Main
	Noble Birth
	A Community at Herrnhut
	Life Among the Moravians
	Into All the World
	VI. Into All the World
	VII. Troubled on every side
	VIII. The Pilgrim Count
	His Last Years

VIII. THE PILGRIM COUNT

In 1732 when Zinzendorf left Herrnhut, he had resolved to bear the life of a pilgrim. Spangenberg gives us this insight into Zinzendorf's attitude:

From the time that the Count parted with his estates, he abided by the intention of possessing nothing of his own in the world. He looked upon himself as a stranger upon earth, who is everywhere at home. He might afterwards have become lord of many estates; but he regarded it as a favour to be the Lord’s pilgrim in the world. “I know,” says he, “that I am one of those who naturally prefer being at home, and are the most attached to some abiding place of residence; who easily imagine that they have a variety of things to do, and are able to pass their time in a useful manner; however, it has not pleased the Lord so to regulate my course of life; but I have also experienced the happiness of being everywhere at home; after the example of Him, who, when a child in the cradle, was obliged to leave His resting-place and travel about in the world.”

“The Saviour, who overrules all our affairs, can make us feel truly at home, wherever His wisdom places us for the time, were it even in the midst of a wilderness.” [17]

A. Settlement at Herrnhaag

Shortly after Zinzendorf started off he had a stirring within him. He said:

My spirit returns to me again upon this journey: for the eyes of the Saviour guide me. I labour without any will or purpose of my own, and thus everything succeeds. [18]

1. Pilgrim Unions

Others traveled with the Count. These he called the warrior band, or pilgrim union. Their first stop was at Marienborn Castle in Ronneburg, located in the principality of Wetteravia. This was due west from Herrnhut, close to the western border of Germany. They named the place where they settled Herrnhaag and patterned it after Herrnhut. The following excerpt describes the style of life in these communities:

The Single Brethren and the Single Sisters, in particular, shared most things in their own Choir Houses and were ready at an instant to go forth in the Lamb’s service. No man…worked for himself alone. All worked to ensure that none need be in want and that the “warriors” might be trained and equipped. “Ít is very important,” Zinzendorf declared, “that the Brethren should labour everywhere in the true spirit of the community, not seeking their own advantage, but that of the whole Church.” [19]

Herrnhaag soon became a thriving community as we see from the following statement:

Persons came that year from England, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Livonia, Switzerland, and many parts of Germany. This soon rendered Herrnhaag a flourishing place, and increased the number of its inhabitants. [20]

However, Zinzendorf was not that happy to see people collect at Herrnhaag. He would have preferred for them to bear a testimony for the Lord in the place where they were whenever possible. This way there could have been more lampstands scattered throughout Europe as the Lord’s testimony.

2. Visit of John Wesley

John Wesley visited the pilgrim settlement in 1738 and gave this positive report:

I am with a Church whose conversation is in heaven…. As they have all one Lord and one faith, so they are all partakers of one Spirit, the spirit of meekness and love, which uniformly and continually animates all their conversation. [21]

While visiting the settlement he quoted from Psalm 133 to describe what he saw:

‘Oh how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!’ [22]

To his mother he commented on how they loved one another:

Yea, how they love all who have the faintest desire to love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. [23]

To his brother, he wrote this:

The spirit of the Brethren is above our highest expectation. Young and old, they breathe nothing but faith and love, at all times and in all places. I…endeavor…after the glorious example set before me. [24]

Wesley also told how he would have loved to stay with the Moravians:

I would gladly have spent my life here…. Oh when shall THIS Christianity cover the earth, as “waters cover the sea”? [25]

3. Travels throughout Europe

In addition to his responsibilities in Herrnhaag, Zinzendorf had a burden to do more traveling throughout Europe. He wanted to visit the scattered brothers and sisters whom he called the Diaspora. He travel to England, Holland, Berlin, Switzerland, Frankfort, and later on even to Russia. In England he sought to bring the brothers and sisters together as a flock. Spangenberg described it this way:

Several persons attended the Count’s domestic worship, which were rendered a blessing to themselves and others. Hence a little flock was formed, who, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, united in cleaving to Him, in simplicity of heart, and agreed to certain points drawn up by the Count, to which they attached their signatures. These points were,—

1. We will believe and practise only what is clearly expressed in the Holy Scriptures; and this we will believe and teach, whether it accords with our reason and ideas or not.

