USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Ephrata > Chronicon ephratense : a history of the community of Seventh Day Baptists at Ephrata, Lancaster County, Penn'a. > Part 13
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mind, I feel that at this time you may be helped by courage coupled with fear and trembling. Exercise yourself in a right childlike boldness in your walk, regardless of the falls that may happen." The Superintendent at that time also occasionally visited the Brethren in their sad condition at their matins, when their miserable state deeply moved him so that he often was melted to overflowing. But the Prior hedged the Brethren in against any approach to intimacy with the Superintendent, for fear they might become too exalted; so that many an one did not enter his spiritual Father's house for a whole year at a time, which was prob- ably a Nicolaitan teaching.
The domestic households at that time still had a high regard for the work of God in the Settlement. Their daily offerings were the main sustenance of the Solitary; yes, they brought tithes of their crops into the Settlement, although these were not placed upon the altar according to their sense of it, but were used in trade, on which account no one wanted to make any more offerings. Meanwhile God's work went forward rightly in the two convents of Zion and Sharon (which was the name of the Sisters' convent), which caused a great stir in the land; for the people again fell into the old suspicion that there must be Jesuits from Mexico concerned in the matter. The simplicity which the Brethren in Zion had learned from their spiritual father prevailed among them for quite a time. They drew their cart themselves, and were their own horses; when they travelled, they went heavily laden like camels, and sometimes the whole Brotherhood. might be seen trooping around the hill of Zion. The com- munal life was now formally instituted, and all private- ownership was declared to be an Ananias-sin; this was a inatter which the Prior was continually impressing upon the Brethren, from which it was apparent that it was artificial rather than inspired by the Spirit. Nevertheless the Super- intendent supported him herein, for he writes in a letter to. the Brethren thus: "If one could not deny oneself of this stale and childish I and Mine, how would it be if one would have to deny oneself of life itself? I for my part could not live so, and would rather die than disappoint God and cause
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men to be deceived in me." (See Del. Ephr. P. 2, page 247).
After the number of the Brethren increased, it was asked how so many young people should be kept employed, outside of the work of divine worship, and preserved froin idleness. Circumstances, too, demanded this, for the convent was poor, because the good Brethren cared for others more than for themselves. And since at this time also the offerings did not come in very plentifully anymore, the Prior was seized with unbelief, and sank into purely temporal prospects. And as the Mother of the Sisters also fell into this faithless- ness, they secretly took counsel together how they might organize the economy so as to provide a living without hav- ing to depend upon the favor of the domestic households upon which dependence could no longer be placed. All this took place behind the Superintendent's back, who had ever been solicitous that the things of this world might not find entrance in the Settlement; although the Mother herself complained of the Brethren to the Superintendent when they carried it to extremes; for she sought her own interest in arousing differences between the Superintendent and the Prior. Now therefore there was instituted in the Settlement a worldly economy for the sustenance of the natural life, which represented a ducal court-economy, wherein the Breth- ren and Sisters were made inen servants and women servants. Through this much of the primitive simplicity was lost, wherein God had manifested his wonders; and in its stead was opened a wide outlook into the world, for the Brethren, whose intelligence had been widened at their conversion, set up various mechanical trades, which brought in great profits, and which they handed over to the Prior, so that in a short time the treasury became so rich that money began to be loaned out; yes, it is likely that if God had not destroyed this economy, the Brethren would by this time have ships upon the sea.
Besides this, the possessions of those who entered the Order were taken from them without considering whether or not these would find their benefit in the Order; and if they left the Order again, they received nothing back, and this by virtue of a rule that anyone who should leave the
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Order would lose whatever he had contributed to the same. Not even the Courts could prevent this, for it was always claimed that there were no laws covering such cases. One by the name of Henry Bone inoved into Zion and surren- dered his possessions; but because he did not have any pleasure in the house, he left the Order, and demanded the return of his property. But this was refused himn; where- upon in despair he took his own life. This and other acts of injustice might have redounded to the disadvantage of the Brotherhood, if in after times amends had not been inade therefor as far as possible. Soon after this the Breth- ren purchased a mill near by, where they afterwards set up the seat of their worldly realin. Sad it is that so many otherwise earnest Brethren fortified their calling there. For market was held there every day, and everybody wished to deal with these pious people, not only because of their honesty, but because there was erected an altar for a spuri- ous atonement. This was the reason, too, that whenever his quarters became too narrow for a Brother at the Settle- ment, he betook himself to the inill, for there he could live according to his natural inclinations.
