Download or read book The Transformation of Moravian Bethlehem written by Beverly Prior Smaby and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Moravians who settled Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1742 were committed to a society centered around missionary work. To free their missionaries from the need to earn a living, they formed a communal economic organization in which all workers gave their labor to the community in exchange for food, shelter, and clothing. To encourage each individual's religious development, family ties were deemphasized and members of the same sex, marital status, and age slept, worked, and worshipped together. After 20 years, the worldwide Moravian Church, facing a financial crisis, ordered Bethlehem to reorganize into a traditional community of nuclear families. It was hoped that, under this more conventional arrangement, Bethlehem could be expected to help pay the huge debts of the parent church. In The Transformation of Moravian Bethlehem, Beverly Prior Smaby traces the effects of this change on Bethlehem's Moravians, demonstrating how it altered even the most intimate aspects of their lives. She analyzes the unusually accurate marriage, birth, death, migration, and census records to assess the demographic response to institutional change. She traces change in cultural norms through unique technical analyses of biographies which were read at a variety of Moravian gatherings. Within 100 years, Smaby asserts, Bethlehem grew from an egalitarian communal society of symbolic Brothers and Sisters into a privatized community of socially stratified families whose cultural ideal was no longer religious service but usefulness to family and society. Scholars of American history and folk life will find this book a valuable addition to literature on community history, social change, and historical methods. Church historians will benefit from its in-depth study of secularization on a personal level, and it will be of keen interest to members of the Moravian Church.
Download or read book Guide to the Old Moravian Cemetery of Bethlehem Pa 1742 1910 written by Augustus Schultze and published by Metalmark. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A listing of burials in the Old Moravian Cemetery of Bethlehem, Pennsylania. Originally published in 1912 by the Pennsylvania German Society.
Download or read book Community of the Cross written by Craig D. Atwood and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was a unique colonial town. It was the first permanent outpost of the Moravians in North America and served as the headquarters for their extensive missionary efforts. It was also one of the most successful communal societies in American history. Bethlehem was founded as a &"congregation of the cross&" where all aspects of personal and social life were subordinated to the religious ideal of the community. In Community of the Cross, Craig D. Atwood offers a convincing portrait of Bethlehem and its religion. Visitors to Bethlehem, such as Benjamin Franklin, remarked on the orderly and peaceful nature of life in the community, its impressive architecture, and its &"high&" culture. However, many non-Moravians were embarrassed or even offended by the social and devotional life of the Moravians. The adoration of the crucified Jesus, especially his wounds, was the focus of intense devotion for adults and children alike. Moravians worshiped the Holy Spirit as &"Mother,&" and they made the mystical marriage to Christ central to their marital intimacy. Everything, even family life, was to be a form of worship. Atwood reveals the deep connection between life in Bethlehem and the religious symbolism of controversial German theologian Nicholas von Zinzendorf, whose provocative and erotic adoration of the wounds of Jesus was an essential part of private and communal life. Using the theories of Ren&é Girard, Mary Douglas, and Victor Turner, Atwood shows that it was the Moravians&’ liturgy and devotion that united the community and inspired both its unique social structure and its missionary efforts.
Download or read book Sundays in America written by Suzanne Strempek Shea and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Pope John Paul II died, Suzanne Strempek Shea, who had not been an active member of a church community for some years, recognized in his mourners a faith-filled passion that she longed to recapture in her own life. So she set out on a pilgrimage to visit a different church every Sunday for one year-a journey that would take her through the broad spectrum of contemporary Protestant Christianity practiced in this country. From a rousing Easter Baptist service in Harlem, to Colorado's Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame for a sing-along at the Cowboy Church; from a roofless Episcopal church in Hawaii, to a storefront African orthodox church where jazz legend John Coltrane is considered a bona fide saint; from the largest church in the country to a small-town church packed for a Sunday school class taught by Jimmy Carter, Shea toured more than thirty states in search of the meaning of Christian faith to the many who practice it. The result, Sundays in America, is an essential guide for those seeking a new house for their worship as well as a colorful road trip for the armchair explorer.
