DOCSLIB.ORG

What's in a Name?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
What's in a Name? I N G AT 200 R Y B E E A L R E S C emc 1812 ~ 2012 Evangelical Mennonite Conference 440 Main Street ▪ Steinbach, MB R5G 1Z5 What’s in a Name? [email protected] ▪ 204-326-6401 www.emconference.ca What’s in a Name? Evangelical Mennonite Conference What’s in a Name? © 2012 by Evangelical Mennonite Conference Copying rights are given to churches and individuals as required for group study Find a printable PDF of this study online at www.emconference.ca/bicentennial Library no. 978-0-986049-2-2 Cover design and layout by Marilyn Dueck printed in Canada by Evangelical Mennonite Conference Steinbach, Manitoba Table of Contents Introduction ____________________________________________________________________________1 What’s in a Name? Christian _______________________________________________________________2 Arley Loewen, Blumenort EMC, cultural consultant What’s in a Name? Anabaptist ______________________________________________________________6 Cameron McKenzie, Fort Garry EMC, associate professor of biblical studies, Providence University College What’s in a Name? Mennonite _____________________________________________________________10 Darren Plett, senior pastor, Pleasant Valley EMC What’s in a Name? Kleine Gemeinde _______________________________________________________13 Royden Loewen, Chair of Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg What’s in a Name? Evangelical _____________________________________________________________18 David Thiessen, Fort Garry EMC, former EMC conference pastor What’s in a Name? Church ________________________________________________________________22 Darryl Klassen, senior pastor, Kleefeld EMC For Further Study _______________________________________________________________________25 Name Search __________________________________________________________________________26 Introduction The Sunday School/small group lessons prepared for people who dared to follow the teaching and example the EMC Bicentennial reflect the conference’s spiritual of their Saviour, Jesus Christ. The last two studies are on and historical roots, an explanation of the present and names that some conference churches have adopted, aspirations for the future. The title of this series, What’s others not. This is an opportunity to think about who we in a Name? suggests that at one time or the other we have are and how we wish to portray ourselves to the world been associated with a name that we or other people have we live in. coined to describe us. We thank the six contributors for their willingness to The first four lessons bear titles that were not necessarily research and give of their time to prepare the lessons. considered terms of endearment, but names given to – The Bicentennial Committee page 1 What’s in a Name? Introduction Study One What’s in a Name? Christian Arley Loewen Introduction • A person who is baptized after the age of When we lived in Toronto in the 1990s, I taught English accountability for new Canadians. After we had discussed Christmas, • A person who is a member of a church a Chinese woman asked me, “So are you a Christian?” (regardless of denomination) I replied in the positive. An Iranian from an Assyrian • A person who is “born again” Orthodox tradition interrupted, “I’m a Christian too.” • A person who is born into a Christian home, WShe looked at him and said, “You? No, I don’t believe it.” i.e., their parents are Christians. How would she know? Moreover, what right does she have • A person who believes in the historical as a non-Christian to decide whether or not someone is statements of faith such as the Apostles’ Creed a Christian? The man’s comments in class did not match and/or the Nicene Creed what she expected of Christians. • A person who follows Jesus • A person who confesses that Jesus is Lord and So, who was right? The “Christian” or the “non-Chris- believes in their heart that God raised Him tian”? In some countries, every person has to declare from the dead their religion on their identity cards. So, for example, in • A person who wears a cross around their neck Iran or Pakistan, a person is a Muslim, Christian, Hindu or • A person who attends church regularly Jew; being a Christian is a matter of legal identity. In this • A person who verbally professes faith in Christ regard, the Assyrian was right; legally, he was a Christian. • A person who believes in Jesus Christ Just recently, I visited someone from a Muslim back- Each one of these definitions of Christian leads to further ground who had become a Christian. Some of his Muslim questions. Is the term defined by doctrine, i.e., by what friends were surprised that he “as a Christian” talked a person believes? Or is it by behaviour, by how people about God. He said, “In our society, we think of Christians conduct themselves? Or is it by baptism, i.e., having as people who don’t talk about God.” Although this defini- gone through a specific ritual? Or should it be defined tion of Christian seems outlandish to us, it illustrates how by experience, i.e., a person who is transformed through perception and understanding of the term Christian are a ‘new birth’ encounter? so diverse. It seems the more we try to define the word Christian Who is a Christian? the more confusing it becomes. The term carries both So, who is a Christian? What is a Christian? What defines negative and positive connotations in our present world. a person as a Christian? How can we explain the term satisfactorily?1 • A person whose ID or passport says they are a Christian During Jesus’ Life • A person who is baptized Obviously, the word Christian is connected to Christ page 2 What’s in a Name? Christian (Greek word for Messiah). Prior to and after Jesus’ life, This new movement had been