Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, Imperial Count of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf

Pottendorf

Pottendorf is a town in the district of Baden in Lower Austria in Austria....

, (May 26, 1700 – May 9, 1760), German religious and social reformer and bishop of the Moravian Church, was born at Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

.

Zinzendorf had a naturally alert and active mind, and an enthusiastic temperament that made his life one of ceaseless planning and executing. Like Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

, he was often influenced by strong and vehement feelings, and he was easily moved both by sorrow and joy. He was an eager seeker after truth, and could not understand men who at all costs kept to the opinions they had once formed; yet he had an exceptional talent for talking on religious subjects even with those who differed from him. Few men have been more solicitous for the happiness and comfort of others, even in little things. His activity and varied gifts sometimes landed him in oddities and contradictions that not infrequently looked like equivocation and dissimulation, and the courtly training of his youth made him susceptible about his authority even when no one disputed it. He was a natural orator, and though his dress was simple his personal appearance gave an impression of distinction and force. His projects were often misunderstood, and in 1736 he was even banished from Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, but in 1749 the government rescinded its decree and begged him to establish within its jurisdiction more settlements like that at Herrnhut

Herrnhut

Herrnhut is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.It has access to Bundesstraße 178 between Löbau and Zittau...

. He is commemorated as a hymnwriter and a renewer of the church by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...

on their Calendar of Saints

Calendar of Saints (Lutheran)

The Lutheran Calendar of Saints is a listing which details the primary annual festivals and events that are celebrated liturgically by some Lutheran Churches in the United States. The calendars of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod are from the...

and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA)

Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church in the United States of America)

The veneration of saints in the Episcopal Church is a continuation of an ancient tradition from the early Church which honors important people of the Christian faith. The usage of the term "saint" is similar to Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Those in the Anglo-Catholic tradition may...

on May 10.

Formative years

The Zinzendorf family belonged to one of the most ancient of noble families in Lower Austria

Lower Austria

Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...

. They were feudal lords over many places in the Wachau

Wachau

The Wachau is an Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located midway between the towns of Melk and Krems that also attracts "connoisseurs and epicureans". It is in length and was already...

area of the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

Valley. Family members occupied many important positions in the imperial household, at the Reformation

Reformation

- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...

they became Lutherans. Among the Zinzendorf ancestors was the Emperor Maximillian I. Zinzendorf's great grandfather was made an Imperial Count. His son Erasmus Maximillian von Zinzendorf chose to sell his Austrian possessions and emigrate to Franconia

Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

rather than accept forced conversion to Catholicism. His children entered the service of the Electors of Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

and of Saxony

Saxony

Zinzendorf's father was in the service of the Saxon Elector at Dresden

Dresden

at the time of his youngest son's birth. He died six weeks later and the child was sent to live with his maternal grandmother and an aunt. His parents were engaged in Pietist

Pietism

Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...

circles and had Philipp Jakob Spener

Philipp Jakob Spener

Philipp Jakob Spener was a German Christian theologian known as the "Father of Pietism."...

appointed as his godfather. His mother married again when he was four years old, and he was educated under the charge of his pietistic Lutheran grandmother, Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff

Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff

Henriette Catharina, Baroness von Gersdorff , was a German Baroque religious poet, an advocate of Pietism and also a supporter of the beginnings of the Moravian Church...

, who did much to shape his character.

His school days were spent at Halle

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt

Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

where Pietism was strong, and in 1716 he went to the university of Wittenberg, to study law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

so as to be ready for a diplomatic career. Three years later, he was sent to travel in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, in France, and in various parts of Germany, where he made the personal acquaintance of men distinguished for practical goodness and belonging to a variety of churches. On his return he visited the branches of his family settled at Oberbürg near Nuremberg and at Castell. During a lengthened visit at Castell he fell in love with his cousin Theodora; but the widowed countess, her mother, objected to the marriage, and the lady afterwards became the wife of Count Henry XXIX of Reuss

Heinrich XXIX, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf

Heinrich XXIX Reuss, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf was a member of the House of Reuss Younger Line and Count Ebersdorf from 1711 until his death- Life :...

and Zinzendorf married Reuss's sister Erdmuthe Dorothea.

