USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Ephrata > Chronicon ephratense : a history of the community of Seventh Day Baptists at Ephrata, Lancaster County, Penn'a. > Part 12
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This letter he took with him to Ainwell, where he showed it to everyone as his credentials which he had received from the Superintendent. His people indeed sought to sustain him in his office, but when they noticed that it was an imi- tated affair and not inborn, they lost courage, so that when he wanted to institute inidniglit meetings, like those in the Settlement, and invited their daughters to the same, they feared that offences might arise, and dismissed him; where- upon he returned again to the Settlement in disgrace. Thereupon several families in Amwell left, and removed to the Settlement, namely, Dietrich Fahnstick, Conrad Bold- hausen, John Mohr, Bernhard Gitter, etc., which added several Solitary ones to the Sisters' House, though none of them remained steadfast save one, Armella by name, who ended her course among them.
In this year, too, the ordinary Tonsure, or liead-shearing, was introduced in the convents, which deserves to be mnen- tioned here, as it contributed not a little to the vicissitudes of the Settlement. Two Brethren4 engaged in an intimate conversation with the Superintendent with reference to their spiritual course, and confided to him that something was still wanting in their consecration; they were indeed baptized in the name of Christ, but they could still marry and have intercourse with the world; there was still wanting somne special pledge for their particular estate, otherwise there was no difference between them and the domestic households. On this they were agreed; but they could come to no deci- sion as to the nature of the covenant desired, until at last they unanimously chose the Virgin Mary as the Patroness of their Order. After they had arrived at this conclusion they sought to propagate the same secretly, for they sup- posed that it would cause a great stir in the Settlement. But the Brethren discovered their secret, and consulted one of their private counsellors, who opposed their project for three hours. They, however, did not care for this, but the Superintendent ordered the Prior to kneel down, and after the latter had made a vow of perpetual chastity, he cut a
4 [Israel Eckerlin and Alexander Mack ].
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large bald spot on his head; after whichi he and the other Brethren had the same done to themselves by the Prior. Thereupon a day was ordained as a festival on which the Order of the Solitary should take their vows of perpetual chastity. And notwithstanding that secretly many objec- tions were made to it, because the Scriptures expressly for- bid the shaving of the head, and because it was nothing but the warming up again of a custom that had originated in the Popish church, yet at the time set, in holy obedience, the entire Brotherhood appeared in its chapel; for they knew that the Superintendent stood under God, and that whoever opposed him struck at the very apple of God's eye. After the pledges were openly read, one Brother after the other kneeled down, and had his hair cut and afterwards his crown shorn. Then the Superintendent went over to the Sisters, who were awaiting him in their chapel, and after their hair had been cut, after the manner of virgins in the primitive church, they all took the vow, and then had their crowns likewise shorn. Since this ordinance was instituted in the face of such strong opposition of the reason, it is fair to con- clude that the Holy Ghost was in the work, for He shall sit as a refiner, and shall purify the sons of Levi. But Thou, good God, hast drawn us, . Thy servants and handmaidens, into the holy net, where indeed a large measure of the suffer- ings of Christ fell to our share, until we have become the offscouring of the tribes of the earth, and our mothers' chil- dren know us no more; but the times of refreshing from before Thy presence Thou hast hidden from us till this hour. Therefore do we pray to Thee, Give unto us, Thy servants and handmaidens, courage and strength in our weakness, that we may carry on Thy work, and that we may not, besides all this, through our negligence, become a cause of delaying Thy appearance. ·
After the consecration of the Sisters was done, the Super- intendent returned to the Brethren, bringing with him the hair of the Sisters, which he laid on the table with the wish that he might live until their heads were gray ; which God granted him, for he did not enter upon his rest
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until the year 1768. Afterwards it was ordained that the memorial of this consecration should be celebrated every quarter of a year, when their hair should be cut again and their tonsures renewed; in the meantime no one was allowed to put a shear to his head.
