Christian David (; 17 February 1692 – 3 February 1751) was a German-Czech missionary, writer and hymnwriter. He travelled as a missionary of the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

and to Native Americans. He is known as the author of hymn stanzas that were included in '' Sonne der Gerechtigkeit'' in 1932.

Biography

David was born on 17 February 1692 in

Ženklava Ženklava () is a municipality and village in Nový Jičín District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. Demographics Notable people *Christian David Christian David (; 17 February 1692 – ...

. His mother was Czech and his father was German. He was raised in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He worked as a carpenter and a soldier. He was impressed by the

pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

movement and converted in 1714. In 1722, he helped refugees from

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

to escape the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

to Saxony. There, he was a co-founder of the ''

Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation o ...

'', working closely with of Count

Nicolaus Zinzendorf Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly (Imperial immediacy, immediat ...

. David went as a missionary of the ''Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine'' to

and to Native Americans, among other places. On a mission to Greenland, he cofounded in 1733 the settlement

Neu-Herrnhut Old Nuuk may refer to several neighborhoods of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The Lutheran mission was originally based on Hope Island at the head of the fjord but was moved to the mainland and christened Godthaab by the royal governor Claus P ...

, with

Matthias Stach Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. Notable people Notable people named Matthias include the following: Religion * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Isca ...

and

Christian Stach A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

. David wrote a hymn "Seyd gegrüßt, zu tausendmahl" (Be welcome, a thousand times), published in 1728. Two centuries later,

Otto Riethmüller Otto Riethmüller (26 February 1889 – 19 November 1938) was a German Lutheran minister, writer, and hymnwriter. He was the president of Protestant youth organisations from 1928, published songbooks, and was a leading member of the Confessing C ...

chose two of its

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

s for the hymn " Sonne der Gerechtigkeit", published first in 1932 in a song book for young people, ''Ein neues Lied'' (A new song), and later in many hymnals. An additional stanza was added to the hymn in an ecumenical version in 1971.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:David, Christian 1692 births 1751 deaths 18th-century German writers 18th-century German male writers German Protestant hymnwriters German Lutheran missionaries Converts to Lutheranism from Roman Catholicism Moravian-German people People from Nový Jičín District Lutheran missionaries in Greenland Moravian Church missionaries