Michael Wohlfahrt (; 1687–1741), aka Michael Welfare, was an American

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

leader who assisted

Conrad Beissel Johann Conrad Beissel (March 1, 1691 – July 6, 1768) was a German-born religious leader who in 1732 founded the Ephrata Community in the Province of Pennsylvania.For the correct date of his birth see Alderfer, Everett Gordon: ''The Ephrata Comm ...

in leading the

Ephrata Community The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community was a religious community, established in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel at Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The grounds of the community are now owned by the Commonwealth of Penn ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Wohlfahrt was born in Memel in the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the Prussia (region), region of P ...

(now

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuan ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

), but emigrated to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. In 1725, he was baptised by

, and when the Conestoga Brethren congregation suffered a schism, he strongly supported Beissel. After the foundation of the

in 1732, Wohlfahrt took the name "Brother Agonius" and assisted Beissel in running the community. Welfare was an acquaintance of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

who, in his autobiography, recounted that "the Dunkers" had been "calumniated by the zealots of other persuasions". Franklin suggested publishing articles about their beliefs, to which Welfare had responded: Franklin commented on this: In 1985

Neil Postman Neil Postman (March 8, 1931 – October 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic, who eschewed digital technology, including personal computers, mobile devices, and cruise control in cars, and was critical of ...

drew another parallel by referring to a quote by Plato:

References

(2006). Retrieved 28 August 2019.

. ''

Amusing Ourselves to Death ''Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business'' (1985) is a book by educator Neil Postman. The book's origins lay in a talk Postman gave to the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1984. He was participating in a panel on Geo ...

'' (1985) p 12, pp 31-32.

External links

Message from the MENNO-ROOTS-L archives
largely about Wohlfahrt *

, an article which quotes some correspondence between Wohlfahrt and

An extended quote with commentary
from the ''

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin ''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'' is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790; however, Franklin himself appears to have called the work his ''Memoirs''. Although it had ...

'' 1687 births 1741 deaths American Christian religious leaders German emigrants to the United States People from Ephrata, Pennsylvania People from Klaipėda People from the Duchy of Prussia {{Christianity-bio-stub