On the 5th of July, 1740, the last divine service of the congregation was held in the prayer-house of the Sisters, named Kedar. Thereafter the entire house fell to the use of the Sisters alone, a thing which no one had thought of when it was built; for at that time one lived without plans for the future, but allowed oneself to be governed by the spirit of the Community, without knowing what would be the outcome of the inatter. Then a house-father, Henry Miller, paid the expenses for dedicating the prayer-house on Zion, which took place on the 16th of the same month; and now the congregation began to hold its services in this house. But it was not long before the Superintendent de- clared himself thus: That it was not yet a settled thing for the congregation to hold its meetings in this house, and it would only be to its disadvantage if this should continue for any length of time. The congregation must build itself an own house of prayer; thus is it ordained in the divine order of the work, and I will render aid thereto in the spirit. In this way God kept the household in the Settlement in continual straits, in which all human reason was turned into folly. After this speech, however, a house-father named John Mayer arose and said: That if these words were truth, then he did not yet know what truth was; therefore he would go home, and do penance for himself. In his footsteps another one, John Mergel by name, followed, and soon after two more house-fathers, namely Henry Gut and Abraham Paul, likewise went away. Thus God ever purged the fold of such persons as loved their own life better than the leading of God. But neither the congregation nor the Superintendent cared about such matters; for in the winter of 1740, which is still remembered for its severe cold, the Brethren in Zion and in the congregation joined together and provided a great supply of building lumber with which, the following summer, a large prayer-house was built and nained Peniel. Whoever
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beholds the various large edifices which the Brethren, aided by the congregation, erected inside of four years, must be astonished and marvel whence they received the strength and courage to accomplish such great things. And here- with we will close this chapter.
CHAPTER XXI.
CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL COURSE OF THE CHURCH IN THE SETTLEMENT ; AND THE VARIOUS PROPHETIC GIFTS.
As introductory to this chapter it is to be remarked that all the mysteries of eternity, in order to be manifested in time, must clothe themselves in a body, otherwise they can- not impart themselves to man; and everything divine that does not become human, remains unfruitful, for fruitfulness lies in the body; and therein is contained the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. As has been remarked, there was in- trusted to the Superintendent, at his conversion, a good thing, which he in general calls the fundamental good. Note well, reader, it is the goodness of God, which ruled before the fall, whereby the fallen angel became the devil, and over which Adam stumbled too, which therefore will also become a cause of restoration. Now, the fall might perhaps have been prevented if the cherub had sooner been placed as guardian over man, as was afterwards done. But the pure simplicity of God did not permit him to know this, otherwise he would have become impure. Now, Adamn was created to repair the evil, and he should have taken the Virgin into his domicile. It happened with him, however, as with the fallen angel, he wanted to have the good in his own peculiar possession, and therefore God was obliged to. construct a helpmate for him out of his own body, so that he might by all means have something over which to rule.
With this good the Superintendent was loaded at his first awakening at Heidelberg; for in conversion everything depends upon the first impregnation. Hence his portion, and that of all who came nigh him, was such a bitter one. When he was obliged to enter the world of inen with this good, he foresaw the danger of losing it, and that if he would maintain his post, he would call down upon his head the hatred of all the children of Adam; and this was also the case. For many of his followers, who seemed to have
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inuch love for him, when they noticed that they could not possess themselves of his good, but rather that it sought to possess them, exchanged their love for a deadly liatred. It was noticed that his first followers, who entered the work with him before the schools of the solitary life had been opened, either suffered shipwreck, or had to pass through seasons of sore trial, because they pocketed too much of the good into their natural life. Among thie first belong John Landes and A. E., 1 wlio have been mentioned before, and of whoin the first became a thistle on the road, and the other, one of his spiritual daughters, became offended, and ended her life in that state. At this dangerous post all the Eckerlins were wrecked, especially that one of them who was Breth- ren's Prior; for in spite of the fact that he was an ardent wooer of the Virgin, his efforts only resulted in bringing her under his man-power. The Superintendent once warned him not to presume too much upon the good, when he wrote to him, in the 66thi of his printed Letters: "If you should find that the body seems heavier than the feet and ankles can bear, remember that this may be because of the superfluous breast-milk which you drank so abundantly on the mother's lap, and that the difficulty will be helped of itself by your merely weaning yourself from the mother's lap and breast."