Call to God

Zinzendorf seems to have considered this disappointment as a call to some special work for God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

. He had previously, in deference to his family, who wished him to become a diplomat, rejected the invitation of August Hermann Francke

August Hermann Francke

August Hermann Francke was a German Lutheran churchman.-Biography:Born at the German city Lübeck, Francke was educated at the gymnasium in Gotha before he studied at the universities of Erfurt and Kiel - where he came under the influence of the pietist Christian Kortholt - and finally Leipzig...

to take Baron von Canstein's place in the Halle orphanage; and he now resolved to settle down as a landowner, spending his life on behalf of his tenantry

Leasehold estate

A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....

. He bought Berthelsdorf

Berthelsdorf

Berthelsdorf is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the southeastern part of the Free State of Saxony, Germany.- History :The municipality is next to the Czech Republic and Poland...

from his grandmother, Baroness von Gersdorf and called Johann Andreas Rothe for pastor and John George Heiz for factor; he married Erdmuthe Dorothea, sister of Count Heinrich XXIX of Reuss-Ebersdorf

Heinrich XXIX, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf

Heinrich XXIX Reuss, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf was a member of the House of Reuss Younger Line and Count Ebersdorf from 1711 until his death- Life :...

, and began building on his home.

His intention was to carry out into practice the Pietist ideas of Spener. He did not mean to found a new church or religious organization distinct from the Lutheranism

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

of the land, but to create a Christian association the members of which by preaching, by tract and book distribution and by practical benevolence might awaken the somewhat torpid religion of the Lutheran Church. The "band of four brothers" (Rothe

Rothe

Rothe or Roethe is a surname and may refer to:* Bendt Rothe, actor* David Rothe, Catholic bishop* Mechtild Rothe , German politician* Richard Rothe , theologian* Sjur Røthe...

, pastor at Berthelsdorf

Berthelsdorf

Berthelsdorf is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the southeastern part of the Free State of Saxony, Germany.- History :The municipality is next to the Czech Republic and Poland...

; Melchior Schäffer, pastor at Görlitz

Görlitz

Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...

; Friedrich von Watteville, a friend from boyhood; and himself) set themselves by sermons, books, journeys and correspondence to create a revival of religion, and by frequent meetings for prayer to preserve in their own hearts the warmth of personal trust in Christ. From the printing-house at Ebersdorf, now in Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

, large quantities of books and tracts, catechisms, collections of hymns and cheap Bibles were issued; and a translation of Johann Arndt

Johann Arndt

Johann Arndt was a German Lutheran theologian who wrote several influential books of devotional Christianity...

's True Christianity was published for circulation in France.

Religious Freedom and Discord

A dislike of the dry Lutheran orthodoxy of the period gave Zinzendorf some sympathy with that side of the growing rationalism

Rationalism

In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...

which was attacking dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...

, while at the same time he felt its lack of earnestness, and of a true and deep understanding of religion and of Christianity, and endeavoured to counteract these defects by pointing men to the historical Christ, and seeking to recapture practices and spirituality of the Apostolic church

Apostolic Church

The Apostolic Church is a Pentecostal Christian denomination which can trace its origins back to the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. Despite the relatively recent origin of the denomination, the church seeks to stand for first century Christianity in its faith, practices, and government.The purpose of the...

. He seems also to have doubted the wisdom of Spener's plan of not separating from the Lutheran Church, and began to think that true Christianity could be best promoted by free associations of Christians, which in the course of time might grow into churches with no state connection. These thoughts took a practical turn from his connection with the Bohemian or Moravian Brethren. In 1722, Zinzendorf offered an asylum to a number of persecuted wanderers from Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

and Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

, (part of Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

today), and permitted them to build the village of Herrnhut

Herrnhut

Herrnhut is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.It has access to Bundesstraße 178 between Löbau and Zittau...

on a corner of his estate of Berthelsdorf

Berthelsdorf

Berthelsdorf is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the southeastern part of the Free State of Saxony, Germany.- History :The municipality is next to the Czech Republic and Poland...

