Zinzendorf
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[edit] Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf
[edit] Backgound of Zinzendorf
Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born in Dresden in 1700. He was very much a part of the Pietist movement in Germany, which emphasized personal piety and an emotional component to the religious life. This was in contrast to the state Lutheran Church of the day. He believed in "heart religion," a personal salvation built on the individual's spiritual relationship with Christ.
Zinzendorf was born into one of the most noble families of Europe. As a teenager at Halle Academy, he and several other young nobles formed a secret society, The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed, after they had heard the letters from Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau from India, which were read at the Halle Academy. The stated purpose of this order was that the members would use their position and influence to spread the Gospel. As an adult, Zinzendorf later reactivated this adolescent society, and many influential leaders of Europe ended up joining the group. A few included the King of Denmark, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Archbishop of Paris.
[edit] The start of Hernnhut
Zinzendorf married Erdmuth Dorothea von Reuss, a cousin. In 1722, he was approached by a group of Moravians to request permission to live on his lands. He granted their request, and a small band of the Bohemian or Moravian Brethren (guided by Christian David) crossed the border to settle in a town they called Herrnhut, or "the Lord's Watch." Zinzendorf was intrigued by the story of the Moravians, and began to read about the early Unity at the library in Dresden. In 1727 Zinzendorf left public life (at the court of King August the Strong) to spend all his time at his Berthelsdorf estate working with the troubled Moravians. Largely due to his leadership in daily Bible studies, the group came to formulate a unique document, known as the "Brotherly Agreement," which set forth basic tenets of Christian behavior. There followed an intense and powerful experience of renewal, often described as the "Moravian Pentecost." During a communion service at Berthelsdorf, the entire congregation felt a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, and felt their previous differences swept away. This experience began the Moravian renewal, and led to the beginning of the Protestant World Mission movement. This is only partly true, because there was already before this time Tranquebar mission in India, which has started 1705. The first missionaries there were Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau. A memorable prayer meeting started on August 27, 1727. This prayer meeting went on continuously for 100 years. It was held twenty-four hours a day until 1827. Another part of their daily life was “the daily watchword.” Initially this was drawn up by Zinzendorf himself. There was one watchword for each day, beginning on May 3, 1728,
[edit] Worldmission
In 1731, while attending the coronation of Christian VI in Copenhagen, the young Count met a converted slave from the West Indies, Anthony Ulrich. Anthony's tale of his people's plight moved Zinzendorf, who brought him back to Herrnhut. As a result, two young men, Leonard Dober and David Nitchmann, were sent to St. Thomas to live among the slaves and preach the Gospel. This was the first organized Protestant mission work, and grew rapidly to Africa, America, Russia, and other parts of the world. By the end of Zinzendorf's life there were active missions from Greenland to South Africa, literally from one end of the earth to the other. Though the Baptist missionary William Carey is often refered to as the "Father of Modern Missions," he himself would credit Zinzendorf with that role, for he often refered to the model of the earlier Moravians in his journal.
Zinzendorf himself visited St. Thomas, and later visited America. His overwhelming interest in the colonies involved evangelising the native Americans, and he travelled into the wilderness with Indian agent Conrad Weiser to meet with the chieftains of several tribes and clans. As far as we have been able to identify, he is the only European noble to have gone out to meet the native American leaders in this manner.
[edit] Zinzendorf's theology
Zinzendorf's theology was extraordinarily Christ-centered and innovative. It focussed intensely on the personal experience of a relationship with Christ, and an emotional experience of salvation rather than simply an intellectual assent to certain principles. He accorded women a much more substantial role in church life than was normal for the eighteenth century, and suffered great criticism as a result. He allowed women to preach, to hold office, and to be ordained. Anna Nitschmann, the leader of the Single Sisters and later Zinzendorf's second wife, seems to have functioned as a bishop among the women.
He wrote a very large number of hymns, of which the best, known are "Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness," and "Jesus, still lead on." Verses were often composed on the spot. Hymns and music were poured out and sung on every possible occasion, on land and sea, throughout the far stretches of the Moravian enterprise. No opportunity for singing was lost.
But all Zinzendorf's thinking also focused on missionary outreach and renewal. He envisioned the Moravians not as a separate denomination, but as a dynamic renewal society which would serve to revitalize existing denominations and help create new work in mission areas. There are numerous churches in Pennsylvania where Moravians would start a church and school for the settlers and native Americans, and then turn it over to the Lutheran Church, the Reformed Church, or whatever denomination they perceived to be the strongest in that area.
[edit] The Moravians and the Methodists
Zinzendorf came to know John and Charles Wesley, who had been converted through their contact with the Moravians. The Wesleys later had a split with Zinzendorf, and founded the Methodist Church; both retained warm affection for the Moravians throughout their lives.
[edit] Death
He died in 1760 at the age of 60 at Herrnhut.
