Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/882

* MORAVIANS. "90 MORAY. much modified, tlic three chief forms of .activity continue. Missions among the heathen are main- tained in Labrador and Alaska, among the In- dians of North America, amcmg the negroes of the West Indies, in Nicaragua, British and Dutch Guiana, Cape Colony. German East Afri- ca. Australia, and among Tibetan people of the Western Himalayas. A home for lepers is main- tained near Jerusalem. Thirty-three schools are carried on, in addition to colleges and theo- logical seminaries. The mission in Greenland, maintained since IT.'?:!, was transferred to the Danish Lutheran Church in 1900. The iloravian Church now consists of four provinces — the German, the British, and the American, North and South — which are xmited as one body in regard to doctrine, ritual, dis- cipline, and mission work. Internally each prov- ince is independent, its affairs being adminis- tered by a synod, which elects a provincial execu- tive board, consisting of bishops and other min- isters. This board appoints the ministers to the various congregations. The executive boards of the four provinces constitute the Directing Board of the Unity. Evcrv' ten years a general synod convenes, each province and the missions having representatives. This synod takes cog- nizance of the life, doctrine, and activity of the entire Church, elects the mission board, and to it the mission board is responsible. The Moravian Church has a complete ritual, including services for the Lord's Day and other forms, but allows of free prayer in puldic wor- ship: its music, vocal and instrumental, is high- ly devclojted. It perpetuates the three orders of the ministry, but its bishops, who alone or- dain, do not exercise administrative functions ipso facto. It observes the Christian year: ad- mits new converts by confirmation: receives members of other churches by certilicate; en- courages lay work; and exercises strict disci- pline. The cardinal points of Moravian teaching are those held in common by all evangelical cluirches. Eight cardinal points, in reganl to which the teaching of Holy Scripture is plain, have been repeatedly reaffirmed by the General Synod in the language of Scripture. .s formulated by the General Synod of 1800, these doctrines teaeh : (a) Total depravity of human natiire; (b) the love of God the Father, who has 'chosen us in Christ'; (c) the real Godhead and real humanity of .Jesus Christ; (d) reconciliation anil justification through the sacrifice of .Tesus Christ; (e) the Holy Ghost and the operation of His gnace; (f) good works as the fruit of the Spirit; (g) the fellowship of believers: (h) the second coming of Christ and the resurrection. These truths are held not as a rigidly formulat- ed confession, but as the Moravian conception of the main contents of Christian doctrine. The resuscitated Moravian Church has never issued a confession of faith, as such. The Moravtan Ciu'rcii in America, ^fo- ravian emigrants went to Georgia in 17.'?5: but five years afterwards they removed to Pennsyl- vania, where they built the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth. A form of communism was tem- porarily adopted, as a quick mode of subduing the wilderness and at the same time promoting missions. The lands were the property of the Church, and the farms and industries were ear- Tied on for its benefit: but he who had means of his own retained them; there was no com- mon treasury. This system, 'The Economy,' continued for twenty years. Each member was pledged to devote his time and powers as they might be best applied for the spread of the Gospel, and missionaries went to the Indians of New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, and later Ohio. Though the "Economy' was of short duration, the American division of the Church was administered from Germany, and the exchi- sive polic.v jirevailed until 18,50. According to statistics compiled in 1002, the American prov- inces reported 1.5,873 communicants and a total membership of 2.3,806. There were 112 con- gregations, and 100 ministers actively engaged. In the home provinces, inchuling the Holicniian- Moravian mission, there are ."58.844 members; in the foreign missions 137 stations and 71 out- stations, with 402 missionaries, exclusive of sec- retaries, etc., 62 native missionaries and 1807 other native agents. The connnunicant member- ship of the missions was 34,041, with a total membership of 96.833. The American Jforavians have a theological seminary, founded in 1807, at first as a depart- ment added to the academy at Nazareth, begun in 17.50. and known as Nazareth Hall. It lias been situated at Bethlehem since ISoS. A collegi- ate department ])reparatory to the theological proper was inaugurated at an early period. Buildings have been erected valued at .$75,000, exclusive of the ground. The endowment fund is now .$1 18.000. A six years' course of study is pur- sued, three and one-half years classical and two and one-half theological. Four professors con- stitute the permanent faculty. The number of students varies from 3.5 to 40. Biiii.iotiKAruY. For the |)eriod prior to 1722. consult: Gindely, doTliiclilc tier hiihmisrhen Briider (Prague, 1856.57) : id.. Ucher dcs Johann Amos Co/nvnius Lcbcn uiul yiik-siimkeit (2d ed.. Znaini, 1803) ; Sohweinitz, The History of the Unitas Frntrum (Bethlehem, 1885). For the period since 1722: Criiger. Gcschichle dcr erneitcrtcn Briiderkirchc (Gnadau, 1852-54) : Hamilton. .1 Histonj of thr Mornrinn Churc Duriiif/ the Eifjhtefitth tntd Xinrtrrnth C'^tttitrirs (Bethlehem. 1000). For the Moravian Church in the I'nited States, consult: Reichel, Tlir Early History of the Church of the United Brethren in North America (Nazareth. 1888) ; Hamilton, History of the Moravian Church in the Vnitcd States, in the "American Church History Series" (New York, 1805). For Moravian missions, consult: Thompson. }[itrnrian Missions (New York. 1882) ; Hamilton. History of the Missions of the Moravian Church Diiriny the Eiyhteenth and yineteenth Centuries (Bethlehem, lilOl). MORAY, mf/rft. .^ny of a large group (sub- order Cahieephali. of order Apodes) of eel like fishes, especially one of the family Mir:cnidir and genus Mur.Tna. They are degenerate, aber- rant eels, distinguished by their small round gill openings and (he absence of pectoral fins. They inhabit warm and especially tropical seas, particularly about coral reefs. They are bright- ly colored, often of large sizx-. and always vo- racious and pugnacious. Ten or twelve genera are kno«-n. embracing about 1"20 species, among which the true morays (genus AIura>na) are characterized by the presence of two pairs of nasal barbules. The mum-na of the Romans, or 'murry' (Miira-na Belena), aboimds in the Medi-