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A BRIEF HISTORY

 

 

OF THE

 

 

 

 

MORAVIAN CHURCH

PREPARED BY
TEACHERS AND FRIENDS OF THE SALEM
HOME SUNDAY SCHOOL

 

WINSTON-SALEM, N. C.
JANUARY, 1909

EDWARDS &, BROUGHTON PRINTING CO., RALEIGH, N. G.

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

  

 

 

The

The

The

The

The

 

Table of Contents

Christian Church.

The Apostolic Church, 1-100 A. D .................................... 5
The Early Christian Church, 100-313 ................................ 8
The Roman and the Greek Churches, 313-800 .......................... 10
Church in Bohemia.

Christianity in Bohemia, 800-1394 ................................... 14
Huss and the Hussites, 1394-1457 ................................... 17
Ancient Unitas Fratrum.

Rise of the Unitas Fratrum, 1457-1473 .............................. 22
The Unitas Fratrum Under Luke of Prague, 1473-1528 ................ 26
John Augusta and His Times, 1528-1572 .............................. 29
Prosperity and Defeat, 1572-1621 .................................... 36
The Brethren in Exile, 1621-1722 .................................... 40
The “Hidden Seed,” 1621-1722 ...................................... 42
Renewed Unitas Fratrum.

Renewal of the Unitas Fratrum, 1722-1735 ........................... 44
Development of the Brethren’s Church in Germany, 1735-1775 .......... 50
The Moravian Church in England and Ireland, 1728-1775 .............. 56
The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740 ................................ ‘ 62
Work of the Unity in Pennsylvania, 1734-1775 ........................ 66
The Settlement of Wachovia, North Carolina, 1753-1775 ............... 74
Moravian Missions, 1732-1775 ....................................... 81
The Church Under the Constitution of 1775, 1775—1857 ................. 86
Modern Unitas Fratrum or Moravian Church.

The Doctrine and Government of the Moravian Church ................ 92
The Brethren’s Unity in Germany, 1857-1909 ......................... 97
The British Province from 1857—1909 ................................ 104
The American Province, North, 1857-1909 ............................ 109
The Southern Province, 1857-1909 ................................... 117
Moravian Missions, 1857-1909 ....................................... 1'23

Moravian Festal Days ............................................. 131

 

  

A Brief History of the Moravian
Church

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH

I—IOO A. D.

The history of the Christian Church begins with the birth of
Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem of Judea, though His disciples received
the name of “Christians” at Antioch, several years after His ascen-
sion. The disciples, whom He drew around Him during His three
years of active ministry, were members of the Jewish nation, which
since the days of Abraham had been particularly set apart by God,
and had received many revelations through priests and prophets con-
cerning God’s will for men. To these Jewish believers in God, Christ
brought new light, a new revelation, confirming the truths of the
Jewish Scriptures which we know as the Old Testament, teaching
them of the love of God and the brotherhood of men, and of Himself
as the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Saviour of the world. The
Birth and Life, the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus
Christ, moved the men who had known Him best to carry on His
work, so that as years passed by the Christian Church constantly in-
creased in numbers and in influence. Although to—day there are many
denominations with differing forms of organization, and varying in-
terpretations of certain truths, they are all parts of the universal Chris-
tian Church, with the same origin, and with a common history during
the early centuries.

After the ascension of Jesus, the Apostles returned to Jerusalem as
He commanded them, there to await the gift of the Holy Ghost. Their
first act was to select by lot one of the disciples to fill the place of
Judas,—the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the
Apostles. Upon the day of Pentecost Jesus’ promise of “power from
on high” was most wonderfully fulfilled, and from that day forward
we find the Apostles, filled with divine strength and courage, publicly
proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and meeting with great success.

But “the disciple is not above his master” and as Jesus had foretold
persecution soon came. The boldness of the Apostles and their great
success attracted general attention, and the Sadducees, to whom the
doctrine of the Resurrection was a stumbling block, having in vain

 

  

6 A BRIEF HISTORY oF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.

tried to intimidate the Apostles by threats, took counsel to slay them,
but were withheld by the advice of Gamaliel.

In the meantime, certain Hellenistic Jews, provoked by the zeal of
Stephen, one of the almoners or deacons chosen for the distribution
of alms among the poor, stirred up the people against them. The
Sanhedrin did not long resist the popular tumult", and Stephen died, the
first martyr.

