran family.

③ He insisted on the joy of Christian life.

④ He was a professor at the University of Halle.

⑤ He paid more attention to the relationship between Pietism and traditional Lutheran theology.

⑥ Under his direction, the University of Halle became a center for the training of missionaries.

 

 

3) Zinzendorf

① Godfather was Spener

② He studied at the University of Halle, under Francke.

③ He and a group of Moravians founded the community of Herrnhut.

④ He met a group of Eskimos, and this kindled in him an interest in missions that would dominate the rest of his life.

⑤ He conflicts with Lutheran authorities in Germany.

⑤ After his death, the Moravian church never had a large membership.

 

 

4) John Wesley and Methodism

① At the Oxford, he had joined a religious society founded by his brother and a group of friends. It was called a Holy club.

② On May 24, 1738, Wesley had an experience of conversion that changed his life.

③ Wesley and Whitefield worked together for some time, although slowly Wesley became the main leader of the movement. But they parted because of theological differences.

④ Wesley preferring the Arminian position.

⑤Wesley's followers were organized into "societies" that at first met in Bristol. In mockery, people called them "Methodists".

⑥ He said that "The world is my parish." - later became the motto of the Methodist missionary enterprise.

⑦ The success of Methodism was partly due to the degree to which it responded to new needs resulting from the Industrial Revolution.

⑧ North American Methodists became a separate church before their British counterpart. The American movement organized itself into the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have had bishops, and English Methodists have not.

⑨ Methodist churches were formed that were completely independent of Anglicanism.