Through Fire and Water: An Overview of Mennonite History

By Steven M. Nolt and Harry Loewen

Through Fire and Water presents the Mennonite faith story within the sweep of church history. This engaging text uses stories of men and women, peasants and pastors, heroes and rascals, to trace the radical Reformation from sixteenth-century Europe to today's global Anabaptist family. Written in an accessible and nonacademic style, this revised edition updates the story and incorporates new historical research and discoveries.

"A superbly written introduction to Anabaptist-Mennonite history in contexts ranging from Kansas to Congo."
—Perry Bush, Bluffton University

"An accessible and engaging read for those who know little about Mennonites, and also for those who think they are familiar with this complex story of faith, culture, and action."
—Marlene Epp, Conrad Grebel University College

"Captivating personal stories, set alongside an honest portrayal of the Mennonite journey."
—Doug Heidebrecht, Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies

• Language: English
• Publisher: Herald Press
• Release date: Jun 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9780831697013

Book preview

Preface and Acknowledgments

This book is an introduction to the Mennonite faith story and was written with several audiences in mind: those wanting to learn about Anabaptists and Mennonites, churches seeking to teach youth and adults about Mennonite origins and beliefs, and students in Mennonite colleges and high schools in Canada and the United States

To encourage discussion, the book includes essays on five topics important to Anabaptists through the centuries: the church, following Jesus in daily life, nonviolence and peacemaking, the relationship between church and state, and outreach.

The book represents a cooperative effort by several Mennonite groups in North America. The original development team, established in the early 1990s by the Mennonite Secondary Education Council, included David Brubaker, Mary Friesen, David Graybill, Gerald Hughes, Harry Loewen, Levi Miller, Steve Ropp, Orville Yoder, and Elwood Yoder.

For the 1996 edition of the book, Harry Loewen wrote the Introduction and chapters 1-6 and 10-12; Steven M. Nolt wrote chapters 7-9 and 13-15 and the Epilogue. Carol Duerksen and Elwood Yoder assisted in developing the general direction of the book and the discussion essays. Mike Burrell created the cartoons. Steven Nolt was responsible for the revision and updating of the text for the 2010 edition.

The manuscript has benefited from suggestions made by numerous readers. Special thanks go to Myron Dietz, John Friesen, James C. Juhnke, and Elmer S. Yoder for their remarks on the 1996 edition. Wilma Bailey, Dale Shenk, Sarah Thompson, and Elwood Yoder offered helpful comments on the 2010 edition. In addition, Richard Thomas and Orville Yoder deserve recognition for their support in the production of this revised edition. Special thanks go to Amy Gingerich, editorial director of Herald Press.

Mennonite Education Agency prays that this book will deepen the faith of all who read it and will renew their appreciation for the Anabaptist-Mennonite story.

Introduction

Ghosts and Echoes

Disturbing a church service

On Sunday morning, January 29, 1525, there was a great commotion in a small church near Zurich, Switzerland. As the Reformed pastor approached the pulpit to deliver his sermon, a tall young man stood and asked in a loud voice, What have you come to do?

I am going to preach the Word of God, the pastor replied.

Not you but I have been called to preach! the young man shouted back.

Ignoring the disturber, the pastor began his sermon. But the young man interrupted and talked back to him rudely. Unable to continue, the pastor stepped down from the pulpit and headed for the door.

Angry voices came from the congregation, voices that clearly sided with the preacher. People called on the pastor to continue his sermon and told the young man to sit down and cease his disturbance. The pastor resumed, but then the young man struck the pew with a stick and shouted, It is written, my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

Now the troublemaker had gone too far. The deputy magistrate, who was attending the service, ordered him to keep quiet or he would be arrested.

The young man was Georg Cajacob, nicknamed Blaurock (blue coat, in German) because of the jacket he usually wore. He belonged to a group of radical Christians called Anabaptists.

George Blaurock's zeal for reforming the church and his confrontational style eventually led to his arrest, trial, and torture. Four years later, at the age of 38, he was burned at the stake for what officials called his heretical faith.¹

George Blue Coat seemed to be just a big troublemaker. For one thing, this grown man couldn't keep quiet during church.