. Most of the initial refugees who came to this asylum were recruited by Christian David and came from areas where the early Protestant groups such as the Unitas Fratrum

Unitas Fratrum

This article is about the coordinating body of the Moravian Church worldwide. For the Christian denomination based in Texas see Unity of the Brethren....

had been dominant prior to the Thirty Years' War. As the village grew it became known as a place of religious freedom, and attracted individuals from a variety of persecuted groups, including the Schwenkfelders

Schwenkfelder Church

The Schwenkfelder Church is a small American Christian body rooted in the 16th century Protestant Reformation teachings of Caspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig .-History:...

. The concentration of differing beliefs in the village produced intense conflict. Personal and religious differences between the estate manager Heitz and Johann Andreas Rothe, the Lutheran pastor of Berthelsdorf, were made more tense by the apocalyptic preaching of Johann Sigismund Krüger.

The village fell into disarray and severe conflict. Some, including village founder Christian David, got caught up in apocalyptic fanaticism, referring to Zinzendorf as the Beast of the Apocalypse, and Rothe as the False Prophet

False prophet

In religion, a false prophet is one who falsely claims the gift of prophecy, or who uses that gift for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneously considered a "false prophet" by others....

. Zinzendorf finally took an indefinite leave from his court commission in Dresden and moved back to his estate to devote himself full-time to reconciliation of the conflict. He began to visit each home for prayer, and finally called the men of the village together for an intense study of the Scriptures. The question they came to focus on was how the Scriptures described Christian life in community. These studies, combined with intense prayer, convinced many of the community that they were called to live together in love, and that the disunity and conflict they had experienced was contrary to the clear calling of Scripture.

Reconciliation and the Brotherly Agreement

Out of this study and prayer, the community formed a document known as the Brüderlicher Vertrag, the Brotherly Agreement, a voluntary discipline of Christian community. This document, and a set of rules laid down by Zinzendorf known as The Manorial Injunctions, were signed by the members of the community on May 12, 1727. This document, which has been revised over many years, is today known as "The Moravian Covenant for Christian Living." The Moravian Church is one of the few denominations that emphasizes a code of Christian behavior over specific doctrines or beliefs.

Continued study and prayer in small groups known as banden resulted in a powerful sense of reconciliation in the community, leading to a powerful spiritual renewal on August 13, 1727 during a special communion service at the Berthelsdorf Church. This experience, referred to as the "Moravian Pentecost," marked the beginning of a new era of spiritual growth in Herrnhut. It also began a period of radical experimentation with communal Christian living as expressed in Zinzendorf's theology.

Reconnection with Early Unitas Fratrum

As the renewed community of Herrnhut grew, Zinzendorf obtained a copy of Ratio Disciplinae, the church order of the early Unity. As he began to study the history of the Moravians and Bohemians, he was astonished to find powerful similarities between the theology and practice of the early Unitas Fratrum and the newly established order of Herrnhut. Zinzendorf and the Herrnhuters felt a strong identity with the writings of Moravian Bishop John Amos Comenius and incorporated many of the ideas of the early Unity. However, Zinzendorf saw the new group as a spark for renewal of all denominations, not a new and separate denomination. This theological bent was reinforced by the legal structure of the Lutheran State church.

New Protestant family order

In this renewed community, Zinzendorf was able to organize his refugees into something like a militia Christi
Militia Christi
Militia Christi is a continuation of a centuries-old Catholic movement founded by Saint Dominic as a kind of auxiliary in suppressing insurgents inspired by the Albigensian heresy. St. Catherine of Siena was among its more illustrious members...

, based not on monastic but on family life

Family Life

Family Life is a magazine published by, and primarily for, the Old Order Amish. The publisher is Pathway Publishers of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. Unlike some Amish publications, Family Life is printed entirely in English rather than Pennsylvania Dutch or German.The magazine was founded in 1968 and is...

. However his ideas of family were centered not on a traditional nuclear family of parents and children. Indeed, he wanted to break traditional family bonds by organizing communal families based on age, marital status and gender. The banden, or small groups, continued but were organized into "choirs" based on age, marital status, and gender. Zinzendorf's theology recognized that at each stage of life, we had different spiritual needs and a different relationship with the Savior. Moravian communities based on this model, such as Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Salem, North Carolina

Old Salem

Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It features a living history museum that interprets the restored Moravian community. The non-profit organization began its work in 1950, although some private residents had restored buildings earlier...

