Abstract
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This essay, the first reception history of proto-Pentecostals Johann Christoph Blumhardt and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt in Anglo-American literature, charts three phases of reception of the Blumhardts in English-speaking circles. The first phase focused on the healing ministry of the elder Blumhardt, which took place primarily in the nineteenth century. The second phase began in the mid-twentieth century and was devoted especially to introducing the Blumhardts to English-speaking readers. It included attempts by theologians and ethicists to appropriate the Blumhardts for constructive theological purposes. The third phase, currently underway, is marked by scholarly assessment of the Blumhardts in their historical setting and by an effort to translate more of the Blumhardt corpus into English. The conclusion offers unsystematic interpretive observations culled from the reception history itself, with an eye to the future appropriation of the Blumhardts in the English-speaking world. This essay, the first reception history of proto-Pentecostals Johann Christoph Blumhardt and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt in Anglo-American literature, charts three phases of reception of the Blumhardts in English-speaking circles. The first phase focused on the healing ministry of the elder Blumhardt, which took place primarily in the nineteenth century. The second phase began in the mid-twentieth century and was devoted especially to introducing the Blumhardts to English-speaking readers. It included attempts by theologians and ethicists to appropriate the Blumhardts for constructive theological purposes. The third phase, currently underway, is marked by scholarly assessment of the Blumhardts in their historical setting and by an effort to translate more of the Blumhardt corpus into English. The conclusion offers unsystematic interpretive observations culled from the reception history itself, with an eye to the future appropriation of the Blumhardts in the English-speaking world.
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