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

geable; there is change in the air. Perhaps there will come a time that pleases you more. But do not divide! [Here he returns to the ‘noisy ones.’] The casual dismissal [of the ‘rationalists’], which I infer from Brother Wilhelm [Bartel’s] letter, does not appeal to me; for my work here is for them as well as for the brethren, in a word, for all the brethren who are being persecuted because of their faith .... For my sake and yours, I ask you once more: discuss this in a brotherly fashion and pray in the spirit of Acts 1:24. In addition, may the God of peace rule your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Your brother in Christ (and the prisoner of the Lord in St. Petersburg), Johann Claassen.” h) Wilhelm Bartel defends the rapidly-growing exuberance in a letter to Claassen and Forchhammer in St. Petersburg. Late November, 1861: "I am sending you letters [from Daniel Hoppe, Jakob Reimer, Abram Cornelssen, among others, who were on the point of despair with regard to the ‘exuberant’ or ‘free’]; but truly, brethren, I must confess Free and Exuberant Movement 271 that I do not care to send them to you— they are too full of complaints. . . . These fellows [the opponents of the ‘free’ ] have all suffered shipwreck in the faith; they are sick. I beg you, for God’s sake, do not take this too much to heart .... Even though I may not be in agreement with everything that the noisy brethren— as you call them— teach, I nevertheless heartily agree with their faith, and I tell you, these fellows are healthy and keen .... Do not feed these brethren [Jakob Reimer and those who shared his opinions] with any more agreement in this matter . . . . W. Bartel.” (Compare this letter to those of 1862, #117!) W. Bartel to Claassen of St. Petersburg. This letter clearly demonstrates the paradoxical, at times perverse, and at other times noble nature of his Christianity. “November 22, 1861. These letters will delight you [they report of great revivals and of threatening, severe persecutions], in as much as you live in the faith and the cry of your heart is: ‘Come quickly, Lord Jesus!’ You see, from Gerhard Wieler’s letter, that the time is getting more and more difficult. The Lord wants to make a people of us like unto Him in all ways, even in suffering. But there is comfort in this: If we endure with Him we shall also reign with Him. Whereas this may stand in the future, it will not be preceded by days of pleasure but by days of suffering. Yet in a way they will be days of joy, since we also glory in tribulation: Therefore be of good cheer, our cause is the Lord’s .... Christ our theme, Christ our Beginning and End, our Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, Father, Brother, Friend, indeed, everything. What do you t hink , is this the time to flinch? Never! O God, dear brother! [does this address refer to God?!!], how much You have given us! How comforting it is to poor sinners to have such a Savior as our Lord Je