Nicolaus Zinzendorf - Religious Freedom and Discord

Religious Freedom and Discord

A dislike of the dry Lutheran orthodoxy of the period gave Zinzendorf some sympathy with that side of the growing rationalism which was attacking dogma, while at the same time he felt its lack of earnestness, and of a true and deep understanding of religion and of Christianity, and endeavoured to counteract these defects by pointing men to the historical Christ, and seeking to recapture practices and spirituality of the Apostolic church. He seems also to have doubted the wisdom of Spener's plan of not separating from the Lutheran Church, and began to think that true Christianity could be best promoted by free associations of Christians, which in the course of time might grow into churches with no state connection. These thoughts took a practical turn from his connection with remnants of the Bohemian Brethren (Unitas Fratrum).

In 1722, Zinzendorf offered an asylum to a number of persecuted wanderers from Moravia and Bohemia (parts of Czech Republic today), and permitted them to build the village of Herrnhut on a corner of his estate of Berthelsdorf. Most of the initial refugees who came to this asylum were recruited by Christian David and came from areas where the early Protestant groups such as the Unitas Fratrum had been dominant prior to the Thirty Years' War. As the village grew it became known as a place of religious freedom, and attracted individuals from a variety of persecuted groups, including the Schwenkfelders. The concentration of differing beliefs in the village produced intense conflict. Personal and religious differences between the estate manager Heitz and Johann Andreas Rothe, the Lutheran pastor of Berthelsdorf, were made more tense by the apocalyptic preaching of Johann Sigismund Krüger.

The village fell into disarray and severe conflict. Some, including village founder Christian David, got caught up in apocalyptic fanaticism, referring to Zinzendorf as the Beast of the Apocalypse, and Rothe as the False Prophet. Zinzendorf finally took an indefinite leave from his court commission in Dresden and moved back to his estate to devote himself full-time to reconciliation of the conflict. He began to visit each home for prayer, and finally called the men of the village together for an intense study of the Scriptures. The question they came to focus on was how the Scriptures described Christian life in community. These studies, combined with intense prayer, convinced many of the community that they were called to live together in love, and that the disunity and conflict they had experienced was contrary to the clear calling of Scripture.