Hi! Lifelong Moravian here. Thanks for taking a look at our little denomination. My hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina is probably one of the biggest hubs for the Moravian Church in the U.S.A., alongside Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, due to being home to some early Moravian Communities, most notably, the town of Salem, where the latter half of my hometown gets it's name. I'm fairly certain I had an ancestor who lived in Salem as well. So, seeing you cover us as a denomination was awesome, especially since we tend to get looked over a lot. Enjoy your content immensely, and looking forward to seeing more from you!
I have an Inuit friend (about 70 years old)from Labrador, Canada whose grandmother was apparently a Moravian. If I recall his story, Moravians must have come to Labrador as missionaries. Whether intentionally or blown off course, I don't know. So it sounds as though his Moravian grandmother must have married a local Inuit (Eskimo).
@@margaretschwartzentruber3154 The Moravians do a lot of mission work, so we've got a lot of churches all around the world. (In fact, several years ago, I did a mission trip in Jamaica, and attended a Moravian church service there!)
Super cool! I also live near Winston-Salem (Walkertown) and have grown up going to Old Salem and my grandparents' Moravian church where I took part in many Lovefeasts and other Moravian traditions. I didn't realize it wasn't "normal" to have a Moravian culture and my first "real" road trip being to Lancaster, Pennsylvania didn't help 😂
Thank you so much for this one!. I'm in my 70's now.....when i was in HS i decided to leave my family's Lutheran Church an join the Moravians. I was so drawn to what seemed like their "big tent" approach. I visited the one Moravian congregation we had in the LA area....the now-closed Downey Moravian church. But nothing came of it. Still....i'm a great admirer of much about them and fascinated by their history. Blessings!! And thanks for your even-handed and fair treatment of all the groups you present.
They seem to be a very enlightened and reasonable church overall in matters of theology and doctrine. I really like their exegetical humility vis-a-vis Scripture.
The Moravians, in the mid 1700’s formed a large community at Salem, in the Carolinas. Some of the lands were held in common, other land was privately owned. Many of my German immigrant ancestors joined this colony in the 1700’s. The colony kept written records that are now online and are an interesting window into that period of time in the United States.
Thanks for this. I’m of Czech descent myself and I’ve always found it interesting that at least in my area, most Czechs were Catholic or Presbyterian. I’ve only seen Moravian Church’s further east and not on the Great Plains where I live but I’ve always been interested in them, mostly due to the name. I do know that many Czech Americans who are Presbyterians honor Jan Hus. I know for sure that there are a few “John Huss Presbyterian Church” congregations.
It seems that some of these Czech/Slovak Presbyterian churches were Moravian churches who petitioned to join the Presbyterian church because they were often isolated or disconnected to the larger Moravian church when they arrived in places where there wasn't the support or presence of a Moravian church.
Ok, as a Czech I will say something about the religious situation in Czechia. Firstly, most Czechs are atheist or basically areligious (around 85%), which is a result of an interesting ethno-religious and political development that I won't get into. We are sometimes called the most atheist nation on the Earth. Most of the rest are Christians. Around 10% of the population are Roman Catholics, mostly in Moravia (that is the eastern part) and then there are two important Protestant Churches, "Československá církev husitská" (The Hussite Church of Czechoslovakia) and "Českobratrská církev evangelická" (The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren) the second one being the bigger one. The Evangelical church are the descendants of the "underground protestants" of the baroque period and claim continuity with the Unity of Brethren. They are mix of Lutheranism and Calvinism in their doctrine. The Hussite church was established basically as a state church of the first Czechoslovak republic, being based on the quite nationalistically perceived Hussite legacy (Catholicism was viewed as too strongly intertwined with Austria-Hungary and German culture in general) but they never managed to outgrow (or outlast, as it were in last few decades) Catholicism. Protestant churches are much more liberal than Catholic which must be surprising from a US-centric perspective. All in all in popular minds Hus is viewed as a national cultural hero and the Hussite period as the "good ol' times when we stuffed those damn Germans", a view originating from 19th century when Czech identity and language was fighting for survival. Quote from Hus, "Truth Prevails" is written on the Czech Presidential Standard and together with the St. Cyril and Methodius, the "Slavic Apostoles", is considered the most important religious figure of the Czech history. There are also Greek Catholic and Orthodox communities present but they are not too numerous (something that has been however changed by the influx of refugees from the Russian invasion of Ukraine). The Orthodox church however recently had some presence in the news because a part of the clergy voiced their concern after their Russia-loving leadership called for a genocide of Ukrainians. Anyway, that should be the most important points about Czech religious landscape.
@@andrew0.033coming from the perspective of a Catholic, no, they’re not. They simply worship differently, and I shall see them either in Purgatory, or Heaven, when I die.
I live 10 miles from the small town of Herrnhut (the name meaning: Lord's care or guard), and I've been a few times to the Church and to Zinzendorf's country house. Their Daily Watchwords (Losungen) are known and used very commonly in most Protestant denominations of Germany, far beyond the Moravians (Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine), and many Christians read them daily and cite and/or discuss them in Sunday Services. Another thing worth mentioning are Moravian stars (Herrnhuter Sterne), a popular Christmas decoration all over Germany and beyond. They are produced by a company belonging to the Brüdergemeine in Herrnhut.
Great video, this really explains a lot of the variation of the churches. When it comes to music, the Moravians have a rich repertoire of music from hymns to sonatas, to trombone choirs as well as classical period style arias with orchestra. There is so much good music in the Moravian church, they're kind of "knock off Lutherans" as one of my friends called them, but if you find a good congregation, they're wonderful people and community to attend or play for if you'e a musician.
@@TheNorthdakotagal I agree. It’s just that most people don’t know who the Moravians are or that the church is technically older than the Lutheran church.
