Origins & Early Life

Philipp Jakob Spener (23 January 1635 – 5 February 1705) was a German Lutheran theologian and pastor 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 in Frankfurt. In 1691, he was invited to Berlin by the court of Brandenburg.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

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 Wittenberg, formally accused him of 264 errors. Spener was born on 23 January 1635, in 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 Strasbourg in 1651.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

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...

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