Description: Johann Christoph Blumhardt (1805-1880) was a pastoral counselor and theologian of hope. His theology and pastoral approach, shaped as they were by the awakening in his congregation and numerous incidents of faith healing, provoked earnest and lively debate, and the controversy continues today. Ising's work mines the original sources, the product of an interaction with Blumhardt's life and work that goes back many years. He has drawn a portrait that explores the shadows as well as its bright side. Readers are invited to enter fully into the nineteenth century, Blumhardt's century, yet are constantly reminded that the problems of that day have lost none of their currency within the altered mental horizons of today. Endorsements: ""This is the long expected, definitive biography of the Swabian Protestant Pastor Johann Christoph Blumhardt ... Ising shows that Blumhardt's legacy deserves more than nostalgic remembrance. It poses a genuine challenge to the perceptions and practices of Christian counseling, which is often highly professional but no longer dares to count on God's presence in the counseling process itself."" -Christoffer H. Grundmann author of Sent to Heal Emergence and Development of Medical Missions ""Blumhardt's biography, from its earliest beginnings until his quiet death, has received magisterial treatment by Dieter Ising. The narrative is as judicious as it is vivid; this is so particularly with regard to Blumhardt's place within the framework of Pietism and the 'surplus' in addition to Pietism that he was able to find, the way he grew beyond his limitations."" -Paul Dieterich Prelate (ret.), Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg ""There is now available a wealth of biographical material which enables us, to a much greater degree than before, to illuminate Blumhardt's place in the history of the territorial churches and in contemporary church life. This has made possible the present biography, a model of its kind, in which Dieter Ising has been able to base his account on his comprehensive edition of Blumhardt's letters as well as on further previously unpublished materials."" -Gerhard Sauter author of Die Theologie des Reiches Gottes beim alteren und jungeren Blumhardt ""Until recently, Blumhardt has appeared as a mysterious figure. This has now changed with Dieter Ising's clearly-written and thorough biography . . . The result is a vivid portrayal of a man set clearly in the context of his life and times and speaking to us today in ways that challenge our own ways of thinking. This biography must not be overlooked by anyone interested in contemporary theology or pastoral care, especially with the healing message so popular in the churches of the Southern Hemisphere. I enthusiastically recommend it."" -Frank D. Macchia author of Spirituality and Social Concern: The Message of the Blumhardts in the Light of Wuerttemberg Pietism About the Contributor(s): Dieter Ising wrote his doctoral thesis at Tubingen under the supervision of Jurgen Moltmann. His field of research is Wurttemberg church history and history of theology. In the Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart he has edited the correspondence of Johann Christoph Blumhardt (7 volumes, 1993-2001) and is editing the correspondence of Johann Albrecht Bengel.

Die Autobiographie des wurttembergischen Theologen Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702 1782) macht nicht den Eindruck, im behaglichen Lehnstuhl entstanden zu sein, sondern gibt sich und der Welt Rechenschaft. Von seinen Zeitgenossen oft missverstanden, hofft er auf das Verstandnis kunftiger Generationen. Das geschieht ohne Pathos, er beschimpft seine Gegner nicht. Aber seine Betroffenheit spurt man, etwa wenn es um seine Kritik an der Philosophie und Theologie der Aufklarung geht, um das Verhaltnis zum radikalen Pietismus, um seine alchemistischen Versuche oder die Stellung zu Swedenborg. Auch Oetingers freundschaftliche und dann doch hochst kontrare Begegnungen mit Zinzendorf durchziehen weite Teile der Selbstbiographie. Oetingers Ruckbesinnung fuhrt nicht einfach durch sein ausseres Leben, sondern auch zu der zentralen Erkenntnis: Die von Gott geschaffene Natur dient als Verstehenshilfe fur die Heilige Schrift. Wer in beiden lese, komme zu einem Gesamtsystem der Wahrheit, der -Heiligen Philosophie-. In dieser Ausgabe wird die Selbstbiographie aus der Handschrift neu ediert, ausfuhrlich erlautert und in den Zusammenhang ihrer Zeit gestellt, erganzt durch einen Uberblick zur Druckgeschichte des Werkes.