John Huss prophesied about Martin Luther in his dying words, not by name, but by the accomplishment that will be had in 100 from the point. See Joel two. Things like prophecy are becoming more and more ordinary, even in the Lutheran Church that 30 years ago often tried to say things like the teachings of Mark 16 or the book of first Corinthians we’re done. 🤦🏽♀️ If you humbly seek the truth with your whole heart you will find it. That’s what Jeremiah 29 says, that’s what God says. We have to love the truth of God more than any denomination or teachings we want to believe. God is alive and active. As is our ability to understand scripture through the Holy Spirit which dwells inside believers. Yes, according to Scripture the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells inside each of us. 🙌 The denominations that seen miracles, simply seem humble enough to accept that they still happen. The Moravians that came to America prayed so desperately for the Lord that he showed up mightily. It’s not about style of music, it’s not about any denomination, it’s about seeking the Lord with your whole heart and finding out how much he truly is already there as you submit and obey in faith to John 14 “see greater…” well we all know what Jesus said there, but is it happening in your life? If not, be like the Moravians who cried out to the Lord till it did. 🙌 i’m not a Moravian, but I am blown away by the actual story that wasn’t told in the above video but is told in the primary sources from that time that bring great glory to God as should be done.
I live in Winston-Salem and we have Moravian churches everywhere so I thought I should learn about what they're teaching. this was super helpful to that end. thanks
Fun fact: In my home country, Finland, the Moravian Church is called _herrnhutilaisuus_ (Herrnhutianism). They have never been an organised church in Finland, but they have rather acted as a spiritual/revivalist movement inside the Lutheran Church. I have in my possession their publication, _Päivän Tunnussana,_ lit. 'The Word of Confession of the Day', from 1940s. (I am not sure but I think they still publish that Bible verse collection annually.)
I have the same thing in German, but from the 1960s. It was and still is the practise to select Bible verses for every day of the coming year. They are called Losungen in German as someone commented below,.
Hyvä Suomi! I live in the states, but in 1923, 10 Finnish families moved to my hometown, and their descendants are very proud of their heritage. I recently started learning Finnish, it’s such a fun language!
This was very informative. I never really knew anything about Moravians, but I've always known of their existence, because I grew up down the street from Moravian Cemetery in Staten Island, NY, a large and very beautiful cemetery (gently sloping hills, lots of trees, winding paths, streams) wherein the Vanderbilt family mausoleum is located and where my dad's been buried since 2003. I finally stepped inside the church in the cemetery a few years ago for a wedding, and it was the first non-Catholic church into which I've ever set foot in my 56 years. I had no idea that they have such an interesting denomination. I'd never join them, but they're very interesting.
Jesus taught us to love our neighbor and pray for he who persecutes us. Should we then turn around and becomes persecuters? Should Christians act like Ceaser?
True, Christians did kill some fellow Christians. However the followers of the false prophet have killed millions and millions of Christians and continue to do it. Christianity is a religion of peace whereas mohamedism is a religion of death.
it's horrible. I wonder if most moderns just separate the personal from the spiritual easily. In Jan Hus's Europe, the notion of separating church and state must have just seemed impossible. The ruling nobility made all the big decisions. Go against them at your own risk! And that was just as true in Protestant as well as Catholic places!
Paul IN NO WAY argued Christians should divorce an unbelieving spouse, where is this Moravian fellow getting that from? He said the presence opposite, did he not?
They're getting the basic idea from 1 Cor 7, where Paul goes down a list of marital circumstances. The gist is if a spouse is an unbeliever but wants to stay in the marriage, the other spouse should not put them out. But if an unbelieving spouse leaves the marriage then the believing spouse is free from the marital bond and obligations. I suppose that could be called an informal divorce. But that's applying 2023 US laws and mentality. What was the marriage customs of the Corinthians? Would they consider that a divorce? I don't know although its a divorce in every way from a practical viewpoint. 1Cor7 is one of Paul's more confusing instructions that needs several re-readings to make sure you grasp his message. Differences in Bible translations can easily lead to unneeded complexity or confusion also.
Interesting video. Seems like they started off pretty solidly but have too much wiggle room which has prevented them on taking stances on important issues
I just heard about the Moravian church and knew nothing about them. Very thankful for this video as a resource to learn so much in just an hour! Thanks for this!
I have in my personal library a Czech psalter and hymnal published in 1900 which I purchased in Prague in 1976. It contains the complete Genevan Psalms in Czech as set to verse by Jiří Strejc. On the front cover is a stylized chalice, the symbol of the Unitas Fratrum. A fascinating liturgical book to which I’ve not seen reference elsewhere. It seems Jan Hus’s spiritual descendants were singing both Calvinist psalms and Lutheran chorales as recently as the turn of the last century.
It's interesting that they think it's OK to believe in evolution, even as it involves man, yet holds mankind responsible for protecting and maintaining the created world for future generations. Considering Genesus states that God created man in His own image, male & female, and gave him/them the mandate to have, not domination as in downward pressure, but Dominion, as in authority, presumably to lead, organize, contain, protect, make use of etc, for good purposes, and that God blessed man and imbued or invested them with authority to accomplish such work, evolution seems even more unlikely than looking at the situation only as cells and blood becoming something eventually capable of thinking up such a plan.
I’m going to be starting a job at Schoenbrunn Village in New Philadelphia, OH, which is a historical site that preserves the location of a 18th century settlement founded by Moravian missionaries. I’m watching this video so I can refresh my knowledge on the Unitas Fratrum.
I am Czech and I didnt even know about this splinter of the hussite movement. I know the Hussite church that still exists in Czechia and Slovakia but never heard of this one.
About halfway into this I was thinking these folks sound a central European ethnic version of the Episcopalians. And sure enough, full communion with them and the other liberal mainline denominations.
