Revolution

Mennonites, throughout most of their history, have been suspicious of sociopolitical revolution. This was also true of many Anabaptists, after the initial involvement of some in revolutionary movements at Münster and in the Peasants' War. During the 18th and 19th centuries Mennonites were often tolerated by virtue of privileges granted by kings and princes and hesitated to support movements calling for the overthrow of aristocratic governments in Russia, Germany, or colonial America.

Theologically, however, Anabaptism was revolutionary in its attitude toward the existing, traditional church. Anabaptist restitutionism, in its zeal to restore the pristine apostolic church, scoffed at calls for reform in favor of a radical new creation. Anabaptist studies during the 1970s and 1980s have increasingly pointed to the revolutionary apocalypticism, anticlericalism, anti-sacramentalism, and anti-traditionalism that formed the matrix for Anabaptism of all varieties (history, tradition, Anabaptism).

This dual inheritance -- a Mennonite inclination to be the "quiet in the land" in return for privileged toleration and an Anabaptist apocalyptic zeal for radical change -- has led to widely divergent attitudes toward revolution in the 20th century. Some Mennonites involved in sociopolitical activism have favored various forms of liberation theologies or radical social protest in North and South America, Europe, South Africa and elsewhere. The issue of violent revolution which is closely connected with many of these movements has, as a result, been debated. Other Mennonites have decried these developments as a betrayal of Mennonite ethical dualism (nonconformity). In the latter view, Christians are not to seek sociopolitical change by "worldly" methods, including various forms of nonviolent pressure politics, and certainly not by any form of violent revolution.

Throughout much of the 20th century, Mennonites have found themselves confronted directly by the disruption and polarization that accompanies revolutionary situations, most recently (1980s) in Indonesia, Zaire, Central America, and Ethiopia. The story of Mennonite responses to these situations has not been recorded or studied. Mennonite responses to the Russian Revolution have been the object of some study and historical writing during the 1970s and 1980s.

Bibliography

Consultation on "The Christian worker in revolutionary situations." Council of Mission Board Secretaries, 1971.

Friesen, Leonard. "Mennonites in Russia and the Revolution of 1905: Experiences, Perceptions, and Responses." Mennonite Quarterly Review 62 (1988): 42-55.

Friesen, Leonard. "The Russian Revolution of 1917 Reconsidered: New Light on an Old Subject." Conrad Grebel Review 5 (1987): 135-46.

Gingerich, Melvin. The Christian and Revolution. Scottdale: Herald Press, 1968.

Gish, Arthur. "Eine Theologie für die Revolution." Mennonitische Geschichtsblätter Jg. 29, n.F. 24 (1972): 13-34.

Harding, Vincent. "The Peace Witness and Modern Revolutionary Movements," The Witness of the Holy Spirit: Proceedings of the Eighth Mennonite World Conference Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 23-30, 1967, ed. C. J. Dyck. Elkhart , IN.: Mennonite World Conference, (n.d.).

Keidel, Levi. Caught in the Crossfire. Scottdale: Herald Press, 1979.

Klaassen, Walter. "Doperdom als Revolutie: een Voorbeeld van 'Confessionalisme' in de Doopsgezinde Geschiedschrijving." Doopsgezinde Bijdragen, n.r. 7 (1981): 109-15.

Martin, Dennis D.  "Nothing New Under the Sun?: Mennonites and History." Conrad Grebel Review 5 (1987): 1-27.

Mennonite Quarterly Review 58 (August 1984), sp. issue on liberation theologies.

Neufeld, Dietrich. A Russian Dance of Death, trans. and ed. Al Reimer. Winnipeg: Hyperion, 1977.

Ruth, John. 'Twas Seeding Time. Scottdale: Herald Press, 1976.

Snyder, C. Arnold. "Anabaptism and Revolution: the Case of Michael Sattler," Church History 50 (1981): 276-87.

Snyder, C. Arnold. "The Relevance of Anabaptist Nonviolence for Nicaragua Today." Conrad Grebel Review 2 (1984): 123-37.

Stayer, James M. "Reublin and Brötli: the Revolutionary Beginnings of Swiss Anabaptism" in The Origins and Characteristics of Anabaptism, ed. Marc Lienhard. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1977: 83-102.

Toews, John B. Czars, Soviets, and Mennonites. Newton: Faith and Life, 1982.

Toews, John B. The Mennonite Brethren Church in Zaire. Fresno: Board of Christian Literature, MB Churches, 1978: 143-53.

Zuck, Lowell H., ed. Christianity and Revolution: Christian Testimonies, 1520-1650. Philadelphia: Temple U. Press, 1975.

Author(s)	Dennis D Martin
Date Published	1989

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Martin, Dennis D. "Revolution." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1989. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Revolution&oldid=143441.

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Martin, Dennis D. (1989). Revolution. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Revolution&oldid=143441.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 773-774. All rights reserved.

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