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
But the worst feature of this riotous life is still to be mentioned.
If there is any topic requiring delicate treatment, it is surely the
question of sexual morality; and now the Count made the great mistake
of throwing aside the cloak of modesty and speaking out on sins of
the flesh in the plainest possible language. He delivered a series of
discourses on moral purity; and in those discourses he used expressions
which would hardly be permitted now except in a medical treatise. His
purpose was certainly good. He contended that he had the Bible on his
side; that the morals of the age were bad; and that the time for
plain speaking had come. "At that time," he said, "when the Brethren's
congregations appeared afresh on the horizon of the Church, he found,
on the one hand, the lust of concupiscence carried to the utmost pitch
possible, and the youth almost totally ruined; and on the other hand
some few thoughtful persons who proposed a spirituality like the
angels." But again the Brethren rode their horse to death. They were
not immoral, they were only silly. They talked too freely about these
delicate topics; they sang about them in their hymns; they had these
hymns published in a volume known as the "Twelfth Appendix" to their
Hymn-book; and thus they innocently gave the public the impression that
they revelled, for its own sake, in coarse and filthy language.
What judgment are we to pass on all these follies? For the Brethren
we may fairly enter the plea that most of them were humble and
simple-minded men; that, on the whole, they meant well; and that, in
their zeal for the Gospel of Christ, they allowed their feelings to
carry them away. And further, let us bear in mind that, despite their
foolish style of speech, they were still heroes of the Cross. They
had still a burning love for Christ; they were still willing to serve
abroad; and they still went out to foreign lands, and laid down their
lives for the sake of Him who had laid down His for them. As John
Cennick was on his visit to Herrnhaag (1746), he was amazed by the
splendid spirit of devotion shown. He found himself at the hub of the
missionary world. He saw portraits of missionaries on every hand. He
heard a hymn sung in twenty-two different languages. He heard sermons in
German, Esthonian, French, Spanish, Swedish, Lettish, Bohemian, Dutch,
Hebrew, Danish, and Eskimo. He heard letters read from missionaries in
every quarter of the globe.
"Are you ready," said Zinzendorf to John Soerensen, "to serve the
Saviour in Greenland?"
"Here am I, send me," said Soerensen. He had never thought of such a
thing before.
"But the matter is pressing; we want someone to go at once."
"Well!" replied Soerensen, "that's no difficulty. If you will only get
me a new pair of boots I will set off this very day. My old ones are
quite worn out, and I have not another pair to call my own."
And the next day the man was off, and served in Greenland forty-six
years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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