Nicolaus Zinzendorf - Theology

Theology

Zinzendorf was a very eclectic theologian. He called his group the "Church of God in the Spirit" or the "Congregation of God in the Spirit." Zinzendorf's theology is very relational and profoundly Christ-centered. Rather than focusing on doctrine or belief, it emphasizes the growth of the spiritual relationship between the believer and the Savior. As reflected in the communities he established, he believed in Christians living lives of radical love and harmony, and believed that every Christian needed to live in a faith community, or Gemeinde (congregation). He taught that the Savior had a relationship with each believer, but a different level of relationship with the Gemeinde. Decisions on interpretation of Scripture were to be made communally, not individually. He believed it was the Gemeinde, not the ecclesiastical and political institution, that was truly the Church of Jesus Christ.

Zinzendorf's theology strongly included the emotional life of the believer as well as the intellectual. He criticized the coldly intellectual approach common in his day, and built a great deal of practice around the transformation of the emotions. He referred to this as the "religion of the heart."

Zinzendorf's thought and practice was radically ecumenical in a world of rigidly defined religious/political boundaries. He believed that each denomination had a unique perception of Christ, and a unique gift to offer the world. He met and had profound personal relationships with religious leaders ranging from Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, the Catholic Archbishop of Paris to John Potter, the Anglican (Episcopalian) Archbishop of Canterbury, both of whom became members of Zinzendorf's Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed, pledging to use their positions of power to serve Christ. Others who were members of the Order included Christian VI, King of Denmark, General James Oglethorpe, Governor of Georgia, Tomochichi, Chief of the Creek nation of native American Indians, and Erskine, a Scottish member of the British Parliament.

Zinzendorf often worked to have denominations work together and respect one another. In 1742 he advocated respect for the Saturday Sabbath keeping among the German speaking Christians in Philadelphia citing the use of that day by the Ephrata Cloister, thus promoting the first practice of the two-day weekend in America. He also used Sunday for preaching the Gospel.