Thank you for this. My great-grandparents were members of the Moravian church when they came to the US from Germany in the middle of the nineteenth century. I knew that Jan Hus started the Protestant Reformation a hundred years before Martin Luther and was burned at the stake for it, but never knew much beyond that. Your description of their beliefs and values largely matches my own beliefs and values, which makes me think that I inherited some of that religion.
The Ukrainian Orthodox (I feel rightly) claims that Jan Hus wanted to revert to Eastern Orthodoxy. Traces of this can be seen in the similar forms of Communion as well as the Moravian rejection of Filioque. Further evidence of Eastern Orthodox Roots include their claim to a heritage from Sts. Cyril & Methodius (and by extension, St. Photius) as well as the emergence of the Czech Orthodox Church from both the Czech Catholic and Moravian Churches. Apparently, the Czech Orthodox were an Underground Church, just like the Moravians were. Furthermore, this aligns with Zinzindorff's vision of "A Church Within A Church", going to the Logical Extreme of "A Church Within A Church Within A Church".
The Moravian Church in South Africa was formed in 1737 by missionary Georg Schmidt, making it the second oldest church in South Africa. When you visit South Africa be sure to visit Genadendal where Schmidt welcomed the freed slaves. The church and museum holds a lot of history. Be sure to visit the mission stations that became towns. These mission stations include place such as Elim, Wupperthal, amongst others. Despite the challenges faced by the church I am looking forward to celebrating the 300th anniversary in 2037.
I remember picking up a patient from an assisted living facility and having them explain to me the staff are messing with dark forces and witchcraft since they were Moravians.
Whoa...that's way back there .and way over there..my great. Grand parents came over in 1850's which also is way back when..America..across the sea's. ...
Thanks for the great presentation. I had the feeling that we were presented with 2 different religions. One held in the Northern and Southern American provinces and one for the rest of the Moravian Church. The Americans and their Canadians lackeys seem to have become lackeys to the general culture and hardly Christian whereas the Christians in the rest of the Moravian church outside of North America still hold on to Christian views on all the topics that you covered. I know some Moravians from Labrador and they were quite traditional, but unfortunately they were always belittled by the big brothers from the USA who wished to impose their wokeism on them. A sad state of affairs indeed.
Soon (In the UK at least) they will be non-existent. In 2006 they had 30 churches. Now they have 26. They'll disintegrate before the loss of the last beliver, of course. They were never really aiming at us, but its still strange to see a denomination die in real time.
As a Senior in a Seventh-day Adventist High School, I was required for one assignment to attend a worship service of another church. A friend and I looked through the phone book, and decided that "Moravian" sounded kinda weird and mysterious, so on one Sunday, many years ago, we went to a rather large Moravian church in the area. The worship service was not nearly so strange or radical as we might have hoped, although passing around a big loaf of leavened bread for the communion was certainly different to us. We did have an opportunity to talk to the pastor after the service and asked him a few questions. We were surprised to hear that Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians who came to America with Him, were, in fact, Sabbatarians, as we are, keeping the Sabbath as appointed from creation, namely that of the Seventh-day of the week. That could have at least gotten a mention, Joshua. ;)
As ever a thoughtful and well balanced and informative discussion. Thank you Josh. Fwiw, I studied The Council of Florence for my MA, and as part of that, I had to look at The Bohemian Reformation, which was a significant event in the lead up to that Council. It is a pity that Josh had so little time as there were other issues at the time, which affected this particular tradition. The Moravians could so easily have ended up within The Eastern Orthodox Family of Churches, instead of being one tradition amongst those of The Latin West
Good presentation. Just a couple of mistakes on the Hussites to note. Hus was not in favor of married priests, but did view Orthodox priests as legitimate if they were married. The largest Hussite church was the Utraquist Church, which was also destroyed in the counter reformation. The Bohemian Brethren were a small Protestant Church, but very important. The Utraquists and Brethren did not allow priests to marry until the late 16th century. The leading theologian for the Brethren was Petr Chelciky rather than Hus.
It is not so clear from the introduction but I would like to re-iterate that the Hussites WON the wars against most of the Europe even though the well-remembered battle was basically between a radical hussite wing and a catholic-hussite alliance aiming at ceasing the hostilities. Because the period afterwards was a very interesting and tolerant period ended by the fall of the Jagelonian dynasty in the battle of Mohács, Lutheran reformation and later by the 30 years war (which we, Czechs, started). A very interesting period that created a cultural milleau that Czech writers of 19th century could point back to.
I’ve heard of Jamaican branches of this church are pretty hard core. Conservative, a very strong purity culture, and a lot of hellfire I’m very surprised to hear something so different. Is there something I’m missing?
Been doing ancestry and have over 700 in the tree. Was working on one family member that was from Moravia-Selesia Czech so I wanted to do a little research
Again and again, no matter what denomination we look at here, we find one thing in common: growing apostasy on the issue of God's design for marriage. Are we as a worldwide Christian movement going apostate on biblical marriage just because a few activists in back rooms found a way to play on our sympathies by framing same sex marriage as a civil rights issue? What madness we've found ourselves in...
An example of caving in to the screeching demands of 3% the population. I just heard this statistic in the past month. A survey was down by a legit company that does surveys. The BIG question was anchored as.....Do you view yourself as heterosexual or other?? Only 3% idented as something other than hetero. That was very surprising because with all the noise, corporate media overexposure, and cowtowing to the noisy demands you'd think it was a very substantial chunk of the US population.
I had to give this a 2nd go around..It rings this bell within..Searching for seed of heredity and traditions..like a needle in a hay stack..Hay stacks are fun .!😂
Hus sadly like a number of proto Protestant and early Protestant reformers met with unpleasant end like Zwingli.The Moravians were a great influence upon John Wesley and it was their reading of Martin Luther's comments on Romans in London that he, Wesley, credits with making him a true Christian.
"The Bible does not speak directly to the issues of abortion..." The Bible: Thou shalt not murder. Abortion and homosexuality are low hanging fruit. If your church can't get it straight those are sins, then it's time to find another church.
