This book is not meant for light reading. It is really for the person who is ready for an in-depth review of how Pietism came to be such a force in Lutheran Christianity.

The History of Pietism, written in German by Heinrich Schmid in 1863 and recently translated by James Langebartels, pastor at Christ, Imlay City, Mich., contains a veritable blizzard of names, dates, places, and problems. It traces the beginnings of Pietism with Spener’s disillusionment with the current condition of Christianity in Germany. Spener rightly condemned many problems within Lutheranism, but he could not contain—or maybe did not want to contain—the movement he loosed. Others took his thoughts further—to the point where you could not tell the difference between pietistic Lutherans and the Quakers, enthusiasts, millennialists, and other false teachers. The book also shows how letting in a little heresy quickly opens the door to other false doctrines.

When others realized that there were serious problems with Pietism, they failed to be judicious or brotherly in how they confronted Spener, Francke, and others in the movement. They made many leaps of logic and personal attacks. This is a great book for someone to read or find out how not to confront heresy—that is until Valentine Ernst Loescher came on the scene. Loescher finally was able to get to the root of the problems within Pietism and presented his arguments against Pietism in a manner that was effective, scriptural, and brotherly.

Pietism is still with us today, though maybe not as openly as before within our circles. Our old Adam is always looking for ways to convince us that we either help make ourselves right with God or that our piety is what makes us acceptable to God. Confusing gospel and law is something we need to fight at all times. This book helps us look at previous heresies and teaches us how to properly defend Christianity.

I would recommend the book to the pastor or layperson who can take the time to work through it.

Mark Bannan, Salem, Owosso, Michigan