RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Koreshan Ecclesia Kosters
right to edify the community, except in the regular religious services. The discipline extended even to clothing, food, and reading; but the basis of it all was chiliasm, seen even in the flimsy construction of the houses, so soon was the Second Advent expected. A third motive in the establishment of the community, besides the desire to escape rationalism and to create a pure congregation, was the foundation, again borrowed from the Moravians, of a missionary institute and a printing-press. The latter, like Hoffmann's plans for the community's industrial enterprise, came to naught; the former, on the other hand, by the erection of one of the first refuges for destitute children, was a first step in home missions.
The first pastor of the community of Kornthal
was Friedrich formerly at Winzerhausen, a chil-
iast, who was called in 1819. Hoffmann, however,
still remained the civil head. In these
4. The early years the basal principles of the
First community were still strong. Its
Pastorate, foundation had called forth a flood of pamphlets, and evoked not only the wrath of the rationalists, but the suspicions of the supernaturalists — the natural result being to increase the enthusiasm of the members of the community and their friends. The settlement became a sort of place of pilgrimage both for other Pietists and for earnest Christians, as well as for mere curiosityseekers. Yet, despite this mass of religious enthusiasts, there were no manifestations of fanaticism, owing to the governing genius of Hoffmann. He was now endeavoring to establish a second colony, but meanwhile the opposition of the government had increased. King William, however, mindful of the economic advantages of such communities, and desiring to transform a marshy district of Upper Swabia into fertile land by the industry of the Pietists, offered them this region. Hoffmann did not dare to reject it, and in 1824 the community of Wilhelmsdorf was founded in the midst of Roman Catholic Upper Swabia. It was a heavy burden for the parent colony, and was joined only by the poorest members, who went not as a privilege, but as a sacrifice. Wilhelmsdorf struggled on, however, until 1852, when it formally separated from Kornthal, though it is still exempt from the consistory.
After Friedrich's death in 1827 there was an
interim until 1833, when Kapff was called as
his successor. The fact that he be-
5. Subse- longed to the State Church minimized quent the antagonism between the commu- History. nity and the Church. Non-members were admitted to confirmation and the Lord's Supper; and as the remembrance of their earlier grievances against the State Church faded away, the danger of religious extravagance vanished under Kapff's guidance, while the quiet course of 1836, the year set by Bengel for the Second Advent, dampened chiliastic hopes. On the other hand, between 1831 and 1848, the decay of rationalism was replaced by the warmth of Pietism within the State Church, to which Von Kapff himself returned in 1843. The reason for the existence of the community thus became somewhat questionable, and since 1848 its religious significance has in a great measure vanished .
Nevertheless, the third pastor, J. H. Staudt, who presided over the community from 1843 to 1882, was able not only to preserve Kornthal's individuality, but also to make it a center for Pietists and even for wider circles. At the same time, he kept the community from adopting schemes at variance with its original purpose. Between his successor, however, and a portion of the community a conflict arose, which was settled only by the aid of the consistory. The position of the community has become more difficult as a result of recent legislation. The laws of Nov. 1, 1867, granting unrestricted domicile, of July 3, 1869, on the civil equality of confessions, and of June 16, 1885, on membership in communities, have abrogated its privilege to prohibit undesirable elements from citizenship. The result, as in the analogous case of the State Church, has been the strengthening of the moral power of the community; and in 1892 both Kornthal and Wilhelmsdorf passed a sanctioned agenda empowering them to preserve the character of their membership by exclusively ecclesiastical regulations. The present significance of the community, which now numbers about 1,200, is essentially that of a refuge for those who, wearied of struggle, long for a peaceful and spiritual atmosphere. (C. Kolb.)
Bibliography: S. C. Kapff, Die wurttembergischen Brudergemeinden Kornthal und Wilhelmsdorf, Kornthal, 1839; C. Palmer, Gemeinschaften und Sekten Wiirttembergs, ed. ■letter, Tubingen, 1877; H. Schmidt, Die innere Mission in Wurttemberg, pp. 52 sqq., Hamburg, 1879; further literature in Hauck-Herzog, BE, xi. 38-39.
KORTHOLT, CHRISTIAN: German Lutheran; b. at Borg, on the island of Femern or Fehmarn (in the Baltic Sea), Holstein, Jan. 15, 1632; d. at Kiel Mar. 31 (Apr. 1), 1694. He studied at the universities of Rostock, Jena, Leipsic and Wittenberg, became professor of Greek at Rostock in 1662 and professor of theology and prochancellor at the newly founded University of Kiel in 1666. He owed his fame not so much to his church history published after his death (Historia ecclesiastica Novi Testamenti, Leipsic, 1697), as to some excellent monographs, for instance, on the first persecutions of the Christians (De persecutionibus ecclesia primitives sub imperatoribus ethnicis, Jena, 1660, Kiel, 1689) and on the literary opponents of Christianity (Paganus obtrectator, sive de calumniis gentilium, libri Hi, Kiel, 1698). He was also one of the first Protestant theologians who undertook to refute Baronius (Disquisitiones Anti-Baroniance, 1700). He was in harmony with the Pietists, and was the personal friend of Spener and Francke.
(Paul Tschackeet.)
Bibliography: The Gedachtnisrede, by his son-in-law Lindemann, is in H. Pipping, Memories theologorum oetatis, pp. 57 sqq., Leipsic, 1705.
KOSTERS, WILLEM HEKDRIK: Dutch theologian and Old-Testament scholar; b. at Enschede (78 m. e. of Utrecht) Oct. 3, 1843; d. at Leyden Dec. 19, 1897. He was the son of Dr. Jan Kosters, a physician of some repute; received his preliminary education in the schools of his native town; entered the University of Leyden as a student in theology in 1861, ending his course in 1868 and taking his doctorate with a dissertation on Deuter-
Kottwitz Krafft