Also, the Bible totally talks about abortion. "If men should struggle and injure a pregnant women, and she gives birth prematurely, but no fatality results, the offender must pay compensation imposed on him by the husband of the woman, and pay it through the judges, but if fatality does result, you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, arm for arm, burn for burn, wound for wound, blow for blow."
Living in Austria I am a little bit confused. Our protestant church has good relation to the lutheran churches in bohemia, especially to the to the bohemian brothers. I never have heard of a Moravian church in Moravia besides the very small group of Zinsendorfers. 1781 by the Toleranzedikt of Emperor of Josef II the lutheran, reformed and Hussites were merged in one church = the church of the bohemian brothers. Are you sure, that the church you are referring to is real??? Or are you speaking of Zinsendorfianer (german) that may fantasize of an old origin from the times of reformation?
Yep, it's the Zinzendorfers, who are often called Moravian Brethren in the English-speaking world, since most of the inhabitants of Herrnhut were underground Protestant refugees from Moravia. They in fact have a succession of bishops from the original Unitas Fratrum. After John Comenius, Brethren bishops had positions in churches in Prussia and Poland (both Lutheran/Augsburg and Reformed/Helvetic). Bishop Daniel Ernst Jablonski then ordained the reformed Zinzendorfian bishop David Nitschmann, who was a German-speaking refugee from Moravia. The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, which is active in Czech Republic, was formed by those Brethren who remained underground in Bohemia and Moravia.
Is not "Love thy neighbor" essential? How then be abortion a non essential? If showing love to unborn children is nonessential, what differentiates you from Baal worshipers offering up burnt human sacrifices?
He was burned on a stack of translated for the people to be able to read for themselves Bibles and he prophesied (as the book of first Corinthians and Joel 2 explains prophecy) in 100 years time (The time of Martin Luther) “God would raise others whose calls for reform would not be suppressed.” 🙌 The places the Moravians prayed in America still have miracles and people spending hours a day consistently praying, prophesying, and experiencing both the good of the Lord. And the massacres against God‘s people were not God’s people starting wars, although beautiful people stepped in and stopped the massacres and God provided safe Havens miraculously even though history won’t share the full truth that peoples diaries miraculously express as the truth of God’s goodness, provision, mercy and love. 🙌 i’m only a minute or so in, and I’m sure this is well-meaning, but I’m not going to bother listening to the secularized version that denies the truth of what’s happened and still is going on. God is so good and the things of scripture not only happened 2000 years ago as Jesus promises in John 14 and Mark 16 The signs that file the true believers are, well, read for yourself in your own language. English standard version is a literal translation, New international readers version is made simple for young children to read and it’s kept to the heart of it and of course there are people that can read in the original languages and the Dead Sea Scrolls prove it has not been changed. It’s not man to interpret scripture, it’s the Holy Spirit once man HUMBLES and invites Holy Spirit in. No man need to be your mediator between God and man other than the one that said he is the only mediator between God and man, Jesus.
Yes, I know what you mean. However Slovakia seems to be accepted as a normal way of speaking about the country to the east. I wonder why one sounds awkward (I agree with you) and the other does not? Thanks
"Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him". I absolutely love their slogan!
The irony is that they don’t have any set if doctrines in which to do it
Hi! Lifelong Moravian here. Thanks for taking a look at our little denomination. My hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina is probably one of the biggest hubs for the Moravian Church in the U.S.A., alongside Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, due to being home to some early Moravian Communities, most notably, the town of Salem, where the latter half of my hometown gets it's name. I'm fairly certain I had an ancestor who lived in Salem as well. So, seeing you cover us as a denomination was awesome, especially since we tend to get looked over a lot. Enjoy your content immensely, and looking forward to seeing more from you!
I have an Inuit friend (about 70 years old)from Labrador, Canada whose grandmother was apparently a Moravian. If I recall his story, Moravians must have come to Labrador as missionaries. Whether intentionally or blown off course, I don't know. So it sounds as though his Moravian grandmother must have married a local Inuit (Eskimo).
@@margaretschwartzentruber3154 The Moravians do a lot of mission work, so we've got a lot of churches all around the world. (In fact, several years ago, I did a mission trip in Jamaica, and attended a Moravian church service there!)
My dad’s from Winston, and we went to a Moravian service there. It was such a lovely and gentle experience!
aaa 18:40 18:42 18:45 😂😂😂 18:48 S*
Super cool! I also live near Winston-Salem (Walkertown) and have grown up going to Old Salem and my grandparents' Moravian church where I took part in many Lovefeasts and other Moravian traditions. I didn't realize it wasn't "normal" to have a Moravian culture and my first "real" road trip being to Lancaster, Pennsylvania didn't help 😂
I just attended a Unity service today in Czechia. They are very evangelical.
I wanted to come over but they abolished services in Prague altogethee
Thank you so much for this one!. I'm in my 70's now.....when i was in HS i decided to leave my family's Lutheran Church an join the Moravians. I was so drawn to what seemed like their "big tent" approach. I visited the one Moravian congregation we had in the LA area....the now-closed Downey Moravian church. But nothing came of it. Still....i'm a great admirer of much about them and fascinated by their history. Blessings!! And thanks for your even-handed and fair treatment of all the groups you present.
They seem to be a very enlightened and reasonable church overall in matters of theology and doctrine. I really like their exegetical humility vis-a-vis Scripture.
The Moravians, in the mid 1700’s formed a large community at Salem, in the Carolinas. Some of the lands were held in common, other land was privately owned. Many of my German immigrant ancestors joined this colony in the 1700’s. The colony kept written records that are now online and are an interesting window into that period of time in the United States.
I love visiting Old Salem.
Moravians have varied practices on Communion. This made some people upset.
