Note 87 — EPHRATA.
Reading edition
Mr. Endress tells us that with many of the single brethren and sisters at Ephrata, the mystical idea of the union with Christ was evidently used to gratify one of the strongest natural affections of the human heart. “The Redeemer was their bridegroom or bride.... He was the little infant they carried under their hearts, the dear little lamb they dandled on their laps.”
He adds that this at least was found much more among the single than among those whose affections were consecrated in a conjugal life. “The powers of human nature would evince their authority.” “According to Sangmeister, some sank under the unceasing struggle.” See Hazard’s Register, 1830.