From nun to Anabaptist teacher

As a child, Elizabeth Dirks was taken to a convent near Leer, in northwest Germany, to become a nun. When she was twelve, Elizabeth heard about someone who had been executed for questioning church teaching. It startled her to think that some people would believe something so deeply that they would rather die than give up their beliefs. Elizabeth decided to begin reading the Bible and examining her own beliefs. The more she read, the more questions she had. But she was afraid to share them with anyone.

Over time she found it hard to keep her questions to herself. Finally, she talked to the other sisters in the convent about the things that troubled her, but they told her to stop doubting and kept her isolated. Eventually, with the help of a few sympathetic nuns, Elizabeth escaped, disguised as a milkmaid.

Elizabeth found refuge among some local Anabaptists. She attended their worship and was baptized. It seems that at one point Elizabeth discussed theology with Menno Simons, a Dutch Anabaptist leader whose name was becoming a nickname for a segment of the Anabaptist movement—Mennonites. For a time Elizabeth lived quietly with an Anabaptist widow. Both women had a strong desire to share their faith. Putting caution aside, they began talking with anyone who would listen.

In 1549 the authorities arrested Elizabeth and accused her of teaching heresy. At her trial Elizabeth's answers were courageous and direct.

Between 1535 and 1592, at least 110 Anabaptists were imprisoned and executed in the Castle of the Counts of Flanders, Ghent, Belgium. Many were burned at the stake just outside the castle's main gate.

We demand to know who your friends are.

I will not tell you, … for that would mean their destruction.

Tell us who the persons are you have taught.

O my lords, leave me in peace about my fellow believers, but ask me instead about my faith. I shall tell you gladly about it. . . . All my salvation is in Christ, who has commanded me to love the Lord my God, and my neighbor as myself.

In the torture chamber, the executioner applied thumbscrews to Elizabeth's fingers until blood squirted from under her nails. Then he applied screws to her shins, dislocating her joints. Elizabeth cried in pain and prayed earnestly.

When her tormentors saw that she would not recant, they condemned her to death by drowning. Elizabeth died on May 27, 1549.²

Connecting faith and culture

Polingaysi Qoyawayma sat at her desk in despair. It was the 1920s, and she was a new teacher in a government school for children on a Hopi reservation in Arizona. One of the textbook's stories was about a train, but none of her students had ever seen a train. The next story was a European folktale. Wouldn't it be better to use the stories, songs, and proverbs of her own Hopi people to teach Hopi children? School policy required teachers to follow the textbook without adding anything. But Polingaysi decided she would create her own Hopi lessons, even if it got her in trouble.

Left: Polingaysi Qoyawayma as a college student. Right: Polingaysi later in life, in her studio where she created traditional Hopi-style pottery.

Instead, her approach to teaching attracted attention and imitation. Eventually, the national commissioner of Indian affairs directed all teachers in Native schools to follow Polingaysi's methods and treat each child's culture with respect.

Interestingly, Polingaysi herself had only gradually come to value her culture. The Mennonite church that she had attended as a girl, and where she had been baptized, had given her an abiding sense of God's love and call on her life. But some white members of the church also criticized Hopi ways and encouraged Hopi members to act like them.

Polingaysi struggled to relate her faith and her culture until she realized that Christianity is not bound to any single culture. The songs and pottery of her people were expressions of God's creativity as much as European music and art. And didn't the Bible agree with what Hopi elders had long taught: Don't fight. Don't think spiteful things about others. Don't try to get even when they hurt you? She could be fully and proudly Hopi and follow Jesus.

Later in life, after she survived being hit by a truck, she wrote to a friend, To have been given another chance to live again is more than a privilege. In humbleness I thank God for it, and each moment should count to fulfill this purpose. Polingaysi lived to be 98 years old, wrote popular children's books, helped revive Hopi pottery and crafts, cared for her nieces and nephews, and started a Hopi scholarship fund.³

Handcuffed and beaten

John J. Yoder was taking the train from Georgia to Maryland—in handcuffs and accompanied by a United States army officer. The army considered Yoder to be a dangerous man because he would not be a soldier. World War I was raging in Europe, and 24-year-old John Yoder had been drafted from his home in Ohio and sent to Camp Greenleaf in Georgia. There, officers demanded that John wear a uniform, work in the camp, or drill with the soldiers. He refused, saying that as a Christian he could not kill or contribute to killing, even in defense of his country.