With this commenced a persecution which led to the dispersion of
the disciples, and served to spread the Gospel far and wide, for we
read in The Acts, “they that were scattered abroad went everywhere,
preaching the Word.” Driven from Jerusalem, they preached the
Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Damascus, Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,
though, at first, only to the Jews. In an extraordinary manner God
made known to Peter, and through Him to the whole Church, His will
that the Gentiles also should become Christians, and in an equally
remarkable way He called Paul to be the Apostle to the Gentiles.

From this time forward, Christianity spread rapidly, and from the
account of Paul’s travels in The Acts, as well as from fragments of
ancient writings, we have reason to believe that the doctrine of Christ
had not only reached every portion of the Roman Empire by the close
of the first century, but that it had extended its influence into Parthia,
India and Scythia.

The Christians were at first persecuted only by the Jews, for the
Romans considered them a part of the Jewish nation, which enjoyed
religious liberty by virtue of decrees of the Roman senate and of the
Emperor, and did not molest them. When, however, the Jews began
to make complaints against the Christians to the Roman authorities, it
was seen that they stood apart, and being no longer under the shield
that was extended over a national religion, their meetings were pro—
nounced illegal, and they became exposed to the full force of the Roman
law. How much they suffered varied according to the locality, the
intolerance of the Roman officers, and the policy of the Emperors. In
the year 64 A. D., Nero, to screen himself, accused the Christians of
setting fire to the city of Rome. This was the signal for a severe per-
secution, which was confined chiefly to the city and its immediate neigh-
borhood. Another persecution took place during the reign of Domi-
tian, which extended over the whole empire and raged until the time
of his death, but both failed utterly in their attempt to exterminate the
Church, which continued to grow rapidly.

It is evident from the narrative given in the Acts that the first
Christians, as long as the converts were chiefly among the Jewish

  

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH. 7

nation, considered themselves as connected with the Jewish Church and
participated in all its institutions. But it appears also that they united
in private meetings and “in breaking of bread from house to house,”
and the Evangelist adds, “All that believed had all things common,
and sold their possessions and goods, and parted to them all, as every
man had need.” The unbelieving Jews, however, calling them in de—
rision Galileans and Nazarenes, drove them from their synagogues,
and compelled them to form a regularly constituted society.

The first Christian society was established at Jerusalem, and that
became the mother of all Christian Churches. Thither Peter went to
render an account of his visit to the centurion at Caesarea, and Paul to
render an account of his labors among the Gentiles. There, also, the
difficult question, whether Gentile converts were to be compelled to
submit to all the laws of Moses, was brought and decided in the
negative.

Naturally, the primitive Church was modeled after the Jewish
synagogue, with similar offices and forms of service. These were
changed in time, however, according to the circumstances of the
Churches.

The Lord left no special rule in regard to the government of
His Church except that His followers should have but one Lord and
Master, even Christ, and that all the members of His Church, as breth—
ren and sisters, were to maintaina standing of perfect equality, there«
fore no difference in rank was attached to any office of the Church in
the time of the Apostles. The ministry was not a dignity but a service,
a function, a duty. In the way of necessary organization there were
deacons to distribute alms and attend to such interests, and elders to
guard the spiritual welfare of the members. Bishops began to be con-
sidered a higher order of the clergy during the second century, but
during the first century the title was often used as the equivalent of
elder, gradually becoming restricted to the chief elder in a congregation.

While the Apostles were living, or any who had been eye wit-
nesses of the life of Jesus, and had heard His doctrines from His own
lips, their lives and their hearts, filled as they were with the Holy
Spirit, supplied every want of spiritual knowledge which Christians
could desire. Four of their number wrote the story of Christ’s life on
earth, each recording the doctrines and the events which seemed to
him most important. The Apostles traveled hither and thither, preach—
ing and teaching, and, when unable to visit certain Churches, they sent
letters of instruction, encouragement and warning, applying the doc-
trines of Jesus to the needs of their people, and these letters were read

  

8 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.

to the Churches in the neighborhood, as well as to those to which they
were written. So the Apostolic Church practically had the entire
Scriptures, though the canon of the New Testament was not compiled
until the second century, or later.

THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ioo——3I3.