He implied they had varied practices on communion
Drink the wine deeply eat the wheat liberally. Eat and drink with fullness tasting and seeing the food is good, The Lord is good.
@@kytoaltokyYes. That's his point. "This made some people upset" is a meme/in-joke of this channel.😅
Thanks for this. I’m of Czech descent myself and I’ve always found it interesting that at least in my area, most Czechs were Catholic or Presbyterian. I’ve only seen Moravian Church’s further east and not on the Great Plains where I live but I’ve always been interested in them, mostly due to the name.
I do know that many Czech Americans who are Presbyterians honor Jan Hus. I know for sure that there are a few “John Huss Presbyterian Church” congregations.
It seems that some of these Czech/Slovak Presbyterian churches were Moravian churches who petitioned to join the Presbyterian church because they were often isolated or disconnected to the larger Moravian church when they arrived in places where there wasn't the support or presence of a Moravian church.
They're heretics.
Ok, as a Czech I will say something about the religious situation in Czechia. Firstly, most Czechs are atheist or basically areligious (around 85%), which is a result of an interesting ethno-religious and political development that I won't get into. We are sometimes called the most atheist nation on the Earth. Most of the rest are Christians. Around 10% of the population are Roman Catholics, mostly in Moravia (that is the eastern part) and then there are two important Protestant Churches, "Československá církev husitská" (The Hussite Church of Czechoslovakia) and "Českobratrská církev evangelická" (The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren) the second one being the bigger one. The Evangelical church are the descendants of the "underground protestants" of the baroque period and claim continuity with the Unity of Brethren. They are mix of Lutheranism and Calvinism in their doctrine. The Hussite church was established basically as a state church of the first Czechoslovak republic, being based on the quite nationalistically perceived Hussite legacy (Catholicism was viewed as too strongly intertwined with Austria-Hungary and German culture in general) but they never managed to outgrow (or outlast, as it were in last few decades) Catholicism.
Protestant churches are much more liberal than Catholic which must be surprising from a US-centric perspective.
All in all in popular minds Hus is viewed as a national cultural hero and the Hussite period as the "good ol' times when we stuffed those damn Germans", a view originating from 19th century when Czech identity and language was fighting for survival. Quote from Hus, "Truth Prevails" is written on the Czech Presidential Standard and together with the St. Cyril and Methodius, the "Slavic Apostoles", is considered the most important religious figure of the Czech history.
There are also Greek Catholic and Orthodox communities present but they are not too numerous (something that has been however changed by the influx of refugees from the Russian invasion of Ukraine). The Orthodox church however recently had some presence in the news because a part of the clergy voiced their concern after their Russia-loving leadership called for a genocide of Ukrainians.
Anyway, that should be the most important points about Czech religious landscape.
@@TheoEvian Quite interesting. Thank you.
@@andrew0.033coming from the perspective of a Catholic, no, they’re not. They simply worship differently, and I shall see them either in Purgatory, or Heaven, when I die.
I live 10 miles from the small town of Herrnhut (the name meaning: Lord's care or guard), and I've been a few times to the Church and to Zinzendorf's country house.
Their Daily Watchwords (Losungen) are known and used very commonly in most Protestant denominations of Germany, far beyond the Moravians (Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine), and many Christians read them daily and cite and/or discuss them in Sunday Services.
Another thing worth mentioning are Moravian stars (Herrnhuter Sterne), a popular Christmas decoration all over Germany and beyond. They are produced by a company belonging to the Brüdergemeine in Herrnhut.
Great video, this really explains a lot of the variation of the churches. When it comes to music, the Moravians have a rich repertoire of music from hymns to sonatas, to trombone choirs as well as classical period style arias with orchestra. There is so much good music in the Moravian church, they're kind of "knock off Lutherans" as one of my friends called them, but if you find a good congregation, they're wonderful people and community to attend or play for if you'e a musician.
Ironically, Martin Luther was very much influenced by Jan Huss (not the other way around).
@@TheNorthdakotagal I agree. It’s just that most people don’t know who the Moravians are or that the church is technically older than the Lutheran church.
John Huss prophesied about Martin Luther in his dying words, not by name, but by the accomplishment that will be had in 100 from the point. See Joel two. Things like prophecy are becoming more and more ordinary, even in the Lutheran Church that 30 years ago often tried to say things like the teachings of Mark 16 or the book of first Corinthians we’re done. 🤦🏽♀️ If you humbly seek the truth with your whole heart you will find it. That’s what Jeremiah 29 says, that’s what God says. We have to love the truth of God more than any denomination or teachings we want to believe. God is alive and active. As is our ability to understand scripture through the Holy Spirit which dwells inside believers. Yes, according to Scripture the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells inside each of us. 🙌 The denominations that seen miracles, simply seem humble enough to accept that they still happen. The Moravians that came to America prayed so desperately for the Lord that he showed up mightily. It’s not about style of music, it’s not about any denomination, it’s about seeking the Lord with your whole heart and finding out how much he truly is already there as you submit and obey in faith to John 14 “see greater…” well we all know what Jesus said there, but is it happening in your life? If not, be like the Moravians who cried out to the Lord till it did. 🙌 i’m not a Moravian, but I am blown away by the actual story that wasn’t told in the above video but is told in the primary sources from that time that bring great glory to God as should be done.
I live in Winston-Salem and we have Moravian churches everywhere so I thought I should learn about what they're teaching. this was super helpful to that end. thanks
Fun fact: In my home country, Finland, the Moravian Church is called _herrnhutilaisuus_ (Herrnhutianism). They have never been an organised church in Finland, but they have rather acted as a spiritual/revivalist movement inside the Lutheran Church. I have in my possession their publication, _Päivän Tunnussana,_ lit. 'The Word of Confession of the Day', from 1940s. (I am not sure but I think they still publish that Bible verse collection annually.)
I have the same thing in German, but from the 1960s. It was and still is the practise to select Bible verses for every day of the coming year. They are called Losungen in German as someone commented below,.