, were designed for the sole purpose of serving Christ, who also was considered to be the community leader. In these communities, a radical equality of spiritual life was practiced. In Bethlehem, nobility and converted native Americans shared common quarters; in Salem, slaves were full members of the Church and could be elected to offices of leadership.

Zinzendorf was consecrated a bishop at Berlin on 20 May 1737 by Bishops David Nitschmann der Bischof

David Nitschmann der Bischof

David Nitschmann der Bischof was with Johann Leonhard Dober one of the two first missionaries of the Moravian Brethren in the West Indies in 1732, and the first Bishop of the Renewed Unitas Fratrum, the Moravian Church...

and Daniel Ernst Jablonski

Daniel Ernst Jablonski

Daniel Ernst Jablonski , German theologian and reformer of Czech origin, known for his efforts to bring about a union between Lutheran and Calvinist Protestants.-Life:...

Missionaries and the Pilgrim Count

Zinzendorf's interest in missionary work was sparked by meeting a freed slave, Anthony Ulrich, and hearing of the terrible oppression of the slaves in the West Indies. In 1732, the community began sending out missionaries among slaves in the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

-governed West Indies and the Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

of Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. Zinzendorf's personal and familial relation to the court of Denmark

Denmark

and to King Christian VI

Christian VI of Denmark

Christian VI was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746.He was the son of King Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. He married Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and fathered Frederick V.-The reign and personality of Christian VI:To posterity Christian...

facilitated such endeavors. He saw with delight the spread of this Protestant family order in Germany, Denmark

Denmark

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and England.

In 1736, accusations from neighboring nobles and questions of theological orthodoxy caused Zinzendorf to be exiled from his home in Saxony. He and a number of his followers moved to Marienborn ((near Buedingen) and began a period of exile and travel, during which he became known as the "Pilgrim Count."

The missionary work in the West Indies had been hugely controversial in Europe, with many accusing Zinzendorf of simply sending young missionaries off to die. Zinzendorf decided to place himself on the line, and in 1739 left Europe to visit the mission work on St. Thomas

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...

. Convinced that he himself might not come back, he preached his "last sermon" and left his will with his wife. The visit was a huge success, however, and enabled him to free some of the missionaries who had been illegally jailed. However, the missionaries' mistreatment by the plantation managers established their credibility with the slaves, and after Zinzendorf's visit the mission work was much more successful.

In 1741, Zinzendorf visited Pennsylvania, thus becoming one of the few 18th century European nobles to have actually set foot in the Americas. In addition to visiting leaders in Philadelphia such as Benjamin Franklin, he met with the leaders of the Iroquois

Five Nations

Five Nations can refer to:* The original five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, a union of Native Americans* The Five Nations Championship in rugby union, now the Rugby Union Six Nations Championship...

and, with the assistance of Conrad Weiser

Conrad Weiser

Weiser's colonial service began in 1731. The Iroquois sent Shikellamy, an Oneida chief, as an emissary to other tribes and the British. Shikellamy lived on the Susquehanna River at Shamokin village, near present-day Sunbury, Pennsylvania. An oral tradition holds that Weiser met Shikellamy while...

reached agreements for the free movement of Moravian missionaries in the area.

In 1749, Zinzendorf leased Lindsey House

Lindsey House

Lindsey House is a Grade II* listed villa in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is owned by the National Trust but tenanted and only open by special arrangement.-History:...

, a large manor in Chelsea

Chelsea, London

Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...

built on the estate of Sir Thomas More

Thomas More

Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...

to be a headquarters for work in England. He lived there until 1755.

Missionary colonies had by this time been settled in the West Indies (1732), in Greenland

Greenland

(1733), amongst the North American Indians (1735); and before Zinzendorf's death the Brethren had sent from Herrnhut missionary colonies to Livonia

Livonia

Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...

and the northern shores of the Baltic

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

, to the slaves of South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, to Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

, to the Negro slaves in several parts of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, to Tranquebar

Tranquebar

Tharangambadi is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, 15 km north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary of the Kaveri River. Its name means "place of the singing waves"...

and the Nicobar Islands

Nicobar Islands

The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean...

in the East Indies

East Indies

East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...

