Christoph Blumhardt was barely a year old when his father, the pastor of the German village of Möttlingen, ended a two-year-long battle against demonic darkness. Johann Blumhardt had agreed to counsel a tormented woman in his congregation, and all hell had broken loose. The enemy, defeated, finally howled, “Jesus is the victor!” and fled. But that was only the beginning of the drama that ensued.

What followed was nothing short of heaven breaking in on earth. Sick and disabled people were healed, mental illnesses vanquished, and stolen goods were returned. Murderers confessed, and broken marriages were restored. Marked by the transformation of lives and relationships, this awakening spread like a quiet tide through Germany and beyond, despite the efforts of a cynical press and Johann Blumhardt’s nervous ecclesiastical superiors.

Christoph Blumhardt’s essay, Jesus is the Victor, is rooted in this experience. He refers to it in several places, and it is obviously pivotal to his thinking. Though what he writes here stands on its own, it cannot be fully appreciated apart from his father’s battle with—and victory over—the powers of darkness. For Christoph Blumhardt, what happened in Möttlingen was not merely a past event, but a continuous reality. The reader is thus encouraged to read, in conjunction with this book, The Awakening, by Friedrich Zuendel, a detailed account of Johann Blumhardt’s experience. The two belong together.

The Editors

Download complete PDF of Jesus is the Victor