After the Solitary in the Settlement, however, were lodged in their convents, the schools of the solitary life began, where such lessons had to be learned that one often alinost lost sight and hearing, and to which the oldest Solitary ones liad become as little used in their herinit-life as the novice who had been received only the day before. And now the cause became known why the hermit-life came to be changed into the communal; and that the holy fathers in the desert had erred when they maintained that the foundations of the Solitary life were to be laid in the convent, but that its perfection would be reached only in the desert. The Superintendent now so managed with the good, that while everyone might partake of it, yet no one could gain selfislı possession of it. He was on his feet day and night, and whoso wanted to be rid of him had to lock liis door at niglit;
1 [Anna Eicher].
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for he was in the service of the four living creatures which have no rest by day or night, so that he was often accused by his calumniators of being under the spur of his natural spirit. There was accordingly a constant stir in the Settle- ment, so that, if anyone were absent but for three days, he became a stranger, and had much trouble afterwards again to work his way into the order of affairs. No one would have been able, even though he had lived in the Settlement for many years, to give a correct description of the course of events there; it was inconceivable, and at the same time highly offensive to the inere reason. Falling and rising alternated continually; he who to-day was exalted on spir- itual heights, to-morrow was laid low; and this was unavoid- able. He whom the Superintendent took into his confidence, was elevated on high; he from whom he withdrew it, sank down again, sometimes even into the darkest depths, where then he was nailed to the cross; which things happened fre- quently. Here was the post of danger, where many of his followers were offended in him, and afterwards closed thein- selves against him, some of whom, through God's grace, were loosed again 11pon their death-beds, as the Brother Peter Gehr mentioned above; others bore the offence with them into eternity, in spite of the fact that he offered thein the peace of God in Christ Jesus; wherefore it may well be said: Blessed are they who are not offended in me. Others com- bined themselves against him, and though they accomplished nothing, they yet often drew deep furrows across his back. In the bestowal and withdrawal of his confidence he was immoderate. When he imposed himself upon one, the sharp- ness of his spirit pierced such an one through bone and marrow, so that he soon was too much for him. But if he withdrew himself, he did not show himself for a long time, for he had no need of men since he had his power from above. In his intercourse he was not natural, and they who were nigh to him had to adapt themselves accordingly; wherefore no one could lay hold on him with his personality. Divine worship he appointed for the most inconvenient time, at inid- night, and took special delight in the spirit if he could carry it on until daylight. If anyone offered him refreshment, he
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often said, "It gives me none," for his emaciated body was nourished by the Word that proceeded out of the mouth of God, otherwise he could not have endured such severity. When, constrained by love, he was often seen to eat during the day, it nevertheless inade no change either in his body or his spirit, for he was a living skeleton until his death. Whenever he went into the Sisters' convent the whole house was moved; and when out of every corner they called to him, he was pleased with this open-heartedness, and said: "The young birds have the same simplicity when their pro- vider comes to feed them." He was most careful to maintain the equilibrium of the Settlement, for God had placed the balances in his hand; and although, during the revolt of Korah, he was for a time deposed from the government, still finally it all fell into his hands again. His house was an asylum and city of refuge for all widows, orphans, and desti- tute ones; and whoso could reach its borders was safe against the avenger of blood.
As such discipline, so unpleasant to the flesh, was imposed upon the good Brethren of the Settlement, the passion of the body of Christ increased among thein; whoever beheld them was amazed at their lean and pale appearance. This was indeed made known to the world by writings, but 110 one entered into the secret of it, because they were reticent and silent about it.
