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
In the first place, the Brethren were able to show, by documents of
incontestable authenticity, that they really were the true descendants
of the old Church of the Brethren. They could prove that Daniel Ernest
Jablonsky had been consecrated a Bishop at the Synod of Lissa (March
10th, 1699), that Jablonsky in turn had consecrated Zinzendorf a Bishop,
and that thus the Brethren had preserved the old Moravian episcopal
succession. They could prove, further, and prove they did, that
Archbishops Wake and Potter had both declared that the Moravian
episcopacy was genuine; that Potter had described the Moravian Brethren
as apostolical and episcopal; and that when Zinzendorf was made a
Bishop, Potter himself had written him a letter of congratulation.
With such evidence, therefore, as this before them, the Committee were
convinced of the genuineness of the Moravian episcopal succession; and
when they issued their report they gave due weight to the point.
In the second place, the Brethren were able to show that they had
no sectarian motives, and that though they believed in their own
episcopacy, they had no desire to compete with the Church of England.
"There are," they said, "no more than two episcopal Churches among
Protestants: the one known through all the world under the name of
Ecclesia Anglicana; the other characterised for at least three ages as
the Unitas Fratrum, comprehending generally all other Protestants who
choose episcopal constitution. The first is the only one which may
justly claim the title of a national church, because she has at her
head a Christian King of the same rite, which circumstance is absolutely
required to constitute a national church. The other episcopal one, known
by the name of Unitas Fratrum, is far from pretending to that title." In
that manifesto the Brethren assumed that their episcopal orders were
on a par with those of the Church of England; and that assumption was
accepted, without the slightest demur, not only by the Parliamentary
Committee, but by the bench of Bishops.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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