George Blaurock-Early Anabaptist Leader Biography

George Blaurock was born in Bonaduz, Switzerland, about 75 from Zurich, in 1491.  We know he went to college and then became a priest.  He traveled to Zurich in 1524.  Somewhere before this he made a break with the Catholic church.  He quickly joined Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz in following the reformer Ulrich Zwingli.  It did not take long for these men to become unhappy with Zwingli’s rate of following what they clearly understood the Scripture to say.  After their beliefs were denounced by Zwingli and the city council, Grebel, Manz, Blaurock, and their friends were ordered not to hold Bible studies together any more.  They met and prayed for guidance.  As they finished, Blaurock stood up and asked to be baptized.  Grebel proceeded to do so, thus making Blaurock one of the first Anabaptist in Europe.

After this, Blaurock and Manz worked closely until January 1525 when Manz was martyred and Blaurock was beaten and thrown out of the city.  From there he moved persistently, working in a place until he was banished, and then moving on.  He was banished from four areas of Switzerland before he moved onto Austria in 1527.  He became the pastor of a church in 1529 after its leader was martyred.  In half a year he baptized many people and founded a number of churches.  This work ended with his arrest, torture, and burning in September of 1529.

George Blaurock is remembered as a man of action.  If he knew what was right, he tirelessly and forcefully pursued it with all his might.  He jumped up and with conviction declared that he wanted to be baptized, no matter of the price.  He was known to enter Reformed church services, call down the preacher, and begin to preach over him with his powerful voice.  He was kicked out of at least five areas and endured torture for about a month before his death.  He represents an unashamed voice of truth which stands as an example of commitment for modern Anabaptists living in America.

Primary Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Blaurock

Other Reading:

http://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/ConradGrebel.html 

 http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/B55760.html

Menno Simons-Early Anabaptist Leader Biography

For the youth at Life Fellowship, here is the first of the promised biographies. Enjoy. (And I promise the next one will be shorter.)

Menno Simons was born in January of 1496 in Witmarsum in the Netherlands. He was educated in a nearby monastery where he learned Latin (as a priest this made it possible for him to read the service), a little Greek, and no Hebrew. In 1524 he became a priest and spent much time drinking, playing cards, and carousing, as did many priests of his day.

Not long after becoming a priest, Menno (why don’t we call him by his last name like all the other early leaders???) began to receive vibes through the grapevine from Protestant reforms who challenged Transubstantiation (the Catholic teaching that the communion bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ after it is blessed). This caused Menno also to have some doubts. He decided to investigate and do something he had never done before-read the Bible. Like most priests of his day, Menno was taught to believe that it was dangerous to study the Bible because the common reader could easily be led astray. They were taught that the Catholic church’s teachings were absolutely flawless, so there was no reason to read the Bible.

As Menno read, he found no evidence for Transubstantiation. He also discovered no basis for infant baptism. He continued reading the Bible along with the writings of the early church fathers and contemporary reformers. He began to consider himself an evangelical preacher although he remained in the Catholic church. In 1534, approximately nine years after Menno began reading Scripture, Jan Matthijs and his gang of sword-carrying “Anabaptists” attempted to bring about end times by setting up the “New Jerusalem” in the city of Munster. Taking their cues from the Munsterites, a group of three-hundred people tried a similar end times event near to Menno’s town. It is believed that his brother and several the members of his church were involved and were killed in the siege that followed.

Menno was appalled by what these people did, although he admired their courage. Inspired to stand for what he knew, he declared his new commitment to follow Christ and turned away from the teachings of the Catholic church. In 1536 he was baptized by one of the main leaders of the non-resistant Dutch Anabaptists, Obbe Philips. A year later he was asked to become an elder of the church. He accepted because he saw that many people needed teaching to lead them to truth and to avoid events like Munster.

