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68 | Benedikt Bauer www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 67–79
In this article I focus on specific motifs of the mystical piety from the period
of the Moravian community called the “Sichtungszeit” – the time of sifting, in
reference to Luke 22:31 – which are directly connected to a theology of mar-
riage.1 While exploring these motifs from the Moravian hymnbook, which pro-
vides vital evidence for the piety of the community, I will discuss the implicit
constructions of masculinity within the lyrical expressions of bridal mysticism by
linking them to Stephanie Knauss’s ideas of virtual interaction.
SETTING THE SCENE: MORAVIAN PIETY IN THE TIME OF
SIFTING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF HYMNBOOKS
The origins of the Moravian community lie within the emigration of the Unitas
fratrum for religious reasons from Bohemia and Moravia to the estate of Count
Zinzendorf on the Hutberg, in Upper Lusatia. The statutes of 1727 indicate that
the founding of the Moravian community stemmed from the need for a place
where the brothers could dedicate their lives entirely to God – i.e. where they
could live as a theocratic community – but without separatist intentions or a
wish to start a new denomination, significant in particular in light of the trou-
bles that arose with Lutheran orthodoxy.2 The Moravians can be assigned to
the broader movement known as pietism, in particular as Zinzendorf – whose
importance in molding the community cannot be underestimated – had been
educated at the Pädagogium Regium in Halle. Although Zinzendorf himself was
critical of Pietism, from which he attempted to dissociate both himself and the
Moravians, German church historians can correctly speak of Herrnhuter PietisÂ
mus (Moravian pietism) as a category in its own right. Interestingly, Zinzendorf
developed an ecumenical line of thought which admitted every religion its own
truth – although Moravian missionary activities clearly show that ultimate truth
seemed to be found in the Christian message of the redemptive work of Jesus
Christ through his incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.
Hymnbooks played a prominent part within the community of the Moravians.
In establishing the Singstunden – a time dedicated to singing – Zinzendorf and the
Moravians inserted singing as an essential praxis pietatis into their communal piety.
Singing could act like a sermon and serve as a pedagogical tool.3 Its function was to
produce the indispensable connection between the transcendent and the imma-
nent. According to musicologist Anja Wehrend, who has studied the conception of
music and harmony in the Moravian community in the baroque context, singing was
considered evidence of the analogia entis, the analogy between God and creation:
1 For the conception of marriage see for example Seibert 2003, 103–104; Beyreuther/Meyer 2000.
2 See Hahn/Reichel 1977, 70–80.
3 See Rössler 2000, 181; Meyer 1979, 102.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02
- Title
- JRFM
- Subtitle
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Volume
- 04/02
- Authors
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Editor
- Uni-Graz
- Publisher
- SchĂĽren Verlag GmbH
- Location
- Graz
- Date
- 2018
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Size
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Pages
- 135
- Categories
- Zeitschriften JRFM