At this time Brother Agonius1 died, who had been a great restraint upon the Prior in his worldly tendencies. His death
1This remarkable man, otherwise called Michael Wohlfahrt, was born at the fortress of Memel, on the Baltic sea. How he first became ac- quainted with the Superintendent, when the latter yet lived in solitude, has already been recounted. All his life he was a faithful assistant of the Superintendent, and not only was his companion on all his travels when he declared to the people in Pennsylvania the counsels of God concerning their salvation, but also sat by his side at all meetings, and followed him in speaking. Otherwise, according to the manner of the time, lie was in pretty close agreement with the Inspirationists, and at Philadelphia spoke prophetically both in the market-place and at the Quaker meetings ; so also at other places, though he never received therefor more than a prophet's reward. In the difficulty between the Superintendent and the Baptists he incautiously proceeded too far in judgment with those people, which rose up against him severely on his death-bed. This was expressed by the Superintendent as follows in the last verse of his funeral hymn:
"This in time my error was, Wherefore it must be the cause Why so sore my strife must be, Ere by death I was set free."
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secured to the Prior and his three brothers after the flesh the preponderance in the Settlement, and they were en- abled to perform great things, because the Brethren lived in blind obedience. The Prior was really pregnant with im- portant projects; three wagons were kept, on which a great deal of lumber was brought, for it was intended to add another wing to the convent, also to build the mill and all the bridges
His great merit, which stood by him in every temptation, was this, that he was a man after God's own heart, like David, who knew how to humble himself when brought into judgment. For, especially in the beginning, he often stood in the way of the Superintendent's spiritual work ; and because a hidden hand always protected the Superintendent, the good Brother was often thereby brought into severe condemnation, when he might, like others did, have parted from him in anger; but as he walked in David's footsteps he humbled himself, and accepted the judgment, even as his hymns bear witness. When, contrary to his and others' supposition, the large houses were built in the Settlement, he was sore confounded, especi- ally when he saw that great churches with bells were being procured, abuses against which he and others had so earnestly striven. This tempted him not a little to mistrust whether the Superintendent had not perhaps forsaken his post. And althoughi he never broke the bond of brotherly love between them, these temptations yet brought him so far that he again be- came a hermit, though without withdrawing from fellowship. To this end the Brethren built him a solitary dwelling in the mountains of Zoar, some
five miles from the Settlement. Finally, however, he was especially strengthened in the faith that God's hand was in the work, by considering that there were already seventy persons, of both sexes, and mostly young people, dwelling together in the Settlement, who had renounced all their earthly happiness for the sake of the kingdom of God. Wherefore he again renounced his seclusion and removed to the convent of Zion, where he led a very edifying life until its close, being subject to all the rules of the Order. His decease was greatly deplored, because, as has already been mentioned, he brought about great changes.
His departure into eternity fell into the year 1741. The circumstances thereof are as follows: This important change was made known to him some time before, though he did not think it was so near. Though a weak- ness overcame him a short time before, he yet recovered so far that on the Sabbath before his death he was at meeting, and the following evening at the Brethren's table, so that there were good hopes of his entire recovery. But his malady returned with such violence that, when the Brethren came from their midnight devotions they found him in such a condition that they saw that now his eager desire to depart would soon be fulfilled. His illness was brief and very severe, lasting only four days; in which time God's hand lay heavily upon him, and fulfilled the remainder of his sufferings until his sacrifice on the cross was complete, wherefore also he said: that he did not know whether any saint had ever endured such martyrdom. On the fol-
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of stone; besides a vault was to be built in Zion wherein the deceased were to be entombed. The old Brethren he wanted to exempt from all work; for it was his way to throw sus- picion upon the worldly life of the domestic households; and had he succeeded, all plantations for about two iniles around the Settlement would have been convent-land, and he would have received the families into the Settlement, and laid the
lowing second day, at night, just as the Brethren were at their service and were singing the hymn, "The time is not yet come," &c., their intercessions were asked for that God might open to him his prison door.