When the first century ended the Apostle John was still living, but
imprisoned on the island of Patmos. Men had all sorts of beliefs, as
they have now, for the canon of the New Testament had not yet been
compiled,—hence, there was room for much tradition and many
opinions. This caused the leaders of the Church to recognize the need
for some standard by which all men could test their faith. During the
second and third centuries the writings which had come down from
apostolic days were carefully studied, those of uncertain authorship or
doubtful inspiration were gradually set aside, and at last the five his-
tories which we call the Gospels and the Book of Acts, and the Epistles
and Revelation of our New Testament, were accepted, and have ever
since been the foundation of the faith and practice of Christians.

During the second century the Church was disturbed by various
sects of Ebionites and Gnostics. Since those who held these heresies
considered themselves Christian, the orthodox party began to speak of
themselves as the “Catholic,” that is, the “universal” Christian Church,
as distinguished from the unorthodox sects, and the name is still so
used, though the term “Roman Catholic” came to have a more limited
meaning in the next period of the Church.

In the third century, Paul, Bishop of Samosata, led another sect,
called the Monarchians; and at the beginning of the fourth century
came Arius, whose teachings were embraced by multitudes, bringing
endless and bitter trouble to the Church. Arius was a presbyter in
Alexandria, who propounded the doctrine that Christ was a created
being, and so not equal with the Father until after the Ascension. A
Church Council was called at Nicaea, in 325, which decided that the
Son was equal with the Father, the creation of the Son was denied,
and His eternal Sonship affirmed. Arius and two friends were ban—
ished to Illyria, but the heresy long retained great importance. The
chief opponent of Arius was Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who
was, for half a century, the untiring and intrepid defender of the doc-
trine of the divinity of Christ.

 

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 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH. 9

But Athanasius was not the first to rise up against these various
heresies. Among the names that stand out during the second century
for fostering the true faith are Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch; Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna; Justin Martyr; and Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons,—all
sealing their faith with their lives. Ignatius, some of whose writings
still exist, was taken to Rome, where he perished as a martyr in the
amphitheater. Polycarp, a disciple of John the Apostle, was arrested
and when required to curse Christ answered: “Six and eighty years
have I served Him, and He has done me nothing but good; and how
could I curse Him, my Lord and Saviour!” Refusing to renounce the
faith he was burned to death. Justin, whose writings present us with
very valuable information concerning the Church of his time, was put
to death at Rome,—tradition says he was scourged and beheaded.
Irenaeus studied under Polycarp, and his treatise, “Against Heresies,”
is one of the principal Christian writings of the century. He died a
martyr at Lyons. Following these we find an able defender of the
cause of Christianity in T ertullian of Carthage, a celebrated writer,
and in Clement, one of the most noted founders of the school of the—
ology at Alexandria.

Among the leaders in the third century we may mention Origen
and Cyprian. Origen stands out as the greatest luminary of his age,
and his influence as an instructor of the clergy as well as an author
was very extensive. He met the fate of his master, Ignatius, and
thousands of others, in a martyr’s death. Cyprian, Bishop of Car-
thage, took part in the celebrated dispute concerning the validity of
baptism conferred by heretics. He wrote mainly on Church govern—
ment and discipline, and he also suffered martyrdom.

From this it will appear how frequent were the persecutions dur—
ing those years. In the second century we find two great persecutions,
while during the third century the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and
tenth persecutions of Christians took place under Roman authority.
The catacombs of Rome belong to this period, being used as places of
burial by the Christians, who did not wish to cremate their dead as did
the Romans. They also served as meeting-places for the Christians
during the worst persecutions, though at other times the homes of mem-
bers were used for gatherings. Public churches began to be built dur-
ing the third century, and were modeled after the Roman basilica,
which was a court—house and exchange.

During these troubled years the bishops came to have new re—
sponsibilities and greater influence. Originally the bishops, of whom
the Apostle James was the first, were expected to be overseers and

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 IO A BRIEF HISTORY oF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.

shepherds, but now various new powers were given to them. This
enabled them to guard their people against heresies and aid them in
many ways, but also opened the door for that abuse of power which
later became so serious a menace to the Church.

