And the great danger lay in mistaking faith itself for
the doctrine of faith. Therefore, in the controversies concerning
justifying faith, we find that faith gradually came to be considered in
relation to its doctrinal aspects more than in connection with the
personal, practical, and experimental knowledge of men. In this view
Pietism is an _elaboration_ of the faith of the sixteenth century....
Without being heterodox, Spener even expressed himself in the most
decided manner in favor of the doctrines of the Church. He would make
faith consist less in the dogmatism of the head than in the motions of
the heart; he would bring the doctrine away from the angry disputes of
the schools and incorporate it into practical life. He was thoroughly
united with the Reformers as to the real signification of justifying
faith, but these contraries which were sought to be reestablished he
rejected.... From Spener's view a new phase of spiritual life began to
pervade the heart. The orthodoxy of the State Church had been accustomed
to consider all baptized persons as true believers if only they had been
educated in wholesome doctrines.
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