New Christian History Mag.

[Bladestunner316]

its on the mennoites, amish, and bretheren. looks good though I dont know much about these movements.

anybody read Christian History?

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/

blade

 

[RamistThomist]

I used to and occasionaly will browse it at the library. Howver I am very cautious reading anything by Christianity Today. On the other hand, the magazine is a source (if too irritatingly moderate) of Christian History. My first two years in college I devoured every CT and Christian History I could get my hands on. Some of the older issues are quite good, actually.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

I read certain articles from it too and I enjoy their special editions on Reformation historical topics, but Jacob is right, it has to be read with discernment considering the source.

 

[LadyFlynt]

I'll read it an get back to you....I actually got criticized for reading every book I could find on their history while "out there".

 

[RamistThomist]

The reason I am irked at CT was on their issue of John Knox the editor (I want to say David Nells or Neff, but I am not sure) belly-ached about "mean ole John Knox."

 

[LadyFlynt]

Okay, that was quick....too bad they didn't go furthur into the history of the anabaptists.....you would have found the case of Muenster very interesting, and of course the anabaptists will all claim them as a radical group that was not really associated with them.

The article was good. Another book to add to their reccomendation list would be "Keeping the Faith", which those in the community I was in that had that book had written over the title the words "Losing the Faith". It really goes into the General Conference split int he 60's and 70's.

The group we were with would fall under "Transitional"...the only thing they go wrong is saying that though traditional "they do outreach and missions"...HA! their idea of outreach and missions is laughable. And the only real racial diversity is in the liberal groups. The reason is that though some black ppl are allowed in they are held at arms length. They come in usually through adoption/foster care, marriage between a young man and a woman from Jamaica (one of their 2 "mission fields), or a ditto with the Philippines. A comment made to another lady that had joined and left was that they "will accept a black person before a Jew" (they had tried to get this family to change the pronounciation of their last name...it was a german name but sounded too Jewish for the community's liking).

Oh, and the arguements and splits run more rampant and ridiculous than you might expect. A group splits and then the 2 groups spend their years arguing over which group is more conservative....here are their reasons:

The Pilgrim church....
a skirt has to be 9in off the floor....to measure by mid-calf might make it too short on a taller person.
flowers on a dress can be as big as you want, but must blend into the background color of the dress, so that you can barely see it when up close.

The Eastern Pennsylvanian Mennonite Church....
a skirt has to be mid-calf....to measure by inches could make it too short on a shorter person.
flowers on a dress can be distinct, but must be no bigger than a quarter.

The arguments go on and on and on and on. Ties on coverings or no ties, cone shaped coverings or flatter coverings, belts on dresses or no belts, vest under the sack jacket or no vest, beard or no beard, internet cut out (except for businesses....how inconsistant/don't want to hurt their expansive bank accounts) due to the findings that "www" stands for "666" in Hebrew (I was there when this was announced, btw), black cars only or just dark colored cars (red still being a big no-no) (of course no one is going to say anything to the wealthiest couple's son who just bought a high priced sky blue car...yes, he's a member and of course he responsibly paid cash out of his own account).

Their aversion to the color red is that it was the prefered and favorite color of the RCC. But they themselves will remind you of the RCC in many ways.
Mono and staff infections run rampant due to ignorance (bringing in antibiotics from the "mission field" and taking one whenever you don't feel well....same with anti-depressants) and the holy kiss not being monitered very well...don't kiss someone if they've had mono! (it was a pig raising community and I blame half the illness on that alone...I stayed off pig meat for a year after leaving). They will take whatever a doctor gives them no questions asked. Many on on anti depressants just to deal with eachother.

Their mission fields are more like young ppl's get aways or honeymoon spots for most of their ppl as that is who gets to go...they will never send a 1st generation mennonite either.

The Hutterites briefly mentioned in the article is a truely communistic community. They believe the "share all wordly goods". When you enter, you give up EVERYTHING you have except mayhaps a few personal items (clothing, pictures, a watch, Bible, etc.) which the community leaders distribute or sell as they see fit. If you choose to leave you get none of it back....you are "free to leave" but most escape as accidents have been known to happen before leaving day (Charity is a group known for rescuing many of those that leave). Families live in little apartments. When the children reach a certain age (abt 13yrs) they are separated into boys' dorms and girls' dorms. BTW, these older children love their parties. The older children watch the younger ones while the adults work. The community pays taxes as a group not as individuals.

A person can go visit these Hutterite communities.

need more? I could rant about my own time in the conservatice mennonite church....but I know the Lord caused it for a reason and I learned alot about myself and about what matters and doesn't. Don't sacrifice the inner things just to be with ppl that do as you do. I know what it truely means to go through a "dry season" spiritually as well...and to truely be lonely. I needed that.

 

[Bladestunner316]

I agree they can be too tolerant. But I do enjoy reading the mag for its historical content as opposed commentary on history.

blade