The war in Ukraine has been the top news story for ten days now. This article, though, is primarily about the nineteenth-century Ukrainian Mennonites and their descendants—and about what Christians can (and should) learn from them.
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| Menno Simons (1496~1561) |
The Background of the Mennonites
The small Christian denomination known as
Mennonites (and there are several church organizations who use that name) grew
out of the Anabaptist movement that began in Switzerland in 1525.
It was 495 years ago, on February 24, 1527,
during an assembly of Anabaptists in the northern Swiss village of Schleitheim
that a statement of the basic principles of the Anabaptists was adopted.
That statement, usually called the Schleitheim
Confession, was the first Protestant confession of faith. The more widely-known
Augsburg Confession of the Lutherans dates back to 1530.
Menno Simons was a Roman Catholic priest who
left the Catholics and joined the Anabaptists in 1536. Simons, who
was from the northmost part of the Netherlands, became such a strong leader
that the name of the more than two million Mennonites in the world today comes
from him.
For quite some time now, most Mennonites have
not affirmed or followed all seven of the articles of the Schleitheim
Confession.
The first and sixth articles, though, are
still followed by most Mennonites today: the affirmation of believer’s baptism
(i.e., the rejection of infant baptism) and the affirmation of pacifism or
non-resistance (i.e., the rejection of “the sword.”
The Movement of the Mennonites to, and
from, Ukraine
The early Anabaptists/Mennonites were
regularly persecuted in western Europe, so even in the 17th century some
migrated to what was to become the USA, and many others moved east to Prussia,
largely to what is Poland today.
Catherine the Great became the Empress of
Russia in 1762, and most of Ukraine fell under Russian rule during her reign. She
soon invited people from Prussia (and elsewhere) to move to the Ukrainian area
of Russia and to farm the unoccupied lands there.
Two of the incentives the Empress offered the Mennonites
for settling in Ukraine were self-government and exemption from military
service. Since they were pacifists, the latter was especially appealing to them.
The largest colonies formed were Chortitza and Molotschna, founded in 1789 and
1803.
When a change in the Russian government
threatened to end their military exemption, a Mennonite delegation traveled to
St. Petersburg in 1871 to plead their case. When their appeals failed, a third
of the Mennonite population—some 18,000 people—emigrated to the U.S. and Canada.
(Although it was first published in 1986, here
is the link to “Mennonites Ingrained in Kansas,” an informative article in
the Los Angeles Times.) *
Learning from the Mennonites
So, what can we learn from the Ukrainian Mennonites?
Obviously, right now, following their example and
moving to other parts of the world where they will not have to fight is not a viable
option for most Ukrainians—although, tragically, during these past ten days
there have been more than 1,200,000 Ukrainians who have fled their homeland as
refugees.
Still, the Ukrainian Mennonites of the past are
a good example of the importance of some Christians being leaven in the world. The Anabaptists’
consistent advocacy for pacifism, often resulting in their considerable
suffering, has not been widely followed but has often caused others to question
violence/war.
There are few Mennonites in Ukraine today,
just over 500 adherents in 11 congregations. But they are active advocates of peace
and justice.**
And, who knows, perhaps they have had some influence on the Ukrainians who recently befriended a Russian soldier as seen in the following picture from the March 3 issue of Metro, the British newspaper.
_____
* More details of the Mennonites in Ukraine
and in North America are found in my 5/5/14
blog post titled “In Praise of Ukrainian Mennonites.” In that article, I relate
how many of my current church friends, as well as my daughter-in-law, have close
ancestors from Ukraine.
** Here is the link to an informative article about
Mennonites in Ukraine, past and present, in the 2/22/22 online article in Anabaptist World.
Local Thinking Friend Anton Jacobs sent the following comments by email as he was unable to post directly here. (I am sorry that he and several others of you have had trouble posting comments here, but I do not know why that is so nor of anything I can do to make that possible.)
ReplyDelete"Your blog today is quite interesting. I briefly studied the Anabaptist movement while in seminary. I discovered that there were some nonpacifist militant Anabaptists who were very quickly and thoroughly crushed by other Protestants and Catholics. Of course, all Anabaptists were persecuted, but I wonder if the historical generalizations of the Anabaptist movement as pacifist are not a bit overstated. If the militant wing had survived, would we historically see the movement as having two wings, one pacifist and one not pacifist? I have not pursued that research myself in any detail."