growing among the Jews many Jewish figures claimed to be christ (messiah). They and was primarily seen as an offshoot or a sect of Judaism. spoke of revolution and sought to restore Israel. People Approximately 15 years after that first day when around who heard Jesus’ teaching and experienced His miracles three thousand Jews had declared their allegiance to this began to follow Him. They “believed in Him” that He Messiah, a change happened in a city 300 miles north would restore Israel to its former greatness. However, of Jerusalem (150 miles north of present-day Beirut, many left this new movement when they saw His way was Lebanon). Here in Antioch, for the first time, the message not what they had expected. Even the closest disciples left of Jesus as Lord and Messiah spread outside the Jewish Him when He was arrested. To their dismay, this Messiah culture in a significant manner. Many Greeks (considered was crucified and buried. foreigners to Jews) identified themselves with this Jewish Messiah. No longer merely a sect of Judaism, but a new Up to this point, no one was ever called a Christian. In community of faith developed that included people from other words, the twelve disciples were not Christians in other races. Those who believed the good news of the a literal sense. Lord Jesus were called christ-ianos (Christians) for the first time. The word is comprised of two words, Christ and After Jesus’ Ascension a suffix ianos, meaning to belong to Christ.3 Then Jesus rose from the dead. The shocked disciples now believed in Him in a more profound way. After Jesus Paul, a Christian ascended to heaven, they began to call each other “broth- The term must have become common as the movement ers” (Acts 1:16).2 Luke describes all those who repented spread into Asia Minor. About 15 years later, upon Paul’s and believed that Jesus was Lord and the Messiah as return to Jerusalem, he was arrested by the Roman “believers” (Acts 2:44). The statement of faith is very basic. authorities because of threats from the Jewish religious They simply repented and were baptized in the name of leaders. When Paul presented his case in at the court of Jesus Christ. We don’t know what exactly they repented Festus the Roman governor for Judea, Festus considered of, but their lives radically changed. They fellowshipped the case between Paul and the Jews as simply a “dispute with each other, prayed together and learned about the about their own religion.” Later Paul gave his testimony Messiah. They shared their lives with each other, visited to King Agrippa. Rooting himself in the Jewish tradition, each other in their homes and had meals together. They Paul openly declared how he had met the living Jesus sensed they were part of a new world, a new kingdom who called him to spread the message of forgiveness to all that centred on Jesus, who they believed was alive and races. Agrippa must have assumed that Paul was known whom they called “Lord.” as a Christian for he says to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Throughout the book of Acts these people were simply Paul responded positively, “Yes …” (Acts 26:29). Yet, Paul called “believers” (28 times) or “disciples” (24 times), never calls himself a Christian. He wrote thirteen letters “those who belonged to the way” or who “followed the to churches and individuals in Asia Minor, but not once way” (six times) or “saints” [holy people] (three times), does he use the term Christian. I wonder why. which is the most common term in the epistles as well. Suffering as a Christian The First Christians Peter, however, used the term once in his first letter. He It never dawned on the first “believers” to give themselves addressed believers as “God’s elect,” “strangers,” and a special name. They were not into marketing or labelling; “chosen ones” who were scattered throughout Asia Minor they simply devoted themselves to being part of this new (present-day Turkey).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Add'l Patents Pending
    Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Oct 1998 v44 i4 p538 The Influence of Culture on Pretend Play: The Case of Mennonite Children. Stephanie M. Carlson; Marjorie Taylor; Gerald R. Levin. Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1998 Wayne State University Press Teacher attitudes about pretend play were compared in Old Order Mennonite, New Order Mennonite, and non-Mennonite Christian schools. These subcultures differ in modernity, media exposure, and encouragement of pretend play. Non-Mennonite teachers were the most positive about pretend play, but Old Order Mennonite teachers were the most positive about private fantasies (e.g., imaginary companions). Although the proportion of children's pretend play at recess did not differ across groups, Old Order Mennonite children's play themes adhered more closely to real-life family roles. Teacher attitudes about pretend play were related to the imaginativeness of children's social play. These findings suggest it is important to investigate the influence of culture on pretend play in both social and nonsocial contexts and the processes by which this influence occurs. Although the capacity and inclination to pretend seem to appear spontaneously in all normally developing children as they acquire the ability to use symbols and engage in representational thought (Piaget, 1962), research on individual differences indicates that the sociocultural context is also crucial to the developmental course of pretense (e.g., Farver, 1992; Gaskins & Goncu, 1992; Haight & Miller, 1993). In many western middle- class families, pretend play is considered beneficial for young children and involvement in fantasy is strongly encouraged. For example, the first books read to many children are about fairies, talking animals, mermaids, and the like.
