Schwenkfelder tradition contains many written documents that are valuable for Christian experience and faithfulness in our time. Radical Reformation devotional literatures reflect a deep interest in the meaning of the Bible and the importance of both understanding Scripture in the heart and then expressing it in everyday life. The intense emotional experience reflected in these writings will certainly resonate in a culture where many people are seeking deeper spiritual experiences.
Schwenckfeld's Passional was an important means for keeping the significance of the death of Christ at the forefront for his followers. Otherwise, he was concerned that the hearts of people would grow cold to its truth, or even worse, that they would forget it. In his Passional, he not only recalled the narrative of Christ's death, but he provided his own devotional meditations. He focused on individual Christians' need for belief that Christ suffered on account of our sins, which he bore in obedience to the Father's will and out of love.
This new popular edition of the Passional includes woodcut images, scriptural references, and accessible language for devotion and study.
"For those seeking a guide to pray through the passion week of Christ with unhurried minds, and contrite hearts, here is a little-known source of Scripture saturated prayers." -Dr. Philip John Fisk, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven
"The Deutsch Passional by Caspar Schwenckfeld, a significant 16th-century German Protestant devotional, was published in four editions during his lifetime and seven posthumously. Its English translation first appeared in 1961. Rev. Dr. H. Drake Williams III's updated edition makes it even more accessible and relevant for modern readers." -L. Allen Viehmeyer, Associate Director of Research at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
"Williams has created a worthy update to Stoudt's 1961 translation of Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig's Passional & Prayer Book. The modernization of language and sentence structure as well as instruction for the uninitiated as to what is a passional is a welcome addition to the body of Reformation devotional literature available in English." -T.J. Marinello, Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, Tyndale Theological Seminary, the Netherlands.
