Childhood and Early Youth 35gone a so-called Bußkampf ov struggle of repentance that led to a conver¬
sion (Bekehrung) and awakening (Erweckung). In this struggle the "old
self" was to be overcome by the "new self" through the grace of God. By
it the "child of the world" became a "child of God." To be a true Chris¬
tian was to be born again, and to have had a conversion experience that
usually could be precisely dated. This rebirth, however, was only the first
step on a long road. The living faith of the converted had to be recon¬
firmed every day by "acts of obedience to God's commandments [which]
included prayer, Bible reading, and renunciation of sinful diversions and
service to one's neighbor through acts of charity."^37
Pietism was a "religion of the heart," very much opposed to intellectu-
alism and characterized by an emotionalism that bordered at times on
mysticism. Wherever Pietism took hold, small circles of the "select" were
formed. Indeed, one of the main tenets of Pietism is the view that every
believer should gather at his location an "ecclesiola in ecclesia," or a small
church of "true Christians" (Kernchristen), distinct from the formal church
that may have strayed from the true meaning of Christianity. Its most im¬
portant source of inspiration was Philipp Jakob Spener's Pia desideria of
1675, whose subtitle read "heartfelt desire for the improvement of the true
evangelical Church that is approved by God, together with some Christian
suggestions, designed to lead toward it." Its main center in Prussia was the
new University of Halle, where August Hermann Francke (1663-1727)
propagated Pietistic ideas with great success, and from which Pietism spread
throughout Prussia.^38
One of the most important reasons for the success of Pietism was Fred¬
erick William I, who found the Pietists useful for his own purposes. To
create an absolutist state with a strong army, an effective administration,
a rigid economy, and a uniform and effective school system, he relied on
the most prominent members of the Pietistic movement to help him in
pushing through his reforms.^39 Since these reforms were very much against
the interests of the landed gentry of Prussia, who were closely allied with
the more orthodox forces within the Lutheran Church, the political con¬
flict between the absolutist king and the local nobility became also a
conflict between theological orthodoxy and Pietism. This combination of
political and theological motives made an explosive mixture. The king in
Berlin took away many of the privileges of the landed gentry in order to
propagate his own more central administration. His drive to educate the
children of the poor also brought him into conflict with the landed gen¬
try, as the time children spent in school kept them from working in their