Gerhard Tersteegen

Gerhard Tersteegen was a German Reformed lay preacher, spiritual writer, mystic, translator and hymnist who lived from 1697 to 1769 and was associated with Pietism on the Lower Rhine. A weaver by trade, he became one of the most important representatives of Reformed mystical Pietism and is remembered for his hymns, sermons, devotional writings, correspondence and translations of earlier Christian mystical authors. His best known hymns include Gott ist gegenwartig and Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe, and he helped transmit medieval, Catholic and French mystical spirituality into German Protestant devotional circles, especially through his translations and adaptations of works by Thomas a Kempis, Madame Guyon, Jean de Bernieres-Louvigny and Gregorio Lopez, among other writers of interior prayer.