    [Show full text]
  • The Secret of the Strength What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation?
    The Secret of the Strength What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation? Peter Hoover This is the 2008 version of the text, with the original introduction, forward, cover picture, etc. The text has been revised, but is substantially the same as the original text, with the addition of pictures. Other inspiring books are available at: www.PrimitiveChristianity.org Introduction I well remember the first time I faced the stark realization that I was a Mennonite and different. My fourth-grade friend, Gregory, and I were riding home from public school on the bus. We were talking about our future, how we would always be friends and do things together when we grew up. Then he enthusiastically began to describe activities that from my upbringing I knew to be worldly. Desperate to save our lifelong friendship, I turned to Gregory and said, “You will have to leave your church and become a Mennonite when you grow up.” Thus, the inevitability of our way of life impressed itself on my eight-year-old mind. A year later I made my decision to follow Christ. Of course, Gregory never joined my church, and I do not even know his whereabouts today. The theme of separation from the world ran strong in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania where I grew up. But I wrongly assumed that, except for our plainness, we believed the same things that other Christians believed. Then one evening at the Chambersburg Mennonite Church, where I was a member, a visiting speaker jolted me with a graphic picture of my martyr heritage.
    [Show full text]
  • Ontario Mennonite History:Ontmennohistory20-1.Pdf
    Tribute to ORLAND GINGERICH 1920-2002 MHSO CHARTER MEMBER Ontario MHSO vice-president 1965 -1977 Mennonite MHSO President 1977 -1980 Orland spent his early years on the farm cleared by his great-grandfather History Jacob W. Gingerich in the late 1820s. It was located on the German Block (the centre section of Wilmot Township) west of Waterloo Township . It had been THE surveyed in 1824, in anticipation of the coming of immigrants from Europe NEWSLETTER following the 1822 visit of Christian Nafziger, looking for land to which to OF THE bring his family and co-religionists . The Gingerich family were members of MENNONITE the first Amish congregation organized in Canada . While studying church history at HISTORICAL Goshen Biblical Seminary under Harold S. Bender in 1948 Orland was required to SOCIETY OF ONTARIO write a 5000 word essay on some aspect of church history. He chose to write about the Amish in Canada but found a lack of data on the subject. Bender promised Orland leniency provided he continue the Or/and Gingerich research and produce a more comprehensive history later. VOLUME XX In 1975 an historical plaque was NUMBER 1 When 35 people interested in created by the Ontario Heritage promoting research and publication of Foundation, at the initiative of the Ontario Mennonite History met at Conrad Waterloo Historical Society. It was MAY 2002 Grebel College on May 8, 1965, Orland erected on the cemetery grounds across addressed the group on the topic "Why a the road from the Steinmann Mennonite Mennonite Historical Society'?" Dr. J.W. Church in honour of the early Amish ISSN 1192-5515 Fretz, president of the College, chaired the settlers of Wilmot Township .
