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

than the disputations about “eating meat" in Romans 14. Does anyone suppose, on the basis of the Word of God and the full illumination and power of the Holy Spirit, that §191(2a) 442 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH God would create identical patterns of worship in gestures, clothing, melodies, etc., etc., in Greenland as well as in our South-Russian steppes, in London, Berlin, Paris, St. Petersburg, China, Japan, India and Africa? If Claassen could not rid himself of the notion that one cannot do without jumping and shouting in holy enthusiasm, nor ought to, then that is but his “blind spot" which he got from imitating Wuest’s leapers. We are no less "happy in the Lord.” We express our joy in word, in song, in the sparkling or sorrowful eye, or simply allow our joy to glow heavenward in worshipful thoughts, heartfelt praise, and in the vibration of our entire inner being, like incense rising to the throne of our eternal Father and the Lamb worthy of praise through the “agency of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:26-27). We do not wish to condemn the shouters and "Huepfer” unduly: they were initially excited by the knowledge of complete salvation (cf. Pastor Dobbert’s account: “Pfarrer Wuest,” Forchhammer’s letter to Kappes, November, 1860, and Claassen ’s letter in July, 1861 to his family). The South-Russian Mennonites had no suitable means in their speaking, singing, perceiving, or t hinkin g, to give adequate expression to this all-encompassing redemption through God’s grace. The old wineskins simply were not able to contain the new wine. However, the original, completely naive and artless state of new-found joy can exist in the ecstatic condition for only a few moments, and to try to prolong this state creates an abnormal emotional state that is more manipulated than real, and in the final stages becomes an expression of fleshly lusts (cf. A. Unger’s letter under 10 to Br. F.). The desire for emotional release of this sort has particular appeal for people who are emotionally unstable and who want to “feel good” and long to be emotionally aroused (“neurotics” writes Jakob Reimer in a letter to Claassen) and eventually led them to the “Antinomianism” and “Apostleship.” Others, after a painful realization of what was happening or because of shameful recollections, fell prey to rationalism or total indifference, religious complacency, or into complete religious apostasy. Claassen continued to hold fast to the necessity for this sort of expression as one of the most naive amongst them all, “until things became too gross even for him” (Diary of Reimer, July 4, 1865), when he saw the influence of the timbrel and dance along with vivid recollections of spiritual and nervous demoralization and the "spiritual despotism” of the “mad year.” Had anyone tried to institute a more radical reform in connection with the jumping and shouting, and in terms of firm conference decisions than Claassen him self wished, the