Arndt, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm

ARNDT, JOHANN FRIEDRICH WILHELM: German Lutheran; b. at Berlin June 24, 1802; 300d. there May 8, 1881. He began his theological studies at the University of Berlin in 1820, and in 1829 became assistant minister to the bishop of the province of Saxony. His sermons delivered in the cathedral of Magdeburg attracted large audiences and his influence was especially marked among the higher classes and the learned. Called to Berlin in 1833 as associate pastor, he succeeded to the office of head preacher in 1840, retiring in 1875 because of his dissatisfaction with the reorganization of the church system effected two years previously. During his long pastorate at Berlin, Arndt established his reputation as one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of his time, and his volumes of sermons, frequently issued, constituted highly important contributions to German homiletic literature. As at Magdeburg, his congregation included persons of great eminence, among them such theologians as Neander and Hengstenberg. Arndt’s remarkable power in the pulpit consisted in an exceptional gift for psychological analysis and shrewd observation and an extremely forcible style. He did not, however, escape the danger of dogmatism, and doctrine and formulas constituted for him an important part of the Christian life. His thought shows little development throughout his long career and the attitude revealed in his earliest works is the same found in his later sermons. Of the numerous collections of these mention may be made of Das christliche Leben (Magdeburg, 1834); Predigten über Davidis Leben (1836); Das Vaterunser (1837); Die Bergpredigt Jesu Christi (1838). He also wrote Das Leben Jesu Christi (1850–55), and Die gottesdienstlichen Handlungen der evangelischen Kirche (1860).

(Hans Kessler.)