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German churchman, patron and bishop of the refounded Moravian Church, born in Dresden.

Reared under Pietistic influences, he was early in sympathy with the persecuted and almost extinct Moravian Brethren (often called Bohemian Brethren), to whom he offered refuge (1722) on his Saxony estates. The colony was called Herrnhut.

Zinzendorf wanted the Herrnhutters to be a group within the Lutheran Church, influencing others toward deeper religious experience, but he yielded to their insistence upon refounding the ancient Moravian Brethren.

He was ordered (1736) to leave Saxony because of his religious activities, and for many years thereafter he traveled about, spreading the views of the reorganized Moravian Church, of which he became bishop in 1737.

In London he was cordially received (1737) by John Wesley. In America (1741–43) he was active in the noted Moravian settlement at Bethlehem, Pa., and in establishing congregations in other places in East Pennsylvania. He made attempts to gather the German sects of that colony into a unified church.

In 1747, Zinzendorf was allowed to return to Herrnhut. He preached (1749–55) in England and then returned again to Herrnhut, where he spent his last years in pastoral work.

His emphasis on the role of emotion in religion profoundly influenced 19th-century Protestant theology, especially the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher.

Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2001-05 Columbia University Press.



Born: May 26, 1700, Dresden, Germany.
Died: May 9, 1760, Herrnhut, Sachsen (Saxony), Germany.
Buried: Herrnhut, Sachsen, Germany.

Born into aristocracy and wealth, von Zinzendorf briefly studied law at the University of Wittenberg. Tiring of academia, he left school at age 19 to travel throughout Europe. Three years later, he inherited the estate of Bertelsdorf in Sachsen (Saxony). It was there that he permitted a group of religious refugees called the Moravian Brethren to settle. By 1732, this Moravian settlement, named Herrnhut (the Lord’s Shelter) had grown to over 600. This was the birthplace of the Moravian church, led by Zinzendorf.

The Moravians began sending out missionaries in 1732, the first two going to the West Indies. In 1735, a group went to Georgia, then Pennsylvania. They arrived in Pennsylvania on Christmas Day, 1741, joining a group already there. Inspired by their Christmas arrival, they named the new settlement Bethlehem. It is from this town that the famous Bethlehem Steel Company got its name.

Zinzendorf wrote about 2,00 hymns in his life; the Moravians translated many into other languages for use in their mission work.

Hymns

Ach! mein verwundter Fürste!
I Thirst, Thou Wounded Lamb of God
Christi Blut und Gerechtigkeit
Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness
Deiner Kinder Sammelplatz
Christ Will Gather in His Own
Der Gott von unsern Bunde
I Thirst, Thou Wounded Lamb of God
Du ewiger Abgrund der seligen Liebe
Eternal Depth of Love Divine
Herz und Herz vereint zusammen
Christian Hearts, in Love United ***
Jesu, geh voran
Jesus, Still Lead On
Seelenbräutigam, O du Gotteslamm
O Thou to Whose All Searching Sight
So lange Jesus bleibt der Herr

*** This is #33 in the beloved Zion's Harp Hymnal that is currently still in use in the Apostolic Christian Church. A. H. M., Jr. - 11/17/2006