Eusebius, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine belong
to the next period of Church history, but we may mention them here
because they were among the most famous of the Church Fathers.
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, sometimes called “the Father of Church
History,” was a celebrated theologian and historian. Ambrose, Bishop
of Milan, was a champion of the Catholics against the Arians and
pagans, and powerful enough to force the Emperor T heodosius to do
penance for ordering a massacre. John, patriarch of Constantinople,
was called Chrysostom, “the golden—mouthed,” on account of his elo-
quence. Jerome is best known by his Latin version of the Bible, called
the Vulgate, which is still used by the Roman Catholics. Augustine,
bishop of Hippo, was a teacher, preacher, and writer of incessant
activity, and in distinction and in widespread and lasting influence he
was the foremost of the Latin Church Fathers.

313 is the date of Constantine the Great, who is said to have seen
in the sky a flaming cross, with the inscription, “By this conquer.” He
won the battle, became a Christian, and is called the first Christian
emperor. One of his first acts was to issue an edict of religious tolera-
tion, which gave the Christian Church legal recognition, and freed them
from the terrible persecutions which they had so long endured.

 

THE ROMAN AND THE GREEK CHURCHES
313-—800

The conversion of Constantine to the Christian faith marked the
beginning of an epoch. The entire Roman empire, which before had
been the champion of paganism and the persecutor of Christianity, now
became its protector and patron. Constantine was born in the year
274. His mother was a Christian, but the time or circumstances of
her conversion are not known. She had instructed him in the Chris—
tian tenets, and when he had his famous vision of the cross in the sky,
he was convinced and set about paying his allegiance to this new faith.
Whether this was done as a political scheme is not clear, but he did
make faith in the Christians’ God the standard throughout the empire.
He did not persecute the pagans however, but instituted a very tolerant

 

 

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A BRIEF HISTORY oF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH. II

policy toward them. That he himself was not fully weaned from faith
in the pagan gods is claimed by some, and it may be true to a certain
extent, but, in the main, he upheld and spread the principles of
Christianity.

At the time of his death, however, his son, Constantius, came into
possession of the Roman empire. His policy was just the opposite of
his father’s. He made all who would not accept Christianity, in the
eastern part of the empire, leave the realm or suffer death, and thus
the new faith became more firmly established in the East, but it lost
its hold on the people, who now hated it because of Constantius’
persecutions. In the West, however, he did not adopt so bold an atti-
tude, and was more tolerant. Many of the old Roman families who
held to the pagan faith were powerful and influential, and he could not
risk the sacrifice of their friendship, and so allowed them freedom of
belief. By his tolerant policy in the Western part of his empire, pagan
superstitions became mixed with the new faith, and so corrupted it that
it was not recognized in the East as pure. Naturally, this pagan ten—
dency caused the Church life to degenerate to a great extent, and this
reached its climax under the emperor Julian, called the Apostate, the
cousin of Constantius, who succeeded to the empire. His eager mind,
naturally imaginative, made him a suitable leader for this degenerate
type of Christianity. He secretly embraced the pagan faith, and as
supreme pontiff personally conducted ceremonies and sacrifices. He
tolerated Christianity, but in order to bring it into disrepute he encour-
aged all other religions and all sectarian controversies. It seemed that
the Christian faith in the Roman empire was doomed, but with Julian’s
death, and the tolerant policy of the next emperor, it again became
prominent, and from this time the pagan religion seemed to lose its
hold, and slowly weakened before the more powerful Christian faith.

A new danger now faced the Roman emperors. The West Goths,
on their borders, had adopted Christianity, through the preaching of
Ulphilas, who had gone into their country as a missionary from the
East. He became a bishop, and had great success as a leader among
the West Goths. He desired to penetrate with his preaching into the
country of the East Goths, but they would not receive him. His peo—
ple were persecuted by the East Goths and he obtained permission to
bring a party of his West Goths across the Danube for protection, and
thus they came intothe limits of the Roman empire. They became
greatly incensed at the avarice and intolerance of some of the Roman
nobles, and Valens, Emperor of the East, was killed. The empire
seemed to be tottering, and only by the skill of Theodosius, hastily

 

  

12 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.

made Regent of the East, was it kept from ruin. He checked the prog—
ress of the Goths, and again restored the Roman empire. He favored
the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity, and tried by severe measures to
suppress Arianism, and a General Council, called in 381 to meet in
Constantinople, reaffirmed the Nicene creed.

