A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

ennonite Brethren Church is not only characterized by controversy and conflict in its relations to church and state, but also by internal tension and turbulence among its members. As in the beginning of many other new life movements, faith was in a state of ferment, and church order in a state of flux. The search for a new expression of worship and witness, and the attempt to restore a New Testament believers' church in both pattern and polity, was not always guided by an enlightened understanding of Scripture, even though the motivation was unquestionably sincere. It is important, however, to see this religious ferment in its social, historical and theological context in order to understand it properly. Before we enter upon a discussion of the underlying causes and expressions of this ferment it might be well to examine the theory that the religious agitation and protest of the early Brethren was merely an extension of their economic problem. On the assumption that most of them belonged to the landless proletariat, such an explanation appears natural and logical. The following analysis is typical of this approach: As was the case of the Anabaptist movement in Reformation times, the Bruedergemeinde-movement found its adherents chiefly in the lower strata of society. This can be clearly proved by the fact that the Bruedergemeinde was much stronger in the newer colonies, which were composed chiefly of the former landless groups, than it was in the two old mother colonies. 1 Too much significance has been attached to this "economic theory" in explaining the origin of the Mennonite Brethren. Although economic motivation can not be ruled out, this interpretation does not take all the facts into account. The early Brethren were found chiefly in the eastern part of the Molotschna colony, in the villages that had been established more recently, and where the landless problem was not as acute as in the older (western) part of the settlement. The fact that the Mennonite Brethren 51 52 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH were stronger in some of the daughter colonies cannot simply be explained in terms of economic motivation. Religious oppression and even persecution in the Molotschna Colony, played a major role in the establishment of the Kuban settlement in late 1863. The records also show that many members of the new group did not come from the "lower strata of society." Johann Claassen was owner of a flourishing retail business in Liebenau/ He was a strong promoter and generous supporter of the Bruderschule in Gnadenfeld. He apparently paid his expense accounts in Petersburg largely out of his own pocket. As has already been mentioned, he associated freely, with the "upper strata" of society in Petersburg. Jacob Reimer of Felsental was owner and proprietor of a large and attractive estate. 3 He was also one of the founders of the Bruderschule, and later of the Armenschule (school for the