Yes, there was one main historical incident of non-pacifistic Anabaptist activity. The Münster rebellion was an attempt by radical Anabaptists to establish a communal sectarian government in the German city of Münster. The city was under Anabaptist rule from February 1534 until its fall in June 1535. That militant rebellion, however, was staunchly condemned/rejected by most Anabaptists at the time, including Menno Simons, who became an Anabaptist shortly after that (in 1536 as I mention in the blog post). Unfortunately, it seems that for many years "mainstream" seminaries mentioned the Münster rebellion, which had no support after 1535, more than the primary Anabaptist movement that developed after that year. In his writings, Menno Simons used strong words in rejecting the wayward thinking of the Anabaptists in Münster, but that rebellion long remained an embarrassment to most Anabaptists.
DeleteThanks for this blog post, Leroy. I do admire the Mennonite and Anabaptist tradition of pacifism, although I don't know if I would be able to be a pacifist if my loved ones were threatened.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as a Lutheran, I believe in infant baptism, although Lutherans do practice baptizing non-infants as well, if they have not been baptized before. I am saddened by the hostile history between Anabaptists and other Protestants, including us Lutherans, dating back to the Reformation. I appreciate the contemporary work of both Lutherans and Mennonites who have encouraged reconciliation between the two denominations.
Like the Mennonites in Ukraine, there are not many Ukrainian Lutherans either. Hopefully both denominations can be a leaven witness for peace, justice and reconciliation.
This afternoon I received the following comments by email from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:
ReplyDelete"Although I cannot in honesty call myself a pacifist, I am very much opposed to war. There may have been some 'just' wars in the past. where the suffering caused by the war was less than the suffering which would have occurred if the war had not been fought, but such calculations are nebulous. I think the Mennonites are correct in refusing to serve in armies; if enough people refused to serve in armies, maybe armies would cease to exist and war would be pointless. At this point, that is something of a pipe dream.
One of the stupidest and most immoral wars ever is now happening in Ukraine. The images are horrific, but I have been deeply impressed by the commitment, resolve, and courage of the Ukrainian people. May they gain the victory.
The situation in Ukraine is such a sad one for the Ukrainian people, and in spite of being a pacifist, it is hard to be critical of the Ukrainians for trying to defend themselves. And although it is hard to say anything good about Hitler, at least he was trying to "make Germany great again" after WWI when perhaps Germany was not treated fairly and certainly without much mercy being shown. That doesn't excuse the ruthlessness and evil of the Nazi invasion of Poland and other neighboring countries, but it does help some to understand why that might have happened. But it seems to me at this point that Putin is worse than Hitler. I don't see any justification whatsoever for Putin's invasion of Ukraine--and evidently there are some (many?) Russians, including Russian military men, who don't see any reason for the invasion either. So while it may, indeed, be a pipe dream, perhaps the non-cooperation of conscientious Russians might well help bring about a cessation of the invasion sooner rather than later. At least we can hope and pray for that.
DeleteAnd these comments are from Thinking Frien Bob Hanson in Wisconsin:
ReplyDelete"Thanks. Leroy, for this wonderful article. It sure is helpful in trying to get your mind around the horrific war in Ukraine. I have contact with a Ukrainian veteran there and his colleagues who are trying to get supplies for the country. It’s a sad and screwed up situation. I sure hope it ends soon.
Let me start by confessing I did not know Ukraine played a prominent role in the history of Mennonites. Thanks for bringing me up to speed.
ReplyDeleteAs for Putin's war, while it is truly terrible, Prior USA actions helped set the stage for this disaster. Indeed, even the current USA government seemed too eager to push Putin into a corner. We may well have pushed Ukraine itself into a corner, too. We will see when the war is over. Naomi Klein in "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" looks hard at a series of American wars and conflicts for profit, one of which was the fall of the USSR and its aftermath. Mikhail Gorbachev wanted to turn the USSR into a nordic-style social democracy. Our disaster capitalists would have none of it, and threatened to bankrupt the USSR is he tried. Boris Yeltsin was soon doing their bidding, and sold off government resources for pennies on the dollar. Lesson learned, our disaster capitalists realized they forgot to tell his to sell all to Americans, so Yeltsin created Russian oligarchs instead. Eventually Yeltsin's sloppy government gave way to Putin, who obviously is still angry at the way America humiliated the dying USSR. So instead of having a large Sweden in Russia, we have a brutal war in Ukraine. We missed our chance, and now the chickens have come home to roost.
Neoliberalism is destroying the world, whether the issue is Ukraine, global warming, Black Lives Matter, economics or world peace. Unfortunately, both major parties in USA are largely owned by Wall Street, which is why the best we can get is a "Gentleman C" State of the Union from our "Gentleman C" President. I fear the war in Ukraine will go much like COVID-19, many ups and downs before finally just wearing us all down. It is too late to do much about it, except to weep over the horror of it all.
Kudos to the Anabaptists all, who as historic "Protestants" in the broadest sense are so "odd" that they end up presenting (in various ways!) a radical alternative Christianity many folk in the larger Protestant traditions cannot match. That doesn't make them ideal, but their traditional intentions do affirm "the Kingdom is now" in living and serving.
