A History of the Moravian ChurchHutton, J. E. (Joseph Edmund)
Religion
A History of the Moravian Church
Hutton, J. E. (Joseph Edmund)
Moravian Church -- History
And here let us note precisely the aim this pious Count had in view. He
was a loyal and devoted member of the national Lutheran Church; he was
well versed in Luther's theology and in Luther's practical schemes;
and now at Berthelsdorf he was making an effort to carry into practical
effect the fondest dreams of Luther himself. For this, the fellowship
of true believers, the great Reformer had sighed in vain;[68] and to this
great purpose the Count would now devote his money and his life.
He introduced the new pastor to the people; the induction sermon was
preached by Schäfer, the Pietist pastor at Görlitz; and the preacher
used the prophetic words, "God will light a candle on these hills which
will illuminate the whole land."
We have now to see how far these words came true. We have now to see
how the Lutheran Count applied his ideas to the needs of exiles from a
foreign land, and learned to take a vital interest in a Church of which
as yet he had never heard.
CHAPTER II. -- CHRISTIAN DAVID, 1690-1722.
It is recorded in John Wesley's "Journal,"[69] that when he paid his
memorable visit to Herrnhut he was much impressed by the powerful
sermons of a certain godly carpenter, who had preached in his day to the
Eskimos in Greenland, and who showed a remarkable knowledge of divinity.
It was Christian David, known to his friends as the "Servant of the
Lord."
He was born on December 31st, 1690, at Senftleben, in Moravia; he was
brought up in that old home of the Brethren; and yet, as far as records
tell, he never heard in his youthful days of the Brethren who still held
the fort in the old home of their fathers. He came of a Roman Catholic
family, and was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. He sat at the
feet of the parish priest, was devout at Mass, invoked his patron saint,
St. Anthony, knelt down in awe before every image and picture of the
Virgin, regarded Protestants as children of the devil, and grew up to
man's estate burning with Romish zeal, as he says, "like a baking oven."
He began life as a shepherd; and his religion was tender and deep. As he
tended his sheep in the lonesome fields, and rescued one from the jaws
of a wolf, he thought how Christ, the Good Shepherd, had given His life
for men; and as he sought his wandering sheep in the woods by night he
thought how Christ sought sinners till he found them. And yet somehow
he was not quite easy in his mind. For all his zeal and all his piety
he was not sure that he himself had escaped the snare of the fowler.
He turned first for guidance to some quiet Protestants, and was told by
them, to his horror, that the Pope was Antichrist, that the worship of
saints was a delusion, and that only through faith in Christ could his
sins be forgiven. He was puzzled. As these Protestants were ready to
suffer for their faith, he felt they must be sincere; and when some of
them were cast into prison, he crept to the window of their cell and
heard them sing in the gloaming.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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