A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

Wieler (two high school teachers from the Molotschna) prepared a series of documents which clarified their relationship to the Baptists. It would appear that the Mennonite Brethren have also been influenced by the Baptists in their church polity. The introduction of "parliamentary rules" for conducting church and conference business sessions can be traced to the influence of August Liebig in Chortitza. Liebig also introduced the Sunday school and the public "prayer meeting" as part of the Sunday worship service. 26 A stronger emphasis on congregational church government in Mennonite Brethren churches also appears to be connected with early Baptist influence. Although the association of the Mennonite Brethren with the Baptists in Russia and in the United States 27 led occasionally to questions of organizational unity, a complete merger of the two groups was never seriously considered. After tracing the historical development of Mennonite Brethren-Baptist relations in Russia and America, and showing from the confessional documents how the Brethren have refuted the allegations that they were "Baptists," F. C. Peters concludes his study of the question with the following observations: (1) The early Mennonite Brethren were definite in their desire to remain Anabaptist in their confessions. Every attempt was made to declare themselves in harmony with the basic tenets as set forth by Menno Simons. (2) The radical advances toward affiliation with the Baptists were made by isolated individuals who failed to receive the support of the brotherhood. (3) It seems rather clear that the Mennonite Brethren revival was meant to be a return to the Anabaptist vision, rather than a deviation from it. The desire to build a community of believers who had personally committed themselves to follow Jesus Christ, and who were willing to live a separated life of holiness, was certainly in keeping with what the Anabaptist forefathers felt was the New Testament pattern for a believers' church. 28 This cursory survey shows that the formative influences which converged in the Mennonite Brethren Church produced a theology that was true to the Anabaptist vision, was permeated by the spirit of Pietism, and also reflected the polity of the Baptists. The confluence of these streams of evangelical thought in Mennonite Brethren theology has produced certain distinctives which deserve a closer scrutiny. II. Characteristic Distinctives of Mennonite Brethren Theology With the Christian church through the ages and with contemporary evangelical Christian denominations and groups, Mennonite Brethren share a common faith as expressed in the Apostles' Creed and in the other great doctrines of revelation and redemption as given in the 368 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHUHCH confessions of conservative Protestantism. However, their understand- ing of the Gospel, and their historic experience have led Mennonite Brethren to certa