A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

complete civil autonomy and thus constituted little "states" within the state. They were not always able to resolve the tension between their confession (i.e. the separation of church and state) and their practice of self-government on a local level. Even worse, some descendants of the victims of state oppression in earlier times themselves employed coercive measures in dealing with religious dissenters in their own midst. Although the early Brethren suffered at the hands of local Mennonite civil authorities, it would appear from the historical records that they did not identify these with the "state," but considered them rather as an extension of the "church." The state (government) for the Mennonite Brethren was represented by the Tsar and other government officials in Petersburg, not by the colony administrator. A brief survey will be made of the efforts of Mennonite Brethren to give "to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22:21). I. Mennonite Brethren and Political Involvement The documentary evidence on the attitude of Mennonite Brethren toward the state and participation in the political process is very meager. Several factors in the European experience of the M.B. Church 344 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH account for this lack of involvement. In the larger Mennonite colonies (Molotschna and Chortitza) the Mennonite Brethren were a small and for a while merely tolerated minority group and thus did not have an active part in local government. On the national level a representative assembly (Duma) was set up for the first time only in 1905, and after a brief and stormy history it came to a tragic end in 1917. 7 Whether the Mennonite Brethren would have been able to resist the social and economic pressures against non-involvement had "democratization" in Russia succeeded, is doubtful. One of their leaders, B. H. Unruh, advocated regular political action by Mennonites prior to 1917. In article IX of the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith (1902) the views of the church with reference to the state are expressed in typical Anabaptist terminology: "We believe and confess, that God, who is King of all kings and Lord of all lords, has put into all lands rulers and powers for the common good and welfare and the leading of a good, honorable civil life. For there is no power but of God. . . ." 8 The section ends significantly with the second petition of the Lord's Prayer: Thy Kingdom come! Mennonite Brethren in America The transfer of citizenship from Russian autocracy to American democracy did not affect the basic attitude of Mennonite Brethren toward the state and political involvement. They continued to maintain their historic position of non-participation in political activities. At the first conference (unofficial), held in Nebraska in 1878, the delegates passed a resolution that "brethren are not to serve in any government offi