Download or read book A Time of Sifting written by Paul Peucker and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2015-06-19 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the end of the 1740s, the Moravians, a young and rapidly expanding radical-Pietist movement, experienced a crisis soon labeled the Sifting Time. As Moravian leaders attempted to lead the church away from the abuses of the crisis, they also tried to erase the memory of this controversial and embarrassing period. Archival records were systematically destroyed, and official histories of the church only dealt with this period in general terms. It is not surprising that the Sifting Time became both a taboo and an enigma in Moravian historiography. In A Time of Sifting, Paul Peucker provides the first book-length, in-depth look at the Sifting Time and argues that it did not consist of an extreme form of blood-and-wounds devotion, as is often assumed. Rather, the Sifting Time occurred when Moravians began to believe that the union with Christ could be experienced not only during marital intercourse but during extramarital sex as well. Peucker shows how these events were the logical consequence of Moravian teachings from previous years. As the nature of the crisis became evident, church leaders urged the members to revert to their earlier devotion of the blood and wounds of Christ. By returning to this earlier phase, the Moravians lost their dynamic character and became more conservative. It was at this moment that the radical-Pietist Moravians of the first half of the eighteenth century reinvented themselves as a noncontroversial evangelical denomination.
Download or read book Religion and Profit written by Katherine Carté Engel and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2011-08-18 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catalysts in the birth of evangelicalism, the Moravians supported their religious projects through financial savvy, a distinctive communalism at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and transatlantic commercial networks. This book traces the Moravians' evolving projects, arguing that imperial war, not capitalism, transformed Moravian religious life.
Download or read book Moravian Soundscapes written by Sarah Justina Eyerly and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Moravian Soundscapes, Sarah Eyerly contends that the study of sound is integral to understanding the interactions between German Moravian missionaries and Native communities in early Pennsylvania. In the mid-18th century, when the frontier between settler and Native communities was a shifting spatial and cultural borderland, sound mattered. People listened carefully to each other and the world around them. In Moravian communities, cultures of hearing and listening encompassed and also superseded musical traditions such as song and hymnody. Complex biophonic, geophonic, and anthrophonic acoustic environments—or soundscapes—characterized daily life in Moravian settlements such as Bethlehem, Nain, Gnadenhütten, and Friedenshütten. Through detailed analyses and historically informed recreations of Moravian communal, environmental, and religious soundscapes and their attendant hymn traditions, Moravian Soundscapes explores how sounds—musical and nonmusical, human and nonhuman—shaped the Moravians' religious culture. Combined with access to an interactive website that immerses the reader in mid-18th century Pennsylvania, and framed with an autobiographical narrative, Moravian Soundscapes recovers the roles of sound and music in Moravian communities and provides a road map for similar studies of other places and religious traditions in the future.
Download or read book Guide to the old Moravian cemetery of Bethlehem Pa 1742 1897 written by Augusutus Schultze and published by Dalcassian Publishing Company. This book was released on 1898-01-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Handbook of the Moravian Congregation of Bethlehem Pa written by Moravian Church and published by Legare Street Press. This book was released on 2023-07-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1898, this handbook provides a comprehensive guide to the history, beliefs, and practices of the Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. With detailed information on everything from worship services to social activities, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in this fascinating religious community. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book The Music of the Moravian Church in America written by Nola Reed Knouse and published by University Rochester Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Moravians, or Bohemian Brethren, early Protestants who settled in Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the eighteenth century, brought a musical repertoire that included hymns, sacred vocal works accompanied by chamber orchestra, and instrumental music by the best-known European composers of the day. Moravian composers -- mostly pastors and teachers trained in the styles and genres of the Haydn-Mozart era -- crafted thousands of compositions for worship, and copied and collected thousands of instrumental works for recreation and instruction. The book's chapters examine sacred and secular works, both for instruments -- including piano solo -- and for voices. The Music of the Moravian Church demonstrates the varied roles that music played in one of America's most distinctive ethno-cultural populations, and presents many distinctive pieces that performers and audiences continue to find rewarding. Contributors: Alice M. Caldwell, C. Daniel Crews, Lou Carol Fix, Pauline M. Fox, Albert H. Frank, Nola Reed Knouse, Laurence Libin, Paul M. Peucker, and Jewel A. Smith. Nola Reed Knouse, director of the Moravian Music Foundation since 1994, is active as a flautist, composer, and arranger. She is the editor of The Collected Wind Music of David Moritz Michael.
