The development of the Christian belief system of the religious writer Johann Arndt (student period)

The author reconstructs the student period of life and creation of the great German religious writer Johann Arndt (1555-1621) on the basis of new data. The adjustments are made to the outdated research of Hans Schneider, who has already examined this issue in detail. The ideological content of J. Arndt’s early work “On Ancient Philosophy” (1580-1581) is analyzed from the church and biblical tradition for the first time. The analysis demonstrates the adherence of young Johann Arndt to the teachings of Paracelsus and the Corpus Hermeticum rather than the traditional biblical views. Due to the lifelong commitment of J. Arndt to this hermetic view proved by Carlos Gilly, the author tried to reveal how J. Arndt having such an opinion could become a part of the Christian tradition as the inspirer of Russian saints.