State

Story of the Moravians II The Order of Little Fools By (IIKSTEK DAVIS It is commonly believed that when Bishop Spangenberg recommended that the Moravian Church buy the Wachovia tract in North Carolina the church leaders, with Germanic thor¬ oughness. went right ahead with the purchase. Perhaps, if Spangenberg had headed the church at the time, that would have been the ease. But Count Zin¬ zendorf was the Moravian leader and by 1753 the real issue was the survival of the church. The trouble began when Zinzendorf led the Moravians through what is now called the "Sifting Period." In this period, which lasted from 1743 to 1750. Zinzendorf adopted a "blood and wounds" theology which had the goal of a childlike identity with the suf¬ fering of Christ. That theology, since it possessed a powerful appeal in the mission field, might have served a useful purpose had it been kept within reasonable limits. But. with Zinzendorf leading the way, the Moravians swiftly sailed from simple childlikeness to mawkish childishness. As "Little Papa," Zinzendorf estab¬ lished “The Order of the Little Fools" and taught the Brothers and Sisters to identify themselves with the suffering of "Brother Lambkins" (Christ) on the cross. In his biography of Zinzendorf, John R. Weinlick writes: "Thus they spoke of themselves as ‘little doves flying about in the atmos¬ phere of the cross,' ‘little fish swimming in the bed of blood,' or as ‘little bees who suck on the wounds of Christ, who feel at home in the side hole and crawl in deep.' Again they would call themselves ‘bloodthirsty beasts.’ ‘blood leeches,' ‘wound worms' and ‘side hole hearts'." The church came to be called the "visible wound church" and the Mora¬ vian hymns of this period reflected an uncommonly gruesome interest in Christ's suffering. At the time they engaged in this aberration, the Moravians had their full share of enemies who suspected them of being separatists. Now Zin¬ zendorf supplied those enemies with all the ammunition they possible could use. In order to make a fool and a fanatic of the Count they needed only quote from the Count's own writings. These excesses were one of the rea¬ sons the Moravians were evicted from Herrnhaag, the largest of their towns. Curiously, Herrnhut, oldest of the Mo¬ ravian towns, was affected least. It was the new settlements, like Herrn¬ haag and Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, which suffered most. During this period the Moravians made a mockery of the lot. They used it. for example, to settle such questions as whether they should build a house. The curiosity of the "Sifting Period" was not peculiar to the Moravians. A good many of the German Pietist movements were bitten by the same bug at the same time. But among the Brethren it was particularly striking because, until that time, they had been rather successful in avoiding fanati¬ cism. By 1748 men like Bishop Spangen¬ berg were thoroughly disgusted with Zinzendorf. Spangenberg resigned as the leader of the Bethlehem congrega¬ tion and returned to Europe to talk with the Count. He said, "I myself was much displeased with him at the time, and he no less with me." Under pressure brought by men like Spangenberg. the Ncisscrs. Christian David and other of the old leaders. Zinzendorf awoke to the fact the en¬ tire church was in danger of coming apart at the scams. He admitted his error and acted to correct the damage he had caused. REAL ESTATE ** LOANS • Home» • Form» • Commercial "30 Уют,, and Not a DlssatUfltd Client" INVESTMENT LOANS, INC. Bo> 74 Nigh! Tel. ME 9-4430 ANGIER, N. C. But in 1753, on the eve of the North Carolina settlement, the Moravian Church still was suffering from the after-effects of the "Sifting Period." The financial crisis came to a head in 1753 when Zinzendorf occupied Lindsey House, his headquarters in London. The Count spent 1 1 ,500 pounds sterling on Lindsay House. That investment, combined with the cost of replacing the people evicted from Herrnhaag. brought the church debt to something like 130.000 pounds, an incredible burden for such a small group. The conditions were such that there was little chance of the Moravians proceeding with plans of a North Caro¬ lina settlement. However, when Lord Granville learned that the venture was about to be dropped he made a second and more attractive offer. At the same time. Jonas Paulas Weiss, a German merchant, sold Zinzendorf on the plan of financing the North Carolina settle¬ ment through a land company. A company — Der Nord Carolina Land Und Colonie Estahlisseineni — was formed and shares of this com¬ pany (each full share representing about two thousand acres of land in the Wachovia tract) were sold to European investors. In this manner roughly half of the I (Ю, 000-acre Wa¬ chovia tract was sold before the Mo¬ ravian Brothers began their work at Bethabara. On August 7, 1753 Earl Granville conveyed the Wachovia lands, — a total of 98.985 acres — to the Mora¬ vians in nineteen separate deeds. These separate deeds protected the church. In the event they defaulted on the annual rents the Moravians did not risk seeing the entire tract revert to Lord Granville. The terms were simple: 500 pounds sterling down and annual rent of one hundred fifty pounds a year. Despite the Revolutionary War the Moravians paid their rent until 1788 when they purchased the quit-rents for a thou¬ sand pounds. All told, the Wachovia tract cost the church about $35,000. or a bit under three dollars an acre. ( To Be Continued) 1 2 THE STATE. APRIL 1. 1961