Download or read book The Handbook of the Moravian Congregation of Bethlehem Pa written by Moravian Church (Bethlehem, Pa.) and published by . This book was released on 1906 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Moravian Architecture and Town Planning written by William J. Murtagh and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 1997-01-29 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The industrial city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was originally settled in colonial times by Moravians from southeastern Germany. These religious utopians were noted for urban planning. In this large-format, richly illustrated volume, historian William Murtagh compares more than 20 Bethlehem landmarks with other Moravian communities for a fascinating glimpse into a part of America's past.
Download or read book The Moravian Congregation Bethlehem Pa written by Central Moravian Church (Bethlehem, Pa.) and published by . This book was released on 1944 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Bethlehem written by Kathleen Stewart and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 1997-06 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bethlehem, Pennslyvania, has a fascinating history that is steeped in tradition. The city was founded in 1741 by the Moravians, a Protestant group. They envisioned Bethlehem as an industrial center, a support center for missionaries, and as the headquaters for the Moravian Church in North America. Bethlehem became all of this and more. Moravian traditions are still strong in this town, from the preservation of the original stone buildings on Church Street to the sounds of the Trombone Choir on Easter morning. Yet with the arrival of industrialists and immigrants to the area, Bethlehem evolved into something more. Canals, railroads, steel mills, and silk mills all became part of the city' story. The little town grew into a city with a diverse population. In the process, Bethlehem eveolved into a graceful place, famous for its institutions of higher learning, for steel production, and for Bach. Bethlehem covers the period between 1845 through 1990. It is a reinterpretation of teh photograph exhibit that graced the windows of the Bethlehem Area Public Library during the city's 250th anniversary celebration. The original exhibit consisted of 350 photographs, selected from more than 600 submitted by area residents. This book includes a selection of 217 photographs from that exhibit.
Download or read book Jesus Is Female written by Aaron Spencer Fogleman and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2014-10-31 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the middle of the Great Awakening, a group of religious radicals called Moravians came to North America from Germany to pursue ambitious missionary goals. How did the Protestant establishment react to the efforts of this group, which allowed women to preach, practiced alternative forms of marriage, sex, and family life, and believed Jesus could be female? Aaron Spencer Fogleman explains how these views, as well as the Moravians' missionary successes, provoked a vigorous response by Protestant authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. Based on documents in German, Dutch, and English from the Old World and the New, Jesus Is Female chronicles the religious violence that erupted in many German and Swedish communities in colonial America as colonists fought over whether to accept the Moravians, and suggests that gender issues were at the heart of the raging conflict. Colonists fought over the feminine, ecumenical religious order offered by the Moravians and the patriarchal, confessional order offered by Lutheran and Reformed clergy. This episode reveals both the potential and the limits of radical religion in early America. Though religious nonconformity persisted despite the repression of the Moravians, and though America remained a refuge for such groups, those who challenged the cultural order in their religious beliefs and practices would not escape persecution. Jesus Is Female traces the role of gender in eighteenth-century religious conflict back to the European Reformation and the beginnings of Protestantism. This transatlantic approach heightens our understanding of American developments and allows for a better understanding of what occurred when religious freedom in a colonial setting led to radical challenges to tradition and social order.
Download or read book Visit Explore Experience written by Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites and published by . This book was released on 2014-07-19 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visit, Explore, Experience: Historic Moravian Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is a keepsake booklet about Historic Bethlehem, a National Historic Landmark District.
Download or read book Historical Sketch of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania written by John Hill Martin and published by . This book was released on 1873 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