Menno is attributed with bringing about the change in the way most northern Europeans thought about Anabaptists. The news of the Munsterites had spread to all parts of Europe and whether they knew the truth or not, officials used this example to discredit Anabaptists. Menno wrote diligently for years and as a result brought about a change in the way Anabaptists were viewed. They were no longer seen as crazed, polygamist, sword-wielding heretics; but as suffering, loving, martyrs. Menno also provided strong articulate teaching and leadership which helped to unify and stabilize north European Anabaptism. He was such an influential leader that those he lead began to call themselves Mennonites.

Just a year or two after his ordination as elder, Menno was a hunted man. For the next twenty-some years he and his family moved constantly, always being pursued by the authorities. At one point he mourned the fact that he and his family of young children could not even live in one place for half a year before having to flee. A huge reward was to be given to anyone who captured him, and anyone who was found aiding or talking to him, would be killed. Amazingly he managed to escape capture and died a natural death in 1561. He was buried in his garden.

Primary source: http://www.mennosimons.net/life.html

Additional reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menno_Simons

http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/mennosim.htm

http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/M4636ME.html

The Loss of the System

If we are trying to perfect an activity, we come up with a system. NASCAR pit crews have athletic trainers and rigorous practices to perfect their system for servicing race cars in the shortest time possible. Part of the Industrial Revolution was the development of a system for manufacturing product. Submariners practice a procedure for responding to a leak or other emergency so that they can do it well under pressure. In todays factories, systems engineers work to make the manufacturing process as straightforward and efficient as possible.

Discipline in every aspect and detail of an activity brings perfection. To get things right, we make a system and perfect it. This is the way that humans (at least Westerners) achieve perfection. This is how we think about solving problems and making things work well.

God knew this. He designed the perfect system for man. He gave them the requirements, the procedures, for man to get as perfect as he could. He gave man the Law and for centuries a greater or lesser number of people sought to perfect their execution of this system.

Paul, in Philippians 3, says that in regards to the System (Law), he was as perfect a practitioner as they come. He was a professional reaching the heights of exactness. It would seem like Paul would be the man to listen to. He had achieved more than anyone else in perfecting a system to be perfect, but he denied the systems ability to bring perfection. He declared to all of us who try to save ourselves by a system, that he went as far as anyone in achieving perfection and he not succeed. He declared in Galatians 3:24 that the System was a schoolmaster. The System failed Paul and it taught him that in near perfection, it remains powerless to save.

On this realization Paul declared in Philippians 3:7 that the things that he sought to bring him gain, he now considers a loss for Christ. We frequently paraphrase the word loss as valueless. I do not think this is correct. In the context of the passage, Paul is saying that those things which he considered helpful in his perfection of the System, he now considers loss. The practice of the system as a way of bringing gain was detrimental.

We all make systems to perfect ourselves. We reward our careful eating all week with an ice cream. We convince children to be responsible with rewards. We threaten punishment for students who do not do their homework. All these things are to bring conformance to a System which, when perfected, will, we think, create the epitome of good.

Many of us have been tricked into thinking that if we perform, we are good. Paul declares that the System taught him his helplessness, but also a self reliance that needed to be abandoned. In verse 8 of Philippians 3 he says that his habit of depending on the System was (literally) a damage as he learned to know ( literally to have knowledge of) Christ.

What system have you fallen trap to in an attempt to make yourself perfect. Surrender all you learned under the system, except for the knowledge of your own inability. Forget the System and come to know the perfecting power of Jesus. The System will not work. Salvation can only come through the ability of the Kingdom of God to transform our brokeness and helpless into sainthood.

Discussions of a Trite Phrase

While I reject many of the petty bickerings and minute differentiations that generally accompany the statement that “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion”, I agree with the statement in the pure form of its meaning. A religion is a system of practices and dogma whereby one comes to meet the conditions of the divine. Christianity differs in that Christians do not, as the central method of their relationship with the divine, follow a religious system or declare belief in dogma.

Christianity not about pleasing the Divine by actions or beliefs, but rather about becoming like the Divine. It is not about doing, but being, being like Christ. Some may protest casting away salvific actions or beliefs, but I counter by saying that if we become like Jesus Christ (the fullness of the Divine Father) we will do all that is and only what is consistent to the nature of God. We will be like Jesus. This is the essence of Christianity.