All his words during his severe conflicts were weighty, and flowed from him in streams, as the anguish of his heart wrung them from him. Being concerned lest his words might be burdensome to the Brethren, he finally said : " I am not yet such a saint as to be able to keep silence in my suffer- ing." He was wont especially to repeat such words as these : "The arrows of the Almighty are within me. He hath reckoned me with the godless, and hath become cruel towards me. Whither shall I turn myself? How shall a creature endure all this, for it is not made of iron ? Yet, who shall contend with Him? he cannot answer Him one of a thousand. He is God ! who can stand against His will?" He had the LXXXVIII and CII Psalms read to him, in which two Psalms his condition was particularly described ; and whenever anything was expressed that specially fit him, he would ex- claim : " That is I !" His conflict was really not with the weakness of his flesh, but with the powers of the air ; for, as I remarked above, he had sown too much seed in the fields of righteousness, whereby the spirits of right- eousness obtained the right to cut off his approach to the kingdom of grace. Wherefore he often used to say, that he was fallen among murderers, and the hatred of the devil and the weight of hell were about his neck, and that he knew not whether lie were humbled enough for God to protect hin against these powers. He also had Tauler's "Last Hours " read to him, probably because this one's departure was like unto his.
These peculiar trials were not strange to the Superintendent, for he un- derstood the good Brother's condition better than he himself did ; but he was aware of still worse temptations impending, and feared lest even blas- phemy against God might result therefrom. From this, however, God graciously preserved him. Meanwhile the Superintendent, in his priestly spirit, penetrated through all the powers of darkness, and reached with his prayers even unto the blood of the atonement, which he applied unto the salvation of this lost sinner. Wherefore the dying man at last spoke thus to him : " If thou hast nothing more for me, I am forever lost ; I desire, according to the usage of the first Christians, to be anointed by thee."
Thereupon preparation was made to comply with his request. But they were amazed to notice how upon this the brother-balsam penetrated to him in his prison house, and the powers of darkness soon released their prisoner. His whole form and demeanor were changed, so that for joy he repeated the words of the prophet: "Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of
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foundations of a nursery for the boys. The Superintendent did not know what to say to these actions of the Prior; the welfare of those who were entrusted to his guidance, lay near to his heart; but to put a stop to this world-conformed life, was not in accordance with faith; for he had kept tliem for a long time under restraint, but now they had got the ascendency over him, and when they were brought to judg- ment on account of some worldly affair, they held out until it was over, and afterwards, nevertheless, did as they pleased.
iny beloved touching his vineyard." Then he commenced to speak pro- phetically, and pronounced judgment against the spirits of evil who sought to close against him the entrance into the kingdom of God. Finally he said that he now saw his redemption; only God could take him up. Mean- while, the 4th day of his sickness approaches, and with it his blessed end. He was overfilled with great joy, and at last broke forth in these words : "Oh how glorious a thing it is to endure unto the end ! Oh what peace does it bring, to persevere without yielding up to the last fight !" Thereupon he related how he had been delivered over to strange spirits, who had taken him to a narrow pass, and treated him harshly, so that he applied to him- self the words of the 129th Psalm: "The plowers plowed upon my back, they made long their furrows." It appears as if it had been revealed to him that his end would come at the 9th hour of the day; therefore he looked keenly towards the hour-glass, whether the 8th hour was not soon to pass. As soon as it struck 9 he had himself set upright, and thus he expired, but when again let down, he once more revived and asked whether he had not yet died. After that he expired at the end of the 9th hour, aged 54 years, 4 months and 28 days, and afterwards was interred at the Settle- ment in a coffin neatly prepared for the occasion, May 21st. The following verses, taken from his funeral hymn, are notable:
See all the anguish, trouble and pain I suffered before death in vain, Until the oil of grace so mild Refreshed my soul, Was poured upon my head. Oh comfort rich! which I enjoyed; The brother-balm, it entered me And made my heart at rest to be.
