The integration of marriage and especially marital sexuality proved to be a special challenge for the Lutheran pietism of the late 17th and early 18th century. In contrast to Philipp Jakob Spener, who maintained Martin Luther¿s fundamental tenets, but emphasized the spiritual character of marriage, the propagators of a radical pietism were influenced by the Sophia mysticism (Sophienmystik) of Jacob Böhme and his followers, which led to a critical or even negative view of marriage and especially of any form of sexuality. Also, the audacious sacralization of marriage and - especially - marital sexuality by Zinzendorf and the Moravian Church shows that, in the end, pietism failed to provide a convincing solution to this challenge.

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Personen: Breul, Wolfgang

Schlagwörter: Ehe Sexualität Pietismus Spener, Philipp Jakob Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von