Johann Christoph Blumhardt, Life and Work
A New Biography
by Dieter Ising
Translated by Monty Ledford
Imprint: Cascade Books
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.
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.
"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
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