    [Show full text]
  • The Growth of Amish and Plain Anabaptists in Kentucky
    The Growth of Amish and Plain Anabaptists in Kentucky Joseph Donnermeyer1 Professor Emeritus School of Environment and Natural Resource The Ohio State University Cory Anderson Adjunct Professor Rural Sociology Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute Abstract This article examines the growth of Amish and plain Anabaptist communities and population in Kentucky, one of the few southern states with a sizeable plain Anabaptist presence across much of its rural areas. Within the Amish religious tradition, this study focuses on both the broadly defined Old Order Amish, namely, those who prohibit ownership of motor vehicles for transportation, and the Amish-Mennonites, those who allow ownership. We provide an overview of their community formation and present a county-based estimate of their population. There are now 53 Amish communities in Kentucky, and a population of nearly 10,000. Over half (27) of these communities were founded since the turn of the century. Non-Amish, plain Anabaptists constitute 33 congregations. Keywords Old Order Amish; New Order Amish; Swartzentruber Amish; Amish-Mennonites; Ambassadors Amish-Mennonites; Old Order Mennonites; Conservative Mennonites; Intentional churches; Church districts; Settlements; Community migration Note This profile of the Amish is the second in an anticipated series of articles whose intent is to provide regionally based spatial-demographic descriptions of Amish communities. The first described buggy-driving Amish churches in Iowa (Cooksey and Donnermeyer 2013). Donnermeyer, Joseph, and Cory Anderson. 2014. “The Growth of Amish and Plain Anabaptists in Kentucky.” Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies 2(2):215-44. 216 Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies 2(2), 2014 Introduction From a sociological point of view, the Amish can be described as a subculture, religious sect, and ethnic group (Anderson 2013a; Hostetler 1993, 5-18; McQuire 2002, 163).
    [Show full text]
  • Intervention and Resistance: Two Mennonite Visions Conflict in Mexico
    Intervention and Resistance: Two Mennonite Visions Conflict in Mexico David M. Quiring, University of Saskatchewan To casual onlookers, the Mennonite world presents a bewildering array of factions, all of whom claim to follow in the tradition of Menno Simons and other early Anabaptists. Although seemingly motivated by sincere desires to discern and follow the will of God, spiritual leaders often have failed to agree on theological issues. As a result, they have led their adherents into separate spiritual enclaves. While some have remained in close physical proximity to the larger society, others have gone to the extreme of seeking geographic isolation. One group that has sought to live secluded from the rest of the world is the Old Colony Church in Mexico. But other Mennonites have not respected that desire for separation. In the past decades, various Mennonite groups have waged what resembles an undeclared war against the Old Co1on:y Mennonite Church in Mexico. Although the rhetoric often resembles that of a war, fortunately both sides ascribe to pacifism and have r~estrictedtheir tactics to non-violent methods of attack and defence. When this research project into the Mexican Mennonites began in the mid-1990s, like many average Canadians and Americans of 84 Journal ofMennonite Studies Mennonite descent, I lacked awareness of the conflict between the Mennonite groups in Mexico. My initial interest in the Mennonites of Latin America, and particularly the Old Colonists, derived from several sources. While curiosity about these obviously quaint people provided reason enough for exploring their history, a mare personal motivation also existed. The Old Colonists and my family share a common ancestry.
    [Show full text]
  • Mennonite Institutions
    -being the Magazine/Journal of the Hanover Steinbach Historical Society Inc. Preservings $10.00 No. 18, June, 2001 “A people who have not the pride to record their own history will not long have the virtues to make their history worth recording; and no people who are indifferent to their past need hope to make their future great.” — Jan Gleysteen Mennonite Institutions The Mennonite people have always been richly Friesen (1782-1849), Ohrloff, Aeltester Heinrich portant essay on the historical and cultural origins endowed with gifted thinkers and writers. The Wiens (1800-72), Gnadenheim, and theologian of Mennonite institutions. The personal reflections seminal leaders in Reformation-times compiled Heinrich Balzer (1800-42) of Tiege, Molotschna, of Ted Friesen, Altona, who worked closely with treatises, polemics and learned discourses while continued in their footsteps, leaving a rich literary Francis during his decade long study, add a per- the martyrs wrote hymns, poetic elegies and in- corpus. sonal perspective to this important contribution to spirational epistles. During the second half of the The tradition was brought along to Manitoba the Mennonite people. The B. J. Hamm housebarn in the village of Neu-Bergthal, four miles southeast of Altona, West Reserve, Manitoba, as reproduced on the cover of the second edition of E. K. Francis, In Search of Utopia, republished by Crossway Publications Inc., Box 1960, Steinbach, Manitoba, R0A 2A0. The house was built in 1891 by Bernhard Klippenstein (1836-1910), village Schulze, and the barn dates to the founding of the village in 1879, and perhaps even earlier to the village of Bergthal in the East Reserve.