T’heodosius, now Emperor, tried by harsh and inhuman laws to
crush out the remnants of paganism, but never fully succeeded. Dur—
ing this time a new leader had sprung up among the West Goths, and
Alaric, in 410, captured and sacked Rome and dealt the death blow to
Paganism in the Roman empire. The ancient shrines and temples
were ordered pillaged and burned, and the patrician families, who were
its staunchest supporters, were either destroyed or scattered.

While the Western part of the Roman empire was thus passing
through a stormy time, and the pure Christian belief suffered by being
mixed with paganism, the Eastern portion, with Constantinople as a
center, was being converted to Christianity, which overpowered the
old beliefs, and was soon firmly established as a better faith. Thus a
purer type of Christianity sprang up in the Eastern part, free from cor-
ruption by pagan superstition and ancient philosophy.

Ever since the day when Constantine established his capital at Con-
stantinople, there had been more or less division between the Eastern
and Western portions of the empire. Sometimes there were two or
more Emperors, nominally ruling conjointly, sometimes one man would
get all the power into his hands and rule alone, but always there was an
East and a West. In 395 there was a definite and final separation into
two empires, though the Church for a time continued as one.

About the end of the fifth century, the Franks, another Germanic
tribe, poured down upon Southern Europe, and overcame the earlier
bands who had seized Gaul and Italy. Their king, Clovis, had vowed
to become a Christian if he won a certain battle, and being the victor
he and three thousand of his warriors were baptized.

While these political disruptions and changes were taking place the
Church was gradually being built into a strong organization. The
bishops of the larger towns soon became prominent, and outranked
those of the smaller towns, and the dioceses of Rome and Constantino-
ple loomed up above all, one in the East and one in the West of the
empire. The Church Councils gave to these two cities and their re—
spective bishops the highest rank. Soon, however, Rome took to itself
the prerogative of being called the first or highest bishopric, and the
bishop took the name of “pope.” Siricuis, Bishop of Rome from 384
to 398, so styled himself, but for many years the title was applied to

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH. I 3

any bishop, gradually becoming restricted to the more prominent. Leo
I, who was pope of Rome 440 to 461, was a man of strong will and
great courage. He saved Rome from Attila and the Huns in 452, and
was foremost in defense of the city when the weak Emperor Honorius
was in hiding. He also considered himself the spiritual leader of the
Roman empire, and so proclaimed himself to the world. The Council
of Chalcedon said the first rank rightly belonged to the Bishop of Rome,
as it was the ancient capital of the empire. Leo, however, spurned this
idea, and claimed the prerogative because he was the successor of Peter,
the chief of the Apostles, vicar of Christ, and the first Bishop of Rome,
but he skillfully used the powerful political position of Rome, and in-
terwove it with the churchly consideration. This started the breach
between the Eastern and Western Churches, which was to end in their
final separation. One of the chief reasons of this widening breach was
the difference in temperament of the Greek and Latin. The Greeks in
the East had discussions concerning the Trinity and person of Christ,
which suited their speculative minds, while in the West the Latins were
more interested in such practical subjects as sin and the recovery of
man by divine grace, and thus a natural tendency was drawing them
apart. The greatest controversy which harassed the Church at that
time was the so~called Arian controversy relating to the divinity of
Christ. Begun by Arius in the third century the controversy continued,
until at the Council of Toledo in Spain in 589 A. D. the “filioque” was
inserted into the Creed, by which it was made to affirm that the Spirit
proceeded from the Father “and the Son” instead of only from the
Father as it formerly stood. This addition was not acceptable to the
Eastern Church, and caused the final separation between the East and
West, though opportunity had long been sought for separation. Thus
the Greek Church has remained to this day,—though nominally recog—
nizing the Pope as head it does not obey his mandates implicitly, and has
its own patriarchs and metropolitans. It differs from the Roman
Church in a number of smaller details, but this is the main point of
divergence. The Greek Church is now the national Church of Russia
and of Greece, with a small following elsewhere. The Roman Church,
more generally known as the Roman Catholic Church, is widely spread,

' ' and has played an important part in the political as well as in the re-

ligious history of the world.

During the years from 589 to 800 the Roman Church grew greatly
in numbers and political influence. Missionaries went to England, to
Germany, and to Hungary, where they met with much opposition but
ultimate success. On the other hand, the rise of the Mohammedan

 

  

I4 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.

religion, 622 A. D., its rapid growth and armed advance into Europe,
threatened the Church and all the western states with extermination,
from which they were saved by the Franks under Charles Martel.