His epitaph is the following:
Here rests the godly wrestler, Agonius, died anno 1741, aged 54 years, 4 months, 28 days.
Victory brings the crown, In the fight for faith, grace and renown. Thus blessings crown the warrior true Who bravely Sin and Belial slew. Peaceful he passed to his chamber of rest, Where now he is free of all pain and distress.
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But it cannot be said that the Brotherhood in Zion had, at the time, fallen away from its holy calling, for their house- hold was regulated in such a manner, that one could hardly live, so that whoever was not well accustomed to fasting, had to resort to stealing; and, perhaps, those good recluses in the Roman Catholic church experienced the same, not- withstanding the riches their convents possessed. The Super -.. intendent, at least, saw herein the divine government when
he thus writes to the Prior: "What else relates to the chief matters of the Brotherhood in Zion, I have, in consideration of how the inatter rests with God, to overlook not a little in many things which have changed my opinion considerably; although only my opinion. As concerns the matter other- wise, as it lies straight before God, I have such a fullness and steadiness of faith, that I want nothing; neither do I, in this our Community, grant any good to either young or old, without its being connected with the suffering or the original good of the Brotherhood in Zion." . (Vide Del. Ephr. Par. II, page 283. ) And now let us leave the narrow boundaries of Mount Zion, and turn again to the great church.
CHAPTER XXIII.
CONTAINS THE DISPUTES WHICH OCCURRED BETWEEN THE SO- CALLED MORAVIAN BRETHREN AND THE CONGREGATION IN EPHRATA.
Hardly anybody would believe what difficulties this Com- munity encountered on its arrival in Pennsylvania, in order to be received among the tribes as a Christian Community, did not many polemical writings plainly reveal it; for all different denominations declared against it, and although they were a complete Babel among themselves, they all were united in opposition against these newly arrived guests. It is remarkable that these good people came to this country to destroy the Babel therein, of which they might have heard in Germany; but, because they did not understand the lan- guage in which the Apostles had spoken on the day of Pente- cost, so that they might have been able to speak with every one in his own tongue, the only result was, that the schism became wider, and there was one more faction in the land. The present account contains the subjects of dispute which occurred between them and the Solitary in the Settlement.
In the year 1739, two delegates of their denomination, namely, Spangenberg and Nitschmann, arrived in Pennsyl- vania, who mnet with great success, and might have proved of edification to many, had they had more experience, and not been novices themselves. After the Brethren had heard of them, three went down the country and visited them at Wuegner's, a venerable family, descendents of the Schwenkfelders; and because at that time the fire of first love was still burning, their spirits united into one, so that they returned with them. When telling of their institutions at Herrnhut, the Brethren became so perceptibly moved by it that little was wanting and some would have accompanied them thither. Having tarried a few days in the Settlement, and also been present at a love-feast, they were dismissed with the kiss of peace, in all tenderness, as became the mes-
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sengers of such a renowned people; then they left there for St. Thomas. (See Chap. XVII.)
Some time after this, one by the name of Haberecht, wlio was decended from them, applied to the Superintendent for baptism, who complied with his request; in consequence he inoved into the convent Zion; but brought upon himself many temptations thereby. Anna Nitschmann, however, when she visited the Settlement, drew him back to her com- munion; and then only it was understood why the Superin- tendent liad baptized him into the faith of his own people. He again returned with them to Germany, and afterwards served their laborers in Algiers, from where he again jour- neyed to Pennsylvania and ended his life in their institution; may God give him a blessed resurrection. Meanwhile more important laborers of their communion arrived in the country -everyone of whom made the attempt to bring the people in the Settlement on the right. road again; for they believed that he had no true faith in the blood of Christ, who was so much occupied with work. They inust either have laid this plan in Germany, or many among them must have been possessed of a false spirit of priesthood. One of their most eminent single Sisters stayed for three days in the Sisters' House, during which time she enjoyed much love; this Sister afterwards spread the report in Germantown that inost of the Sisters in the Settlement would like to throw off the yoke if they but knew of another retreat. When this became known to the friends of the Separation there they were mnuch grieved, because they had much confidence in the House mentioned, and on that account wrote thither for information. Thereupon one of the Sisters answered that she had always been about the person mentioned, but she never heard any of the Sisters say the like of it to her. This letter can be found among the papers published against them in Frankfurtlı.
