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American Minute with Bill Federer
Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
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Pilgrim Governor
William Bradford
wrote:
"As one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation."
An example of "one small candle" lighting "a thousand" occurred in the early 1700s, with a rich young ruler.
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Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born in 1700
into a noble German family, with his ancestor being
Maximillian I,
the
Holy Roman Emperor
from 1508 to 1519.
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When
Nikolaus
was six weeks old, his father died. His mother remarried, and at the age of four, he was sent to live with his
pietistic Lutheran grandmother,
Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff.
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In 1719, at the age of 19,
Count Zinzendorf
went on his "Grand Tour" - a trip where young aristocrats made their first introductions to the royal courts of France, the Netherlands, and major German kingdoms.
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While on this tour, in the city of Dusseldorf,
Count Zinzendorf
visited a museum, where he viewed a painting by Domenico Feti
depicting Christ's suffering.
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The painting, titled
"Ecce Homo"
("Behold the Man"), had a Latin caption underneath,
"Ego pro te haec passus sum
Tu vero quid fecisti pro me,"
which translated is:
"This have I suffered for you;
now what will you do for me?"
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Young
Count Zinzendorf
was moved in a profound way.
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Convicted in his heart by the Holy Spirit,
Count Zinzendorf
came to an intensely personal faith in Christ, an experience which was part of a revival movement labeled
"Pietism."
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In 1722,
Count Zinzendorf
opened up his estate at Berthelsdorf, Saxony,
for persecuted Christians of Europe
to come and live together.
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People arrived from Moravia, Bohemia (Czech Republic) and other areas, and built a village on his estate called
"Herrnhut,"
which means "The Lord's Watchful Care."
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The area of
Bohemia
had a
Reformation history
that can be traced back to
Jan Hus
in the 15th century.
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The
religious refugees
that came to
Count Zinzendorf's estate
almost ended the endeavor before it really began, by bringing their doctrinal rivalries with them.
When they started disagreeing among themselves, the 27-year-old
Count Zinzendorf
began a
prayer meeting,
August 13, 1727.
This
prayer meeting
went on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and, with believers taking turns, went on
uninterrupted for over 100 years.
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Count Zinzendorf
stated:
"I have one passion: it is Jesus, Jesus only."
More Moravian missionaries
were sent out from
Herrnhut
in the
next 20 years
than all Christendom had
in the previous 200 years.
The
Moravians
were the first to send
lay people,
rather than clergy, as
missionaries.
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Moravian missionaries
went all over the world:
to
Greenland,
Canada,
Alaska,
to the
Inuit
of
Labrador,
to the
West Indies, Costa Rica, Belize, Haiti,
to
American Indians,
such as
Cherokee, Lenape, Mohican, Algonquin, etc.
to the northern shores of the
Baltic,
to the slaves of
South Carolina,
to slaves in
South America, Suriname, French Guyana, Peru,
to
Tranquebar
and
Nicobar Islands
in the
East Indies,
to the
Copts
in
Egypt,
to
Northern India
and
Nepal,
to
Kenya, Rwanda, Zanzibar, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Kivu, Katanga
in
DR Congo,
and the
west coast
of
South Africa.
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Moravian missionaries
sailed to the
colony of Georgia
in America.
Caught in a terrible storm, the
Moravian missionaries
confidently sang praise to the Lord.
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Their faith made a tremendous impact on two other frightened passengers on that ship, namely,
John
and
Charles Wesley.
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John Wesley
was being sent to be the
Anglican minister
in the
Colony of Georgia,
at the settlement on
St. Simon Island;
and
Charles Wesley
was sent to be the
secretary
of
Georgia's founder James Oglethorpe.
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The
Wesley brothers
returned to
England
where they later founded the
Methodist revival movement.
In 1738,
John Wesley
visited
Herrnhut
to study with the
Moravians.
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Through the
Wesleys,
the
Moravian influence
was felt by
George Whitefield,
who helped lead the
Great Awakening Revival
in the
American colonies.
