Spiritualiteten hos Kreitlow. Uppmaningar och råd i hans predikningar

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to find out what kind of spirituality was expressed in the sermons of Joachim Friedrich Kreitlow. The focus lies in what way Kreitlow encouraged his congregation to express their Christian life in different situations. This thesis also tries to determine where Kreitlow stands in the meeting between Lutheran orthodoxy and Pietism, and the conflict that followed. The main source is a hand-written book that contains about 65 of Kreitlow’s sermons, written down between the 20th July 1704 and the 21th October 1710. The method used is to carefully study the sermons looking for sayings that contain appeals and advises for different situations. The study shows that appeals are quite rare in the studied material. Those appeals that are found are generally not specific in their execution. The reason is most likely due to the sermons’ character, which are of a more teaching character, focusing more on explaining the dogmatic teachings of the faith than encouraging the practical aspect of it. The study also shows that Kreitlow had a firm affinity for the orthodox creed but took some aspects of Pietism and put them to use in his sermons. The traces of Pietism are however small, the clearest example is the use of a pietistic book in one of his sermons. The spirituality expressed in the preachings are focused around knowledge of the teachings, this knowledge is then transferred into a christian life centered around trust, prayer and good deeds.