Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
Zinzendorf under Religious and Political Pressures
Zinzendorf was one in whom the work of the cross was operating. Zinzendorf faced opposition from the clergy who accused him of having unsound and unscriptural teaching and of being a ’sentimental mystic.’ Also, he was opposed politically, being accused of enlarging his estate by ’stealing’ tenants from other landlords. Opposition became so severe that an order of banishment was issued against him in 1736. Zinzendorf’s reaction was this:
It matters little. I could not have returned to Herrnhut anyway in ten years, for the time has come to gather the pilgrim congregation and preach the Saviour to the whole world. Our home will be that particular place where at the moment our Saviour has the most for us to do (Weinlick, 127).
In 1747 he returned to Herrnhut. This painting shows Zinzendorf greeting a ten-man commission appointed by the Saxon government to investigate again (1748). They met in Gross-Hennersdorf along with eleven delegates of the Moravian Church. The government examiners concluded that the church did hold beliefs consistent with the Augsburg (Lutheran) Confession. Official recognition also was given to the Moravian Church. The handkerchief in Zinzendorf’s hand indicates his high status.
