A Widower's Lament

The Pious Meditations of Johann Christoph Oelhafen

A Widower's Lament
Ronald K Rittgers
RRP:
NZ$ 49.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 42.49
Hardback
h222 x 146mm - 318pg
21 Sep 2021 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781506424804
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
Lament is essential to human thriving. It allows us to cope with significant loss, an inescapable feature of our mortal existence. Lament is the passionate outpouring of deep sorrow and grief over such loss, which helps us avoid being completely overcome by the strong emotions that come with it. Lament is cathartic and constructive. It is a necessary step in coming to terms with great loss and moving forward in life. Not to lament is not to live--or at least not to live very fully, deeply, or well. This book deals with one instance of Christian lament in the late Reformation by exploring the efforts of a talented yet little-known layman to cope with the death of his beloved wife. For the first time, it provides full access to the remarkable work of private devotion that he authored to express his lament. A work of haunting candor, impressive artistry, and searching faith, The Pious Meditations is an extraordinarily rare and valuable source that has received very little scholarly attention. It furnishes both fresh insight into life in the past and important resources for life in the present. Written in a period that knew no radical separation between the academy and the church, it was informed by the author' s experience in both, and can continue to speak to both today.
"In a work deeply reminiscent of Lewis' s A Grief Observed, we gain here a glimpse into early modern piety, the family, indeed love, refracted through the lens of loss, pain, and grief. Rittgers has done scholars of early modernity, cultural history, the history of the family, and emotions a great service in finding, then translating this deeply personal story of one man' s loss. " --David Whitford, Baylor University"In this four-hundred-year-old book of meditations, we travel with a new widower through his first year of widowhood. Amid the agony of loss, he turns to God to seek comfort for his distress, drawing both on the religious resources of his Lutheran faith and on his own creativity. Rittgers is a trustworthy guide to Oelhafen' s world and heart. " --Anna M. Johnson, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary"Rittgers has given us access to a remarkable early Lutheran document of Christian piety as a new widower copes with loss and grief and looks for consolation. This sensitive and deeply personal book will enrich any reader, whether an interested non-specialist or, thanks to the superb introduction and copious annotations, a professional historian. " --Kenneth G. Appold, Princeton Theological Seminary
Ronald K. Rittgers is Erich Markel Chair in German Reformation Studies at Valparaiso University. His published works include The Reformation of the Keys (2004) and The Reformation of Suffering (2012).
Status: No local stock, title imported to order
ISBN-13: 9781506424804
Published: 21 Sep 2021
Published In: United States
Imprint: Fortress Press (US)
Publisher: 1517 Media
Format: Hardback
Height: 222mm
Width: 146mm
Weight: 318g
Pages: 318

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