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The Secret of the Strength The Secret of the Strength What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation? by Peter Hoover "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard, said the apostles marching directly into persecution. They had discovered the secret of Jesus' strength. We may discover it too, thanks to the clues left behind by those who loved not their lives even unto death. In this book you may find many clues." The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you," Christ told his followers-and a few fishermen, a tax collector, and a motley crowd of Jerusalem "believers" set out to change the world. They succeeded. In sixteenth century Europe, the Anabaptists preaching in cities by night, on back streets, and in wood corners behind rail fences began to do the same. What was their secret? In this book you may study what they accomplished as long as they remembered it and what they lost when they forgot it. Was their secret a return to the Bible? No, they were far more than biblicists. Was it a return to the apostolic way? No, they were far more than keepers of tradition. Fundamentalism and traditionalism have never held Christianity together nor made it work. The "secret of the kingdom of God" is stunningly simple. With two words Christ revealed it to his friends, who-upon comprehending it-came to a sudden knowledge of the will of God, of the whole Bible, and of the right way to live. The purpose of this book is to help many more to comprehend the same. Conrad Grebel, Menno Simons, Peter Rideman--what did these Anabaptists really say about conversion, separation from the world, the visible church, the meaning and mode of baptism, the frequency of communion, divorce and remarriage, community of goods, and many other issues? With its nearly four hundred quotes from sixteenth century writings (many of them original translations), and dozens of character sketches, this 300 page book is a serious attempt to answer the question of its subtitle: "What would the Anabaptists tell this generation?" "I highly recommend Peter Hoover's book, The Secret of the Strength. The teachings and sufferings of the early Anabaptists are thoroughly documented. The author vividly describes both our strengths and weakness in the four hundred seventy-three years of our history." Myron Dietz, Old Order River Brethren historian "The strength of this work is its evocative use of language to set a scene, its mixture of stories---Anabaptist and personal---with Anabaptist texts, and the gently passionate tone of its message. The book makes Anabaptist sources broadly available to the casual reader, and it places their story into the broader, deeper framework of commitment to Christ." John D. Roth, editor, Mennonite Quarterly Review Note: This book is presently out of print. We'll try to update the www. AllGodsWord.com/Books.htm page if that status changes. New! A new German language edition of this book is available: www.down-to- earth.de There are two other books by Peter Hoover on this page: www.AllGodsWord. com/Books.htm Contents Dedication Acknowledgments Introduction i 1. A Man Hanging from His Thumb 1 2. What Was the Secret of the Strength? 4 3. The Woman Who Had a Baby in Jail 9 4. From Where Did the Anabaptists Come? 13 5. Literarily . An Explosion! 20 6. On to Christ 25 7. On to Conviction 25 8. On to the Teachings of Christ 65 9. On to the Word 72 10. On to a New Life 86 11. On to Baptism 94 12. On to Commitment 118 13. On to Communion 131 14. On to Community 147 15. On to Visibility 171 16. On with the Message 184 17. On to Witness 191 18. On to Peace 203 19. On to an Ethical Way of Life 213 20. On to Modesty 222 21. On to Christian Families 228 22. On to Christian Service 237 23. In Spite of Terrible Mistakes 242 24. A Bull in the China Shop 255 25. Zu de Gmeysleid 269 26. To the Outsiders 273 27. The Last Chapter 282 How to find the Anabaptists' writings 295 Index 297 Cover illustration: The Anabaptist Winkelprediger (corner preacher) tells his audience about the death and resurrection of Christ. Finding its way into Martin Luther's 1534 Bible as a title page for the prophet Hosea, the original woodcut is of very early but uncertain origin. Luther apparently did not like it, and in the next edition of his Bible he had it removed. This book is not copyrighted and no publisher shall do so. No rights are reserved. All parts of it may be reproduced in any form or by any means for the cause of Christ. But before reprinting it, please contact the present publisher if possible. The need for corrections or revisions to the text may have become apparent. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society, unless included as part of translated quotes from German text. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Additional notes by the publisher of this web site: 1) I have left the page numbers intact in the above table of contents so that you can make some use of the present index. 2) This book is especially of interest to those of Anabaptist background, but others will find the "picture" of the Anabaptists that is given (primarily through their own writings) valuable. Everyone should at least read Chapter 26 which has the account of Indians in the Ohio valley. 3) This PDF (with improved formatting) was created on Jan. 28, 2006. There have been no changes to the book text since Feb. 5, 1999. My hope is that the publication of this book on the Internet (since summer 1998) will encourage you to follow Christ in all you do. Please let me know what you think of this book and if it has been helpful. Other comments or suggestions are also welcomed. Thank you! email: Paul Breneman PO Box 3817 Columbus, OH 43210-0817 For my Friend about whom they asked, "Isn't this the Carpenter?" who wrote no books but about whom and for whom we are still writing, for Susan and the brothers and sisters of our fellowship in 1997: Lynn and Wilma Martin, Marvin and Virginia Wadel, John and Patricia Martin, Edsel and Jennifer Burdge, Kore and Elizabeth Byler, Ronald and Edith Martin, David and Starla Goodwin, Eldon and Sherilyn Martin, Conrad and Katrina Hege, Kevin and Jalee Brechbill, Jason and Jill Landis, Dallas and Joy Martin, Gordon and Janelle Ogburn, Conrad and Sharon Sollenberger, Wendell and Marla Martin, Harvey and Arlene Reiff, Kirk and Barbara Anderson, Jonas and Vonda Landis, Mike and Sarah Hostetler, Dan and Esther Mae Wadel, Sheldon and Marge Martin, Piper Burdge, Luke, Elisha and John Byler, Mario Aguilar, Edna Horst, Levi, Malinda and Rhoda Hostetler, Wade and Katrina Anderson, Andrea, Erica, Rantz, Lana, Trent, Anne, Heather, Candace, Craig, Bradlyn and Sharleen Martin, Barry Willis, Marc, Kathy, Byron, Darian and Christa Wadel, without whom this book would not have become a reality, and for Christopher, Grace, Justin, Stanley and Stephanie Hoover, Chantel Brechbill, Daniel, Ian, Adam and Andrew Burdge, Salome Byler, Conrad, Felix, Julitta and Anysia Goodwin, Karla, Marjorie, Audrey, Lynette, Leonard and Delbert Hege, Bertha Hostetler, Rylan, Rochelle, Jenna, Elyse and Lorielle Landis, Radford, Natalie, Abigail, Winston, Meghan, Alex, Roxanne, Geoffrey, Spencer, Caroline, Lauren, Amy, Rachel, Brady, Dylan, Shana, Kylie, Lance and Colin Martin, Ian, Ariana and Avery Ogburn, Joshua, Jonathan and Joellen Reiff, Travis, Jessica, Heidi and Benjamin Sollenberger, Brendan, Kirby, Maria, Kayla, Micah, Daven, Justin, Joanna, Lindon and Kara Wadel who, it is hoped, will capture the message of this book and share it with the world. Apart from the Christian community that produced it -- the men, women, young people and children who have come to share what they have, spiritually and materially, so that none are left with too much and none are found wanting -- this book would have nothing to say. It is our challenge. Let us live it. We will need the "secret of the strength" when our trial comes. Acknowledgments Table of Contents Acknowledgments My birthplace, the city of Kitchener, Ontario, had much to do with the writing of this book. Founded by Mennonite bishop Benjamin Eby in the early 1800s, the city, with its doors always open to immigrants, provided me with my first contacts with the wider Anabaptist community: the Russian Mennonites, the Nazarener, the Hutterites, and others. Special recognition must be given to J. Winfield Fretz and Frank Epp, then of Conrad Grebel College, for spending time with me in my most impressionable years. The same and more must be said for Reinhold Konrath, then of Victoria Street, with his rare collection of Anabaptist books and documents, and for Reg Good, a friend. My parents, Anson and Sarah Hoover, and great-uncle Menno Sauder of the Old Order Mennonite community north of the city greatly stimulated my desire to know about our past. So did my grandparents, Menno and Leah Hoover and our neighbourhood harness-maker, Matthias Martin, whom I visited innumerable times on foot, cutting across the back fields to his place along the creek. I would thank Cornelius Krahn of North Newton, Kansas ( who gave us a box full of Anabaptist books as a Poltergeschenk when we stopped at his place on our wedding trip) and bishop Elmer D. Grove for their inspiration in historical research. I thank the following persons: Amos B. Hoover (in whose library I paged through original Anabaptist writings for the first time), David Bercot, Philip Yoder, John David Hoover, Elmo Stoll, Wayne Chesley, Keiner Barrantes and the rest who played a part in bringing this book to completion.
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