Church leaders branded him a radical, the enemy, and a traitor to his own denomination. Gottfried Arnold (1666-1714) hardly fits the stereotype of a militant firebrand. He was a devout and earnest Lutheran pastor who preached thoughtful sermons and wrote daily devotions. You could call him a Christian mystic whose writings and hymns were popular with peace-loving Mennonites. As a historian, he was partial to the reverence and simplicity of the early church before Constantine.
So, what’s the problem? In 1701, he wrote a blistering attack on Protestant church leaders. He took aim at power-hungry, heresy-hunting church officials who reduced the Christian faith to precisely worded doctrinal confessions. He criticized these tyrannical leaders for denouncing anyone they didn’t understand and espousing a form of Christianity in name only. He lamented their lack of ethical commitment and pleaded with them to recover a vital witness to Christ in wider society.
The backlash was fierce and relentless. He resigned his teaching position, convinced that theological schools were beholden to the religious establishment and lived out his days pastoring a small Lutheran church in rural Germany. He married, raised a family, and continued to write devotional material for the wider church. While he listened to his critics, he never let up on calling the church to a simpler, more loving way of following Jesus.