Understanding this may revolutionize the way many view Christianity, Mennonitism, salvation, and church. Think how it would alter things if everyone understood that doing the right things does not make you right and if parents and teachers and preachers were not satisfied with a church or youth group full of people doing the right things, but would rather be concerned about the church and youth group being like Christ. Might I add that we must not associate being like Christ simply with doing right things.

You may say I have split hairs. You may say that the difference I have pointed out between Christianity as a religion and a relationship are very minor like so many others. I apologize if I have been a hypocrite, only let my words be heard and the truth that they contain be understood.

A Friend’s Wonderful Summary

A friend sent me a paper he read as a commencement address at a local Mennonite high school. He told me that it was very satisfying because it was the big picture view of all the things he has been referencing and trying to say to the graduates for the last four years. It is a masterful piece and it is available for reading here or for download as a pdf here.

Theological Compromises Led to Mennonite Nazism

This paper by James Peter Regier is part of the new writings which are looking at Mennonites and their relationship to National Socialism in Germany. I highlighted some of the key lines so that you do not have to read the whole paper, although it is all worth reading. Click here to download as a Word document. Click here to download in .PDF format.

P.S.-THE MENNONITE VOICE: From then to now

Many Mennonites fall into one of two categories. Some are committed to singing a capella four part harmony. Many of these feel it is the best kind of music and that it should be the exclusive music style for Christians, or at least Mennonites. Many are proud of this heritage and defend it vigorously to the point of saying that all else is wrong.

Then there are those who, even though they happen to attend churches where a capella harmony is the only kind of music that sung, they do not like it or appreciate it. Many times outside of church they listen to something radically different. They often consider a capella harmony to be boring or distasteful. They sometimes suggest that if instruments were used they could worship better.

For the first group, I think that it is reductionistic, prideful, and ignorant to say that a capella harmony is the only godly style of music. It is also wrong to become prideful or self satisfied because we have it right and they don’t.

For the second group, I think that they are missing a very wonderful and important piece of their heritage. I have noticed that this attitude is often accompanied by broader dissatisfaction with Mennonitism as a whole. I say again, there are good things in the Mennonite heritage. Find them and appreciate them. Many times when this attitude is found, it is because both the singing and the Mennonite heritage have become a ritual and not a lively expression of a relationship with Christ. When there is a tradition with no current relevance or life, those in it will look elsewhere for life.

I am calling for an appreciation of the Mennonite music tradition, not prideful exclusivity or staunch clinging to a dead song.

THE MENNONITE VOICE: From then to now

The early Anabaptists by either conviction or necessity or both, did not have “fancy” music or instruments. Instead they met, many times in secret, and sang hymns together. The tradition of vocal music continued from then on down. The Amish clung to the earlier, melody only, responsive style while the Mennonites eventually took on four part harmony. This tradition is still held in practiced in many Mennonite churches today. The tradition of a capella voices singing in harmony. In the last century Mennonite choirs have become very popular. Youth groups, Bible schools, and various other collections of people have gotten together to sing harmony as a choir. Sometimes the music produced is mediocre and sometimes it is exceptional.

Yesterday I heard a group of twenty vocalists from all over the east singing together at a wedding. They were quite good. I was struck again by the fact that most Mennonites can sing harmony. Virtually no other group of people can do this, except the occasional high school or college choir. The percentage of Mennonites who can sing well is far above that of the rest of the population.

Not only can the average Mennonite sing better than most other people, many can do it very well. Among the Mennonites there are some incredibly talented vocalists who have had little or no training.

I say all this, not to down anyone else, but to highlight the value and importance of the Mennonite tradition of singing a capella harmony.

Against Such There Is No Law

On October 18 or 19 the Pennsylvania Senate adopted Resolution 373 commemorating the Amish and volunteers who were involved in the tragedy at West Nickel Mines Amish School and the Amish community in general. The resolution specifically thanks the Amish for their demonstration of mercy and forgiveness combined with a lifestyle of nonretaliation.

