A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

ct. Both the six- teenth-century Anabaptists and the early Mennonite Brethren knew the Bible well. The educational system in the Mennonite colonies in Rus- sia provided one hour per day for the study of the Bible. A student completing elementary school was required to pass an exam on the historical content of the Old and New Testa- ments. Bible instruction was also part of the standard curricu- lum of high schools and colleges. This educational process, plus the extensive Bible study program in the community of believers, as outlined in an earlier chapter, provided men and women with extensive Bible knowledge. Their biblical knowledge was far above that of Mennonite Brethren today. In fact, it was generally far superior even to that of men and women entering seminary in the 1970s and 1980s.14 Moreover, most of the early ministers were elementary and secondary school teachers. They had training in history, sciences, literature, mathematics and pedagogy. The weekly 57 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH Bible studies {Bibelstunderi), intensive one-week Bible confer- ences iBibelbesprechungeti), which they attended several times every year, provided a solid biblical understanding and equipped them to be part of the hermeneutical community. Additionally, teachers attended Bible institutes of several weeks duration in the summer. Competent Bible instructors with advanced training, as well as visiting Bible expositors from Germany or Britain, served as resources for these insti- tutes. German Pietists like General Von Viebahn, Otto Stock- may er, Frederick B. Meyer and Ernst R Stroeter, as well as Friedrich W. Baedekker from England and J.G. Kargel from Latvia, served at these institutes for teachers and ministers. Peter M. Friesen reported that at the turn of the century one-third of all ministers in the Mennonite Brethren Church of Russia had secondary education. Many also had theological training, At least five received training at the German Baptist Seminary in Hamburg. In the late nineteenth and early twen- tieth century thirty-one Russian Mennonite students attended the Berlin Mission Institute (now located at WiedenestX15 The St. Chrishona Bible School recorded the names of fourteen Mennonite Brethren from Russia who studied there between 1879 and 1907* Many Mennonite Brethren preachers between 1880 and 1935 had good Bible knowledge, exegetical teaching and preaching skills. Unfortunately, the loss of most of the written sermons of the churches during the Russian revolution robbed us of valuable resources from those days. Some of their ex- positions of Scripture ap