The Center for the Study of World Christian Revitalization Movements

Living for God: Eighteenth Century Dutch Pietist Autobiography

Published in 2006, Living for God: Eighteenth Century Dutch Pietist Autobiography describes all aspects of daily life of pious reformed people (14 men and 6 women) in the Netherlands between 1720 and 1820. Sources are explored thematically, with each autobiographical chapter describing one section of Pietist life.  After introductory chapters on the theological, cultural, and social context and the individual backgrounds of the autobiographers, collective surveys are provided relating to youth, education, adolescence, conversion experiences, spiritual life, marriage, children, congregational life, social and economic life, and the production and reception of the autobiographies.

The Dutch perspective was chosen so as to demonstrate that Pietism was not just a movement from the big European countries like Britain and Germany. Apart from its impact on East European and Scandinavian countries, Dutch Pietism is an important and essential part of the movement, at the one hand in the special context of the pluriform and tolerant nation, at the other hand as a 'bridge' between Anglo-Saxon and German Pietist movements. Focusing on Dutch Reformed Pietism may also give a correction to the dominant 'Lutheran' view, caused by the Germanocentric historiography of the movement. Dutch Pietism has also influenced the spirituality of many religious people in the Netherlands up to the present day, including descendants of emigrants in North America and in South Africa.