Bro. Dean Taylor invited me along with the high school students for a field trip to Bethlehem, Pa, where the Moravian Brethren had their headquarters for the northern USA and Canada. Here is a video Dean uploaded, part of which happened while we were there. We have the brainstorm to do a series on Bethlehem, looking at some of the good things that happened there.
David Nitschmann (the Bishop … there were at least three famous early Moravian Brethren named David Nitschmann, so that is why this one is called “The Bishop.”) was the first bishop of the renewed church at Herrnhut, Germany. Interesting people, they were. Some of the stories got exaggerated, as can be seen in the video, but Riedhead does catch the spirit of the missions, even though his “facts” are not factual.
I do not in any way put an endorsement on Zinzendorfian theology (he killed the Moravian Brethren, in my opinion), but the zeal and dedication and love of the Moravian Brethren is worthy to look at. (And Zinzendorf was a very dedicated man, just had some kooky theology, which even the Moravian Church acknowledges.)
Who was Anna Nitschmann? I suppose that is one reason I wrote a book about her … she has been forgotten for the most part. Yet at one time, she was the leading female figure of the Moravian Brethren. We all know the Moravian Brethren and missions, dont we?
One of the other reasons I chose Anna to write about is that there are many missionary biographies focus on men, but there are very few written about women. And since men are biblically ordained to take the lead in missions and church leadership, it is right that men are encouraged in that direction. That said, there is room on about any mission front for consecrated maidens of the Lamb. Anna turned down two marriage proposals in her youth so that she could dedicate herself better to Jesus Christ. Not all are called to singlehood, but some are. This story is dedicated to the sisters who are sold out for Jesus.
Anna Nitschmann was a dedicated sister in the Renewed Moravian Church
Anna Nitschmann was a consecrated sister in the Renewed Moravian Brethren church. This booklet was written to encourage young sisters to total consecration. Included in her story is an overview of the Moravian practices and teachings, the good points, and the bad. An appendix looks especially at Zinzendorf’s [bad] theology and the overuse of the lot.
A young converted shoemaker turned Anabaptist missionary and pastor, Peter Riedemann seemed to have lived tirelessly in sharing and living his faith. Traversing literally thousands of miles, writing songs and letters, visiting churches, working as a pastor, and publishing books, he helped shape the early days of the Anabaptist movement. Besides his pastoral letters and a few songs written from prison, Peter Riedemann is remembered today because of two books that he wrote while in prison. Both of his books are works explaining the faith of the early Anabaptist movement to outsiders. His first book, written from prison in Gmunden, Austria, is published today under the title “Love is Like Fire.” His second and most significant, written from prison from the little German town of Wolkersdorf, is published simply under the title “Confession of Faith,” or an older publishing under the more denominational sounding title, “Peter Riedemann’s Hutterite Confession of Faith.” Historically, Peter Riedemann is also known for being (next to Jacob Hutter) as the second founder of the Moravian/Tyrolean Anabaptists, which later became known as the Hutterian Brethren. Perhaps because Riedemann was a labeled a Hutterite instead of a Mennonite, he and his works remained virtually unknown to the English-speaking world until 1950.
Peter Riedemann's Confession of Faith is the best-articulated book I have found to describe the beliefs of early Anabaptism
A positive statement
Right from the first chapter of any of his books one quickly senses a different tone than that of many of the other early Anabaptist writers. With many of the others, I often feel that one thing lacking is a more positive expression of their faith. Written on the run, defending themselves against a false accusation, or having to scratch out a few lines through the terrible conditions of dungeon life made many of the Anabaptist writings come off as defensive or polemic. Having the luxury for careful editing or even the chance to make meaningful analogies to express their heart in a devotional style was uncommon in the early days of the Anabaptist movement. It is here that Peter Riedemann shines most. Riedemann was a very spiritual, expressive, and passionate writer. A longing for Christ and total dependence on the Holy Spirit flows through every page. Riedemann captured the devotional style. He comes off more like an Andrew Murray than a Menno Simons.
