Ephrata’s foundation lies on a theology drawn from many different sources, constructed in a complex way, and defying easy explanation or understanding. Even in Conrad Beissel’s day, the thinking and motivation behind the distinctive lifestyle of Ephrata was a matter of speculation and rumor for supporters and detractors alike. Member Michael Wohlfahrt told Benjamin Franklin the community was still learning when Franklin proposed Ephrata publish a creed to silence suspicious critics. “From time to time He [God] has been pleased to afford us farther Light, and our Principles have been improving, and our Errors diminishing,” responded Wohlfahrt. “Now we are not sure that we are arriv’d at the End of this Progression ... and we fear that if we
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The political, religious, and social unrest of the Old World left many people hoping for a better life. In Beissel, this, and the disruptions in his personal life, likely shaped his idea Europe was approaching destruction and the Second Coming was at hand. He wrote, “For Europe the sun has set at bright midday. America sees a lily blooming.” Beissel was not alone in these beliefs. Pietist literature circulated in Europe and England endorsing the hope for a renewed Christianity waiting in the east. In 1732, the year of Ephrata founding, Beissel employed young Philadelphia printer, Benjamin Franklin to publish a hymnal with original songs. The title Vorspiel der Neuen Welt (Prelude to the New World) reflected Beissel’s idea of life on earth as a time allowing preparation for an impending life in …show more content…
Baptism was required to become part of the community. According to Ezekiel Sangmeister, Beissel was always pushing baptism for anyone who showed interest in joining Ephrata. Immersion was the method for performing the ritual, with the presiding minister dunking the applicant three times forward under the water. In Beissel’s interpretation of the practice, baptism not only signified entrance to a new way of life, complete with a new spiritual name, but it also became a symbolic renewal. On several occasions, Beissel concluded disruptive episodes in the community’s history by baptizing everyone
The political, religious, and social unrest of the Old World left many people hoping for a better life. In Beissel, this, and the disruptions in his personal life, likely shaped his idea Europe was approaching destruction and the Second Coming was at hand. He wrote, “For Europe the sun has set at bright midday. America sees a lily blooming.” Beissel was not alone in these beliefs. Pietist literature circulated in Europe and England endorsing the hope for a renewed Christianity waiting in the east. In 1732, the year of Ephrata founding, Beissel employed young Philadelphia printer, Benjamin Franklin to publish a hymnal with original songs. The title Vorspiel der Neuen Welt (Prelude to the New World) reflected Beissel’s idea of life on earth as a time allowing preparation for an impending life in …show more content…
Baptism was required to become part of the community. According to Ezekiel Sangmeister, Beissel was always pushing baptism for anyone who showed interest in joining Ephrata. Immersion was the method for performing the ritual, with the presiding minister dunking the applicant three times forward under the water. In Beissel’s interpretation of the practice, baptism not only signified entrance to a new way of life, complete with a new spiritual name, but it also became a symbolic renewal. On several occasions, Beissel concluded disruptive episodes in the community’s history by baptizing everyone