n the year of our Lord 1736, the spring breeze of Pietism was blowing through the Church in Denmark, and had even won the favor of the royal court of King Christian VI. Its most enduring legacy was in the field of education—schools were built, literacy was on the rise, and the chief subject of instruction was the Christian faith, as summarized in Luther’s Small Catechism. Danish court preacher Erik Pontoppidan, later bishop of Bergen in Norway, was commissioned to write a textbook for general use. Space has allowed us to include the majority of his preface to Sandhed til Gudfrygtighed, “Truth unto Godliness,” which became the layman’s systematic theology text for 150 years, and the basis from which H. U. Sverdrup compiled his abridgment which we still use today. In this preface, Pontoppidan reflects on his times—scientific knowledge was increasing rapidly in the 1700s, but was attention to God’s Word increasing too? Pontoppidan brings us back to the basics, the “one thing needful”—to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn of Him.
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THE LUTHER AN AMBASSADOR
