Pierson's father was a merchant in Amsterdam, his mother an author of
pietist works. The
Walloon-origin family was prominent in the Christian revival movement of the
Reveil and attended the meetings of
Isaac da Costa and
Nicolaas Beets. Pierson studied theology at
Utrecht University, where he was influenced by
Opzoomer. He became a Protestant minister in
Leuven in 1854, and in 1857 in the
Walloon church in
Rotterdam, where he was highly esteemed. However, in 1865 he resigned because he could not reconcile being a minister with not believing in
divine revelation. He moved to
Heidelberg, where he worked on a
history of Christianity. He also started to teach at the university there. From 1877 to 1895 Pierson was professor in
history of art,
aesthetics and
modern languages at the
University of Amsterdam. Pierson died in 1896 in the village
Almen and he is buried in
Zutphen. He was succeeded as professor by
Jan Six, whom he had mentored as a student. Pierson's collection of antique objects, together with Six's, formed the basis of the
Allard Pierson Museum. ==Theology==