Did the Pietists become esotericists when they read the works of Jacob Boehme?

Abstract

As is commonly known, Jacob Boehme (1575–1624) is, and has been ever since his emergence, difficult to place in the history of thought. He has, for instance, been characterized as ‘the most religious of philosophers’. As such Boehme could be seen to be on a borderline somewhere between philosophy and theology. From a reverse point of view, however, he could also be termed the most speculative of the religiously minded, as a deeply religious thinker or mystic. His influence is also shown in both fields; not only was he to play an important role within German philosophy during the Romantic era, but also, within the Pietist movement, or the movement for re­vival of piety within the Lutheran church. Focusing on the Pietist movement, initiated by Philipp Jakob Spener (1635–1705) in the late seventeenth century and its spread on Finnish ground, the author of this article shows that where Boehmian influence is traceable, it reached quite different environments depending on the movement’s leaders or followers. Also some light is shed on the controversy between Lutheran orthodoxy and Pietism in early eighteenth century Finland