2. We will converse and associate with each other in a simple and childlike manner, and assemble once a week for that purpose; on which occasion we will merely pray, read the Scriptures, and edify ourselves from them, without bringing forward the smallest thing which might occasion dispute and variance.

3. We will sincerely speak what we think of each other, and not seek to conceal our faults, that no one may think more highly of the other than he deserves.

4. We will serve each other according to the gifts we possess, and quietly prepare ourselves for promoting the Lord’s cause amongst others.

5. We will not interfere in any religious or ecclesiastical matters, but only attend to three simple things: – to become saved and sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and to love each other cordially. [26]

In Berlin he encountered some opposition. He wanted to speak from the pulpits there, but the clergy secretly decided to exclude him. In response he opened his own house to all who would come.

The commencement was made with a few individuals, who gave him to understand, that they came, because they thought the Count was sincere in testifying of the truth as it is in Jesus. He first held his meetings in his own apartment, but was soon obliged, for want of room, to add his ante-chamber; and when this no longer sufficed, he resolved to use the upper part of his house, which was able to contain several hundred persons, for the holding of his meetings. At the commencement, he preached to the men and women indiscriminately, but when the numbers increased so much, that even the upper part of the house could not contain them, he divided his auditory, and preached to the men on Sundays and Wednesdays, and to the women on Mondays and Thursdays: to gain room, no seats were provided from the first, but all who came, stood together without distinction. Many persons of rank, however, attended, as well as the poor and lower class, so that, one day, forty-two coaches were counted at his door. [27]

In Frankfort, the mother of the German poet, Goethe, was also a member of the Diaspora. Although Goethe himself was not a member, he was a frequent visitor. “Zinzendorf referred to this brief stay in Frankfort as one of the most satisfying experiences of his career.” [28]

Later on when he traveled to Russia he was imprisoned. He wrote the following letter to his wife, the Countess, during his internment:

“I earnestly entreat you not to take my arrest to heart. I can assure you that I feel happy at the circumstance, as well as our dear son. If it had not been the Saviour’s will, it would not have taken place; for I have had sufficient warning respecting it, to which I not only paid no attention, but even gave occasion to it by my letter to the vice-chancellor, and Count Lascy. The dealings of God have their aim, and I am fully assured the Saviour will do all things well. The Governor has acted extremely politely, and I can see nothing on his part but goodwill. Think of me often. There is now a pretty little band in captivity for the Saviour's sake, and Christian feels a pleasure in enduring something of the kind with his papa. I will send you as much intelligence as I can. Remember, my dear, that we have a Saviour, in whose faithful hands we are, and who guides us graciously and blissfully, although it may sometimes seem strangely, and though we should have chosen a different road, if it had depended upon us. In all my life I have felt an inclination to nothing so little as imprisonment; but now when it is come to this, I am quite satisfied. I cannot say more than what I have formerly told you, that when I am not present, you must seek to fulfill, with double diligence, the duties of my station.” [29]

B. Friendship with Frederick William I

During this time of the Count’s travels, a close friendship began between Zinzendorf and Frederick William I, King of Prussia. This friendship developed over the years. The king resided in Berlin and encouraged Zinzendorf to “preach the pure word of God” throughout his kingdom. The printed messages that Zinzendorf gave while in Berlin are considered some of the most influential of his writings.

C. Visit to the West Indies

Lewis gives the following account of Zinzendorf’s trip to the West Indies:

The Count was not a good sailor, but he dealt with that difficulty in his usual direct and simple way. “Since I had so much to do,” he wrote later, “I talked with the Saviour, saying that it would not be convenient for me to be sick, and so I became well even before we sailed.” [When he arrived in the West Indies] he was greatly angered by the treatment of the missionaries. “I burst into the Castle like thunder,” he wrote home to the Countess. Not only did the Governor apologize to Zinzendorf personally and release the prisoners, but be also promised them security from persecution and guaranteed them freedom to preach and worship as they pleased. Eight hundred Negroes were now responding to the Gospel. “St. Thomas is a greater marvel than Herrnhut,” the Count declared. [30]

During the trip to and from St. Thomas, he produced some of his best known and loved hymns. “The Saviour’s Blood and Righteousness” was one such hymn written on this journey. The following stanzas are particularly expressive of Zinzendorf’s life’s motivation:

On his return he learned of his daughter’s death. He himself also became ill shortly after he returned.

