Religious Figure. He was an Evangelical Lutheran clergyman and noted devotional writer of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was a friend of Johann Gerhard and a pillar of the age of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Among his best known writings are the four volumes of "True Christianity," a devotional series that emphasized the personal connection between Christ and his believers. The work was widely translated, published, and became highly influential during Arndt's life and afterwards. Posthumously, Arndt would become known as a sort of "grandfather of Lutheran Pietism" because of this emphasis on personal and subjective faith, even he could hardly have been called a pietist himself - even in hindsight. Arndt studied at Helmstadt, Wittenburg, Strasbourg, and Basel. He began his pastoral ministry at Badeborn, Saxony, in 1583. However, the theological attitude among authorities in that region, of that time, was trending toward Calvinism. By 1590 he was deposed from his post for refusing to remove religious images from the sanctuary or forego the traditional exorcism from the baptismal rite. He viewed both of those changes as concessions to Calvinist Reformed theology, while himself holding a staunchly Lutheran theology and practice. He found asylum in a post in Quedlinburg that same year (1890). But his ministry was unpopular among the people there, and he was transferred to St. Martin's Church in Brunswick in 1599. For a couple years he worked in Eisleben before being appointed as the general church superintendent at Celle, which he served from 1611 until his death in 1621.
Religious Figure. He was an Evangelical Lutheran clergyman and noted devotional writer of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was a friend of Johann Gerhard and a pillar of the age of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Among his best known writings are the four volumes of "True Christianity," a devotional series that emphasized the personal connection between Christ and his believers. The work was widely translated, published, and became highly influential during Arndt's life and afterwards. Posthumously, Arndt would become known as a sort of "grandfather of Lutheran Pietism" because of this emphasis on personal and subjective faith, even he could hardly have been called a pietist himself - even in hindsight. Arndt studied at Helmstadt, Wittenburg, Strasbourg, and Basel. He began his pastoral ministry at Badeborn, Saxony, in 1583. However, the theological attitude among authorities in that region, of that time, was trending toward Calvinism. By 1590 he was deposed from his post for refusing to remove religious images from the sanctuary or forego the traditional exorcism from the baptismal rite. He viewed both of those changes as concessions to Calvinist Reformed theology, while himself holding a staunchly Lutheran theology and practice. He found asylum in a post in Quedlinburg that same year (1890). But his ministry was unpopular among the people there, and he was transferred to St. Martin's Church in Brunswick in 1599. For a couple years he worked in Eisleben before being appointed as the general church superintendent at Celle, which he served from 1611 until his death in 1621.
Bio by: RexMendicorum
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