John (1893-1961) and Emma (1900-1987) Yoder near their home in the Amish-Mennonite community of Hartville, Ohio, 1956. During World War I, John suffered for his conscientious objection to war.

The officers were determined to test John's commitment. You do not realize how a person's faith is tried here, John wrote on March 13, 1918, just days after arriving at the camp. One day the officers called John out from confinement and beat him with a heavy broom handle, nearly breaking his back. His spinal cord never fully healed, and he lived with pain the rest of his life.

Now John was being transferred by rail to another military camp, in Maryland. To his delight, the officer assigned to watch him on the train was friendly, and John was able to share his Mennonite convictions. He explained that his refusal to cooperate with the military was not a result of ignorance, but because he took Jesus seriously.

In Maryland, John's treatment was as bad as it had been in Georgia. When the summer temperatures rose to nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit / 37 degrees Celsius, soldiers put him in a tiny sweatbox, closed the door, and told him he might not get out alive. For five hours John could not move and was barely able to breathe. Yet the experience did not take away his resolve or his decision to follow Jesus’ way of peace.

One morning, thirty-five years later, John opened his morning newspaper and saw a picture of a policeman who had been shot in the stomach. John immediately remarked to his family, I know that man. The policeman had been one of the army officers who had beaten John in 1918. They hadn't seen each other since then. As John studied the picture, he quietly said, I must go to see him and tell him about Jesus.

The next day John drove to Cleveland, Ohio, to find the hospital where the policeman was recovering. When the officer realized that John was one of the conscientious objectors he had abused, he began to cry. That day, two people who might have been enemies were reconciled.⁴

Feeling God's power in her life

Naka Gininda and her neighbors were discouraged. The colonial government had forcibly relocated them within their country, the African nation of Zimbabwe (then called Rhodesia). Sad and lonely, the resettlers were without their familiar churches and pastors. One person suggested that they meet for worship anyway and perhaps form a house church.

Naka had a divine surprise soon after that: One Sunday I was late [for worship]. I sent my children on ahead. When I got to the service, I found that they had chosen me to be pastor!

Naka, a busy mother of nine children, was to be a pastor? I was afraid! Oh, I prayed about it, she said. God [promised to] give me the message, that I was just the instrument. Then I was no longer afraid.

Indeed, the villagers quickly saw that Naka was a powerful woman of prayer. They also appreciated her sermons, filled with Scripture quotations. She led village women in making bricks to construct a building for their Brethren in Christ church. When rebel soldiers sought to keep the group from worshipping there, the believers met around Naka's kitchen fire. Even after soldiers beat her and kidnapped one of her sons, she continued to deliver the messages God gave her.

Brethren in Christ baptism in the Ginqa River, Zimbabwe.

Advancing age didn't stop her. Naka continued to serve her Brethren in Christ congregation well into her seventies. She also worked as an evangelist, spreading the gospel to people of surrounding villages. Having felt God's power in her own life, she wanted others to experience it too.⁵

What do the voices tell us

These echoes from the past tell us something important about the Anabaptists and their spiritual descendants, the Mennonites, Brethren in Christ, Amish, and Hutterites. They had experienced new life and sought to serve God and follow Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit—even if that meant suffering.

Some of these women and men were outspoken while others were reserved. Some did not show political wisdom or good manners in expressing their beliefs while others were winsome and highly regarded. They found strength in the church as the gathered people of God, even though their churches sometimes failed to live up to their ideals. And wherever they lived, these people sought to live Jesus’ example and extend God's peace.

What made them so certain about what they believed? Are there aspects of their stories that connect with you? Aspects that seem strange or unfamiliar? Is their faith evident among Mennonites today? These are questions to consider as you read this book.

How did we end up where we are

Before we begin exploring the Anabaptist story, however, we should consider where it fits within the wider Christian story.

The Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition is a vibrant and important part of the Christian tradition. But it is only one part. Mennonites recognize that the body of Christ includes many other faithful believers. They do not presume that Mennonites have a monopoly on God's truth. Nevertheless, they believe that their witness to the way of Jesus is vitally important for the rest of the church and the wider world.

