Count Zinzendorf : First Fruit by Janet and Geoff Benge YWAM Publishing, 2005
(Christian Heroes Then and Now) 183 pages £7.00 ISBN 978 1 576 582 626
Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, (1700 – 1760), a count of the Holy Roman Empire was an unusually mature Christian at a very young age.
His father died six weeks after his son was born.
Brought up by his grandmother, his religious education was based on Pietism with an emphasis on personal religion rather than the corporate practice of the state Lutheran church of the time.
Experience assumed a higher priority than doctrine.
As a young man at Halle Academy, he, with others of a like mind, formed a secret society – the Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed – whose sole purpose was to spread the Gospel.
Such was passion for the Gospel and for believers that Zinzendorf effectively became a spiritual father to millions.
Amongst other great achievements, these simple German believers launched the first 24/7 prayer movement. The Moravians filled 168-hour time slots with just 2 or 3 people per hour praying for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This commitment to prayer continued for 110 years !
When he was 27 years old, he took into his home a simple Moravian refugee. There was antipathy abroad towards Moravians if not outright persecution. Such persecution goes back to the martyr Jan Hus, (1372-1415) predecessor of Martin Luther.
Before long, there were 300 Moravian refugees living on the Zinzendorf estate – in a village called Herrnhut, known to Methodists because Herrnhut was visited by John Wesley in August 1738 just a few months after his ‘warmed heart’ experience in a Moravian assembly in Aldersgate Street in London.
The story of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians is a quite remarkable episode in the history of the worldwide church. Their influence on the Wesleys is evident in the work done in the United Kingdom by the Wesleys and has become part of Methodist spirituality.
The story of Count Zinzendorf is told here simply, plain enough for all ages to appreciate and enjoy.
It’s all the better for that.