Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf

Christian Renatus Imperial Count von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf
Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf. The words on the paper he is holding are Gebrochne Augen (Broken eyes), part of a Litany.
Born	September 19, 1727 Berthelsdorf, Upper Lusatia, Saxony
Died	May 28, 1752 Dean's Yard, London, England
Occupation	Church official, head of the Single Brethren's Choir of the Moravian Church, spiritual leader
Spouse(s)	Sidewound of Christ (beginning in 1748 he called himself Christel von Hölgen, "of the Little Sidewound", indicating he was now the bride of the Sidewound.)
Parent(s)	Nicolas Ludwig Imperial Count von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf and Erdmuth Dorothea Imperial Countess von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf m.n. Countess von Reuss-Ebersdorf

Christian Renatus, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf was the charismatic leader of the Single Brethren's Choir of the Moravian Church and of Herrnhaag (The Lord’s Grove), a Christian religious community built near Büdingen by his father, Nicholas Ludwig, head of the Brüdergemeine or Moravian Unity. Christian Renatus, affectionately known as Christel, took his father’s marriage religion (Ehereligion) literally, proclaiming himself to be the living Sidewound of Christ in 1748, which meant he was the embodiment of Christ's sacrificial and compassionate love.

The younger Zinzendorf and his co-elder of the Single Brethren, Joachim Rubusch, also proclaimed themselves to be married to the Sidewound. This derived in part from the teaching of Zinzendorf’s father that all souls are female, regardless of gender, so that they may be married to Christ. (This image is derived from the fact that "soul" in German, die Seele, is always a feminine noun.[Cassel's German-English Dictionary, entry die Seele.] It was also in 1748 that Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf declared all Single Brethren to be Sisters and therefore Brides of Christ.

The compounding of sexuality and spirituality at Herrnhaag led to virulent attacks from outside and within the church, threatening to undo the goodwill with other denominations that the elder Zinzendorf had sought for decades. He dismissed his son from his positions and brought him to England for the remaining three years of Christian's life.

After his death, Christian's followers in Pennsylvania named a settlement farm after him. Since there was a flowing spring there it was called "Christiansbrunn", Christian's Spring. while church leaders systematically destroyed most of the documents referring to the events at Herrnhaag. Only within the past two decades has a new generation of scholars and historians begun to reexamine that period to determine what happened.

Zinzendorf was born just a month after the spiritual awakening experience on August 13, 1727, that signaled the renewal of the Ancient Unity of Brethren, in which Moravian exiles on the lands of his father committed themselves to a life in Christ. Both his parents were deeply committed to this ideal. His father and his mother, Erdmuth Dorothea m.n. Countess von Reuss-Ebersdorf, came from Pietist families that stressed the indwelling of the spirit. His parents considered their relationship to be a marriage of champions in which the goal was serving Christ. The young Zinzendorf was left in the care of his mother for most of his youth while his father pursued church activities elsewhere. His effeminacy was noted by nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century historians who typically blamed it on his being raised in the company of women: "Christian Renatus . . . had all the ardor without the virility characteristic of his father."