Hyvä Suomi! I live in the states, but in 1923, 10 Finnish families moved to my hometown, and their descendants are very proud of their heritage. I recently started learning Finnish, it’s such a fun language!
This was very informative. I never really knew anything about Moravians, but I've always known of their existence, because I grew up down the street from Moravian Cemetery in Staten Island, NY, a large and very beautiful cemetery (gently sloping hills, lots of trees, winding paths, streams) wherein the Vanderbilt family mausoleum is located and where my dad's been buried since 2003.
I finally stepped inside the church in the cemetery a few years ago for a wedding, and it was the first non-Catholic church into which I've ever set foot in my 56 years.
I had no idea that they have such an interesting denomination. I'd never join them, but they're very interesting.
I've never understood the number of people killed by other Christians in the name of their faith.
Jesus taught us to love our neighbor and pray for he who persecutes us. Should we then turn around and becomes persecuters? Should Christians act like Ceaser?
Me too
True, Christians did kill some fellow Christians. However the followers of the false prophet have killed millions and millions of Christians and continue to do it. Christianity is a religion of peace whereas mohamedism is a religion of death.
Catholics be catholicking!
it's horrible. I wonder if most moderns just separate the personal from the spiritual easily. In Jan Hus's Europe, the notion of separating church and state must have just seemed impossible. The ruling nobility made all the big decisions. Go against them at your own risk! And that was just as true in Protestant as well as Catholic places!
Can you please do a video on “Hebrew Catholics”? I’m interested in seeing a video on someone touching on the subject.
Jan Hus is venerated by many Czech Orthodox as well.
With much controversy it seems. The other Slavic Churches refuse to add him to the Calendar due to his acceptance of the Filioque clause.
Paul IN NO WAY argued Christians should divorce an unbelieving spouse, where is this Moravian fellow getting that from? He said the presence opposite, did he not?
There is a case where such a divorce is prescribed in where the unbeliever has abandoned the Marriage.
They're getting the basic idea from 1 Cor 7, where Paul goes down a list of marital circumstances. The gist is if a spouse is an unbeliever but wants to stay in the marriage, the other spouse should not put them out.
But if an unbelieving spouse leaves the marriage then the believing spouse is free from the marital bond and obligations. I suppose that could be called an informal divorce. But that's applying 2023 US laws and mentality. What was the marriage customs of the Corinthians? Would they consider that a divorce? I don't know although its a divorce in every way from a practical viewpoint.
1Cor7 is one of Paul's more confusing instructions that needs several re-readings to make sure you grasp his message.
Differences in Bible translations can easily lead to unneeded complexity or confusion also.
Interesting video. Seems like they started off pretty solidly but have too much wiggle room which has prevented them on taking stances on important issues
Which so often happens when congregations are allowed to decide for themselves what is and isn't sin. They sounded great up until that point.
yes@@aedsell
I’m so happy someone made a video about this! I’ve been looking for videos about Moravians that have your style for conveying information!
I just heard about the Moravian church and knew nothing about them.
Very thankful for this video as a resource to learn so much in just an hour! Thanks for this!
It is easy to tell when you feel somewhat positive about your subject. There is a lot to like here. Thanks for a very thorough report!
Finally a video on one of the more forgotten branches of the Christian family. Thanks for this Joshua!
great!
I have in my personal library a Czech psalter and hymnal published in 1900 which I purchased in Prague in 1976. It contains the complete Genevan Psalms in Czech as set to verse by Jiří Strejc. On the front cover is a stylized chalice, the symbol of the Unitas Fratrum. A fascinating liturgical book to which I’ve not seen reference elsewhere. It seems Jan Hus’s spiritual descendants were singing both Calvinist psalms and Lutheran chorales as recently as the turn of the last century.
It's interesting that they think it's OK to believe in evolution, even as it involves man, yet holds mankind responsible for protecting and maintaining the created world for future generations.
Considering Genesus states that God created man in His own image, male & female, and gave him/them the mandate to have, not domination as in downward pressure, but Dominion, as in authority, presumably to lead, organize, contain, protect, make use of etc, for good purposes, and that God blessed man and imbued or invested them with authority to accomplish such work, evolution seems even more unlikely than looking at the situation only as cells and blood becoming something eventually capable of thinking up such a plan.
I’m going to be starting a job at Schoenbrunn Village in New Philadelphia, OH, which is a historical site that preserves the location of a 18th century settlement founded by Moravian missionaries. I’m watching this video so I can refresh my knowledge on the Unitas Fratrum.
Dr. Gavin Ortlund does a great retelling of this story on his channel Truth Unites. So interesting! Thanks for putting in the work, and great summary.
Dr Gavin Ortlund needs to convert to the True Catholic Faith of Jesus Christ !
@@user-ru4iq3ss9m He has made quite a few videos on why that doesn't compell him. They are pretty good. God be the glory.
First like and comment bois!
And this is the first response to a comment 😉
I like this church! Wish we had one in our area.
I am Czech and I didnt even know about this splinter of the hussite movement. I know the Hussite church that still exists in Czechia and Slovakia but never heard of this one.
About halfway into this I was thinking these folks sound a central European ethnic version of the Episcopalians. And sure enough, full communion with them and the other liberal mainline denominations.
The Moravian Church in Tanzania is more Evangelical/Theologically Conservative while the American and Western ones are Mainline/Theologically Liberal.
Joshua, I wonder if you could explain the EKD (Evangelical Church of Germany)?
1. The EKD in General.
2. Its member churches.
Fascinating. I’m grateful to be introduced to this historic church. Thanks!
Heck yeah, long video... great to see. Thanks friend.