Joriaen Simons and Clement Dirks were burned in Haarlem, the Netherlands, 1557. When authorities tried to burn Joriaen's Christian books, the crowd grabbed the books out of the fire and saved them. As a result, Martyrs Mirror says, The truth was spread the more.

Mennonites share much in common with other Christians, including dramatic changes in where their church is found in the twenty-first century. Not many generations ago, most Christians lived in Europe and North America; the typical Christian was a European man. Now the typical Christian is a woman in Africa or Latin America. Today there are almost as many active Christians in China as in the United States. Last Sunday more people went to church in Kenya than in Canada.

Along with other groups, the Anabaptist-Mennonite community is experiencing remarkable global growth. So how did a radical tradition founded in Europe in the 1500s come to connect with people around the world? That is the history we will explore in this book.

History is a way of understanding how we have reached where we are today, and an opportunity to think about where we may be headed. Historians study the thoughts, actions, feelings, and beliefs of people in the past by examining letters, diaries, government documents, artifacts, photographs, and many other sources.

The writers of this book want to tell the Mennonite story sympathetically, yet also critically. This story includes both the good and the bad, stories that may inspire you and stories that may disappoint you. To be fair, we must say that the writers identify with this story and with the faith tradition that has guided Anabaptist Christians through time. The writers do not think that the Anabaptist witness has been flawless, but they do hope that this book will lead readers to appreciate the Anabaptist witness and to strengthen their own faith and commitment.

Finally, we should say a word about the scope of this book. After exploring the story of the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century, we will focus mostly on two branches of the Anabaptist family, Mennonites and Brethren in Christ. Today members of many different Mennonite groups live and worship around the world. The Brethren in Christ emerged in the 1780s in the United States, but today a majority of Brethren in Christ live outside North America. (Because the Brethren in Christ church did not exist in Russia, it does not figure in the section titled The Russian Mennonite Story.) Given the limitations of space, we have not given much attention to Amish or Hutterite history, even though those groups are also heirs of the Anabaptist movement, nor do we discuss much recent European Mennonite history.

The Christian Heritage

1

The Apostles Build the Church

Drunk with wine

The people in Jerusalem looked and listened in amazement. It was Pentecost, an important Jewish holiday, and Romans, Jews, Arabs, and visitors from other parts of the Mediterranean world were in town for the celebration. They watched as men and women addressed the crowd in many languages.

Don't these people come from Galilee? some of the onlookers said. How can they speak to us in our native languages?

Others sneered: Don't listen to this babble. They are drunk on new wine!

Peter stepped forward and said, Dear friends, the people you see and hear are not drunk. It's too early in the day to drink wine. You should know that.

There was a murmur in the crowd, then silence. People were ready to hear more.

What you see, Peter continued, is the fulfillment of prophecy from the prophet Joel: ‘I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. I will pour out my spirit.’

People listened with open mouths. In the heart of his message, Peter spoke of Jesus of Nazareth, who came to redeem his people from their sins and was rejected and put to death. But God raised Jesus from the dead and elevated him to sit at the right hand of God. Therefore, Peter said, let all Israel know that God has made Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.

Most people in the crowd no longer mocked. Instead, they thought about what Peter had said.

What shall we do? they asked. Repent, Peter replied, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And you too will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

According to the book of Acts, about three thousand people accepted the invitation to become Jesus’ followers that day.

Who was the man of Nazareth? What made Jesus so special, and why did he attract people from all age groups and social classes? Why did the Anabaptists seek to follow him and make him the center of their faith and life?

The Gospels portray Jesus

The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John focus mainly on the last three years of Jesus’ life—his teaching, suffering, death, and resurrection. We learn little about Jesus’ looks, his childhood, or his teenage years.

The Gospels are not detailed biographies. Instead, they are statements of faith, written to tell readers that Jesus is the promised Messiah (anointed one), who came to redeem people from their sin. Each Gospel writer tells the story of Jesus in his own way. Yet Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John agree on the major points.

According to the Gospels, Jesus preached repentance and invited people to enter the kingdom of God. Those who accepted the message became his followers. Eventually his enemies killed him. But God raised Jesus from the dead, and Jesus later ascended to be with God in heaven.

