Gerhard Tersteegen (1697–1769)

I worked my way through this anthology of the writings of Gerhard Tersteegen in small doses. Tersteegen is primarily remembered as the author of poems that have been set to music and remain popular in German-language hymnals, such as “Gott ist gegenwärtig” and “Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe.” He was an eighteenth-century “quietist,” a variant of pietism whose adepts lived a withdrawn life, the better to cultivate a personal relationship with God. What at first glance seems passivity seems to involve instead the paradox of willing oneself to surrender one’s will totally to God. He and his sympathizers had little interest in what they called “external worship,” although Tersteegen seems not to have been hostile to it, as other quietists were. In keeping with the general piety of the time, life events were seen as the doing of God or the devil.
I enjoyed the poems, but my attention lagged while reading the selection of letters, which seemed similar to each other. A few stood out, however. In one, Tersteegen gives advice for how to help a mutual acquaintance tempted to take his own life. There is no information about the dates of any of the writings or the letters’ addressees. There is a scholarly edition of his letters that presumably gives that.
All in all, this book is an adequate introduction to the man behind the hymn texts.… (meer)