Moravians come to Nazareth, Pennsylvania - Part II

Nazareth of old and Bethlehem had much in common. Both Moravian communities operated under a communal social and economic system.  This made it possible for the early Moravians to excel in that for which their spiritual value system suggested - educational and missionary efforts.

The road was not paved with praise for the 18th century Moravians. Suspicion of them ran high.  They, being pacifists, were treated with disdain when they refused to bear arms in the colonial war against the Indians and French on the frontier. Rather than fight the Moravians strove to spread Jesus’ gospel among their Native American (especially the Lenape), English, and German neighbors.

One reason for their success in spreading the gospel among native communities was their ability to communicate with the Indians in their own languages. Moravian missionaries spent years learning and then translating parts of the Bible in native dialects.