THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

eimer, who is unfortunately sick at times, at times has trouble with the pharisee inside himself, and often finds it difficult to sacrifice his good name for the sake of Christ, and though the dear brethren are partly right,— I shall nevertheless continue on my way .... I have begun to eat the sour apple, and even though its bitterness should leave my teeth dull, it must now be entirely eaten up. I refer to those passages in the Word of God which do not always please us. I wish that you would discuss the matter in all calmness without having to defend your side with so much zeal . 77 After all, I, too, must manifest enough manliness in order to remain in St. Petersburg one month after another . 78 Therefore, please do me the favor of discussing, in all c almn ess and brotherliness before God, the extent to which you want to tolerate such noisy behavior, which our enemies use as a weapon against us .... I wish neither to limit your joy nor to bind your 270 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH consciences. I believe you can see from this letter that I want a free conscience. But all of the brethren desire this, those who are in favor of a noisy joy (of which I am also one when I am among you; here in St. Petersburg it does not matter) as well as those who are more inclined to favor a quiet conduct. In such cases, a brotherly compromise must be worked out in the presence of God the Father .... Dear brethren, let me say quite openly: adopting a predetermined position so that, when you read this letter, you throw your hands behind your back, shake your head and say: Claassen is a pharisee, and walk out of the door— that is of absolutely no use to me! I want considered answers measured by the standards of the Word of God, that I can, . . . where I am forced to give an account of myself, speak with joy and need not worm my way through .... That you, dear brother Wilhelm Bartel, together with many other brethren, will not allow us in the least to confront you with the question: how much can we concede to the weaker brethren (you say: stubborn— don’t you?), for the sake of the Lord in which neither the glory of our Savior, which is the central issue, is lessened, nor any brother or sister suffers anything? I, too, know that no one dares to do this— for woe to him who does! But I have dared to do it in this letter, and that quite without anxiety! I want to serve you as much and as little as the Lord grants me grace; . . . but to enslave the conscience, that you do not want to nor may you do. But the other brethren demand the same right, and I demand freedom of conscience as well, for it is for that reason that I am in St. Petersburg. [Here follows a warning to the ‘rationalists.’ Jakob Reimer and others, whom he believes to be standing in even greater danger.] Do not allow your reason too much free play. It will surely lead you onto byways. Rather, be prepared to suffer reproach with the others. The times are chan