Ausbund
The paragon (actually AUß Bundt; meaning: The selected choice ) is the oldest hymnal of the Anabaptist movement. A place of worship use it today in the North American communities of the Amish. It is the oldest church hymnal that is in use today in a Christian church without interruption.
History
The core of the Ausbunds form 51 songs that have been written by a late summer 1535 arrested in Passau and then held in Passau Castle group of Anabaptists. In the group it was about 60 returning from Moravia to southern Germany Philippians, many of which, however, remained unknown. Eleven songs of this collection are by Michael Schneider, the head of this Baptist circle. Twelve other songs could be assigned to Hans Betz. Abfassungsort was the dungeon of Passau castle, where the Anabaptists were imprisoned because of their beliefs 1535-1540. Some - including Hans Betz - did not survive captivity. Many of the imprisoned Baptist martyred following the prison term.
. Was printed the collection of songs about 1564, the first edition, the only remaining copy in the possession of the Mennonite Historical Library ( Mennonite Historical Library ) at Goshen College in Indiana, is located, is entitled: Several beautiful Christian Geseng as in the Gefengtniß to Passaw [ Passau ] in the castle of the Schweitzer brothers by divine grace of geticht [ poem ] and been sung. The printed hymnal must have a strong distribution found, because during the Frankenthaler Colloquium (1571 ) it was already the enemies of Anabaptism as proof source of their criticism.
A second, expanded edition of the 80 songs hymnal was published in 1583 on the title page of this edition first appeared on the keyword paragon. Paragon. That's some nice christenliche songs, etc. Allen and every Christian, what religion they are, unpartheyisch useful.
Later edition had 137 (Europe), or 140 (North America) songs. In total there are 11 known European editions of the Ausbunds. Spawns were in the 16th and 17th centuries, Cologne and the Rhineland. In the 18th and 19th century editions in Basel and Strasbourg appear. The last European edition dated from 1838; their publication is Basel. Even into the 19th century it was used in many South German Mennonite churches.
The first American edition of Ausbunds appeared in 1742. It was printed by Christopher Saur 's German Town press. Editor of the hymnal, which was used until the late 18th century in the Swiss Mennonite Church, was the Mennonite Bishop Henry Funck. Then it was replaced by the small sacred harp and the Unpartheyische hymnal of 1804 (both in Pennsylvania originated ).
The paragon is used today only in the services of the Amish Mennonites and preserved in a unique way the spirit of Anabaptism of the 16th century.
Characteristics
The oldest songs of Ausbunds are primarily songs of the suffering church in a hostile environment. At its center stands the martyrdom of those who want to be with Ernst Christen. However, they reflect not only grief and despair, but also the awareness of being carried by becoming God. There are always more reasons to thank God than to sue him suffering. This is what, among other things, the paragon Song # 131: O God, Father, we praise you and your goodness we praise that is sung to this day at the beginning of each Amish worship.
To the content of Ausbunds
The first song of the Ausbunds comes from the pen Sebastian Franck. It is a teaching song and shows how Christians sing in the Spirit and in truth, to pray and praise God in Psalem.
The second song is a paraphrase of the Athanasian creed.
Songs 6, 7 and 8 are seals of Felix Manz, Michael Sattler and Hans Hut - all the martyrs of the Anabaptist movement.
More martyrs songs come from Leonhard Schiemer, Hans Floppy, Georg blue skirt and Hans Leupold, who were among the Anabaptist victims of the first major wave of persecution.
Hans Büchl, participants in the Colloquium Frankenthaler, is the poet of another five paragon songs. Eleven songs are of Dutch origin. The Low German Baptist contributed another eleven songs. Five Songs can 'll attributed to the Bohemian Brethren.
Many of the songs have Ausbunds doctrinal character: Biblical teachings, the Anabaptist baptism and the Lord's Supper and of course the eschatology are at its center. On the latter issues also cycle the song Büchls (No. 46) include Ain christelich new song from the last Dagen gegenwardig Schröck union in which such vil insects differently, auffrührerisch and false prophets erschainen, also blutdirstige tyrants.
The European paragon was brought to 1809 on the market without locality and without specifying the publisher. Even in 1692 banned the Bernese government the distribution and possession of this hymnbook and ordered its confiscation under threat of severe penalties on.
The American editions contain, inter alia, the creed of Thomas Imbroich ( 1558 ) and the truthful report on the great tribulation, which had around Zurich to suffer the siblings for their faith thing 1635-1645 (a collection of Martyrs reports).
Formally, the songs of Ausbunds of inferior quality, content seen, however, they are evidence of a deep religiosity and self-sacrificing devotion to the faith.
Way of singing
The paragon does not contain any notes, but probably references to popular melodies to which the recorded songs can be sung. Some of the ways of worldly folk and love songs are taken, some of them well-known church hymns and anthems. The oldest tunes date from the 13th and 14th centuries. Today's way of singing is very slow and has a certain similarity with the Gregorian chant.
Text samples
The language of the early editions of the Ausbunds were held in a very superior German form of writing, similar to Maximilian's chancellery. An example of this is the following poem the Upper Austrian Leonhard Schiemer:
- Leonhard Schiemer, Thy holy place
Your holy place hond they destroyed / umbgegraben your altar / Darzu ermördt also your servant, / where they have taken hold of it. / We are the only / your heuflein small / uberbliben are little / With ignominious and schand / through all the country / verjaget and vertriben.
We are like sheep zerstrewt equal / not having a shepherd, / leave our Hauss and Hooff / and are equal to the night raven / who also offt to / hewlt in steinklufft. / In rock and klufften / is our Gmach, / we are asked after, / like birds in the lufften.
We sneak into the Wälden mod, / you are looking for us with the dogs / man leads us as the Lemlein stum / trapped and bound. / Man tells us to everyone who / when we weren Auffrürer, / we are geacht / like sheep to the slaughter / a heretic and seducer.
Vil are also in the bonds eng / spoiled to their biological / Ettlich through the torturous strictly / umbkommen and died / on all the blame; / Here is gedult / the Holy Ground auff. / ( ..........? )
They have been hanged on the trees!, / Slew and zerhawen / secretly and publicly ertrenckt / vil wives and virgins. / They frey / ohn all Schew / the Warheit give zeugnuß / Dazs Jesus Christ / the truth is, / the life away, and also the.
Still raging the world and not at rest, / is even nonsensical / vil they lie auff us erdicht, / burn, and murder with them / us does bang. / O Lord, how long / willtu dazzu but silent? / Straightening the haughtiness, / the holy bluth / auffsteigen who let thy throne!