Kneading Bread

From Berlin Discourse no. 16, April 1738

I believe that my Savior, my King, bears His name with honor and glory.
I believe His eternal divinity.
I believe His real humanity.
I believe that I am one of His household.
I believe that I was lost. I have known my sentence of death. But I believe most certainly that I have been ransomed and absolved.
I believe that I am the just reward of all His labor, of all His pains and sweat.
I believe that He has won and gained me by His own sword and bow.
I believe that I am no longer compelled to sin.
I believe that I will not die.
I believe that I have mastery over the Devil.
I believe that I am redeemed not through word or work, or miracle or arbitrary decree of God, or through a new creation or through any other means than through the punishment of death which the Son of God suffered for me. I believe that I now belong to no one but to Him who has earned me.
I believe that He has the Kingdom over all.
I believe that I live under Him, where I am under His protection, under His peace, under His rule.
I am certain that I have the unalterable right, which all my fellow citizens have, to be as unchangeably holy as they, and that I am as constantly happy as they all are.
But I also believe that I am nothing without Him, and that I live only because He lives. As long as He lives, I will live also.
And I know all this as certainly as I know that my head is on my shoulders.

Translation by C. Daniel Crews, September 2005 (many thanks, original link from the Moravian Archives)

Click below for my thoughts

These discourses are nearly unavailable, either in English translation or in German (I can find a 90 Euro reprint in German, but that’s a little steep for me) so finding this little gem was quite appreciated! I will continue searching for it in hopes of bringing my own translation work to this blog.

Much like the classic trilemma from CS Lewis, Zinzendorf’s statements forces a reader to make a decision about where they stand; Either this is complete nonsense, it is a lie, or I need to take this seriously. We live in a society that says, “you believe what you believe, and I’ll believe what I want to believe,” but Zinzendorf’s words come like lightning, they strike into the heart of the reader. How pale our naked selfishness seems when compared to the glories of the beliefs he lists here!

This, much like Edward’s “Resolutions,” seems to be a fine work for repeat visiting – maybe even daily. Today is a fast-paced world, where the simpleness of God’s reality is sometimes hidden behind the glaring horns and televisions that surround us.

These “I believe” statements are not a polemic on what Christians should believe, but rather reaffirmation of scriptural truths. Time spent in Bible study will give you the proof texts readily enough if you are so inclined to require them,  but my intent has merely been to bring this writing onto your radar. Do with it as you wish.

—heady stuff—
please avoid if this is a turn-off:

The line “I believe that I am no longer compelled to sin” struck me as odd, at first I thought that it would offend a staunch Calvinist, but it turns out that it is actually a point of contention. Knox says “The wicked are not only left by God’s suffering, but are compelled to sin by his power,(1)” however Loraine Boettner describes the situation that allows for Zinzendorf’s position within the framework of “calvinism.*”

Yet while fallen man acts thus uniformly he is never compelled to sin, but does it freely and delights in it. His dispositions and desires are so inclined, and he acts knowingly and willingly from the spontaneous motion of the heart. This natural bias or appetite for that which is evil is characteristic of man’s fallen and corrupt nature, so that, as Job says, he “drinketh iniquity like water,” 15:16.(2)

1) Julius Müller, The Christian Doctrine of Sin, p265
2) Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, p38

*) I am troubled by the word Calvinism as it carries so much baggage, when I use it it will mean simply the classic Dutch Reformed TULIP from the original intent of the Synod of Dordrecht, which was a response to “Arminianism,” not the full-blown declaration it has often made out to be. It is however a very good statement belief in order to avoid dangerous heresies. You will find a lot of what Zinzendorf believes listed (although not nearly so concisely) in the words of the canons of Dordrecht (or Dodtrecht, or just Dordt), found here. Zinzendorf, as much as my research can find, didn’t seem opposed to reformed teaching as much as he was opposed to their constant schisms over minutiae! You’ll often find Zinzendorf listed with lists of both great calvinists and great arminians -go figure!