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In 1741,
Count Zinzendorf
visited
America,
hoping to unify the various
German Protestants
churches in
Pennsylvania.
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On
Christmas Eve,
1741,
Count Zinzendorf
founded
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Moravians
settled an area in North Carolina which was named Wachovia, after one of
Count Zinzendorf's
ancestral estates on the Danube River.
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There his daughter,
Benigna,
organized a school which became
Moravian College.
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Count Zinzendorf
traveled with the German Indian agent and interpreter
Conrad Weiser
into the wilderness to share his faith with Iroquois Indian chieftains, making
Zinzendorf
one of the few European noblemen to meet with Indians in their villages.
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Conrad Weiser's daughter, Ann Marie,
married a
young German minister, Henry Muhlenberg,
who is one of the
founders of the Lutheran Church in America.
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In 1742,
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg met
Count Nicholas Ludwig Von Zinzendorf.
Later that year, on December 12, 1742,
Henry Muhlenberg
became pastor of fifty German families at the
Old Trappe Church
in Pennsylvania.
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In 1751,
Henry Muhlenberg
received a land grant from the
sons of William Penn,
and on it founded
Trinity Lutheran Church
in Reading, Pennsylvania.
It was referred by Lutherans as their "mother church," as out of it were birthed numerous Lutheran Churches.
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The
Trinity Lutheran Church
was used as a
hospital
during the
Revolutionary War
at the
Battle of Brandywine
in 1777.
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Henry Muhlenberg
was influenced by the
Pietist
movement within Lutheranism which stressed a personal relationship with Christ in addition to adhering to orthodox doctrine.
Pietism
had a political consequence similar to "separation of church and state."
Whereas
Calvinist Puritans
believed God had a will for everything
including government
and it was a Christian's duty to put God's Will in place;
Pietists,
on the other hand, believed that when someone believed in Christ their life should change and they should
not participate in worldly distractions such as bars, theaters, and ... government.
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It was therefore a major step for
Henry Muhlenberg's son, John Peter Muhlenberg,
pastor of Emanuel Church in Woodstock, Virginia, to join
General George Washington's army
as a
colonel,
with 300 members of his church forming the
8th Virginia Regiment.
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John Peter Muhlenberg
was promoted to
Major-General
in the
Continental Army,
then elected to the
U.S. Congress
and
Senate.
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Henry Muhlenberg's
other son,
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg,
was pastor of a Lutheran congregation in New York.
Frederick Muhlenberg
became active during the
Revolution
and afterwards was elected to the
U.S. Congress,
being the
first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Both
John Peter
and
Frederick
were members of the
First Session of U.S. Congress
which passed
Twelve Amendments
limiting the power of the Federal Government.
Only
Ten of the Amendments
were ratified by the States.
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There are
two signatures
on the
Bill of Rights:
Vice-President
John Adams
- who was President of the Senate; and Speaker of the House
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, Lutheran Pastor.
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Pastor Henry Muhlenberg
wrote of General George Washington at Valley Forge in
The Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman:
"I heard a fine example today, namely that His Excellency General Washington rode around among his army yesterday and admonished each to fear God, to put away wickedness...and to practice Christian virtues ..."
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Rev. Henry Muhlenberg
continued:
"From all appearances General Washington does not belong to the so-called world of society, for he respects God's Word, believes in the atonement through Christ, and bears himself in humility and gentleness.
Therefore, the Lord God has also singularly, yea, marvelously preserved him from harm in the midst of countless perils, ambuscades, fatigues, etc., and has hitherto graciously held him in his hand as a chosen vessel."
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The father of
Frederick
and
John Peter, Pastor Henry Melchior Muhlenberg,
died OCTOBER 7, 1787.
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"As one small candle may light a thousand,"
Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf's
life had a profound impact on colonial America, as well as the world.
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
wjfederer@gmail.com
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