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Like all religious movements Pietism has its roots in a definite historical context. Behind it were related developments within the three major Protestant communions of the seventeenth century, namely the Anglican, the Reformed, and the Lutheran. All three branches of mainstream Protestantism had chosen to establish territorial or national churches, which were closely tied to a political structure, and to which virtually the whole population belonged, unless they were Jews. Under the circumstances the moral tone of these churches left much to be desired. To make matters worse, the close affiliation between state and church resulted in the appointment of people as members of the clergy who were often unqualified, both religiously and morally, and sometimes downright incompetent.

It is not surprising, therefore, that church life tended to be shallow, and that meaningful religious commitment on the part of church members was frequently lacking. Among both clergy and laity there was little awareness that in the biblical understanding of the Christian life, religious profession and an appropriate mode of daily living must go together. Already in 1569 Edward Dering tried to bring to the attention of Queen Elizabeth I his observation that in the church of his time the parson was set against the vicar, the vicar against the parson, the parish against both, and “all for the belly.” During the following century, one of the outstanding Reformed preachers in the Netherlands registered a widely supported claim that in the Reformed church one sees nothing that has the appearance of the true church. At about the same time religiously sensitive pastors in the Lutheran communion, in so far as they could be found, inveighed vigorously against the prevailing drunkenness, immorality, cruelty, and utter disregard for human suffering among their parishioners.

Out of this state of affairs came the early impulses within Post-Reformation Protestantism toward renewal. Renewal included, on the one hand, the spiritual and moral renewal of the individual, which would result in a new life, patterned on biblical models and motivated by the spirit of Christ. On the other hand, it envisioned the reform of the church by means of a revised theology, a readjusted set of institutions, a reborn clergy, and all of this reoriented toward a new goal. There was a widespread perception that the Reformation of the sixteenth century had indeed altered the theology and structures of western Christendom but had never succeeded in reforming the life of the church. Nor had it provided the means necessary for religious nurture, such as appropriate preaching, hymns, devotional aids, and educational enterprises. 
 

In England the agitation for religious renewal began with the advent of Puritanism. It arose during the sixteenth century in a time of political revolution, accompanied by whatever religious reform seemed advantageous to the political party in power. A series of violent ecclesiastical reverses resulted in the revision of the Second Edwardian Prayer Book under Elizabeth I, which made Anglican worship considerably more palatable to Roman Catholics. Not surprisingly the same Prayer Book appeared decidedly unsatisfactory to the Reformed segment of the English church, which had been influenced in large part by John Calvin. Their initial objection was to what they called “popish” remnants for which they could find no warrant in the New Testament. Because of their desire to “purify” the worship of the church they came to be referred to as “Puritans” during the early 1560’s.

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