    [Show full text]
  • IJESB Roesnuijten
    VU Research Portal Female self-employment among the Kleine Gemeinde in the Mennonite Settlement of Blue Creek, Northern Belize Roessingh, C.H.; Nuijten, M. published in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 2012 DOI (link to publisher) 10.1504/ijesb.2012.046472 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Roessingh, C. H., & Nuijten, M. (2012). Female self-employment among the Kleine Gemeinde in the Mennonite Settlement of Blue Creek, Northern Belize. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 15(4), 397-410. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijesb.2012.046472 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 23. Sep.
    [Show full text]
  • Chortitza “Old” Colony, 1789
    -being the Magazine/Journal of the Hanover Steinbach Historical Society Inc. Preservings $20.00 No. 20, June, 2002 “A people who have not the pride to record their own history will not long have the virtues to make their history worth recording; and no people who are indifferent to their past need hope to make their future great.” — Jan Gleysteen Chortitza “Old” Colony, 1789 The story of the first settlement of the Flemish Mennonites at the junc- tion of the Chortitza and Dnjepr Riv- ers in 1789 in Imperial Russia is re- plete with drama, tension and trag- edy. It is no small task to establish a peaceful Christian community in an undeveloped steppe and to create an environment where the pioneers and their descendants could thrive and prosper. Within a century the Chortitza “Old” Colony had become perhaps the most prosperous com- munity in the area north of the Black Sea and its industries were leading the way in the region’s booming economy. After some initial faltering the Chortitza Flemish Gemeinde was to become the most stable and flourish- ing of the Mennonites in Russia. It is a precious gift of God to build a large congregation of 4000 and more mem- bers out of a population originating from different Gemeinden and vari- ous regions in the Vistula Delta in Royal Poland and West Prussia. The German Wehrmacht at the entrance to the turbine building of Dnjeproges Hydro-electric dam, June 1941. To God had granted the Flemish pio- the left is the Hydro-electric dam; right, in the rear, the Island of Chortitza with the Mennonite village established neers noble and spirit-filled leaders in 1789; and middle, the bridge over the “new” Dnjepr (east channel).
    [Show full text]
  • Mennonite Communities in Belize Carel Roessingh
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DSpace at VU Int. J. Business and Globalisation, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2007 107 Mennonite communities in Belize Carel Roessingh Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Culture, Organisation and Management, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelenlaan 1081, Room Z-240, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands Fax: +31 20 5986765 E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: This paper addresses the entrepreneurial activities within different Mennonite communities in Belize and the way religious differentiation plays a role in their entrepreneurship. In spite of the fact that most Mennonites live quite isolated from the wider society, building upon their Christian beliefs, agricultural skills and a strong working ethos, they have been able to establish a strong and stable economic position within Belize. The paper specifically focuses on the interplay between religious and entrepreneurial differentiation and the way this influences the progressiveness of different Mennonite communities. Keywords: Belize; Mennonite identity; religion; entrepreneurs; community and differentiation. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Roessingh, C. (2007) ‘Mennonite communities in Belize’, Int. J. Business and Globalisation, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.107–124. Biographical notes: Carel Roessingh studied Cultural Anthropology and received his PhD at the University of Utrecht. His PhD research was on the Belizean Garifuna. His central research topic focuses on the organisational activities of the Mennonites in Belize. He is Senior Lecturer at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Culture, Organisation and Management. 1 Introduction In economic analyses entrepreneurs are often seen as agents who play a role in the arena of the market in which they make decisions to organise productive activities and are seen as the main risk bearers, innovators and industrial leaders (Ripsas, 1998).