D. Visit to America

In 1741 he had a stirring within to visit again the brothers and sisters in the Americas. This trip lasted from 1741 to 1743. Since he was going to be away for a few years, the question came up who would take his place at Herrnhaag. After much prayer and consideration it was decided that Christ would be the chief elder. No one could take His place. Weinlick says:

By this experience the Moravian Church was saved from a spiritual popedom. Personal daily fellowship with the personal Saviour is one of the essentials of the Moravian conception of religious life. The headship of Jesus in the church contains in it truths of first moment…. [32]

When he arrived in America, he wanted people to refer to him as Brother Ludwig rather than Count Zinzendorf. He even brought together some dignitaries, one of whom was Benjamin Franklin, and before them renounced his title of Count.

1. Mission to Indians

Zinzendorf had a deep concern for the Indians and felt that the gospel should be preached to them. He made visits to three different Indian groups. Some Indians were quite hostile, as can be seen from the following account of his visits to the Shawnees:

They regarded Zinzendorf as a liar and a thief, intent upon exploiting the silver deposits in their lands. Three times he narrowly escaped death: once from scalping, once from poisoning by puff adders, and a third time from drowning when the girth of his saddle broke and he was thrown from his horse into a creek. None of these perils were accidental. No wonder he reported that the Shawnees are “a people wholly ignorant and averse to Christians….” [33]

However, the six nations of the Iroquois Indians welcomed him, for he had sovereignly of God met their chiefs when they came to Philadelphia to renew their treaties. While there he convinced them that he did not want to steal their land but had a genuine concern to preach the Savior to them. As a result they welcomed his visits.

His vision for the Indians increased and he had a desire for more brothers and sisters to follow up his visits.

2. Work toward Unity

Zinzendorf was quite upset with the divisive conditions among Christians in the colonies. He felt his main purpose in coming to America was to work for the oneness of the believers, and on seven different occasions he tried to bring brothers and sisters together. Weinlick says:

[He encouraged them] not to quarrel with one another, but to negotiate in love, concerning the most important articles of faith, in order to see how close together we can get on fundamentals, and on non-essentials, which do not impair salvation, to bear with one another in love. [34]

Concerning these seven meetings Weinlick states:

The average attendance at these gatherings was above one hundred, with about half that number participating as accredited delegates. Practically all of the religious groups in Pennsylvania had delegates or visitors at the first three synods. There were Lutherans, Reformed, Mennonites, Schwenkfelders, Seventh-Day Baptists, Separatists (men who had broken with the church and constituted practically a party of their own), Hermits, and Moravians. Though the affair was primarily a German project, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Quakers were among the visitors. [35]

However, as hard as Zinzendorf tried, he was not able to bring about the practice of the oneness he desired.

3. Settlements in Pennsylvania

Zinzendorf visited the various settlements while he was in Pennsylvania and spent some time shepherding the saints. It was he who gave the name Bethlehem to one of the communities of the Moravians. His labors there were very much blessed, and the church began to flourish. In one of her letters Anna Nitschmann says:

I cannot describe to you the pleasing state of Bethlehem. I have never felt so happy in all my life as I do here. During a month, we were all together, at the time when the brethren and sisters removed thither, and were formed into a church. We loved one another like children. It is the Lamb of God that thus makes us sinners into blessed children of grace. [36]

During this time Zinzendorf also published a hymnal of which Benjamin Franklin did the printing.

The first inland postal service was established between the two Moravian cities of Bethlehem and Germantown. The letters were carried between the two cities firstly on foot.

An interesting practice among the American settlements was the way Zinzendorf would send brothers and sisters into different parts of the area as gospel fisherman.