Now we again come to the Brethren in Zion. After Brother Onesimus had been made Prior of the convent of Zion by the Superintendent, the latter gave him his intimate confidence and fellowship, by reason of which the Prior ruled the Brethren with such severity that, if anyone lifted but a hand against him, it was an understood thing that such an one sinned against God, and jeopardized his eternal salva- tion; and though they often intended to rebel against him, yet they feared tlie Superintendent, whom they hield to be an ambassador of God. Thus the Prior brought the Brother- hood into such thralldom that the only difference between a Brother of Zion and a negro was that the latter was a black and involuntary slave, while the former was a white and voluntary one. Yet one must bear witness of the Prior that
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he never ordered another one to do anything that he would not himself have been willing to do; for he was the first to go to work, and the last to leave it. It was, however, soon evident that it would cost the Prior dearly to maintain this intimacy; for the Superintendent was exceedingly watchful lest his fellowship should be misappropriated, and if any did do so, he was excluded by him. Now the Prior had three brothers after the flesh, who indeed were continually striving with him for the priesthood, but who nevertheless always stood up for him when he was attacked by others. It was also correctly supposed that the Mother of the Sisters was another cause of his fall and of his later tearing himself away from his spiritual Father, in that she brought to him much sympathy from the Sisters' House; for she sought to further her own profit by stirring up differences between the Superintendent and the Prior.
In spite of all this, however, everything went on all right for awhile. The Prior showed all conceivable honor to his spiritual Father. He wrote several books in praise of him; and in his letters to him he always called him a Holy Father, and althoughi such eulogies did not blind the Superinten- dent's eyes, it yet. kept the Prior in his good graces, which also was very needful, for there were already various ones in the Settlement who would have liked to have him over- thrown. The Superintendent, moreover, had a superhuman fidelity to him, and gave him every protection, even though the entire Brotherhood was against liimn. Once it was proposed to elect a new Prior, which the Superintendent granted. The votes were gathered, and it was found that the Prior lacked two votes of being elected. Then the Su- perintendent, who, by virtue of his office, was entitled to two votes, cast these for the Prior, and so again secured the office for him. The greatest difficulties at that time were caused by the Night-Watches of the Brethren in Zion; for despite the fact that at that time several of the Brethren had already for ten years lived a Solitary life, there yet was no commingling of spirits among them, still less anything priestly, that might have filled in the breach and closed up the fissures. The Prior, however, was seized by the spirit
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of office, so that he considered himself bound to bring the Brethren under; if he had not done so, his conscience would have smitten him. This occasioned much quarrelling at the divine worship, which at times was kept up for several hours. But whenever they called in the Superintendent, he soon had everything adjusted to everyone's satisfaction. In those days inany an one may have cried into God for release from this spiritual tyranny, but the answer to their prayers was postponed for yet greater trials. Meanwhile the Prior was diligent in his office. He employed two Brethren who had to transcribe his writings; and if he was tired of preaching at the matins, he had his Lectors who had to read from his writings the rest of the time, wherefore many an one in his vexation exclaimed: "He preached us to death again!"
Unedifying as these things may seem, it must yet be coll- fessed that there was no lack of that essential of true service of God, the crucifying of the flesh; hence we inake remem- brance of those blessed times when, beside these sorrows, the spirit of prophecy also manifested itself so strongly. The Superintendent in those days was lifted above the world of sense, and had surmounted time with its changes. His hymns composed then are full of prophecy, and belong to the evening of the sixth time-period, that is, to the holy Ante-Sabbath. They represent the mysteries of the last timnes so impressively, that it seems as though the kingdom were already dawning. It appears that it was the intention to set upon a candlestick the wonders of the last times through the revelation of the heavenly Virgin-estate and of the Melchizedekian priesthood in America; for that these hymns were given unto him in visions he at times betrays, when he adds, "This did we see in the spirit," while ordin- arily under similar circumstances he is very self-reliant. All these hymns are to be found in a new collection under the title "Paradiesisches Wunderspiel." Soon after he undertook an important work in the spirit, namely, he in- vestigated what must have moved God to have so many animals slaughtered in his service for the redemption of man, which his righteousness would not have permitted if animals had not guilt resting upon thein because of the
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fall of man. About this he became spiritually exercised, and produced a singular writing which he called "Wunder Schrift." Because he thereby disregarded nature too much, he contracted a severe illness. On account of its excellence it was printed in English with the title: "Dissertation on Man's Fall." Unless, however, the reader is versed in the spirit of the Virgin-estate, it is somewhat unclear in its ex- pressions. In it, however, he has opened up a far outlook into eternity, and has gone further than even the holy Apostles in their revelations, bringing glorious things to light concerning the Mother Church, and how the Father finally shall deliver his office to the Mother; similarly con- cerning the Sabbatic Church in the time of the bound dragon; what God's purposes are with this Church; and why he permitted her to be so severely tried by Gog and Magog.
