Communion in Christ Jesus

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Eliasburg in Pockau: Spiritual center of the Lorenzians

The community in Christo Jesu (coll. Lorenzianer ) is a chiliastic association, which was formed around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century in the Ore Mountains . The community has been organized as a registered association since June 13, 1922 and has around 3500 members in nine districts with around 60 communities in Saxony, mainly in the Ore Mountains and Central Saxony. The center of the community is the Eliasburg in the Marterbüschel district in Pockau-Lengefeld .

history

The community in Christ Jesus goes back to a group of "seriously believing Christians" that Gottlieb Reichelt (1832–1878) in Oberseiffenbach near Neuhausen / Erzgeb from 1857 . directed. The family of Carl August Lorenz also belonged to this group. After Reichelt's death, the Lorenz family became the focus of the remaining members. After a few years of waiting and trying to continue the work of proclamation begun by Reichelt, the Lorenz family came into contact with a similarly oriented group around Ferdinand Schneider (1835–1908) in Kleinsermuth near Colditz in the early 1880s and connected with them.

From then on, Johanne Christine Lorenz in particular enjoyed a great reputation. After Schneider's death she spread the message of the rapture of the whole community on the first Easter holiday in 1910. Since this prophecy was not fulfilled, the community slowly began to fall apart. Two years after Johanne Christine's death, her son Hermann Lorenz (1864–1929) had a revelation in 1914. As a result, a circle around Hermann Lorenz began to form, which was soon followed by the remnants of Schneider's circle. The events of the First World War led to a rapid rise in the number of Lorenzians, among others from the ranks of the regional church community and spiritualistic circles. In 1917 there were around 1,000, including workers, artisans, civil servants and farmers. After the end of the war, the community continued to be popular.

In 1920 a mission campaign was carried out throughout Saxony and an internal organization was created at the same time. Since then there has been no public missionary work. On June 13, 1922, the fellowship in Christ Jesus was officially recognized. In the same year, the communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony was abandoned. In 1923 the community had about 5,000 followers. The construction of a central sacred building was therefore started. After this “temple”, built in 1923, soon became too small, the Eliasburg with 1000 seats was built in 1927/1928.

Hermann Lorenz had no official function in the association, but worked as a preacher constantly on the internal structure of the community. His revelations were recorded in so-called "parchments". After Lorenzen's death in 1929 the community withdrew further, as the rapture of the community was expected at any time. A tight hierarchical organization, control of the members and a close cohesion and close cooperation in all areas of life saved the community from breaking up.

For a long time the members were only loosely connected to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony . Against the background of the ecumenical endeavors, especially the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification , most of the members have since left the regional church because the community regards the papacy as an instrument of Satan.

Teaching

The basis of the faith of the Lorenzians is a consistently eschatologically oriented biblicism and the 1,200 revelations of Hermann Lorenz. The content and goal of Lorenz's teaching were formulated in the 1927 Light in Darkness published by the board of the community : “the continuation of the work of redemption that was broken off on Golgotha, the maintenance of the pure, true teaching of Jesus, the achievement of physical redemption and the perfect divine nature, the bond of Satan in the Last Judgment, the millennial kingdom of peace, the last judgment with the resurrection and separation of the two primordial powers, the perfect family of God ”.

The Lorenzians see world history as determined by the struggle of the two primordial powers God and Satan , who both have an equal share in man, God in the soul, Satan in the flesh. Jesus Christ is seen as a great turning point in the struggle between good and evil, because his sinless life created the decisive basis for the divine work of redemption, which must be continued by man.

Lorenz and his followers were convinced that they were on the second of three stages of this work, which begins with the beginning judgment on the devil in the end times and with the worldwide gathering of the 144,000 elect, of which the Saxon group with 5,000 people is the largest , goes hand in hand. To be worthy of this grace, the followers of the community must lead a "sacred way of life." This includes the high esteem for celibacy and the renunciation of worldly pleasures, merrymaking and fads (e.g. television, Internet, mobile phone). Female Lorenzianer wear a ponytail or outside the home only floor-length skirts and her hair bun coiffed. A large distance is maintained from state and church organizations as well as public events.

The pronounced Arcane discipline of the Lorenzians is particularly evident in their handling of the so-called "parchments", these are the revelations of Hermann Lorenz, on which the teaching of the community is largely based. These "parchments" are kept in the archive of the temple, are considered high shrines and are only circulated by the members in extracts. They appear to have a spiritistic character.

According to a divine sign, it is assumed by the followers, all the elect gather at Bethany, special rescue sites that were set up in various places in the houses of Lorenzians. The hand luggage required for this is readily available in every household. This is followed by a rapture by God into a remote area of ​​the earth, for example to the North Pole, where the church is nourished by God for three and a half years. Her deceased relatives are also waiting there. After the "shackling of Satan" at the end of another three and a half year period, the millennial kingdom of peace begins, which is inhabited by the 144,000 elect and is characterized by the absence of war, misery, hardship and death. After their anointing, the Lorenzians consider themselves immortal.

In the doctrine of the community, Gottlieb Reichelt and Ferdinand Schneider are seen as the "harbingers of perfection", while Hermann Lorenz is regarded as the "messenger of perfection". He is seen in line with the biblical prophets he is at the head of. This is underlined, among other things, by his personal qualities, the fullness and depth of the revelations and his special role in the struggle of the end times. Part of the doctrine of the community therefore is that after his death Lorenz helps to prepare the final events and then comes back with a leader called by the Lord "in a transfigured matter".

rite

Baptism is usually left to the regional church . Otherwise, children up to the age of six are baptized in the Trinitarian community by the community. In addition to this baptism, the Lorenzians know a spiritual baptism about which nothing more is known. The sacrament service is held in the temple four times a year. This service is carried out in accordance with our own sacrament parchment and is of extremely high importance for the community. There is also a special anointing, which is referred to as the highest and most sacred act alongside the Lord's Supper. The marriage ceremony carried out by the regional church has its own "spiritual marriage". Before the regional church funeral ceremony there is a separate blessing and anointing of the deceased.

literature

  • Licht ins Dunkel self-published by the board of the Community in Christo Jesu e. V., Lengefeld 1927.
  • Samuel Kleemann: The Lorenzians. Dresden 1927.
  • Helmut Obst: Apostles and prophets of the modern age. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, pp. 455-486.
  • Gotthard B. Schicker : The Lorenzians: Community in Christ Jesus - an Erzgebirge myth. In: ders .: Dicknischl - Erzgebirge people then and now. Druck- und Verl.-ges., Marienberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-931770-76-1 , pp. 83-94.
  • Maria Schubert: Lorenzians. History of the origins and effects of an apocalyptic sect (1857–2010). Norderstedt 2010, ISBN 978-3-8423-3447-2 .
  • Joseph Canaris: Sect of the Lorenzians, Secret Power in Saxony.
  • Handbook of Religious Communities for d. VELKDE working group on behalf of d. Luth. Church Office ed. by Horst Reller, Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, Gütersloh 1978, 2nd edition 1979, ISBN 3-579-03585-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fruit: Apostles and Prophets of Modern Times 2000, p. 455.
  2. ↑ Board of the Community in Christ Jesus, e. V. (Ed.), Licht in's Dunkel. Lengefeld, 1927, pp. 20 f., Quoted from Helmut Obst. Apostles and Prophets of Modern Times , Berlin, 1990, p. 308.