But Christianity had, unhappily, parted with its ancient purity and
simplicity. The kingdom of God had become identified with the visi-
ble Church, through whose mediation, it was thought, salvation alone
was possible, and obedience to whose laws was often the sum of the
requirements laid on converts. The inner, living power of the Gospel
was still in being, but hidden under much formalism. Images and
relics came to be greatly venerated, and the sale of “indulgences” com—
menced. The power of the Pope at Rome gained new strength, and
became a factor in all important political changes in western Europe;
and when, on Dec. 25, 800, at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, the Pope
crowned the Frankish king, Charlemagne, Emperor of the “Holy
Roman Empire,” it typified the close relation in which Church and
State stood and were to stand for many a century.

CHRISTIANITY IN BOHEMIA
800—1394.

If Rome was the scene of the first great struggles of Christianity,
when a handful of persecuted Christians became a powerful organiza-
tion, and the despised “sect” grew into the honored Church to which
kings and emperors paid due homage, if Rome witnessed the develop-
ment of Christianity into a great world power, Bohemia was the battle—
field in the second and equally vital campaign, when the contest was
between a religion overburdened with rites and ceremonies, and a sim-
ple faith,—between spiritual ignorance and a Bible which all might
read. A lust for power had come upon the leaders, Bible knowledge
was withheld from the people that they might be more easily led, and
imposing ritual had taken the place of intelligent worship. It was
against this false superstructure that the attack in Bohemia was made,
that “true religion and undefiled” might be saved to the world.

The little kingdom of Bohemia lies in the northwestern corner of
the Austrian empire. It is quite small, but very fertile, and the natu-
ral rampart formed by the mountain chains on all four sides gave to its
people in earlier years a sense of independence which enhanced their
natural love of freedom.

The beginnings of Bohemian history are shrouded in uncertainty.

 

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,inty.

A BRIEF HISTORY oF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH. 15

Attila and his Huns laid waste the country on their retreat from Rome,
and the inhabitants who escaped with their lives fell an easy prey to
the Czechs, a band of Slavonian's, who about that time came into the
country, tradition says from the Carpathian Mountains. During the
next centuries these Czechs lived quietly, cultivating the soil, and sell-
ing grain and horses to the neighboring nations. Their religion some-
what resembled the Grecian mythology, with numerous gods and god-
desses, nymphs and demons.

Southeast of Bohemia lies the still smaller province of Moravia,
whose history has always been linked with that of Bohemia, and
through Moravia Christianity made its first entrance into that region.
In 836 Prince Mojmir of Moravia learned of it from the Franks, ac—
cepted it, and built three churches; in 845 fourteen Bohemian noble—
men were baptized while on a Visit to the Germans; but neither inci—
dent affected the pi‘ople as a whole.

In 846 Rastislaw become Duke of Bohemia and Moravia. He
wanted to shake off the power of the Franks, so when he desired Chris—
tian teachers for his people he sent, not to the Roman but to the Greek
branch of the Church.

In answer to his appeal Cyril and Methodius came to Moravia in
863, and with them the history of Christianity in Bohemia and Moravia
really begins. Cyril and Methodius were brothers, earnest and de—
vout men, who had already labored successfully in other fields, winning
t0 the side of Christianity nations that had long been its wild and for—
midable foes, and they brought to their new work methods which were
sure to win the hearts of the people. They finished a Slavonian trans—
lation of the Bible, which Cyril had already begun; they read the
Bible to the people, and preached in their own language; they trained
young Czechs as priests; they built up a national Church, in which
the Czechs felt at home. '

But the Roman Church heard of their success, and determined to
claim the work on the ground that the first introduction of Christianity
into the country had come through its members. Cyril and Methodius
were summoned to Rome, but Pope Nicholas died before they arrived.
His successor, Adrian II, thought it would be to his advantage to have
Bohemia and Moravia comprise a diocese independent of both the Ger-
man Bishops and the Greek Patriarch, and directly tributary to him,
so he received the missionaries very graciously, approved of all they
had done, and offered to make them bishops. Cyril, whose health was
failing, declined the honor, and died