, to the Copts in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, to the Inuit

Inuit

of Labrador

Labrador

Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

, and to the west coast of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

Theology

Zinzendorf was a very eclectic theologian. He called his group the "Church of God in the Spirit" or the "Congregation of God in the Spirit." Zinzendorf's theology is very relational and profoundly Christ-centered. Rather than focusing on doctrine or belief, it emphasizes the growth of the spiritual relationship between the believer and the Savior. As reflected in the communities he established, he believed in Christians living lives of radical love and harmony, and believed that every Christian needed to live in a faith community, or Gemeinde (congregation). He taught that the Savior had a relationship with each believer, but a different level of relationship with the Gemeinde. Decisions on interpretation of Scripture were to be made communally, not individually. He believed it was the Gemeinde, not the ecclesiastical and political institution, that was truly the Church of Jesus Christ.

Zinzendorf's theology strongly included the emotional life of the believer as well as the intellectual. He criticized the coldly intellectual approach common in his day, and built a great deal of practice around the transformation of the emotions. He referred to this as the "religion of the heart."

Zinzendorf's thought and practice was radically ecumenical in a world of rigidly defined religious/political boundaries. He believed that each denomination had a unique perception of Christ, and a unique gift to offer the world. He met and had profound personal relationships with religious leaders ranging from Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, the Catholic Archbishop of Paris to John Potter, the Anglican (Episcopalian) Archbishop of Canterbury, both of whom became members of Zinzendorf's Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed, pledging to use their positions of power to serve Christ. Others who were members of the Order included Christian VI, King of Denmark, General James Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe

James Edward Oglethorpe was a British general, member of Parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia...

, Governor of Georgia, Tomochichi

Tomochichi

Tomochichi was a seventeenth century Creek leader and the head chief of a Yamacraw town on the site of present day Savannah, Georgia. He remains a prominent character of early Georgia history...

, Chief of the Creek nation of native American Indians, and Erskine, a Scottish member of the British Parliament.

Zinzendorf often worked to have denominations work together and respect one another. In 1742 he advocated respect for the Saturday Sabbath keeping among the German speaking Christians in Philadelphia citing the use of that day by the Ephrata Cloister, thus promoting the first practice of the two-day weekend in America. He also used Sunday for preaching the Gospel.

Sexual theology

Zinzendorf's theology was sometimes controversial to contemporaries. He encouraged followers to visualise Christ's wounds in great detail (‘so moist, so gory’, as he described them), and his sermons included exhortations to imaginitively ‘enter into’ these wounds and drink from them. His ‘obsession’ with Christ's wounds was linked the eroticism of his language – in particular the spear-wound in Christ's side which he and the community called the Seitenhölchen (‘little side-hole’). This was tied to his wish to overcome the traditional shame which was attached to sexual organs and acts:
Some modern writers have seen something pathological in Zinzendorf's intense psychoerotic meditation on the wounds and the body of Christ, while others have pointed out that such practice ‘allowed the members of the society to sublimate a variety of personal drives and fears to the mystical realm for the good of the Gemeine [community] and its mission’. At any rate it is clear that for Zinzendorf the fact of intercourse, properly entered into between husband and wife, was a transcendent act and an important religious symbol which prefigured the union of a sinner with the Saviour. Zinzendorf's emphasis on the "blood and wounds" is not that different from hymns that are sung today without second thought: "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee."

It was his son, Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf

Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf

Christian Renatus, Count von Zinzendorf was the charismatic leader of the Single Brethren and of Herrnhaag , a Christian religious community built near Büdingen by his father, Nicholas Ludwig, head of the Brüdergemine or Moravian Unity...

who took his father's teachings on the relationship between sexuality and spirituality to an extreme. Christian Renatus lived at a special community built by Ludwig east of Frankfurt/Main, Germany, called Herrnhaag

Herrnhaag

Herrnhaag was a communal spiritual centre for the Moravian Unity, an early form of Protestantism. It and Marienborn, a nearby sister community, are located in the Wetterau, an area of Hesse, north of Frankfurt am Main in Germany....