Thank you for this. My great-grandparents were members of the Moravian church when they came to the US from Germany in the middle of the nineteenth century. I knew that Jan Hus started the Protestant Reformation a hundred years before Martin Luther and was burned at the stake for it, but never knew much beyond that. Your description of their beliefs and values largely matches my own beliefs and values, which makes me think that I inherited some of that religion.
The Ukrainian Orthodox (I feel rightly) claims that Jan Hus wanted to revert to Eastern Orthodoxy. Traces of this can be seen in the similar forms of Communion as well as the Moravian rejection of Filioque. Further evidence of Eastern Orthodox Roots include their claim to a heritage from Sts. Cyril & Methodius (and by extension, St. Photius) as well as the emergence of the Czech Orthodox Church from both the Czech Catholic and Moravian Churches. Apparently, the Czech Orthodox were an Underground Church, just like the Moravians were. Furthermore, this aligns with Zinzindorff's vision of "A Church Within A Church", going to the Logical Extreme of "A Church Within A Church Within A Church".
The Moravian Church in South Africa was formed in 1737 by missionary Georg Schmidt, making it the second oldest church in South Africa. When you visit South Africa be sure to visit Genadendal where Schmidt welcomed the freed slaves. The church and museum holds a lot of history. Be sure to visit the mission stations that became towns. These mission stations include place such as Elim, Wupperthal, amongst others. Despite the challenges faced by the church I am looking forward to celebrating the 300th anniversary in 2037.
My family had Moravian roots in Alberta Canada 🇨🇦
Very scholarly and well done! 👍
I am from South Africa and love story about mine churh thanks
I have visited the Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem PA, several times.
Aye I’m Moravian!
I remember picking up a patient from an assisted living facility and having them explain to me the staff are messing with dark forces and witchcraft since they were Moravians.
Whoa...that's way back there .and way over there..my great. Grand parents came over in 1850's which also is way back when..America..across the sea's. ...
thanks, a very comprehensive look at a church I had only heard off but have never known anyone that professed as being of the church.
Thanks for the great presentation. I had the feeling that we were presented with 2 different religions. One held in the Northern and Southern American provinces and one for the rest of the Moravian Church. The Americans and their Canadians lackeys seem to have become lackeys to the general culture and hardly Christian whereas the Christians in the rest of the Moravian church outside of North America still hold on to Christian views on all the topics that you covered. I know some Moravians from Labrador and they were quite traditional, but unfortunately they were always belittled by the big brothers from the USA who wished to impose their wokeism on them. A sad state of affairs indeed.
Soon (In the UK at least) they will be non-existent. In 2006 they had 30 churches. Now they have 26. They'll disintegrate before the loss of the last beliver, of course. They were never really aiming at us, but its still strange to see a denomination die in real time.
By their fruits ye shall know them. Protestantism is wrong
I love that the Anglican Church of Canada is in communion with them.
I remember first learning about the Moravians through their 'little side wound' art. It's weird but art can be like that.
While the US Moravian, which has going liberal progressive, is rapidily decreasing in members, worldwide numbers are increasing.
The Zinzendorf family knew Spener, the ‘father of Lutheran pietism’
So their theology is liberal enough to be OK with abortion on demand but cigarettes are still a matter of local debate? I mean...that's...wow.
As a Senior in a Seventh-day Adventist High School, I was required for one assignment to attend a worship service of another church. A friend and I looked through the phone book, and decided that "Moravian" sounded kinda weird and mysterious, so on one Sunday, many years ago, we went to a rather large Moravian church in the area. The worship service was not nearly so strange or radical as we might have hoped, although passing around a big loaf of leavened bread for the communion was certainly different to us. We did have an opportunity to talk to the pastor after the service and asked him a few questions. We were surprised to hear that Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians who came to America with Him, were, in fact, Sabbatarians, as we are, keeping the Sabbath as appointed from creation, namely that of the Seventh-day of the week. That could have at least gotten a mention, Joshua. ;)
Which version of the Nicene creed do the Moravians adhere to?
They sometimes leave out the filoque, but in a way it does not matter, their religion in North America is wokeism.
As ever a thoughtful and well balanced and informative discussion. Thank you Josh. Fwiw, I studied The Council of Florence for my MA, and as part of that, I had to look at The Bohemian Reformation, which was a significant event in the lead up to that Council. It is a pity that Josh had so little time as there were other issues at the time, which affected this particular tradition. The Moravians could so easily have ended up within The Eastern Orthodox Family of Churches, instead of being one tradition amongst those of The Latin West
Good presentation. Just a couple of mistakes on the Hussites to note. Hus was not in favor of married priests, but did view Orthodox priests as legitimate if they were married. The largest Hussite church was the Utraquist Church, which was also destroyed in the counter reformation. The Bohemian Brethren were a small Protestant Church, but very important. The Utraquists and Brethren did not allow priests to marry until the late 16th century. The leading theologian for the Brethren was Petr Chelciky rather than Hus.
It is not so clear from the introduction but I would like to re-iterate that the Hussites WON the wars against most of the Europe even though the well-remembered battle was basically between a radical hussite wing and a catholic-hussite alliance aiming at ceasing the hostilities. Because the period afterwards was a very interesting and tolerant period ended by the fall of the Jagelonian dynasty in the battle of Mohács, Lutheran reformation and later by the 30 years war (which we, Czechs, started). A very interesting period that created a cultural milleau that Czech writers of 19th century could point back to.
I’ve heard of Jamaican branches of this church are pretty hard core. Conservative, a very strong purity culture, and a lot of hellfire I’m very surprised to hear something so different. Is there something I’m missing?
can you please do a video comparing views of communion between all major denominations?
Been doing ancestry and have over 700 in the tree. Was working on one family member that was from Moravia-Selesia Czech so I wanted to do a little research
The Moravian church is shrinking and it makes me sad because I might become a member if they were in my area.
