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PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN COLONIES
In the early 1700’s, a series of German Second Adventists
(pilgrims who believed in the imminent second coming of the Christ) moved
to Pennsylvania and founded two important Utopian communes, Ephrata Cloister
and The Woman in the Wilderness. Both believed that America would be
the land of the Second Coming. Woman in the Wilderness derived its name
from the woman in Revelation 12:6 who fled to the wilderness
to escape a fiery dragon and wait for the return of Christ. Through
their piety, creativity, learning, and work ethic, both communes heavily
influenced the formation of the Pennsylvania Colony.
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Thieleman J. van Braght. Het Bloedig
Toneel of Martelaars Spiegel. Ephrata in Pensylvanien: Drucks
und verlags der brüderschafft, 1748-1749.
The Martyrs’ Mirror was the single
largest tome published in colonial America. Its purpose was to relate
the lives of Christian martyrs from the time of Christ to 1600, with
emphasis after the Reformation on Protestants who suffered persecution
for their faith. The Ephrata
Cloister’s printing press with its Gothic type was famous throughout
the German-speaking world.
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Ephrata Cloister
The members of the Ephrata Cloister were an internationally famous
group of scholars who gathered under the leadership of the mystical Conrad
Beissel. Believing that the highest spiritual attainment was possible
only to celibates, Solitary Sisters and Solitary Brethren lived in separate
monastic buildings. A third group, Householders, lived in family groups.
Adherents took new names, lived in great austerity, and adopted a Capuchin-style
habit. Their cultural accomplishments included calligraphy and choral
music. Their Fraktur, printed documents with stunning hand illuminations,
gained wide acclaim.
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