The Translation of Johann Arndt’s True Christianity into Dutch and the Distribution of his Books in the Dutch Republic

Abstract

The impact of Puritan devotional literature on Reformed and Lutheran piety has been well researched in the past decades. Several studies about Dutch religious culture in the 17th century stress the interconfessional readership of devotional writings as a widespread practice. Obviously, the religious cultures were not so self-contained as the paradigm of confessionalization suggests. Until now we don’t have an exhaustive study over the impact and distribution of Johann Arndt’s devotional literature in the Dutch republic of the 17th century. The common opinion is that Arndt’s True Christianity had no noteworthy influence. In fact, it can be shown that there has been a long and intensive literary production and distribution of the True Christianity and other works of Arndt in Reformed circles in the Dutch Republic.