    [Show full text]
  • New World Mennonite Low German an Investigating of Changes in Progress
    New World Mennonite Low German An Investigating of Changes in Progress By Roslyn Cherie Burns A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Philosophy in Linguistics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Gary B. Holland Keith Johnson Thomas F. Shannon Spring 2016 1 Abstract This dissertation explores dialect diversification in the long-distance New World Plautdietsch speech community. Plautdietsch dialects are traditionally classified as belonging to one of two types: either Chortitza or Molotschna. The traditional dialect classification has recently come under scrutiny because speakers rarely use features exclusive to either type. I propose that variation in vowel production is an alternative way of classifying dialect affiliation. In this project, I analyze both the production of vowels and the production of traditional dialect features used by native Plautdietsch speakers living in North America. This work finds that both the traditional dialect features and the innovations in the vowel system are linked to information about a community's migration history, but the two systems represent different aspects of a community's history. i Table of Contents Chapter 1: Problem and Definition 1 1.1 Plautdietsch Background 2 1.1.1 The History of Low German 2 Plautdietsch as a Written Language 10 1.1.2 Plautdietsch Speaking Populations in North America 11 1.2 Defining Mennonites 13 1.2.1 Prussian Mennonites 14 1.3 North America Data Collection
    [Show full text]
  • The Plautdietsch Vowel Shift Across Space and Time
    Journal of Linguistic Geography (2016) 3,72–94. © Cambridge University Press 2016 ORIGINAL RESEARCH doi:10.1017/jlg.2016.3 The Plautdietsch Vowel Shift Across Space and Time Roslyn Burns* University of California, Berkeley This paper provides an account of the long vowel shift currently underway in the trans-statal Plautdietsch speech community. Placement of the shift within Labov’s typology of vowel shifts reveals a commonly overlooked development in Plautdietsch vowel movement, namely the centralization of mid-high back vowels which must have occurred before the breakup of the community into New and Old World groups. Shared centralization prompted both groups to have similar developments in the back vowel space after they were no longer geographically contiguous and prompted many groups to undergo centralization in the front vowel space. This case study reveals a pattern of innovation in which separation from parent communities fosters linguistic innovations in daughter communities. These innovations occur irrespective of the traditional Molotschna or Chortitza dialect affiliation of the daughter colonies in question. Key Words: vowel shift, front-back parallelism, Plautdietsch, Mennonite Low German, trans-statal, acoustic fieldwork. 1. Introduction had a monophthongal quality.3 I propose that centraliza- th tion of [oː]oftheHOOT classpredatesthe19 century This paper investigates parallel linguistic developments breakup of the Ukrainian community as this word class in the long vowel system of the discontiguous never develops the phonetic value [uː], although raising Plautdietsch (PDT) speech community. Developments in to [uː]isseenwiththe[oː](< [ɔː]) of the HOS class. the systems of Old and New World Mennonites follow This paper is organized as follows.
    [Show full text]
  • The Peace Stance of the Conservative Kanadier Mennonites, 1874-1945
    Nonresistant or Pacifist? The Peace Stance of the Conservative Kanadier Mennonites, 1874-1945 by Victor David Kliewer A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Joint Master’s Program Department of History University of Manitoba / University of Winnipeg Winnipeg Copyright © 2011 by Victor David Kliewer ABSTRACT This thesis argues that the conservative Kanadier Mennonites, who first came to Canada in 1874, were committed to absolute pacifism. This commitment—one of the basics of their faith—caused major tensions with the host society, notably in times of war. In this thesis I investigate three kinds of resources, each offering a different perspective on the pacifist conviction of the conservative Kanadier Mennonites. The first consists of three migration accounts; the second includes six sermons; the third is a unique set of minutes of the Ältestenrat—the Council of Elders—which record the deliberations of the church leaders who met with government officials to negotiate the alternative service program for conscientious objectors during World War II. The documents demonstrate that the conservative Kanadier Mennonites were not socially or politically engaged pacifists but that their commitment to absolute pacifism was an integral part of their overall understanding of being Christian. according to the pure teaching of our Lord Jesus in the New Testament we are forbidden to take revenge, and in the spirit of the gospel, which is a spirit of peace, we are likewise forbidden to use any sword, weapon, or gun against our enemies.
    [Show full text]