Against the Wind E B E R H a R D a R N O L D a N D T H E B R U D E R H O F
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Against the Wind E B E R H A R D A R N O L D A N D T H E B R U D E R H O F Markus Baum Foreword by Jim Wallis Original Title: Stein des Anstosses: Eberhard Arnold 1883–1935 / Markus Baum ©1996 Markus Baum Translated by Eileen Robertshaw Published by Plough Publishing House Walden, New York Robertsbridge, England Elsmore, Australia www.plough.com Copyright © 2015, 1998 by Plough Publishing House All rights reserved Print ISBN: 978-0-87486-953-8 Epub ISBN: 978-0-87486-757-2 Mobi ISBN: 978-0-87486-758-9 Pdf ISBN: 978-0-87486-759-6 The photographs on pages 95, 96, and 98 have been reprinted by permission of Archiv der deutschen Jugendbewegung, Burg Ludwigstein. The photographs on pages 80 and 217 have been reprinted by permission of Archive Photos, New York. Contents Contents—iv Foreword—ix Preface—xi CHAPTER ONE 1 Origins—1 Parental Influence—2 Teenage Antics—4 A Disappointing Confirmation—5 Diversions—6 Decisive Weeks—6 Dedication—7 Initial Consequences—8 A Widening Rift—9 Missionary Zeal—10 The Salvation Army—10 Introduction to the Anabaptists—12 Time Out—13 CHAPTER TWO 14 Without Conviction—14 The Student Christian Movement—14 Halle—16 The Silesian Seminary—18 Growing Responsibility in the SCM—18 Bernhard Kühn and the EvangelicalAlliance Magazine—20 At First Sight—21 Against the Wind Harmony from the Outset—23 Courtship and Engagement—24 CHAPTER THREE 25 Love Letters—25 The Issue of Baptism—26 Breaking with the State Church—29 Exasperated Parents—30 Separation—31 Fundamental Disagreements among SCM Leaders—32 The Pentecostal Movement Begins—33 YMCA and YWCA—34 Plans—35 Examination Denied—36 CHAPTER FOUR 38 Changing Course—38 On Their Own Feet—40 Erlangen University—42 Summa Cum Laude—43 Taken at Their Word—44 Nietzsche—45 Confronting Nietzsche—46 In Leipzig—47 Estrangement of a Friend—48 Called to Halle—49 CHAPTER FIVE 51 Lectures and Journeys—51 Emy-Margret—52 Room for Children—52 Hermann Kutter and the Social Issue—53 Hardy—56 Enforced Rest—56 Tirol—57 In the Homeland of the Anabaptists—58 Heinrich—60 Against the Wind Mapping Out Inner Land 14 —61 CHAPTER SIX 63 Three Weeks at the Front—63 Blinded—64 Did God Want the War?—66 Solid Ground or Bottomless Pit—67 Die Furche and the Furche Publishing House—68 War Work of the SCM—69 Hans-Hermann—70 Change —71 i Monika-Elisabeth—74 Inner Land II—74 CHAPTER SEVEN 76 Youth on the Move—76 Revolution—78 Pentecost in Marburg—80 Can a Christian Be a Police Officer?—83 Speechless at Barth’s Message—84 Struggling for Direction in the SCM—87 CHAPTER EIGHT 89 Das Neue Werk —89 Without Anger—90 Friends—91 Plans, Plans, and More Plans—93 Gustav Landauer—97 Putsch—98 CHAPTER NINE 101 Sonnherz—101 Books and Papers—102 Injured—104 City on a Hill—105 New Leads—108 A Year of Crises—108 More Accusations—111 Against the Wind The Minimum Number—113 CHAPTER TEN 114 A New Beginning—114 Motives—115 A Moral Victory?—117 The Blumhardts—118 The Fellowship of Reconciliation—120 Children’s Community—122 Sonnenlieder—124 Regrowth—125 ii CHAPTER ELEVEN 127 Die Wegwarte—127 Gemeinde—128 Attempts at Uniting—129 The Free Germans—130 Spiritual Fight—133 Sources—134 Bruderhof—136 Move to the Rhön—137 CHAPTER TWELVE 139 Many Mouths, Not Much Money—139 Bruderhof Education—141 Hutterian Writings—144 Distinguished Friends —145 Companions along the Way —147 Free German Brotherhood —149 Carried to Extremes? —151 CHAPTER THIRTEEN 152 On the Trail of the Past—152 Across the Ocean—154 Dariusleut, Lehrerleut, Schmiedeleut—155 Manitoba—158 Alberta—159 Ordination—161 Against the Wind Homecoming—164 CHAPTER FOURTEEN 166 How Hutterian Should a Hutterite Be?—166 Second Generation—168 Burdens of Authority—170 Inner Land, Revisited—172 Today the Jews, Tomorrow the Christians—174 A Letter to Adolf Hitler—176 CHAPTER FIFTEEN 179 iii A Church or The Church?—179 Do You Want to Go Away, Too? —181 Wise as Serpents—184 The Fight for the Children—187 Liechtenstein—189 Novices from Britain—190 CHAPTER SIXTEEN 192 No One Starved—192 Struggle for Unity—194 Search for Refuge —195 Consumed by His Task—198 Rearranged Lights—200 Last Journey—202 Too Early a Death?