God's Little Children:

Early Moravian Imagery as an Expression of Spirituality

The Moravian movement began small and never grew to a significant size, yet it is one of the  most distinctive in the history of Christianity, its influence far outstriding the number of its adherents. The Moravian influence on John and Charles Wesley alone would make them noteworthy, but even more their far-flung missionary activity, hymn writing, and the planting of intentional communities affected not only the Christian churches but secular society in America as well.

One of the most striking and perhaps the most frequently recurring image in early Moravian expressions of faith and spirituality, especially in its colonial American context, is that of being a little child of the Heavenly Father. This paper is an exploration of the significance of that image in relation to the substance of the Moravian vision of the Christian faith.

Download and read the paper here.