Johann Arndt - True Christianity

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§ 31. The great work of Arndt – the “True Christianity,” has probably never had its equal as a popular book of devotion. Tholuck relates the following anecdote as an illustration of the manner in which even Papists could appreciate the merits of the work. When Prof. Anton, of Halle, visited Madrid in 1687, he examined the library of the Jesuits, and incidentally inquired of the librarian respecting the ascetic writer whom they esteemed more than other authors of devotional works. The latter exhibited a Latin book, the title-page and last leaves of which were wanting, and declared that it was the most edifying work which they possessed. When Anton examined it, he discovered that it was a translation of Arndt's “ True Christianity ”! It is only common justice to allow the author to state the objects which he had in view, in preparing the work. The following passage occurs in a letter which he addressed in the last year of his life to Duke Augustus the Younger, of Brunswick: “In the first place, I wished to withdraw the minds of students and preachers from an inordinate controversial and polemic theology, which has well-nigh assumed the form of an earlier scholastic theology. Secondly, I purposed to conduct Christian believers from lifeless thoughts to such as might bring forth fruit. Thirdly, I wished to guide them onward from mere science and theory, to the actual practice of faith and godliness; and, fourthly, to show them wherein a truly Christian life consists, which accords with the true faith, as well as to explain the apostle's meaning when he says: ‘I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,’ etc.” (Gal. 2:20.)

§ 32. The Rev. Dr. Seiss, the author of “Ecclesia Lutherana, etc.,” to whose endeavors the religious public is mainly indebted for the appearance of the present edition, remarks in a recent notice of the work: “This is one of the very greatest and most useful practical books produced by Protestantism. Though written more than two hundred and fifty years ago, it is still unsurpassed in its department. It stands out with marked and superior distinction in the modern ages. Next to the Bible and Luther's Small Catechism, it has been more frequently printed, more widely read, and more influential for good, than any other book, perhaps, that has ever been written. Boehm has not exaggerated, when he says that its effects, in the conversion of souls, has been such, that an account of them would make a history in itself. Nor can any one candidly read it, without finding on every page, scintillations of the sunlike splendors of a mind bathed in the purity, wisdom, and love of heaven.” Mr. Boehm, in the Preface to his translation (which is the basis both of the revision of Mr. Jacques, and of the present edition), remarks, that among the learned men in Great Britain, who had read the Latin translation, the distinguished Dr. Worthington had assigned the first rank among devotional writers to Arndt, and quotes the enthusiastic terms in which he extols that “faithful servant of God, John Arndt.” And Mr. Jacques closes the Preface to his revision with the following words: “Divines of all communions and persuasions, have united in their admiration of this delightful production. The late learned Dr. Edward Williams has inserted it in his valuable Appendix to the Christian Preacher: and the Rev. John Wesley made a most copious extract from it, comprised in Vol. I. and II. of his Christian Library.”

§ 33. And truly God did not design this great work solely for the comfort and aid of the German nation during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), but for all nations and all times. It has been translated into the Latin, Danish, Swedish, Bohemian, Polish, Low Dutch, English, French, Turkish, Russian, Malabar, Tamul, etc., languages. At least two editions of the work in a Latin translation were published in England; the last appeared in 1708, with the following title: “Joannis Arndtii, Theologici, etc.: De vero Christianismo. Libri IV. Cura et studio A. W. Boemi. Lond. 1708.” 2 vols. 8vo. – Another Latin edition was published in Germany in 1624. The Tamul translation had the following Latin title: “De vero Christianismo, in Tamulicum convertit Benjamin Schulzius, Missionarius Evangelicus.” 2 2 The first Latin translation, published at Leipsic in 1704, was prepared by the joint labors of Dr. J. G. Dorscheus and Dr. J. G. Pritius. (The latter published about the same time his Introductio in lectionem N. T. , etc., which was highly valued, and passed through several editions; our own copy is dated 1737.) An extended Preface was furnished by Pritius. The whole is presented in a single and very clumsy volume. – The Latin translation published by Mr. Boehm in London, 1708, and dedicated to his patron, Prince George, appeared in two neat and convenient volumes, and is far superior to the continental edition. Copies of these editions, which are now rarely to be found, were obtained by us from the very rich collection of such works, belonging to Rev. Dr. C. P. Krauth, of West Philadelphia.

§ 34. The work had made so deep an impression on learned British Christians, who read it in Latin, that the wish was repeatedly and earnestly expressed that it might be made accessible to English readers. At this period, that is, during the reign of Queen Anne of England (who died in 1714), large numbers of German emigrants from the Palatinate passed through England on their way to the provinces of New York and Pennsylvania. The Rev. Anthony William Boehm, a German Lutheran clergyman, had previously been appointed as the court chaplain of Prince George of Denmark, the consort of Queen Anne. His enlightened zeal and devout heart led him to take a deep interest, not only in the temporal, but also in the spiritual welfare of these pilgrims, who were on their way to the wilds of North America. He accordingly supplied them, by the aid of certain like-minded friends, with German Bibles and Hymn Books, and also with German copies of Arndt's “True Christianity,” as well as with other books of devotion. This interesting fact is mentioned in the letters of Dr. Muhlenberg, published in the well-known Halle Reports ( Hallische Nachrichten , pp. 665, 793). But Mr. Boehm also resolved to furnish the people, in the midst of whom he lived, with the great work of his favorite author, in their own language, and accordingly prepared an English translation, which was first printed in London in 1712.

§ 35. It would be unjust to the memory of this excellent man, if we should fail to refer to his literary labors. His high office at the royal court of England, is an evidence of his personal merit. He was not only a devout and faithful preacher of the Gospel, but also an author who acquired distinction. In 1734 he published a very valuable work in the German language, entitled: “Eight Books, on the Reformation of the Church in England, extending from the year 1526, under Henry VIII., to the reign of Charles II.” In a very beautiful eulogy, in manuscript, found in the volume before us, the writer refers to the successful efforts of Mr. Boehm to provide for the education of the children of the poor in his vicinity. He died May 27, 1722, in his fiftieth year, after having faithfully labored in the service of Christ. He sustained, with eminent success, the Danish Lutheran missionaries in Tranquebar, by sending pecuniary aid obtained in London, as well as religious publications. Besides his great German historical work, which is the complement of Burnet's “History of the Reformation of the Church of England,” he also published several English compositions, such as a “Sermon on the doctrine of Original Sin, Eph. 4:22,” printed in London, 1711, and a “Sermon on the Duty of the Reformation (Jubilee), Rev. 18:4,” London, 1718, besides various religious works in the German language.

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