Growth-and Some Decline-of the Churches / 89

condition flees to Jesus for refuge and becomes His disciple. He becomes closely connected with Christ "as the branch is with the vine." The Christian brings forth the fruits of the Spirit; he has "the mind of Christ." Christ had a lamblike disposition; so has the Christian. Christ denied Himself; so does the Christian.

The question arises: "Can a Christian take up the weapons of death, go forth to war, and destroy the lives of his enemies, and at the same time obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, and be justifiable in the sight of God?" Brenneman attempts to answer this serious question "not by the views and opinions of men" but "by the pure doctrines and the example of Jesus Christ and His apostles and certainly no one who professes to be a Christian will dare dispute these." Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount that His followers will not resist evil; they will suffer wrong sooner than inflict it. They are commanded to love their enemies. They are to pray for their persecutors, even as Christ did.

Moreover Christ told James and John not to call down fire on their opponents. Peter was rebuked when he used the sword and Christ made it clear to Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. The children of God are peacemakers. "If Christ is a King of peace, then His subjects or the members which compose His kingdom must be peaceful too." For Brenneman the answer is clear: a Christian cannot "go forth to war, and, with sword and gun in hand, destroy the lives of his enemies (whom he loves); cutting them limb from limb into pieces; wasting their fields waving beautiful grain; burning their houses and barns; destroying all the property he possibly can; making widows and orphans; and bringing sorrow and trouble, and often starvation and death upon them."

Again, Brenneman returns to the theme of suffering and he cites the martyrdom of the apostles as recorded in the Mennonite work, Martyrs Mirror, which is a compilation of the sufferings of the Anabaptist-Mennonites for their faith. Mennonites today, he says, live in both North and South. How can they destroy each other if they are faithful to Christ? And then in Lincolnesque manner he notes the sins of the American people and asks whether Almighty God in divine justice may not be allowing that the "North and the South should punish and chastise each other for their great wickedness, and withal, in the end, to do away with slavery; I say, who can tell whether this was not the cause and object." "Surely judgment has not come upon us before it was fully deserved."