Radical Pietism are thoseChristian churches who decided to break with denominationalLutheranism in order to emphasize certain teachings regarding holy living. Radical Pietists contrast withChurch Pietists, who chose to remain within their Lutheran denominational settings. Radical Pietists distinguish between true and falseChristianity and hold that the latter is represented by established churches. They separated from established churches to form their ownChristian denominations.[1]
Radical Pietism emphasizes the need for a "religion of the heart" instead of the head, and is characterized byethical purity, inwarddevotion,charity, andasceticism. Leadership emphasized thesanctification of adherents instead ofsacramentalism. The Pietistic movement developed inGermany, led by those who believed a deeper emotional experience was incompatible with what they saw as a preset adherence to form, no matter how genuine. They stressed apersonal experience of salvation and a continuous openness to new spiritual illumination.[2]
Many of the Radical Pietists are influenced by the writings ofJakob Böhme,Gottfried Arnold, andPhilipp Jakob Spener, among others. They teach that personal holiness (piety),spiritual maturity,Biblestudy,prayer, andfasting are essential toward "feeling the effects" of grace.
Churches in the Radical Pietist movement include theMennonite Brethren Church,Community of True Inspiration (Inspirationalists), theBaptist General Conference, members of theInternational Federation of Free Evangelical Churches (such as theEvangelical Covenant Church and theEvangelical Free Church), theTemplers, theRiver Brethren (inclusive of theBrethren in Christ Church, theCalvary Holiness Church, theOld Order River Brethren and theUnited Zion Church), as well as theSchwarzenau Brethren.[3][4][5][6][7]
UnlikePietistic Lutherans, Radical Pietists believe inseparation from the established Lutheran Churches.[8][9] They believe that Christians can live through direct empowerment of the Holy Ghost rather than relying on a complex hierarchy.[10] Churches in the tradition of Radical Pietism teach the necessity of theNew Birth, in which one has a personal conversion experience to Christ.[2] Radical Pietists emphasize the importance of holy living and thus frequently practicefasting andprayer.[11] They also believe innon-resistance and thus "forbid Christians to shed blood."[12]
With regard tobaptism, many Radical Pietists, such as theSchwarzenau Brethren, hold to the teaching of trine (triple) baptism: "that the original and apostolic form of baptism was to immerse the candidate forward into the water three times (once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son, and once in the name of the Spirit)."[13] Radical Pietists, such as theSchwarzenau Brethren and theRiver Brethren, also practice thelovefeast, which includesfootwashing and theholy kiss, as well asclosed communion.[13] The Radical Pietistic communities do not believe in theswearing of oaths. They resolve problems in the community at the congregational level under church councils presided byelders, rather than in civil courts.[13] Members who sin openly are visited by the elders and encouraged torepent of their transgressions.[13]
Churches in the Radical Pietist movement include theBaptist General Conference, theCommunity of True Inspiration (Inspirationalists), members of theInternational Federation of Free Evangelical Churches (such as theEvangelical Covenant Church and theEvangelical Free Church), theMennonite Brethren Church, theTemplers, theRiver Brethren, and theSchwarzenau Brethren.[3][4][5][7]
Converge, formerly known as theBaptist General Conference, emerged as a result of Radical Pietism spreading in Sweden.[3] The denomination emerged among Radical Pietists who separated fromstate churches and emphasizes the doctrines of "believer's baptism, a believer's church, free access to read and study Scripture, the importance of prayer and other spiritual disciplines, and a lifestyle that exhibited separation from sin."[14]
TheNorth American Baptist Conference emerged in a similar way to the Baptist General Conference, but in the United States and Canada for German speaking immigrants.[15][16][17]
TheCommunity of True Inspiration, today based in theAmana Colonies, are known for their reliance uponWerkzeuge who are men and women inspired by theHoly Spirit.[18] The Inspirationists' temporal affairs continue to prosper due to their "balanced combination of agriculture, tourism, and the manufacture of Amana refrigerators."[18] Adherents belonging to the Community of True Inspiration practice their Radical Pietistic faith relatively unchanged for hundreds of years.[19]
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TheEvangelical Covenant Church and theEvangelical Free Church are denominations in the Radical Pietistic tradition that were founded by Scandinavian immigrants to the Americas (seeMission Friends).[20] They, along with other Radical Pietistic churches, founded theInternational Federation of Free Evangelical Churches as an association of denominations around the world that "share the same Pietist approach to the faith and accept the Bible as their only creed".[7]
TheMennonite Brethren Church emerged among Russian Mennonites who accepted Radical Pietism.[3][21] Due to the belief inevangelism heralded by Radical Pietists, the Mennonite Brethren are characterized by their emphasis onmissionary work.[21] As with other Radical Pietists, the Mennonite Brethren emphasize apersonal conversion experience.[21]
TheBrethren in Christ Church emerged inLancaster County after a group ofMennonites came under influence of Radical Pietistic preachers who "emphasized spiritual passion and a warm, personal relationship to Jesus Christ."[6][3] They teach "the necessity of a crisis-conversion experience" as well as the existence of asecond work of grace that "results in the believer resulting in the ability to say no to sin".[6] The Brethren in Christ Church entered into a schism in 1964 resulting in the formation of theCalvary Holiness Church, which continues to emphasize thewearing of a headcovering by women,plain dress,temperance,footwashing, andpacifism.[22] Calvary Holiness Church is considered to be a part of theconservative holiness movement.[23]
