Editing Philipp Spener

{{Short description|German Lutheran theologian (1635-–1705)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_name         = Philipp Jakob Spener
| image              = Philipp Jakob Spener.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1635|1|30|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Ribeauvillé|Rappoltsweiler]], [[Upper Alsace]], {{avoid wrap|Holy Roman Empire}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1705|2|5|1635|1|30|df=y}}
| death_place        = {{avoid wrap|[[Berlin]], [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]],}} Holy Roman Empire
| education          = [[University of Strasbourg]]
| occupation         = {{plainlist|
* [[Lutheran theologian]]
* Preacher
* Lecturer
}}
| movement           = [[Pietism]]
| organizations      = 
}}
{{Lutheranism}}

'''Philipp Jakob Spener''' (23 January 1635 – 5 February 1705)<ref>Encyclopaedia Britannica, [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philipp-Jakob-Spener#info-article-history Philipp Jakob Spener]. Retrieved 8 October 2020.</ref> was a German [[Lutheran theologian]] who essentially founded what became known as [[Pietism]]. He was later dubbed the "Father of Pietism". A prolific writer, his two main works, ''Pia desideria'' (1675) and ''Allgemeine Gottesgelehrtheit'' (1680), were published while he was the chief pastor in the Lutheran Church at [[Frankfurt]]. 

In 1691, he was invited to [[Berlin]] by the court of [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]]. In Berlin, Spener was at odds with the predominant [[Lutheran orthodoxy]], as he had been all his life. Spener influenced the foundation of the [[University of Halle]]. Disputing his positions, the theological faculty of [[University of Wittenberg|Wittenberg]], formally accused him of 264 errors.

==Life==
Spener was born on 23 January 1635, in [[Ribeauvillé|Rappoltsweiler]], [[Upper Alsace]], now part of France, in Spener's time as part of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. After a brief time at the [[grammar school]] of [[Colmar]], he went to [[University of Strasbourg|Strasbourg]] in 1651. There he devoted himself to the study of [[philology]], [[history]] and [[philosophy]], and won his degree of master in 1653, with a disputation against the philosophy of [[Thomas Hobbes]]. He then became private tutor to the princes Christian and Charles of the [[Electorate of the Palatinate]], and lectured in the university on [[philology]] and history. From 1659 to 1662, he visited the universities of [[university of Basel|Basel]], [[university of Tübingen|Tübingen]] and [[university of Geneva|Geneva]], and commenced the study of [[heraldry]], which he pursued throughout his life. In [[Geneva]] especially, his religious views and tendencies turned in the direction of mysticism.<ref name="Chisholm1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Spener, Philipp Jakob}}</ref>

[[Image:Gedenktafel Nikolaikirchplatz (Mitte) Philipp Jacob Spener.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque on Nikolaikirchplatz in Berlin]]

Spener returned to Strasbourg in 1663, where he was appointed preacher without pastoral duties, with the right of holding lectures. Three years afterwards, he was invited to become the chief pastor in the [[Lutheran]] Church at [[Frankfurt]]. Here he published his two chief works, ''Pia desideria'' (1675) and ''Allgemeine Gottesgelehrtheit'' (1680), and began that form of pastoral work which resulted in the movement called [[Pietism]].<ref>Christopher Clark: "Iron Kingdom", 2006. p 125</ref>

In 1686, he accepted the invitation to the first court chaplaincy at [[Dresden]]. The [[John George III, Elector of Saxony|Elector John George III]], at whose personal desire the post had been offered to him, was soon offended when Spener condemned the morals of John George's court.<ref>Christopher Clark: "Iron Kingdom", 2006. p 125</ref> Spener refused to resign his post, and the [[Saxony|Saxon]] government hesitated to dismiss him. In 1691, the Saxon representative at [[Berlin]] induced the court of [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]] to offer him the rectorship of St Nicholas in Berlin, with the title of counsellor of the Marcher [[consistory (Protestantism)|Consistory]] (Konsistorialrat).<ref name="Chisholm1911"/>

In Berlin, Spener was held in high honour, though the tendencies of the court and the government officials were rather rationalistic than pietistic. The [[University of Halle]] was founded under his influence in 1694. All his life, Spener had been exposed to the attacks and abuse of the [[orthodox Lutheran]] theologians. Over time, his opponents multiplied, and the movement which he started accumulated hostile criticism. In 1695, the theological faculty of [[University of Wittenberg|Wittenberg]] formally accused him of 264 errors. Only his death released him from these fierce conflicts. His last important work was ''Theologische Bedenken'' (1700–1702), to which was added after his death ''Letzte theologische Bedenken'', with a biography of Spener by [[Karl Hildebrand, Count of Canstein|CH von Canstein]] (1711).<ref name="Chisholm1911"/> Spener died in Berlin, on 5 February 1705, aged 70.

