Peter Böhler
Encyclopedia
Peter Böhler or Peter Boehler (December 31, 1712 – April 27, 1775) was a German
-born Moravian missionary and bishop who was influential in the Moravian Church in the Americas
and England
during the eighteenth century. Böhler was one of the many missionaries
sent out to the Americas
in the early 18th century by the leader of the Moravian Church, Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
. As a part of the first large scale Protestant
missionary movement, Böhler spread the religion across Georgia
and other American colonies. In 1740, he migrated with other Moravians to Pennsylvania
, where they founded the towns of Nazareth
and Bethlehem
. Böhler was superintendent of the Moravian Church in England from 1747 to 1753 and was made a bishop of the church in 1748. Böhler came back to America and directed new Moravian settlements in the colonies from 1753 to 1764.
, but Böhler was drawn into studying theology
by the university's well-known faculty members such as Johann Franz Buddeus
, Johann Georg Walch
and Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
. Walch and Zinzendorf greatly influence on Böhler, and showed him the ways of pietism
, a movement within Lutheranism
that was instrumental in the upbringing of the Methodist movement
later started by John Wesley
. The Pietist movement combined the Lutheran emphasis on biblical
doctrine with the reformed
, but with a particular emphasis on a vigorous Christian
life and behavior over intellectual doctrine. Zinzendorf used his influence on the Moravian Church to gather more supporters of the pietist
movement, including Böhler.
, Count von Zinzendorf ordained Böhler to priesthood. On February 7 of the following year, when he was in London
preparing for his trip to the Americas
, Böhler met John Wesley
, who would later found the Methodist
movement, who had just returned from a two-year stint as chaplain of Savannah, Georgia
. After Wesley met Böhler at the home of a Mr. Weinatz, a Dutch
merchant living in London at the time, Wesley offered to obtain lodging for Böhler and introduced him to James Hutton, who would later be an important official in the Moravian Church. Wesley accompanied Böhler on his trip to Oxford
, during which the two began an extensive and very personal discourse on the nature of faith. Wesley had returned to England
as a troubled man, depressed over his lack of faith and his work in America. At the time, Wesley wrote in his journal, "I who went to America to convert others was never myself converted to God". Böhler's counsel on the nature of grace and "heart religion" was instrumental in the conversions of both John and Charles Wesley.
Böhler himself went as a missionary to Savannah
and South Carolina
. As part of Zinzendorf's plans to revive the Moravian Church, Böhler preached the ways of the religion to black slaves and Native Americans, as well as white settlers in the colonies. In 1740, after the Moravians were expelled from Savannah, Böhler led the group of Moravians from Georgia to Pennsylvania
. They founded the towns of Nazareth
and Bethlehem
, both of which are still-thriving populous Moravian communities. Böhler was almost a savior for many of the Moravian people in these communities. During times of crisis, he was accounted as the preacher who could restore the peace and hope that people were so desperately looking for. Böhler went back to England to organize a new group of people to send to America. This group of emigrants called the "Sea Congregation" traveled with Böhler and settled in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1742.
Universalist
tendencies were not unknown among Moravians and Böhler himself believed in the universal reconciliation
of all people. Böhler believed that the grace of Christ was so compelling that it would eventually win all hearts, a belief that is subtly distinct from Universalism. George Whitfield (an ardent Calvinist), in a letter to John Wesley
, wrote that Böhler had expressed a belief that "all the damned souls would hereafter be brought out of hell."
After five years, he was made superintendent of the Moravian Church in England. The following year, Böhler was ordained as a bishop
of the Moravian churches in America and England. In 1753, Böhler left his post as superintendent, and returned to America. He then served as the director of new Moravian settlements there until 1764. Böhler spent the last nine years of his life back in England, still an active member of the church. He died in London
on April 27, 1775, at the age of sixty-two.
opposite Burgess Jenkins
as John Wesley.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born Moravian missionary and bishop who was influential in the Moravian Church in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the eighteenth century. Böhler was one of the many missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
sent out to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
in the early 18th century by the leader of the Moravian Church, Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, Imperial Count of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf, , German religious and social reformer and bishop of the Moravian Church, was born at Dresden....
. As a part of the first large scale Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
missionary movement, Böhler spread the religion across Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and other American colonies. In 1740, he migrated with other Moravians to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where they founded the towns of Nazareth
Nazareth, Pennsylvania
Nazareth is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 6,023 at the 2000 census.Nazareth is located seven miles northwest of Easton, four miles north of Bethlehem and twelve miles northeast of Allentown...
and Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
. Böhler was superintendent of the Moravian Church in England from 1747 to 1753 and was made a bishop of the church in 1748. Böhler came back to America and directed new Moravian settlements in the colonies from 1753 to 1764.
