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
side-hole, where we are so unspeakably blessed."
Still worse, these men now forgot the main moral principle of the
Christian religion. Instead of living for others they lived for
themselves. Instead of working hard for their living they were now
enjoying themselves at the Count's expense; instead of plain living
and high thinking they had high living and low thinking; and instead
of spending their money on the poor they spent it now on grand
illuminations, transparent pictures, and gorgeous musical festivals.
No longer was their religion a discipline. It was a luxury, an orgy,
a pastime. At Herrnhut the ruling principle was law; at Herrnhaag the
ruling principle was liberty. At Herrnhut their religion was legal;
at Herrnhaag it was supposed to be evangelical. The walls of their
meeting-house were daubed with flaming pictures. In the centre of the
ceiling was a picture of the Ascension; in one corner, Mary Magdalene
meeting Jesus on the Resurrection morning; in another, our Lord
making himself known to the two disciples at Emmaus; in a third Thomas
thrusting his hand in the Saviour's side; in a fourth, Peter leaping
from a boat to greet the Risen Master on the shores of the Lake of
Tiberias. The four walls were equally gorgeous. At one end of the hall
was a picture of the Jew's Passover, some Hebrews sprinkling blood on
the door-posts, and the destroying angel passing. At the opposite end
was a picture of the Last Supper; on another wall Moses lifting up the
brazen serpent; on the fourth the Crucifixion. We can easily see the
purpose of these pictures. They were all meant to teach the same great
lesson. They were appeals through the eye to the heart. They were
sermons in paint. If the Brethren had halted here they had done well.
But again they rode their horse to death. For them pictures and hymns
were not enough. At Marienborn Castle they now held a series of birthday
festivals in honour of Zinzendorf, Anna Nitschmann and other Moravian
worthies; and these festivals must have cost thousands of pounds. At
such times the old castle gleamed with a thousand lights. At night,
says a visitor, the building seemed on fire. The walls were hung with
festoons. The hall was ornamented with boughs. The pillars were decked
with lights, spirally disposed, and the seats were covered with fine
linen, set off with sightly ribbons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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