==Theology==
[[Image:Pia desideria de P. J. Spener.jpg|thumb|''Pia Desideria'']]

Highly influenced by [[Johann Arndt]], [[Lewis Bayly]], [[Jean de Labadie]], and [[Theophil Großgebauer]], Spener's own writings display an emphasis on personal transformation through spiritual rebirth and renewal. It is this focus on individual devotion and piety that places him within the realm of [[Pietism]].<ref>Howard C. Kee et al., ''Christianity: A Social and Cultural History'', 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998), 344–45.</ref> Spener wanted to strengthen and renew the church through the development of more knowledgeable and devoted members.<ref>Philip Jacob Spener, ''Pia Desideria'', trans. Theodore G. Tappert (Philadelphia, PA:  Fortress Press, 1964), 87–122.</ref>

In his ''Pia Desideria'', he gave six proposals of how to enact this reform: (1) to more thoroughly acquaint believers with Scripture by means of private readings and study groups, in addition to preaching; (2) to increase the involvement of laity in all functions of the church; (3) to emphasize that believers put into practice their faith and knowledge of God; (4) to approach religious discussions with humility and love, avoiding controversy whenever possible; (5) to ensure that pastors are both well-educated and pious; and (6) to focus preaching on developing faith in ordinary believers.<ref>Philip Jacob Spener, ''Pia Desideria'', trans. Theodore G. Tappert (Philadelphia, PA:  Fortress Press, 1964), 87–122.</ref> As these proposals indicate, Spener saw positive change for the church as being primarily dependent upon the pious involvement of individual believers.<ref>Howard C. Kee et al., ''Christianity: A Social and Cultural History'', 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998), 345.</ref>

Though Spener has been called the "father of Pietism," [[Albrecht Ritschl]] (''Geschichte des Pietismus'', ii. 163) maintains that "he was himself not a Pietist," as he did not advocate the quietistic, legalistic and semi-separatist practices of Pietism, though they were more or less involved in the positions he assumed or the practices which he encouraged or connived at. The only two points on which he departed from the orthodox Lutheran faith of his day were the requirement of regeneration as the ''[[sine qua non]]'' of the true theologian, and the expectation of the conversion of the [[Jew]]s and the fall of the Papacy as the prelude of the triumph of the Church.<ref name="Chisholm1911"/>

He did not, like the later Pietists, insist upon the necessity of a conscious crisis of conversion, nor did he encourage a complete breach between the Christian and the secular life.<ref name="Chisholm1911"/> Spener was sometimes believed to be one of the godfathers of Count von [[Zinzendorf]], the leader of the [[Moravian Church|Moravian Brethren's]] Community at [[Herrnhut]] in [[Saxony]]. Although Zinzendorf met Spener as a child at his grandmother's home in Hennersdorf, Spener was not his godfather.<ref>Dietrich Meyer and Paul Peucker, eds., ''Graf ohne Grenzen: Leben und Werk von Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf'' (Herrnhut: Unitätsarchiv, 2000), 165–167.</ref>

Spener was a prolific writer. The list of his published works comprises 7 vols. folio, 63 quarto, 7 octavo, 46 duodecimo. An edition of his chief writings was published by P. Grunberg in 1889.<ref name="Chisholm1911"/> TVG Brunnen Verlag in Gießen, Germany began a new edition of Spener's works in 1996.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* (de) Johannes Wallmann: Philipp Jakob Spener und die Anfänge des Pietismus, Tübingen 1970 (2. Aufl. 1986).
* (de) Reinhard Breymayer, « Der Vater des deutschen Pietismus und seine Bücher. Zur Privatbibliothek Philipp Jakob Speners », in: Bibliothecae selectae da Cusano a Leopardi, a cura di Eugenio Canone, Firenze, Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1993, p.&nbsp;299–331 (Lessico Intellettuale Europeo, 58).
* (en) Werner Raupp: Art. Spener, Philipp Jacob (1635–1705), in: Heiner F. Klemme / Manfred Kuehn (General Editors), The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers, Vol. 3, London/New York 2010, p.&nbsp;1106–1110.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Philipp Jacob Spener}}
* [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/spener.html Online edition of Spener's heraldic works] (Latin)
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=K8kzdHwu5eMC Pia Desideria] by Philipp Jakob Spener (English translation)

{{Pietism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spener, Philipp Jakob}}
[[Category:1635 births]]
[[Category:1705 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Christian mystics]]
[[Category:18th-century Christian mystics]]
[[Category:People from Ribeauvillé]]
[[Category:17th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:18th-century German writers]]
[[Category:Alsatian-German people]]
[[Category:German Lutheran theologians]]
[[Category:Lutheran pacifists]]
[[Category:17th-century German Protestant theologians]]
[[Category:18th-century German Lutheran clergy]]
[[Category:German heraldists]]
[[Category:University of Strasbourg alumni]]
[[Category:Protestant mystics]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:18th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:17th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:17th-century German Lutheran clergy]]
[[Category:17th-century Lutheran theologians]]
[[Category:18th-century Lutheran theologians]]