Diskretes Dienen: Die Instruktionen für die Diasporaarbeiter von 1767
The 'Instructions for Diaspora Labourers' of November 1767 was, as the first text of its kind, literally of constitutive importance. For seven decades it remained the authoritative document for the Moravian Church's diaspora work. An unabridged edition has hitherto never been publishe...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Herrnhuter-Verlag
[2018]
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| In: |
Unitas Fratrum
Year: 2018, Volume: 76, Pages: 101-153 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KDD Protestant Church RB Church office; congregation RJ Mission; missiology |
| Further subjects: | B
Enlightenment
B Moravian Church History 18th century B Church History Historiography B Diaspora History 18th century B Pietism |
| Summary: | The 'Instructions for Diaspora Labourers' of November 1767 was, as the first text of its kind, literally of constitutive importance. For seven decades it remained the authoritative document for the Moravian Church's diaspora work. An unabridged edition has hitherto never been published. It is presented here for the first time with a thorough discussion of its historical context, its genesis and its content. Until the Marienborn Synod of 1764 the Moravian Church's diaspora work, which extended throughout Europe, lacked its own administrative organization. As such an organization was developed, it was necessary to formulate uniform goals and instructions for those engaged in this work. The text developed from earlier drafts by Paul Eugenius Layritz (1707-1788) and Johann Friedrich Reichel (1731-1809); it was the latter who composed the final version. The text is divided into three parts, with a logical progression from external to internal matters. The first part considers relations with the structures of the 'religions', including their ministers, the second how to deal with the very differently sized groups of the 'awakened', and the third how the diaspora worker deals with himself. In this text it is the individualistic approach and a common culture of reflective thinking that links Moravian Pietism with the writings of the Enlightenment. By ordering the diaspora in groups of descending size -- Sozietäten, Gesellschaßen, and Houses of God -- the Instructions come to grips with the different issues arising in each. The text was treated as highly confidential: those engaged in diaspora work were permitted neither to take it away nor to copy it. Those sections which stood in the way of publication were supposed to be removed in a further stage of drafting, but this was never done. The article gives particular attention to these passages. How those engaged in diaspora work were to be given financial security remained unclear for decades, although the income raised by it made a significant contribution to the Moravian Church's finances. The text of the Instructions also gives pointers to everyday spirituality in the Moravian Church in the years after Zinzendorf s death. For example, it makes clear that his attitude to grace before meals retained its influence on the Moravian praxispietatis even after his death. |
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| ISSN: | 0344-9254 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Evangelische Brüder-Unität, Unitas Fratrum
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