Lutheran piety in the 16th and 17th centuries is generally characterized by one of two opposing historiographical views. On the one hand, the central theory of a “crisis of piety” has asserted great influence on the assessment of this era up until the present. Its origins can be traced back to contemporary claims that a reform of life never followed the reform of teaching, but that the emphasis on confessional differences hardened the fronts between believers. Preachers and theologians who allegedly focused much more on dogma than on piety in their sermons have been made responsible for this development. In the same accord, devotional literature, such as Johann Arndt’s famous Vier Bücher vom wahren Christentum, has been predominantly ascribed to heterodox circles rather than orthodox circles due ot its dogmatic vagueness. At the same time, Balthasar Meisner’s call for a true pia desideria in reaction to church grievances reflects the situation of the time and cannot be simply marginalized as spiritualistic or mystic. Especially influential was the verdict of the pietist Gottfried Arnold who spoke of a “dead orthodoxy”, excluding true piety.
On the other hand, a more differentiated historiographical perspective has developed that views the claimed opposition between dogmatics and piety as two facets of church life, varying in significance according to place, time and person. Not first after the end of the 30 Years’ War, as has been claimed, but rather already at the outset of the 17th century, pastors and theologians saw the urgent need for improving life in the church and vitalizing piety. In this context, Hans Leube spoke of a “reform orthodoxy”, but it remains unclear whether he was referring to reform-oriented orthodoxy as a whole or merely to a certain trend within this movement. To resolve the presumed contradiction between dogmatic literature and confessional awareness on the one hand and devotional literature and piety on the other scholars have pointed to the simple fact that several of the most prominent authors of dogmatic and controversial theological works, such as Johann Gerhard, also published influential devotional writings. For this reason, Walter Sparn distinguished between an inward confessionalisation that positively developed certain dogmatic topoi such as Christology, soteriology and eschatology and an outward confessionalisation that polemically asserted certain dogmatic topoi such as the doctrine of election. In both cases, dogmatics promoted piety and revealed to the individuals the salvation personally ascribed to them and in this way strengthened them in the expression of their piety.
The workshop reinvestigates these two central perspectives on Lutheran piety. It seeks to describe how piety was manifested and expressed in specific situations and pursues the question of whether one can speak of a continuous development of piety since the Reformation specific to the Lutheran confession. Furthermore, it examines the role and significance of pastors and theologians in shaping piety. The workshop takes a European perspective in order to better discern cultural and socio-political differences within the Lutheran confession.