A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

ship in the Church of Christ. 6. Oppression and tribulation for the sake of the Lord's Word. Matthew 3:10; 10:39; 16:24; 24:9; Luke 6:28; John 15:20; 2 Timothy 2:9; 3:12; 1 Peter 1:6; 3:14; 4:13; 5:10. The "pressing cross of Christ" was for Menno an unmistakable sign of membership in the true church. The concept of the true church occupies a central place in Menno's theology. Voluntary church membership based upon true conversion and involving commitment to holy living and discipleship is the heart of this concept. This vision, according to H. S. Bender, "stands in sharp contrast to the church concept of the Reformers who retained the medieval idea of a mass church with membership of the entire pop- ulation from birth to the grave compulsory by law and force." 11 Closely related to the church concept of Menno was his understanding that the essence of the Christian life finds expression in discipleship (Nachfolge Christi). The Anabaptists believed that the believer's entire life should be fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ. For Menno and the other Anabaptists a major element in the life of discipleship was the ethic of love and nonresistance as applied to all human relationships. The subsequent history of the Mennonite Church must be examined against this New Testament ideal as found in the writings of Menno and other Anabaptist leaders. How the vision and zeal of the "incendiary fellowship" of the early Mennonites was gradually lost constitutes the story of the next chapter. Chapter 2 From Believers' Church to Parish Church By the mid-nineteenth century the Mennonite churches of the Ukraine had moved far from their origins in the Netherlands and the Vistula Delta, not only in terms of geography and culture, but also in terms of Christian faith and practice. Church history is replete with illustrations that religious movements tend to decline and deteriorate spiritually. That which was begun in the Spirit, may end in the flesh. Influences in Prussia The distinctive life-style of the Mennonites in South Russia prior to 1850 had been largely conditioned and shaped by their 250-year (1540-1790) sojourn in the Vistula Delta settlements, which were at first under Polish jurisdiction, but in 1772 came under Prussian rule. The Mennonites had arrived in the Vistula area as refugees from the Netherlands where severe persecution continued until the end of the sixteenth century. Later other smaller groups from Moravia, Bohemia and Austria joined them. They were welcomed on the large estates of the Polish nobles because of their experience in land-drainage and their general competence as farmers. Even so they were restricted in the exercise of their faith as well as in their acquisition of land, and often suffered harassment from local authorities and unfriendly neighbors. Moreover, the Mennonites continued to suffer from their earlier division into Frisian and Flemish factions,