Hidden in God
The Life and Writings of Gerhard Tersteegen
Available Formats
ISBN: 978-1-971776-03-3 (Paperback) · 978-1-971776-04-0 (Hardcover) · 978-1-971776-02-6 (eBook)
The most comprehensive English collection of Gerhard Tersteegen's writings in nearly 200 years—now modernized for a new generation of readers.
In 1724, a young silk ribbon weaver in a small German town signed a covenant to God in his own blood. He then spent the rest of his life in quiet obscurity, making ribbons by day and caring for the sick and poor by night. Yet from that hidden life, Gerhard Tersteegen (1697–1769) became one of the most sought-after spiritual guides in all of Europe.
Thousands traveled to his tiny cottage on the Ruhr seeking counsel for their souls. His hymns—including "Lo, God Is Here" and "Thou Hidden Love of God," later translated by John Wesley—are still sung in churches worldwide. And his letters, treatises, and sermons have nourished seekers across every Christian tradition for nearly three centuries.
Hidden in God brings together, for the first time in a single volume, the complete English translations of Samuel Jackson's landmark 1832 and 1837 editions of Tersteegen's works—long out of print and nearly impossible to find. Every page has been carefully modernized: archaic vocabulary updated, tangled nineteenth-century sentences untangled, and formatting refined—all while preserving Tersteegen's warmth, theological precision, and unmistakable devotional power.
This collection includes:
- A Full Biography — The remarkable story of a man who abandoned a promising scholarly career for a life of voluntary poverty, endured five years of crushing spiritual darkness, and emerged as a pastor to thousands—without ever being ordained.
- 25 Pastoral Letters — Tersteegen at his most intimate, responding to real people in real struggles.
- 8 Theological Treatises — Including his celebrated writings on inward prayer, faith and justification, the nature of true godliness, and the hidden life with Christ in God.
- 8 Sermons — Spiritual Crumbs from the Master's Table, Tersteegen's extemporaneous discourses.
- Hymns and Verses — Sacred poetry from one whom Bunsen called "the foremost master of spiritual song."
Tersteegen's central message is as countercultural now as it was in the eighteenth century: that the deepest life is the hidden one. That God is found not in noise and activity but in the secret center of the soul. That poverty of spirit, self-surrender, and the slow death of self-love are not the enemies of joy—they are the doorway to it.
For readers of Thomas à Kempis, Brother Lawrence, François Fénelon, Jeanne Guyon, and the Christian mystics. For anyone hungry for something deeper than what modern devotional literature typically offers.
"All that I have written I have myself experienced as important truths." — Gerhard Tersteegen
About the Editor
Gerhard Tersteegen (1697–1769) was a Reformed Pietist mystic, hymn writer, and spiritual guide. This edition was prepared by Jarred Fenlason, D.Min., whose work with Tersteegen seeks to bring classic devotional voices into clear, readable English for contemporary readers.