—204 POSTSCRIPT 205 The Bruderhof Movement Is Alive—205 The Witness of Eberhard Arnold Lives On—205 Final Questions—206 End Notes—207 Time Line—234 Select Bibliography—238 Index—242 Foreword ince the time of Jesus, small groups of earnest Christians have tried to live by the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount. From St. Francis to the SBenedictines to the Anabaptists, living as disciples of Jesus in community has been a sought-for ideal. While many Christians have viewed these ethics as for a time yet to come, others have insisted that Jesus meant for his followers to live them in the here and now. Here is the account of one such Christian. The aim of this book is not to exalt the man, Eberhard Arnold, or the Bruderhof movement he helped to found. Rather, it is to witness to God’s faithfulness and God’s intervention in human history. Yet it remains true that God can only act in human history through people. Arnold’s commitment to discipleship, community, nonviolence, and his faith in the immediate reality of God’s kingdom continue to inspire and challenge all who seek to follow Christ. And it is also true that the Bruderhof movement is today a vibrant community of faith from which we at Sojourners have received great insight and strength over the years. Our 1984 visit to the Woodcrest Bruderhof in upstate New York was one of the most profound community exchanges I have ever experienced. There is a deep wisdom at the Bruderhof about how Christians can live together. A strong presence of love exists among them – not the sentimental kind that relies on excessive words, but rather a mutual respect, a readiness to serve, and a joy in one another that has been born of much faith and struggle. Our life at Sojourners has been enriched and strengthened through sharing with the Bruderhof the joys and struggles of our attempt to faithfully live the kingdom of God in the world. Our shared belief that the gospel calls us to live in relationship with the poor continues to shape our vision and work at Sojourners. The Bruderhof is continuing on a journey, one that in recent years has led them into the pain, injustice, and suffering of the world. A new movement of the Against the Wind Spirit has led them to minister in the prisons, to march for peace, and to journey to far-off places of conflict. Their involvement in the campaign against capital punishment has powerfully demonstrated the truth of the gospel. This active involvement remains grounded in the faithful witness of the past, in the integrity and vitality of community life. It also raises a challenge for the future: is this involvement in the world putting the integral life of Christian community at risk? From our experience at Sojourners, I can testify to the inevitable tensions that arise in the efforts to maintain community while being involved with suffering humanity. I pray that the Bruderhof will continue to follow the way of Jesus in community and in the world. And as I witness the rising involvement of the Bruderhof, I sometimes wonder what Eberhard Arnold would be thinking. I suspect he would be smiling. Jim Wallis, Sojourners March, 1998 Preface berhard Arnold is one of the most remarkable figures of this century. A contemporary of theological giants Karl Barth and Martin Buber, he Edialogued with both these men and with many other great thinkers of his day. His life’s multiple interests and influences form an impressive résumé: an active commentator and publisher; an innovative educator and developer of an amazing educational method; a driving force behind the German youth movement, and its chronicler; the father of a dynamic and unique Christian community; and the rediscoverer and interpreter of a centuries-old spiritual tradition. He wrote average poetry, but his thoughts penetrate. Eberhard is, quite literally, an outstanding figure. In the Berlin of the Weimar era, he turned heads. People on the sidewalk gaped at him as they would at a prodigy. And more than one person dubbed him a “modern-day St. Francis.” Wherever something of Eberhard’s personality surfaces, one immediately senses a powerful eruption of life. Strangely, though, he himself seems hidden behind all his writings: articles, books, and thou- sands of letters. His image and influence is diffused throughout a movement that still recognizes his authority today. But Eberhard Arnold the man remains in the background, out of the limelight, sheltered in the shadows of the truth he represented. He staked his life on an overwhelming reality. It completely consumed him. Eberhard’s life story reads like a novel. It is gripping drama. But this biography can also be viewed as a slice of history – contemporary, church, and cultural – and hardly a boring one, considering Eberhard’s era. Hence the notes and index, which readers with specific interests will find useful. Who was Eberhard Arnold? Undoubtedly he was a man, not a polished monolith. How did he become the man he was? What was he like? What brought him happiness or torment? What challenged him? What were his weaknesses? Against the Wind When were his decisive moments? What was the sum total of his life, and why is it relevant today? These questions prompted this book.