ReplyDeleteI have long found their origins in separate sects - regional and according to leadership - a picture of liberty (not safety or exemption from suffering or death, especially by martyrdom at the hands of states wielding death-instruments at the behest of Christendom and, as with the Nazis, killing to rid themselves of a fundamentally critical menace, pace the Hutterites, for example) amidst the nations and kingdoms.
Let's hear it for Menno Simons and many other Roman Catholic priests who at great risk chose an Anabaptist way.
Thanks, Jerry, for your positive and affirming words about the Anabaptists. There is certainly a variety of Christian believers who live under that label, the Mennonites being the most numerous. But the pacifistic position is a common emphasis shared by the smaller, "odder" groups such as the Hutterites and the Amish.
DeleteI continue to be amazed at the commitment to peace displayed. After reading the recent articles in the Anabaptist magazine I am less than sure I could die without trying to lash out to my enemies.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Frank, for your honesty. It is easy to say what we might do in the abstract, but not so easy to take a position that could well cost us our lives. But for 495 years now there have been numerous Anabaptists who have become martyrs and given their lives in obedience to what they believed to be the way of Jesus. I greatly admire all such martyrs, but who knows what I would do if forced to make such a choice.
DeleteA number of years ago I read many of the letters left by Anabaptist and compiled in “The Martyrs Mirror”. The letters allowed me to reflect on how easy my faith has been and is. I admire and respect those who have paid to follow Jesus with there lives.
DeleteMy prayer is that the war will soon end and the suffering stop.
Frank
Yes, Frank, "The Martyrs' Mirror" has been highly revered among the Mennonites for over 360 years now. The original title was "The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians who baptized only upon confession of faith, and who suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus, their Saviour, from the time of Christ to the year A.D. 1660." It can be accessed online at this address: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855/
DeleteYesterday, Thinking Friend Dickson Yagi in California posted longer comments on my 5/5/14 blog post, but since those comments were highly relevant to this post, I am re-posting part of those comments here:
ReplyDelete"Jesus Christ was a pacifist, teaching us to forgive enemies, pray for enemies, love our enemies, return good for evil, and he died for his enemies. But this pacifist chain of command of Jesus is not presented persuasively by the church to our youth because of the head on collision with the military chain of command demanded by the U.S. government. So the pacifism of Mennonites is not a distant historical issue of small groups of weird Christians. At the start of the Gulf war my son in college phoned me in Japan asking what he should do as they were threatening to revive the draft. He as a Buddhist could not smash ants or mosquitoes, much less kill humans. The son of our Christian Ethics Professor in Louisville escaped to Canada during the Vietnam War. So the Mennonite problem is also my problem, and my son's problem, and my grandson's problem. If they revive the draft, they will also draft our daughters. Women are active in all roles in the U.S. military today. So today we must ask whether we are all Mennonites."
Thanks for your significant comments, Dickson. Although I was a "closet Anabaptist" for decades, I just became a member of an Anabaptist/Mennonite church ten years ago. So, of course, I think all those who follow Jesus should be Mennonites, and most of the Baptists you and I knew in Japan were the same or very similar to the Mennonites on the matter of pacifism. But as you also know well, most Baptists here in the U.S., sadly, are not--and many of our Baptist missionary colleagues in Japan were not--"Mennonites" on this matter.
DeleteI found it interesting that the Schleitheim Confession predates the Augsburg Confession. A word search of the Augsburg Confession reveals that the word "Anabaptists" shows up five times—each time as a negative comparison to its stated positions. It almost appears that the Augsburg Confession was written in reaction to the Schleitheim Confession (as well as the Roman Church). This negative use of the term Anabaptists is a reminder of the historical context within which both confessions were written. At the time Anabaptists were generally considered by Protestants to be a too radical separation from the Roman Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteThe following is a listing of the five places in the Augsburg Confession where Anabaptists are referenced:
Article V. … We condemn the Anabaptists and others who think that the Holy Spirit comes without the external Word but through their own preparations and works.
Article IX. … We condemn the Anabaptists, who do not allow the baptism of children and say that children are saved without Baptism.
Article XII. … We condemn the Anabaptists, who deny that those once justified can lose the Holy Spirit. …
Article XVI. … We condemn the Anabaptists who forbid these civil offices to Christians. ...
Article XVII. … We condemn the Anabaptists who think that there will be an end to the punishments of the damned and the devils. ...
Thanks for supplying this relevant information, Clif.
DeleteIt is striking that the first persecution of the Anabaptists was not by the Catholics but by the Reformed (Calvinist) Church in Zurich and by the Lutherans in Germany. Felix Manz was executed by drowning in Zurich in January 1527, the year the Schleitheim Confession was adopted.