" Thus reasoned the enemies
of Pietism, who claimed as heartily as any of their contemporaries that
they were strict adherents of truth and warm supporters of spiritual
life. But their reasoning, however baseless, found favor; and the Church
gradually came to look upon Pietism not as a handmaid, but as an
adversary.
But we must first learn what Pietism proposed to do before we can
appreciate its historical importance. Dorner holds, with a large number
of others, that this new tendency was a necessary stage in the
development of Protestantism,--a supplement of the Reformation. Though
laughed at for two centuries by the Churchists on the one hand, and by
the Rationalists on the other, it has to-day a firmer hold upon the
respect of those who know its history best than at any former period.
What if Arnold, and Petersen and his wife, did indulge in great
extravagances? Have not the same unpleasant things occurred in the
Church at other times? Yet, because not classed under any sectarian
name, there has been but a transient estimate placed upon them, and
criticism has been merciless.
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