His followers had their part also in all this. Through their heavenly calling they were instructed thoroughly to plow up their human nature as being the soil into which are to be sown the seeds of the new inanhood; and because this their humanity was under the sword of the Cherub, God opened unto them again an entrance unto the tree of life, so that they again ate of the Verbo Domini, and so satisfied themselves with unceasing prayer as though they had been at some sumptuous banquet; all which Adam forfeited when he descended to earthly things. How otherwise would it have been possible for thein, amidst their severe labors, to live in such absteiniousness ? The attractions of the angelic life had overcome all mercy towards the body, so that the Su- perintendent was obliged to restrain many an one in his too great zeal. It was now no secret among them any more how Adam before the fall had eaten; also how it was still possible to live without animal food and without evacuation of the bowels. Clem. Alex., Lib. III, left a glorious witness of this, where he says: "Jesus ate and drank in ordinary fashion, and did not expel the food from him;" so great power of abstinence had he, that the food within him was not con- sumed, because there was no corruptibility in him.
It was remarked that afterwards the spirit of prophecy descended upon the offices, and therefore hit also the Prior
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of the Brethren and the Mother of the Sisters; even as among the Jews, when the spirit of prophecy entered into the room, the high-priest began to prophecy. The Prior wrote so much at this time, that he employed two Brethren in copying; but as he was then himself but only rising, his witness also was confused and unclear. His writings were kept hidden by his admirers long after his death; but now no one knows anything of them. After the prophetic spirit had withdrawn again into his chamber, an echo of it yet re- mained from the time of the bound dragon or the Sabbatic Church, with which the meeting was entertained for years. Herewith we will close this chapter.
CHAPTER XXII.
CONCERNING THE TEMPORAL COURSE OF EVENTS AMONG THE
BRETHREN IN ZION, AND HOW THEY LAPSED INTO THE WORLD. ITEM, THE SUPERINTENDENT'S CO-WORKER DIES.
Before the government among the Solitary was systemna- tized a certain simplicity reigned among all; the Superin- tendent was the father of all of them, and they all were his children; and when they travelled, it looked like a hen going with her brood of chicks. He held the funds, and whoever had any money, handed it over to him; and he appropriated it in such wise that the Settlement always remained poor. Not till after his death was it revealed that the most of it was carried away by beggars. But after the Brethren and Sisters were established in their convents, they were so abundantly supplied with spiritual officials that no one could stir a step without them; and the hours of day and night were so apportioned that no one had any time left for recreation except the holy Sabbath. Now everyone was diligent in a blind obedience, which was indeed the easiest but not the most excellent way of procedure; for it was this that hastened the fall of their rulers, who, as it was, had already assumed too much authority. It was remarked that those Brethren fared best who kept on good terins with the Superintendent and maintained a constant strife with the Prior. The Superintendent was much concerned about this singular economy, for he was obliged to give up his best beloved sons and daughters, since he ever impressed upon the Solitary that they must be obedient to their superiors; such was his innocence. This one thing yet remained to him, that at the same time the Prior still clung to him as a son to his father, wherefore also he favored him with all fidelity. For this, one may refer to the 65th, 66th and 67th of his printed Letters, in one of which he writes thus: "I think, indeed, that iny resources would be sufficient to supply all your deficiencies; for when I consider the state of your
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