Johann Beck (missionary)

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Johann Beck (born June 7, 1706 in Kreuzendorf , Duchy of Jägerndorf , † March 19, 1777 in Lichtenfels , Greenland ) was a missionary of the Moravian Brethren .

Youth in the Duchy of Jägerndorf

Johann Beck's family story takes place against the background of the re-Catholicization of Silesia . Grandfather Jacob Beck lived in Gotsdorf near Jägerndorf . He was imprisoned and ill-treated for his evangelical faith; soon afterwards he died of the consequences. The widow moved with the children to Leobschütz . Although she remained Protestant herself, she was unable to prevent her two sons from converting to the Roman Catholic Church. Caspar Beck, Johann Beck's father, approached the Protestant faith again as an adult and met like-minded people to study the Bible.

Johann Beck became the coachman of a Catholic priest in Kreuzendorf . According to his own statements, during this time he had a religious experience that he described as a turning point in life. Since he met like-minded people and avoided inns, his changed attitude towards life was noticed and he was arrested and interrogated in Stippau in 1732. The Catholic priest, his employer, tried in vain to defuse the situation. Beck was put in the dungeon. Together with a companion who had met the same fate, they managed to escape from Stippau. The persecutors lost their trail, but the two escaped prisoners wandered around, penniless and disoriented. The two of them arrived in Herrnhut on May 31, 1732 , where they were warmly welcomed.

Sent out as a Moravian missionary

New Herrnhut (Noorliit) in 1770

In Herrnhut Johann Beck met Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf and witnessed the sending of the first missionaries to Greenland. Christian David prepared Beck for the fact that he, too, would be sent to Greenland in the foreseeable future; there was no special training for it. Beck visited his parents and family again in 1733 and left Herrnhut on March 10, 1734 together with the missionary Friedrich Böhnisch. In Copenhagen they boarded a ship that went to the Greenland colony of Christianshaab . On August 8th they arrived in Neu-Herrnhut . The group of missionaries there (Christian David, Christian Stach and Paul Egede ) were busy learning the Greenlandic language . Since Stach and David could only read texts but did not speak Greenlandic actively, their missionary efforts were limited. Both planned to leave Greenland.

Beginnings of the Moravian Greenland Mission

Illustration from: Hans Egede, Beschryving van Oud-Groenland of eigentlyk van de zoogenaamde Straat Davis (1746)

Johann Beck was now part of the group that definitely wanted to stay in Greenland and was ready to learn the language from scratch. In 1735, there was no food delivery from Copenhagen and the missionaries made a meager living on clams and seaweed. In this emergency they made closer acquaintance with a Greenlander who supplied them with seal meat. The other Greenlanders met them with rejection. In May 1736 a Dutch ship arrived with letters and provisions. In June 1736, a Danish ship docked in Godthaab , on which there were some Moravian women who were supposed to run the household for the missionaries. They too learned the national language in order to be able to proselytize among the Greenlandic women. In the same year Johann Beck married Rosina, the sister of the missionary Matthäus Stach.

Johann Beck as Angekok

Beck had made progress in the Greenlandic language and started translating texts from the Bible. He was now able to hold talks with Greenlanders, had creation myths told to him and tried to tie in with the Christian tradition of the Creator God - with varying degrees of success. But when he came to speak of Jesus, the Savior , he did so emotionally and with tears. The missiologist Thea Olsthoorn suspects: The audience perceived Beck's excitement, and since they were generally ready to see the Moravian shamans ( Angekok, Angakkuit ), the missionary's changed behavior as a kind of ecstasy was understandable for them. The fact that Beck happened to be right with a presumption about future hunting luck has also strengthened his reputation as a fortune teller.

The "first fruits"

For a long time, the people of Greenland were not interested in the Moravian Annunciation. After many unsuccessful attempts to establish contact, they got to know a Greenlander named Kajarnak and through him also his family, so that a whole group of Greenlanders settled in Neu-Herrnhut and a school should be set up for the children, although the parents did not care not tapped. Kajarnak and his family were baptized on March 30, 1739. His name was now Samuel, his wife Anna, their son Matthew and their daughter Anna. The missionaries were happy to have converted the “first fruits” after five years of activity; however, soon afterwards Samuel and his family fled Neu-Herrnhut because his brother-in-law had been attacked and murdered. After a while, the Greenlandic Christians returned to the colony. Samuel Kajarnak was the first to be buried in the newly created cemetery. He is shown on the Moravian first painting.

Changed mission strategy

In 1740 the missionaries decided to change their approach. Instead of looking for one-on-one conversations, they wanted to address people in speeches and no longer begin with the topic of creation, but rather proclaim Jesus, the Savior, straight away. According to Olsthoorn, the missionaries often groped in the dark due to the lack of suitable terms and sought advice from the “first fruits”; But what concepts these new converts had and passed on from the Christian faith could not be controlled by them.

Last years of life

Lichtenfels (Akunnaat)

After all, Johann Beck had a very good command of the Greenlandic language. As a pastor he came to mission successes; over 1000 Greenlanders were baptized by him. By the end of his life he had translated the entire New Testament, many songs and other religious texts into Greenlandic. Since around 1760 he was often ill and in recent years mostly stayed in Lichtenfels, where he also died.

One of Johann and Rosina Beck's sons was sent to Labrador as a missionary after his training in Europe .

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thea Olsthoorn: "We have no ears." Communication problems and misunderstandings in the spread and reception of Christianity in Greenland and Labrador in the 18th century. In: Udo Sträter (Ed.): Pietismus und Neuzeit 39 (2013), s. 47-85, here p. 69.72.
  2. ↑ Thea Olsthoorn: "We have no ears." Communication problems and misunderstandings in the spread and reception of Christianity in Greenland and Labrador in the 18th century. In: Udo Sträter (Ed.): Pietismus und Neuzeit 39 (2013), s. 47–85, here p. 75 f.
personal data
SURNAME Beck, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Missionary of the Moravian Brethren
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1706
PLACE OF BIRTH Kreuzendorf , Duchy of Jägerndorf
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1777
Place of death Lichtenfels , Greenland