TheOld Order River Brethren are an Anabaptist group in the Radical Pietistic tradition who are distinguished by their practice ofplain dress and abstaining from what they see as worldly entertainment, such as the television set.[24] The Old Order River Brethren separated from other streams of theRiver Brethren (theBrethren in Christ and theUnited Zion Church) to herald the doctrines ofnonresistance andnonconformity to the world; it is the most conservative in the River Brethren tradition.[25] The River Brethren hold experience meetings, in which "members [are seen] testifying of God's work in their lives in bringing them to salvation and daily living."[25] When a member has aconversion experience, he or she begins taking part in the experience meeting and then requestsbaptism.[25]
TheUnited Zion Church is a Radical Pietist denomination in the Anabaptist, specificallyRiver Brethren, tradition.[25] It separated from the mainstem of the River Brethren due to its allowance ofmeetinghouses, rather than worshipping in homes.[26][25]
A Radical Pietistic community known as theSchwarzenau Brethren originated in 1708; Schwarzenau Brethren includeOld Order Schwarzenau Brethren, conservative Schwarzenau Brethren—theDunkard Brethren Church, and mainline Schwarzenau Brethren—theChurch of the Brethren andThe Brethren Church.[27][28][29] They are known for their frequent celebration of thelovefeast, which for them, consists of footwashing, supper, theholy kiss, and the Eucharist.[30]
TheTemplers are a Radical Pietistic community that emerged in Germany.[31] They promotesmall groups to study the Bible and emphasize preparing for theSecond Coming of Christ.[31][32] Many Templers migrated to Russia, Palestine, and later to Australia where the Church is known as theTemple Society Australia.[31]
A common trait among some radical Pietists is that they formedcommunities where they sought to revive the original Christian living of theActs of the Apostles. Other Radical Pietists "preferred a largely solitary life of prayer, living in modest cottages or even more primitive dwellings in the hills outside of the town."[13]
Jean de Labadie (1610–1674) founded acommunitarian group in Europe which was known, after its founder, as theLabadists.Johannes Kelpius (1673–1708) led a communitarian group who came toAmerica from Germany in 1694.Conrad Beissel (1691–1768), founder of another early pietistic communitarian group, theEphrata Cloister, was also particularly affected by Radical Pietism's emphasis on personal experience and separation from false Christianity. TheHarmony Society (1785–1906), founded byGeorge Rapp, was another German-American religious group influenced by Radical Pietism. Other groups include theZoarite Separatists (1817–1898), and theAmana Colonies (1855-today).
In Sweden, a group of radical pietists formed a community, the "Skevikare", on an island outside of Stockholm, where they lived much like the Ephrata people, for nearly a century.[33]Eric Jansson was another Swedish Radical Pietist who formed a separatist community, the utopianBishop Hill Colony, after emigrating to Illinois.[34]
Radical Pietism's role in the emergence of modern religious communities has only begun to be adequately assessed, according to Hans Schneider, professor of church history at the University of Marburg, Germany.[35] However, this statement refers to the early era of Radical Pietism up to around 1715 while meanwhile the later era has been covered by numerous studies.
Two other common traits of radical Pietism were their strongendtime expectations, and their breakdown of social barriers. They were very influenced by prophecies gathered and published byJohn Amos Comenius and Gottfried Arnold. Events likecomets and lunar eclipses were seen as signs of threatening divine judgements. In Pennsylvania, Johannes Kelpius even installed a telescope on the roof of his house, where he and his followers kept watch for heavenly signs proclaiming the return of Christ.
As for the social barriers, in Germany and Sweden thefamiliar pronounthou (du) was commonly used among the radical Pietists. They also strongly abandoned class designation and academic degrees. Some of the barriers between men and women were also broken down. Many[quantify] radical pietistic women became well known as writers and prophets, as well as leaders of Philadelphian communities.[36]
Radical Pietism heavily influenced the development of theMethodist Churches, as well as theMoravian Church.[37][38]
Neo-Lutheranism was a Lutheran revival in reaction against pietism, and the pietistic movement in Germany declined in the 19th century. Radical pietism had an influence on Anglican religion, especially as practiced in theUnited States, due toGerman immigrants especially inPennsylvania, and combined with the influenced ofPresbyterianism andPuritanism eventually led to the development of the so-calledThird Great Awakening and the emergence of radicalEvangelicalism andPentecostalism peculiar toChristianity in the United States as it developed during the later 19th to early 20th centuries.[39]
Karl Barth, who initially supportedpietism, later critiqued radical pietism as creating a move towards unorthodoxy.[40]John Milbank, speaking from the perspective ofradical orthodoxy sees his critiques as misguided, overlooking how they were able to critique modern philosophy from a theological perspective by questioning the legitimacy of philosophy as "autonomous reason", ultimately leading to the demise ofKantianism. This is then seen by Milbank as the impetus for the quick rise and failure of defenses of critical reason byFichte,Schelling, andHegel. All this is seen as culminating in the especially radical pietism inKierkegaard, especially in his critique of Hegel. Further, he sees the theological content of radical pietism as forcing post Kantian idealisms to remain somewhat theological and characterizing certain central elements of modern philosophy, including "the priority of existence over thought; the primacy of language; the 'ecstatic' character of time; the historicity of reason; the dialogical principle; the suspension of the ethical; and the ontological difference."[41]
Only a tiny minority within the Church of the Brethren continues some vestigates of plain dress, such as the prayer covering for women. The Old German Baptist Brethren and the Dunkard Brethren, however, have maintained standards of traditional plain dress.
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