By their fruits ye shall know them. Protestantism is wrong
Again and again, no matter what denomination we look at here, we find one thing in common: growing apostasy on the issue of God's design for marriage. Are we as a worldwide Christian movement going apostate on biblical marriage just because a few activists in back rooms found a way to play on our sympathies by framing same sex marriage as a civil rights issue? What madness we've found ourselves in...
An example of caving in to the screeching demands of 3% the population. I just heard this statistic in the past month. A survey was down by a legit company that does surveys. The BIG question was anchored as.....Do you view yourself as heterosexual or other?? Only 3% idented as something other than hetero. That was very surprising because with all the noise, corporate media overexposure, and cowtowing to the noisy demands you'd think it was a very substantial chunk of the US population.
I’d love to be Moravian but there are no churches close to me.
Can you do a video about free Grace theology?
I had to give this a 2nd go around..It rings this bell within..Searching for seed of heredity and traditions..like a needle in a hay stack..Hay stacks are fun .!😂
Which denominations do corporate repentance during the Sunday service?
9th Upload asking for a NALC video + Love the video, been waiting for a big one like this C:
I have an makes no sense in English, and cestors with the surname "Matlack" who came to the New World from Britain. "Matlack" sounds Slavic.
So sad, they have given away the truth. Thank you for your study!
faith is not about creeds but about lived experience:
quakers 🤝 moravians
Hus sadly like a number of proto Protestant and early Protestant reformers met with unpleasant end like Zwingli.The Moravians were a great influence upon John Wesley and it was their reading of Martin Luther's comments on Romans in London that he, Wesley, credits with making him a true Christian.
"The Bible does not speak directly to the issues of abortion..."
The Bible: Thou shalt not murder.
Abortion and homosexuality are low hanging fruit. If your church can't get it straight those are sins, then it's time to find another church.
Also, the Bible totally talks about abortion. "If men should struggle and injure a pregnant women, and she gives birth prematurely, but no fatality results, the offender must pay compensation imposed on him by the husband of the woman, and pay it through the judges, but if fatality does result, you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, arm for arm, burn for burn, wound for wound, blow for blow."
Living in Austria I am a little bit confused.
Our protestant church has good relation to the lutheran churches in bohemia, especially to the to the bohemian brothers. I never have heard of a Moravian church in Moravia besides the very small group of Zinsendorfers.
1781 by the Toleranzedikt of Emperor of Josef II the lutheran, reformed and Hussites were merged in one church = the church of the bohemian brothers.
Are you sure, that the church you are referring to is real??? Or are you speaking of Zinsendorfianer (german) that may fantasize of an old origin from the times of reformation?
Yep, it's the Zinzendorfers, who are often called Moravian Brethren in the English-speaking world, since most of the inhabitants of Herrnhut were underground Protestant refugees from Moravia.
They in fact have a succession of bishops from the original Unitas Fratrum. After John Comenius, Brethren bishops had positions in churches in Prussia and Poland (both Lutheran/Augsburg and Reformed/Helvetic). Bishop Daniel Ernst Jablonski then ordained the reformed Zinzendorfian bishop David Nitschmann, who was a German-speaking refugee from Moravia.
The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, which is active in Czech Republic, was formed by those Brethren who remained underground in Bohemia and Moravia.
@@daliborbenes5025 As I thought, thank you for your reply!
They almost had me with they logo
Wycliffe was not a Catholic priest, but an Anglican one.
Kunvald: ruclips.net/p/PLZ5HNMDTALQyPniCz5UnQTb4-eePbZm5w
Jan Blahoslav, Ivančice, Moravia: www.youtube.com/@ivancicecentrumjednotybratrske
Craig Atwood of the Moravian church seems ok.
John huss was protestant before it was cool
The proverbial of the sol invictus aka the Catholic Church
F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. V.I.D.E.O.‼️
Is not "Love thy neighbor" essential? How then be abortion a non essential? If showing love to unborn children is nonessential, what differentiates you from Baal worshipers offering up burnt human sacrifices?
He was burned on a stack of translated for the people to be able to read for themselves Bibles and he prophesied (as the book of first Corinthians and Joel 2 explains prophecy) in 100 years time (The time of Martin Luther) “God would raise others whose calls for reform would not be suppressed.” 🙌 The places the Moravians prayed in America still have miracles and people spending hours a day consistently praying, prophesying, and experiencing both the good of the Lord. And the massacres against God‘s people were not God’s people starting wars, although beautiful people stepped in and stopped the massacres and God provided safe Havens miraculously even though history won’t share the full truth that peoples diaries miraculously express as the truth of God’s goodness, provision, mercy and love. 🙌 i’m only a minute or so in, and I’m sure this is well-meaning, but I’m not going to bother listening to the secularized version that denies the truth of what’s happened and still is going on. God is so good and the things of scripture not only happened 2000 years ago as Jesus promises in John 14 and Mark 16 The signs that file the true believers are, well, read for yourself in your own language. English standard version is a literal translation, New international readers version is made simple for young children to read and it’s kept to the heart of it and of course there are people that can read in the original languages and the Dead Sea Scrolls prove it has not been changed. It’s not man to interpret scripture, it’s the Holy Spirit once man HUMBLES and invites Holy Spirit in. No man need to be your mediator between God and man other than the one that said he is the only mediator between God and man, Jesus.
It's no coincidence that they talk of papal bulls.
Papal bull 💩
Heresy.
It’s a heretical church, boom answered your question.
I wish Czeska or Czechland was used.
"Czechia" sounds awkward.
Yes, I know what you mean. However Slovakia seems to be accepted as a normal way of speaking about the country to the east. I wonder why one sounds awkward (I agree with you) and the other does not? Thanks
@@stephanottawa7890 It's too close to Chechnya for a lot of people.
Is this another American man made church?
No. It started in Bohemia.
They should have converted to Catholicism the only Church
Church is not an institution, but the family of God
Not. Catholicism is a heresy as well. It went schismatic in 1054AD.