Early life
Böhler was born in Frankfurt, Germany on December 31, 1712. Peter was the fourth child of Brewers Johann Konrad Peter Böhler and his wife Antonetta Elisabetha. Böhler attended school in Frankfurt, and went to the University of Jena in 1731. His father wanted him to study medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, but Böhler was drawn into studying theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
by the university's well-known faculty members such as Johann Franz Buddeus
Johann Franz Buddeus
Johann Franz Buddeus or Budde , German Lutheran theologian and philosopher; born at Anklam, Swedish Pomerania, where his father was pastor, 25 June 1667; died at Gotha 19 November 1729.-Life:...
, Johann Georg Walch
Johann Georg Walch
Johann Georg Walch was a German Lutheran theologian.He was born at Meiningen, where his father, Georg Walch, was general superintendent. He studied at Leipzig and Jena, amongst his teachers being JF Buddeus, whose only daughter he married. He published in 1716 a work, Historia critica Latinae...
and Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, Imperial Count of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf, , German religious and social reformer and bishop of the Moravian Church, was born at Dresden....
. Walch and Zinzendorf greatly influence on Böhler, and showed him the ways of pietism
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
, a movement within Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
that was instrumental in the upbringing of the Methodist movement
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
later started by John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
. The Pietist movement combined the Lutheran emphasis on biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
doctrine with the reformed
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, but with a particular emphasis on a vigorous Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
life and behavior over intellectual doctrine. Zinzendorf used his influence on the Moravian Church to gather more supporters of the pietist
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
movement, including Böhler.
As a missionary
On December 15, 1737, in his first official act as bishopBishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, Count von Zinzendorf ordained Böhler to priesthood. On February 7 of the following year, when he was in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
preparing for his trip to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, Böhler met John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, who would later found the Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
movement, who had just returned from a two-year stint as chaplain of Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
. After Wesley met Böhler at the home of a Mr. Weinatz, a Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
merchant living in London at the time, Wesley offered to obtain lodging for Böhler and introduced him to James Hutton, who would later be an important official in the Moravian Church. Wesley accompanied Böhler on his trip to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, during which the two began an extensive and very personal discourse on the nature of faith. Wesley had returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as a troubled man, depressed over his lack of faith and his work in America. At the time, Wesley wrote in his journal, "I who went to America to convert others was never myself converted to God". Böhler's counsel on the nature of grace and "heart religion" was instrumental in the conversions of both John and Charles Wesley.
Böhler himself went as a missionary to Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. As part of Zinzendorf's plans to revive the Moravian Church, Böhler preached the ways of the religion to black slaves and Native Americans, as well as white settlers in the colonies. In 1740, after the Moravians were expelled from Savannah, Böhler led the group of Moravians from Georgia to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. They founded the towns of Nazareth
Nazareth, Pennsylvania
Nazareth is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 6,023 at the 2000 census.Nazareth is located seven miles northwest of Easton, four miles north of Bethlehem and twelve miles northeast of Allentown...
and Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
, both of which are still-thriving populous Moravian communities. Böhler was almost a savior for many of the Moravian people in these communities. During times of crisis, he was accounted as the preacher who could restore the peace and hope that people were so desperately looking for. Böhler went back to England to organize a new group of people to send to America. This group of emigrants called the "Sea Congregation" traveled with Böhler and settled in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1742.
Universalist
Christian Universalism
Christian Universalism is a school of Christian theology which includes the belief in the doctrine of universal reconciliation, the view that all human beings or all fallen creatures will ultimately be restored to right relationship with God....
tendencies were not unknown among Moravians and Böhler himself believed in the universal reconciliation
Universal reconciliation
In Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...
of all people. Böhler believed that the grace of Christ was so compelling that it would eventually win all hearts, a belief that is subtly distinct from Universalism. George Whitfield (an ardent Calvinist), in a letter to John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, wrote that Böhler had expressed a belief that "all the damned souls would hereafter be brought out of hell."
After five years, he was made superintendent of the Moravian Church in England. The following year, Böhler was ordained as a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Moravian churches in America and England. In 1753, Böhler left his post as superintendent, and returned to America. He then served as the director of new Moravian settlements there until 1764. Böhler spent the last nine years of his life back in England, still an active member of the church. He died in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on April 27, 1775, at the age of sixty-two.
In Film
The character of Peter Böhler is portrayed by actor Bill Oberst, Jr. in the 2009 feature film WesleyWesley (film)
Wesley is a 2009 biopic about John Wesley and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist movement. The movie is based largely on the Wesley brother's own journals, including John's private journal which was kept in a shorthand-like code that was not translated until the 1980s by Dr...
opposite Burgess Jenkins
Burgess Jenkins
Burgess Jenkins is a film actor known for work in the 2000 film Remember The Titans opposite Academy Award winner Denzel Washington; as Hilary Swank's husband David Winter in The Reaping...
as John Wesley.