In his teachings and life, Jesus emphasized love. He commanded his followers to love God, their neighbors, and even their enemies. This comes through most clearly in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), a passage central to the faith and life of the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century.

Jesus put the needs of people ahead of institutions, customs, and traditions. He violated Sabbath rules by healing people (Mark 3:5) and allowing his disciples to pick grain on that day (Mark 2:23). When religious teachers criticized him, Jesus said the Sabbath was made for people, not the other way around.

Jesus told many stories about peoples’ problems. He cared deeply about women and others oppressed by society. Children were especially close to the heart of Jesus. He held them up as examples of how people ought to trust and have faith as citizens of his kingdom (Mark 10:14-15).

Jesus recognized the sinfulness of human beings and their tendency to do evil. But he also believed that people could answer God's call to justice and choose to follow him in daily life. Jesus said that God's power was available to anyone who would reach out in faith and claim it.

Jesus came to live and teach and heal

According to the Gospel writers, Jesus stood out among his contemporaries. He healed people who were sick, cast out evil spirits, and taught with great authority. He amazed people with his spiritual and emotional power. They knew him as a teacher, and some thought of him as a prophet in the tradition of the Old Testament.

Yet Jesus was also an ordinary human being. He liked to be with people, enjoying social gatherings, good fellowship, and friendship. His relationship with Lazarus and Lazarus's sisters, Martha and Mary, shows that Jesus had both male and female friends. When Lazarus died, Jesus wept and comforted Martha and Mary (John 11). On occasion Jesus became angry, especially when people forgot what it meant to worship God. For example, he drove the money changers out of the temple and overturned their tables (Mark 11:15).

Jesus had a sense of humor and a keen eye for the ridiculous. No doubt listeners laughed at his metaphor of the self-righteous man who had a huge log in his eye and yet tried to pluck a speck from his neighbor's eye (Matthew 7:3-5). Jesus also told of a strict person who worried so much about details and purity that he removed the smallest gnat from his food and drink, then swallowed an entire camel with hair, hooves, and bumps (Matthew 23:24).

We never hear of Jesus being ill, but we do read about his human weaknesses. He became hungry and tired and needed to rest. He often withdrew from the crowds to renew his strength in prayer and contemplation. He suffered in body and spirit, but this pain was inflicted by others. He was a man acquainted with grief, but this grief was primarily for others.

The people of his time viewed Jesus as a radical. He followed Jewish traditions and religious laws, but he went beyond what people were used to. For example, he acknowledged that his listeners had often heard it said that revenge and killing were acceptable. But, I say to you, Jesus countered, explaining that hatred and violence are never God's will (Matthew 5).

Jerusalem, birthplace of Christianity.

Jesus’ relationships with women were especially radical for his time. His disciples were amazed at his conversation with a Samaritan woman about intimate details of her life. He protected a woman caught in adultery, whom the religious leaders wanted to stone to death. At Jesus’ crucifixion, the male disciples fled in fear while female followers remained with him to the end. And when Jesus was raised from the dead, female followers were the first witnesses of his resurrection.

Jesus was the Son of God

For the Gospel writers and their readers, it was much easier to identify with a human Jesus than with Jesus the Son of God. Yet they told his story so readers might believe that Jesus came to bring the redemption of humankind through his whole life, ministry, death, and resurrection.

The Gospels refer to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. As a young person in the temple, Jesus spoke of needing to be about his Father's interests. Mary and Joseph pondered Jesus’ words, knowing that he did not mean his earthly parents (Luke 2). In arguing with religious leaders, Jesus claimed that he existed even before their ancestor Abraham (John 8:58). When he was baptized by John, a voice from above called Jesus my Son, the Beloved (Luke 3:22).

The Son of Man is thus also the Son of God. Christian leaders have long debated how best to explain this mystery. The Gospel of John identifies Jesus with God's revelation and communication to humanity. John also calls Jesus the Word (Logos) who was in the beginning with God and through whom all things were created. In Jesus, this Word became flesh. New Testament writers showed that only through the human-divine Jesus Christ could humanity be reconciled to God. As the ascended and exalted Lord, Christ became the foundation and head of the church.

The