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

rs misuse Scripture in order to extenuate their plain disobedience, expl ainin g, ‘We too were elected by our church, which dissociated itself from the corrupt churches, in the document of January 6. (Is that reason enough for the existence of a separate church?) 174 Thus, we too feel called by God’s Spirit (our God is a God of order and His Spirit does not induce disorder) and by Scripture (here the accusation of a one-sided and distorting interpretation of the Scriptures is pertinent), as was the house of Stephen which ordained itself to the service of the saints, I Cor. 16:15.’ How provocative is the disobedience of Huebert of Liebenau when, in a statement of July 2, he announces, in the name of his fellow brethren, to the church elders collectively the recent election of ministers, and when he enclosed an election list and invites them for the following Sunday, July 1, to the house of Jakob Reimer in Gnadenfeld, ‘where we want to lift up our hands and pray to the Lord God, Who came to save sinners, to the eternal Rock for blessings upon our minis ters,’— an invitation, obviously, to the occasion of their consecration. Why did Claassen not, immediately after January 6, seek government recognition (which he was free to do)? This was, after all, his intention when he went to St. Petersburg (for the second time!) in November, 1860. Was self-help a justified action under the existing circumstances? 175 But those people are equally wrong who seek support for their movement, near and far, by means of their intrigues without further reflection on the matter: those who have admitted until very re- cently, as members, everyone who wanted to join, not only among Menno- nites but also among people of other confessions. Ought they not to have secured ministerial approval first of all? The Mennonites B . . . r and H . . . 1, and the Danish subject F. were such emmissaries who ‘carried 392 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH on’ their activity as far away as the Volga, in consequence of which Pastor Doenhoff of Gololubovka wrote his pastoral letters. And Elder Lenzmann concedes that one of those apostles, after he had led an unchaste life and his partner in sin finally had become the mother of a child, was married to her by their bishop at Easter, 1862, and that they have lived together as married people since then. What does Becker’s statement mean in which he opposes the order of the Supervisory Commission to promise (in writing) not to leave the area of the Molotschna Mennonites— a very minor statute indeed— by asserting: ‘because he believed according to God’s Word he would do wrong in making such a promise since he did not know how God might lead him! We confess in our confession of faith that we are to go into all the world in order to bring the gospel to the nations, a possibility which would in the above case, be denied us; 176 neither could we make such a promise in view of our consciences, knowing that w