I find this remarkable. Here is an official government organization, announcing its admiration and appreciation for the loving and forgiving attitudes and actions of a group of people. If Christians are to influence government in no other way, demonstrating forgiveness and a nonresistant lifestyle is one way that is certainly supported by Christ. I am also reminded of the fruit of the Spirit and Paul’s statement that “. . . .against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23). Not only is it not against the law, it is often recognized, sometimes even by the government, as being very good.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

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SENATE RESOLUTION

No. 373 Session of 2006

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        INTRODUCED BY ARMSTRONG, BOSCOLA, BRIGHTBILL, BROWNE, CONTI,
           CORMAN, COSTA, DINNIMAN, EARLL, ERICKSON, FERLO, FONTANA,
           FUMO, GORDNER, GREENLEAF, HUGHES, JUBELIRER, KASUNIC,
           KITCHEN, LAVALLE, LEMMOND, LOGAN, MADIGAN, MELLOW, MUSTO,
           O'PAKE, ORIE, PICCOLA, PILEGGI, PIPPY, PUNT, RAFFERTY,
           REGOLA, RHOADES, ROBBINS, SCARNATI, STACK, STOUT,
           TARTAGLIONE, TOMLINSON, VANCE, WASHINGTON, WAUGH, WENGER,
           D. WHITE, M. WHITE, A. WILLIAMS, C. WILLIAMS, WONDERLING AND
           WOZNIAK, OCTOBER 18, 2006

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        INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, OCTOBER 18, 2006

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                                  A RESOLUTION

     1  Honoring the lives and extending condolences to the West Nickel
     2     Mines Amish School shooting victims, their families and the
     3     entire Amish community.

     4     WHEREAS, The shooting at West Nickel Mines Amish School on
     5  October 2, 2006, has devastated the Amish community and the
     6  entire nation with its senseless violence; and
     7     WHEREAS, The loss of innocent lives and the unfathomable
     8  impact of this attack on those who mercifully survived has left
     9  our nation deeply saddened and grieving; and
    10     WHEREAS, The recent incidents of school violence have further
    11  shaken communities throughout the country; and
    12     WHEREAS, Law enforcement, emergency services and medical
    13  professionals have gone above and beyond the call to aid victims
    14  and their families; and
    15     WHEREAS, The Amish community has responded to this horrific

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     1  incident with unparalleled mercy and forgiveness that has
     2  deepened our profound admiration for the manner in which the
     3  Amish conduct their lives; therefore be it
     4     RESOLVED, That the Senate offer deepest condolences to the
     5  West Nickel Mines Amish School shooting victims, their families
     6  and the entire Amish community and extend heartfelt thanks to
     7  all who responded to the terrible tragedy.

From the Inside Out or the Outside In

A struggle among conservative Mennonites today is whether to legislate good actions and intend for it to become what people want to do, or to put up with some diversity and below-standard actions with the intent of helping the person change the desires of their heart so that the outside actions will change. This is a major controversy which has been near the heart of many church splits and been the cause of many disdainful glances and L.D.N.’s (Look Down Nose).

One side tries to cause right living. They feel there is no excuse for doing what is wrong. They feel that the person should first and foremost be committed to submitting to the church and God and that if they are, they will submit and eventually learn to appreciate what they are now being required to do. They tend to have a large set of standards for the church which they hope will create unity and a clear presentation of what it means to be an obedient follower of Christ.

The other side feels that requiring good actions does not truly change people’s hearts and that it will probably make a bunch of hypocrites who are doing right only because of social pressure. They prefer to put those things which are wrong, but are done by the person without guilt, under the grace of God and work to call that person to change through a change of heart. They tend to have fewer rules and seek to cause their members to do right by accountability and dialogue.

So, which is right? Which is more like what Christ intends for his church? I have decided to which side I lean. I have tried here to present a balanced view of both. I believe that I see the purposes and desires of both. I appreciate to a greater or lesser degree both sides. If you feel that your side has been misrepresented, please let me know so that my understanding may be broadened. If you do not respond with any corrections, I will assume that my overview is correct according to all my readers. : )