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Like his father, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt soon became renowned as an evangelist and faith healer. But after a successful “crusade” in Berlin in 1888, he drastically cut back both activities, saying, “I do not want to suggest that it is of little importance for God to heal the sick; actually, it is now happening more and more often, although very much in quiet. However, things should not be promoted as though God’s kingdom consists in the healing of sick people. To be cleansed is more important than to be healed. It is more important to have a heart for God’s cause.”
Blumhardt’s interest gradually took “a turn to the world,” focusing upon the great socioeconomic issues of his day. He chose to cast his lot with Democratic Socialism, the much-maligned workers’ movement. Although it brought on the wrath of both civil and ecclesiastical establishments, he addressed protest rallies, ran for office, and was elected to a six-year term in the Württemberg legislature. Blumhardt began as an energetic legislator but soon became disillusioned with party politics and declined to stand for a second term of office, resuming his pastorate at Bad Boll until his death in 1919.
Blumhardt believed one of the greatest dangers to human progress was “Christianity” – Sunday religion that separated material existence from the spiritual and that erected rituals and practices of self-seeking, self-satisfying, otherworldly piousness instead of practical works and righteous living. His witness profoundly influenced theological giants like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Emil Brunner, Oscar Cullman, and Karl Barth, yet is still waiting to be discovered in much of the English-speaking world. To that end, Plough has published several collections of Blumhardt’s writings, including Everyone Belongs to God, Action in Waiting, and Evening Prayers.
Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
We dare not give up on those who are sick and dying, for it belongs to our human dignity and calling to nurture life.
Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
Have you ever looked at the world to see what is driving it, what it has dreamed up in the way of worshiping God in some way?
Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
God’s kingdom is not formed by human intention, however daring and noble, but by the coming of Christ. Our faith, our ardor, must be for this coming.
Eberhard Arnold, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Jean Vanier, C. S. Lewis, J. Heinrich Arnold, Johann Christoph Arnold, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Richard J. Foster, Søren Kierkegaard, Gerhard Lohfink, Charles E. Moore, George MacDonald, Thomas Merton, Henri J. M. Nouwen and Chiara Lubich
Fifty-two readings on living in intentional Christian community to spark group discussion. Read More
Johann Christoph Blumhardt and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
Formerly titled Thy Will Be Done, this collection of daily biblical reflections will encourage anyone facing sickness or an uncertain future. Read More
Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
How can Christians represent the love of Christ in an age when Christianity has earned a bad name from centuries of intolerance and cultural imperialism? Is it enough to love and serve your neighbor? Can you be a missional Christian without a church? Read More
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Søren Kierkegaard, C. S. Lewis, Philip Yancey, Eberhard Arnold, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, J. Heinrich Arnold, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Johann Christoph Arnold, George MacDonald, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Thomas Merton, Leo Tolstoy, N. T. Wright and William H. Willimon
Has there ever been a more hard-hitting, beautifully written, theologically inclusive anthology of writings for Lent and Easter? It’s doubtful. — Publishers Weekly Read More
Liguorian Magazine
Evangelical Church Library Association
Mennonite Quarterly Review
Englewood Review for Books
Nancy Roberts, Catholic Sentinel
InterVarsity Emerging Scholars Network
Midwest Book Review
Paul Louis Metzger, Patheos
Kyle Roberts, Patheos
David Swartz, Patheos
April Yamasaki, author, Sacred Pauses: Spiritual Practices for Personal Renewal
Stanley Hauerwas
Rick Warren
Publisher's Weekly starred review
Peter D. Anders, Harvard University
Jennifer M. McBride, Wartberg College
Amos Yong, Regent University
Paul Dafydd Jones, University of Virginia
Gill Robbins, Christians in Education, Patheos
Joshua T. Searle, Spurgeon’s College, London
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author, Strangers at My Door
Karl Barth
John E. Phelan, Jr., The Covenant Companion
Luci Shaw, author, Water My Soul
Harvey Cox, Harvard Divinity School
Eugene H. Peterson, author, Subversive Spirituality
Karl Barth
Stanley Hauerwas, co-author, Resident Aliens
Rodney Clapp
© 2019 Plough Publishing House