Tag: New

Letters from the Berlin period 1691-1705. Vol. 2: 1694-1696

Philipp Jakob Spener was the founder of the Lutheran pietistic movement; his letters are an essential source for research into the Early Modern Age, not only in terms of church history, but also regarding cultural history and the history of ideas.
The edited ‘Letters from the Berlin period 1691-1705’ shed light on Spener’s period as provost at the Church St. Nikolai in Berlin. Letters from the same period are published in ‘Briefwechsel mit Adam Rechenberg’ from volume 3 and in ‘Briefwechsel mit August Hermann Francke’.
Volume 2 contains 212 letters from the years 1694-1696 and reflect a first high point in his disputes with the opponents of Pietism. They provide insights into the origin and reception of his polemics. Among other things, they deal with the dispute over chiliasm and the accusation that Spener disregarded the Lutheran confessional writings. Numerous letters illustrate his influence on personnel developments in the theological faculties in Halle and Giessen as well as on the filling of important clerical positions in Brandenburg.

The volume is available now:

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/isbn/?9783161644832

Philipp Jakob Spener
Letters from the Berlin Period 1691-1705.
Volume 2: 1694-1696.
Edited by Udo Sträter in collaboration with Klaus vom Orde
2025. XLI, 972 pages.
(Published in German)

Letters from the Berlin period 1691-1705. Vol. 1: 1691-1693

Philipp Jakob Spener was the founder of the Lutheran pietistic movement; his letters are an essential source for research into the Early Modern Age, not only in terms of church history, but also regarding cultural history and the history of ideas.
The edited ‘Letters from the Berlin period 1691-1705’ shed light on Spener’s period as provost at the Church St. Nikolai in Berlin. Letters from the same period are published in ‘Briefwechsel mit Adam Rechenberg’ from volume 3 and in ‘Briefwechsel mit August Hermann Francke’.
Volume 1 contains 190 letters from the years 1691-1693, in which Spener described the circumstances of his change from the position as the court preacher in Dresden to Berlin as Lutheran provost under reformed sovereignty. The consequences of the pietistic disturbances in Leipzig and the horrors of the War of the Palatinate Succession (Nine Years’ War) are reflected in his letters. The Wolfenbüttel Edict against Pietism renewed the accusation of the emergence of a new sect. Chiliastic positions and the phenomenon of new revelations were categorised and commented by Spener. Important literary debates began.

The volume is available now:

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/isbn/?9783161644177

Philipp Jakob Spener
Letters from the Berlin Period 1691-1705. Volume 1: 1691-1693
Edited by Udo Sträter in collaboration with Marcus Heydecke
2025. LIV, 1024 pages.
(Published in German.)

Letters from the Frankfurt period 1666-1686. Volume 8: 1686 with an Appendix of Letters from His Time in Strasbourg

Philipp Jakob Spener’s name is closely connected with the beginning of the Pietist movement within the Lutheran church in Germany. His letters are very important sources for the research of the early modern period in general. Volume 8 includes letters from 1686 and those which were undated or unknown until now, all written in Frankfurt, and letters he wrote as a student and preacher in Strasbourg (1653-1666).

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/isbn/?9783161619793

Philipp Jakob Spener
Letters from the Frankfurt Period 1666-1686.
Volume 8: 1686 with an Appendix of Letters from His Time in Strasbourg
Edited by Udo Sträter and Johannes Wallmann in collaboration with Klaus vom Orde
2022. XXXIV, 754 pages.
(Published in German)