What’s so bad about Pietism?

Pietism gets a bad rap, especially in Lutheran circles it seems. The pietists are reviled by conservatives and liberals alike – the former accuse them of ignoring doctrine, wallowing in subjectivism and emotionalism, and fostering legalism, while the latter deride them as embracing a privatized, individualistic faith that is oblivious to the larger issues of social justice.

Ever the contrarian, I figure that when everyone agrees that something is so wicked and pernicious, maybe there’s something to it after all (a rather perverse logic, granted). So, I’m off to the library this afternoon to pick up Dale Brown’s Understanding Pietism and an anthology of their writings edited by Peter Erb. I hope to report back on my findings.