True Christianity: A Treatise on Sincere Repentence, True Faith, the Holy Walk of the True Christian, Etc.Arndt, Johann
Religion
True Christianity: A Treatise on Sincere Repentence, True Faith, the Holy Walk of the True Christian, Etc.
Arndt, Johann
Christian life; Christianity
§ 34. The work had made so deep an impression on learned British
Christians, who read it in Latin, that the wish was repeatedly and
earnestly expressed that it might be made accessible to English readers.
At this period, that is, during the reign of Queen Anne of England (who
died in 1714), large numbers of German emigrants from the Palatinate
passed through England on their way to the provinces of New York and
Pennsylvania. The Rev. Anthony William Boehm, a German Lutheran clergyman,
had previously been appointed as the court chaplain of Prince George of
Denmark, the consort of Queen Anne. His enlightened zeal and devout heart
led him to take a deep interest, not only in the temporal, but also in the
spiritual welfare of these pilgrims, who were on their way to the wilds of
North America. He accordingly supplied them, by the aid of certain
like-minded friends, with German Bibles and Hymn Books, and also with
German copies of Arndt’s “True Christianity,” as well as with other books
of devotion. This interesting fact is mentioned in the letters of Dr.
Muhlenberg, published in the well-known _Halle Reports_ (_Hallische
Nachrichten_, pp. 665, 793). But Mr. Boehm also resolved to furnish the
people, in the midst of whom he lived, with the great work of his favorite
author, in their own language, and accordingly prepared an English
translation, which was first printed in London in 1712.
§ 35. It would be unjust to the memory of this excellent man, if we should
fail to refer to his literary labors. His high office at the royal court
of England, is an evidence of his personal merit. He was not only a devout
and faithful preacher of the Gospel, but also an author who acquired
distinction. In 1734 he published a very valuable work in the German
language, entitled: “Eight Books, on the Reformation of the Church in
England, extending from the year 1526, under Henry VIII., to the reign of
Charles II.” In a very beautiful eulogy, in manuscript, found in the
volume before us, the writer refers to the successful efforts of Mr. Boehm
to provide for the education of the children of the poor in his vicinity.
He died May 27, 1722, in his fiftieth year, after having faithfully
labored in the service of Christ. He sustained, with eminent success, the
Danish Lutheran missionaries in Tranquebar, by sending pecuniary aid
obtained in London, as well as religious publications. Besides his great
German historical work, which is the complement of Burnet’s “History of
the Reformation of the Church of England,” he also published several
English compositions, such as a “Sermon on the doctrine of Original Sin,
Eph. 4:22,” printed in London, 1711, and a “Sermon on the Duty of the
Reformation (Jubilee), Rev. 18:4,” London, 1718, besides various religious
works in the German language.
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