Johann Christoph Blumhardt, Life and Work

A New Biography

Dieter Ising

Translated by Monty Ledford

Johann Christoph Blumhardt, Life and Work

A New Biography

Copyright © 2009 Dieter Ising. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf & Stock, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

The German version of this book has appeared under the title Johann Christoph Blumhardt. Leben und Werk, published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co KG, Göttingen 2002.

Cascade Books

A Division of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

isbn 13: 978-1-60608-539-4

eisbn 13: 978-1-4982-7022-9

Cataloging-in-Publication data:

Ising, Dieter.

Johann Christoph Blumhardt, life and work : a new biography / Dieter Ising. Translated by Monty Ledford.

isbn 13: 978-1-60608-539-4

xviii + 492 p. ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Note: translation of Johann Christoph Blumhardt Leben und Werk, 2002.

1. Blumhardt, Johann Christoph. 2. Lutherans—Biography. 2. Theologians—Germany—Biography. I. Ledford, Monty. II. Title.

2009

Cover photo: Johann Christoph Blumhardt, 1805–1880.

List of illustrations—

Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart, D 34 (Nachlass Jäckh): cover photo, nrs. 2, 3, 6–10.

Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, Blumhardt-Archiv: nrs. 4, 5.Foto Kirschner, Nellingen: no. 1.

For Bettina Ising and Elaine Ledford

Preface to the English Edition

This book describes the life and writings of Johann Christoph Blumhardt (1805–1880), pastoral counselor and theologian of hope. This man, offshoot though he was of the small kingdom of Württemberg in southwest Germany, even during his lifetime became a figure of international recognition. His theology and pastoral approach, as well as that of his son Christoph Friedrich, provoked earnest and lively debate especially in German-speaking areas, and this debate continues today. Thus we welcome the decision by Christian T. Collins Winn and Charles Moore to launch their series, The Blumhardts: Texts and Reception. This will enable the Blumhardts to make their voice heard also in the English-speaking world.

The present volume is not a product of Blumhardt’s pen, but it has been mined from the original sources, the product of an interaction with Blumhardt’s biography, pastoral practice and theology that goes back many years. The author has made the effort to draw the portrait of Blumhardt with its shadows as well as its bright side. The reader is invited to enter fully into the 1800s, Blumhardt’s century, yet is constantly reminded that the problems of that day have lost none of their currency, even within the altered mental horizons of today. We are presently under obligation to offer—with all due regard for reason [ratio]—a response to an ossified rationalism that refuses to recognize ...