Christian David (1692–1751) was a German Lutheran missionary, writer and hymnwriter. He travelled as a missionary of the

Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine , image = AgnusDeiWindow.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , caption = Church emblem featuring the Agnus Dei.Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States , main_classification = Proto-Pro ...

, the

Moravian Church , image = AgnusDeiWindow.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , caption = Church emblem featuring the Agnus Dei.Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States , main_classification = Proto-Prot ...

, to

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and to Native Americans. He is known as the author of hymn stanzas that were included in "

Sonne der Gerechtigkeit "" (Sun of Justice) is a German Christian hymn with a complex history. The image of a sun of justice or righteousness was created by the prophet Malachi. The text was compiled around 1930 by Otto Riethmüller from older stanzas by different hymn ...

" in 1932. David was raised in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. 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, including a social concern for ...

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

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

to escape the

counter reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

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

, working closely with of Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf. David went as a missionary of the

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 Paa ...

, with

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

and Christian Stach. 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 Ch ...

chose two of its stanzas for the hymn "

", 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