Riedemann started to write his first book in 1529 while imprisoned in Gmunden, Germany. He finished it approximately in the year 1532 shortly before he escaped from that prison. During his early years, Riedemann had fellowshipped and studied with some of the most gifted Anabaptist leaders of his day. After his escape from prison, he threw his lot in with the newly-forming Hutterian Brethren in Moravia. The brethren quickly recognized his gifts, and the next year they sent Riedemann out as a missionary, in 1533. In that same year he was again captured and put into prison until 1537, this time in the town of Nuremberg. After his release he traveled as a missionary and did pastoral work until he once again landed in prison around the year 1540, where he wrote his second book.
While in prison, Riedemann took advantage of a few privileges that other Anabaptist prisoners never had. While it is true that his books were written from a castle dungeon, as far as dungeon-life in the 1500s went Riedemann had it better that most. The Protestant ruler of this area, Philip of Hess, did not allow the Anabaptists of his region to be executed. So while Riedemann was imprisoned he was allowed some privileges—like writing. Many scholars think that these “Confessions of Faith” were actually written in answers to questions that Phillip of Hess had personally asked him.
Orthodoxy
One of the most obvious things you quickly notice about “Confessions of Faith” is that he presents the faith following the lines of the ancient Apostles’ Creed. Some have suggested that he did this to prove the orthodoxy of the Anabaptists to Philip of Hess … who knows? Whatever his motive, the beauty of this approach was that it presents the early Anabaptist faith based on one thing—their understanding of God. Just as A. W. Tozer said over 400 years later in the opening line of The Knowledge of the Holy, “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us,” Riedemann’s theology flows from his view of God Himself. However, flowing from this creedal approach, Riedemann rescues the Apostles’ Creed from a mere head knowledge by insisting that this ancient faith must effect our life—or it is vain. As he wrote, “no one may truthfully ascribe such glory and honor to Christ unless he has experienced this victory in himself.”[1]
Life that is aimless is both restless and forceless. How many a trumpet hangs on the walls of society, useless, voiceless and rusty! It has no luster and gives forth no music, and is losing the power to emit sound. What an hour of redemption, when some brave warrior lays hands on the long unused instrument, puts it to his lips and blows a bugle blast!
Young men—you whose life hangs idle, aimless, mute, while the right is battling with the wrong, would to God that some hero-spirit might set you quivering and resounding with the clarion-peal of a holy purpose to serve God and man! No work is so wearisome as doing nothing, and no self-sacrifice is so costly as self-indulgence. Could you wear the “magic skin” which makes sure the gratification of every selfish whim, it would shrink with every new carnal pleasure and so at last crush out all true life.
A.T. Pierson
We talked a bit in Driftology 102 about the difference between drifting and falling overboard. While falling overboard seems more serious—and it is in the sense that if the person is not rescued promptly the current will take him downstream in a hurry, if not drown him—the drifter is not in much better shape. He is all the while drifting along with the current, but feels good about himself because he is at least “still in the boat”.
How do we tell if we are drifting?
I like the analogy given by a preacher once of a bunch of boats on a bay. As long as the boats keep looking at each and monitoring their position by each other, no one will give heed to the fact that every last one of them is being carried along with an unseen undercurrent. They are still the same distance from each other as 12 hours ago… Never mind that they all have drifted 2 and a half miles along the coast. Read the rest of this entry »
Brother Steve is making a trip by land from Cartagena, Colombia to northern Argentina, by land. Along the way he will be stopping to visit some folks who have contacted me from my Spanish website El Cristianismo Primitivo. It is an unusual opportunity, as not too many folks travel the spine of the Andes by vehicle. Actually, his route will be mostly along the coast, where roads are not quite so snaky. But along the way he will be visiting folks in various places, taking the gospel of the kingdom with him as he goes.
Pray!
Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Esteban Mast, Omar Dario Sanchez
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