The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

e subjects to reach the final kingdom of peace in the East among the Tartar tribes of the region of Samarkand and Bukhara in Central Asia.* Eugenius, the hero of the novel, is reared for this cause by very religious parents, and ultimately becomes a “prince” in the kingdom. Eugenius begins his The Emergence of Chiliasm 55 journey to the East accompanied by his faithful servant and has many adventures along the way. These adventures on their east- ward journey is a continuing theme of the book. On one such ad- venture Jung-Stilling pays tribute to Swiss Mennonites by having Eugenius meet his wife in a Mennonite home.”* Jung-Stilling expresses a definite belief in millennialism and ‘withdrawal chiliasm” throughout Heimweh. Very passionately he declares that Eugenius “will gather the small band of protected be- lievers from all nations and lead them . . . until the kingdom of our Lord begins. He who has ears let him hear!’’?? That this is a theological injunction is quite evident. Jung-Stilling’s fanciful Pietism and chiliasm became an encouragement to certain enthusiastic Men- nonites. In Heimweh their biblical faith was enhanced. There they learned of the time when the Antichrist will come, rule, and tempt the world, and then according to Revelation 12:4, the only refuge which the Antichrist cannot reach will be Central Asia, the region south of Samarkand.” Not only was Heimweh well known among Mennonites, but South German Mennonites adopted one of his hymns, and Jung- Stilling’s works were widely read by all Mennonites in general.” They were impressed by his deep insight. For example, in the Taschenbuch, he calls for a merging of the sects; the Mennonite principle of nonresistance he considered of little hindrance, because if all people became Mennonites coercion would be unnecessary.” While showing genuine appreciation for Mennonite faith and life, Jung-Stilling never completely agreed with their belief in pacifism in a world of continued warfare.*! His admiration for Mennonites could not win him completely to their principles of religion. In spite of these differences, Jung-Stilling’s chiliastic influence on the Russian Mennonites was very significant.” After the death of Jung-Stilling, in 1817, his ideas lived on among Russian Mennonites. As the years passed their fervor only in- creased. One of the first Mennonite teachers in Russia, Tobias Voth, mentions a trip in 1818 to acquire the writings of Jung- Stilling. Through these writings he experienced a religious conver- sion; to what extent he was further led to accept Jung-Stilling’s theories is uncertain. Influenced by these earlier pietistic scholars, Martin Klaassen, a Trakt teacher from the village of Képpental wrote, in 1873, a history book that urged continued belief in nonresistance and the importance of the second coming of Christ. Klaassen’s work 56 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites added to the fever that a move to the