But, in order that the reader may receive a proper insight into this quarrel, let him know that it chiefly related to justi- fication and the inarried state. The Superintendent com- plained a great deal that in the churches the blood of atone- ment was permitted to become a shield in the hands of the old
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Adam, the consequence of which was a carnal security, and for that reason the blood of atonement was considered by us to be too holy to be talked about with levity, which they inter- preted as not believing in Christ. But it must be known, that man committed a double fall; at first he fell off from God under the law of nature, after that he fell from the law into unrighteousness. Thus also there is a double con- version, the first through the drawing of the Father, where Moses holds the rule; here man tries to satisfy the demands of his conscience, and endeavors to do works of righteous- ness, whereby he gains a degree of blessedness, as is written: Do this, and you will live; but this is not yet the true blessedness. When man has fulfilled the righteousness of the law under Moses, he is sent by Moses to God. Now only the axe is laid at the root of the tree, and all his good works become sin, as Paul says : He has resolved all under sin, not the wickedness of man, for it already is sin, but his good works, for the great contention between God and man does not originate in the evil of man, but in his goodness, and here alone is the road to salvation where the primitive cause of all corruption is excited, and if here the blood of the covenant did not prevail, there would be no getting off, therefore says Christ: "Blessed is he who shall not be offended in ine," namely, when his goodness is turned into sin for him. Whoever preaches the gospel to one who is still a debtor to the law, turns Christ into a servant of sin: for it is our schoolmaster who points to Christ; therefore also the good Master, when asked by that youth, what he should do in order to be saved, did not answer: Believe in ine, but showed him the commandments. Such like speech he had with them at times, but it found no entrance. They said they could make a Christian in three days.
There were also difficulties respecting the married state; the Superintendent called it a house of correction for carnal minded persons, but they gave it a place in the sanctuary. Perhaps the spirit of virginity was given to them at their awakening, because there is no conversion without it, but it seems that the leaders of their awakening left their posts, whereby the married state became privileged again, for every -.
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thing depends upon the government. However, the seal- ing of the elect number has been put back so far, since God cannot complete it, until the number of four hundred and forty thousand is made up. They gave great offence, in that they forthwith inarried a great number of young people by lot, who had visited them for the sake of edification, as happened to several daughters of a merchant, perhaps without his knowledge. One of their most prominent Brethren (as can be seen in his biography), when he intended to change his state, sought consent in the Scriptures; and came as far as Enoch, of whom it is written that he walked with God for 300 years, and begot sons and daughters. It would not have been necessary to go back so far; the example of the good Master would have been nearer, as also Paul's church ordi- nance, I COR. VII, for as far as Enoch is concerned, it is known that the fathers before the deluge represented but figures of the future, and that Enoch represents the fruitful- ness of the Sabbatical church.
In the year 1742 the Ordinarius Fratrum arrived in Penn- sylvania, and found soon after his arrival, a perfect Babel, as he himself acknowledged; he also saw that all parties were greatly alarmed by the works of God in Ephrata, and that it was necessary for him to declare for one or the other side. Meanwhile preparations were made for conferences, for the chief purpose of uniting all the different parties into one great church-body, which would have given joy to all the saints, had only the workinen themselves been separated from the Babel. He undertook a journey up the country, even before the conferences, but visited only the door-sill of the Ephrata House. The first conference was to be held at Ger- mantown, and circulars were distributed through the land by Henry Antes; when they arrived in the Settlement, a church council was held, and resolved that one Brother in Zion, together with several Fathers, should attend; but the Prior whose dignity did not allow that another should be pre- ferred to him, brought it about that he was appointed. Besides those of Ephrata, men of all kinds of opinions made their appearance, even apostates of the Settlement; for many hoped that a nearer road to the Kingdom of Heaven than known in this country, might be found, because the hand of God lay
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