, The Lord's Grove, where he led the Single Brethren's Choir composed of the unmarried men in the Congregation. Excessive use of sexual imagery, combined with questionable theology of "playing in the Lord," came to mean that the young men did little work and came to look down on those who were in the mission field laboring for the Kingdom instead of spending every moment adoring the Savior. Ensuing scandal and near-financial ruin forced Ludwig to chastise his son, bringing him to England. Casimir Count of Isenburg-Buedingen demanded the submission of the Moravians of Herrnhaag to himself, and that they reject their allegiance to the elder Zinzendorf. The entire community rejected this demand, leading to the closure of Herrnhaag beginning in 1750-53.

Declining years

The community in Herrnhut, from which almost all these colonies had been sent out, had no money of its own, and Zinzendorf had almost exclusively furnished its expenses. His frequent journeys from home made it almost impossible for him to look after his private affairs; he was compelled from time to time to raise money by loan

Loan

A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....

s, and about 1750 was almost reduced to bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

. This led to the establishment of a financial board among the Brethren, on a plan furnished by a lawyer, John Frederick Köber, which worked well. Christian Renatus, whom Nicholas had hoped to make his successor, died in 1752 and the loss devastated him. Four years later, on 17 June 1756 he lost his wife Erdmuthe Dorothea, who had been his counselor and confidante in all his work. Zinzendorf remained a widower for one year, and then (27 June 1757) contracted a second marriage with Anna Caritas Nitschmann (24 November 1715 – 21 May 1760), with whom he had been very close for many years. Anna had for years been spiritual leader of the women of the movement. The marriage was not publicized broadly since Anna was a commoner, and would have been extremely controversial. Three years later, overcome with his labours, he fell ill and died (on 9 May 1760), leaving Bishop Johannes von Watteville, who had married his eldest daughter Benigna, to take his place at the head of the community. Anna died only a few days later.

Works

He wrote a large number of hymns, of which the best-known are "Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness" and "Jesus, still lead on". A selection of his Sermons was published by Gottfried Clemens in 10 vols., his Diary (1716–1719) by Gerhard Reichel and Josef Theodor Müller (Herrnhut, 1907), and his Hymns, etc., by H. Bauer and G. Burkhardt (Leipzig, 1900).
The German version of this article says that perhaps his best known work is the "Common Table Prayer," "Come Lord Jesus, be our Guest and let Thy gifts to us be blessed." In another translation this is called the "Moravian Blessing," "Come Lord Jesus, our Guest to be, and bless these gifts bestowed by Thee."

Documentary

A four-part documentary series, Count Zinzendorf was produced in 2000 by Comenius Foundation

Comenius Foundation (US)

Comenius Foundation is a U.S.-based 501 nonprofit organization that uses media to promote education and faith. Named after pioneering educator and Moravian Bishop John Amos Comenius, the Foundation seeks to use modern media to promote the ideas of Comenius...

with the assistance of the Christian History Institute

Christian History Institute

Christian History Institute is a non-profit organization located in Worcester, Pennsylvania, producer or co-producer of several award-winning films, the Torchlighters: Heroes of the Faith series, and the founder of Christian History magazine.-History:...

. Directed by John Jackman

John Jackman

John Jackman is an American filmmaker, author, and Christian pastor. His filmmaking work has primarily emphasized historical faith related topics. He has written widely on digital filmmaking technology, film lighting, and digital special effects...

, the series was broadcast on The Hallmark Channel, and is distributed in the US and Canada by Vision Video. A German version of the series, Der Graf Ohne Grenzen ("The Count Without Borders") was released by Haenssler Verlag.

Ancestry

External links

"Zinzendorf.com" - Historical site with information on Count Zinzendorf
"Mustardseedorder.com" - explores Zinzendorf's "order of the mustard seed"
Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf 1700-1760 (The Cyber Hymnal)
Count Zinzendorf Documentary at visionvideo.com

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Formative years

Call to God

Religious Freedom and Discord

Reconciliation and the Brotherly Agreement

Reconnection with Early Unitas Fratrum

New Protestant family order

Missionaries and the Pilgrim Count

Theology

Sexual theology

Declining years

Works

Documentary

Ancestry

Further reading

External links