A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

ions and confessions of faith practiced and established them even as we; hence we can rightly call ourselves the genuine descendants of true Mennonitism. 1 1 In his studies of the Mennonite Brethren Church C. Krahn arrived at the same conclusion, namely that the new movement constituted a return to the biblical principles and practices of the early Anabaptists: It would not be correct ... to say that the Bruedergemein.de movement brought a new conception of the Gospel through the Pietistic and Baptist influence which formed it . . . the new movement consciously felt itself related to 16th Century Anabaptism. It did not want to be Pietistic, nor Baptist, but rather Mennonite. It wanted to be and remain historical, consistent Mennonitism, a pure Menno- nitism that was based not upon birth, but rebirth. " Through the years the doctrinal framework of M.B. theology has remained basically Anabaptist-Mennonite. The emphasis on human response to the gracious divine initiative in salvation, the significance of the church as a "company of the committed" in which mutual aid and mutual admonition are exercised, the importance of discipleship as an expression of the new life, in which Christ's love-ethic must govern all human relationships — these and many other biblical truths are deeply rooted in the Anabaptist heritage. Although there has been a weakening of the church's theological foundations in recent times (as will be shown later), the confessional documents of the M.B. Church to the present day strongly maintain this historical connection and orientation. Pietistic Influences "No other single religious movement has had such an impact on the Mennonites in all countries, with the exception of the Netherlands, as Pietism."' 3 This great influence of Pietism on the spiritual heirs of the early Anabaptists may be due to an inner kinship of the two movements. Max Goebel referred to Pietism as a "grandchild of Anabaptism." 1,1 Albrecht Ritschl, an outstanding historian of Pietism, described the latter movement as a weakened form of Anabaptism. ,s Whatever the original generic relationship may have been, there is no question with regard to the great impact of Pietism on Mennonitism, and especially Russian Mennonitism in the nineteenth century. As pointed out in chapter three, Pietistic influence was a major factor in bringing about a new life movement that eventually resulted in the formation of the M.B. Church. As P. M. Friesen so vividly describes the contribution of Pietism: "The evangelical Pietists . . . have brought new light, new warmth, and food into the house of Menno, which, though once good, had become practically desolate, empty, and cold." " As noted earlier, there were several channels by which Pietism brought new light and food into the house of Menno. Pietistic literature, such as Hofacker's sermons and Johann Arndt's Wahres Christentum gave its quiet but persistent witness to the divine reso