Martyr's Mirror & other Mennonite Musings...

Selections from the Introduction

“Men are more easily converted by good examples than by good teachings...”
-Martyr’s Mirror

Truer-words are rarely written, and this point is exactly why we love the Mennonites, and coincidentally exactly why we should try to show by example with our own life-enriching families, farms and lives. Leading by example is clearer & superior to good teachings.

Since I name-drop the Amish & Mennonites so often here on my blog, I thought it was time to delve into their Anabaptist world for my own enjoyment & for my readers. I will start with a hefty-book from the Mennonite Cannon, T.J. van Braght’s “Martyr’s Mirror”.

From Wikipedia:

The Martyrs Mirror is still a beloved book among Amish and Mennonites. While less common now than in the 20th century, in Mennonite homes Martyr's Mirror is a common wedding gift.

Well how good could a common wedding gift actually be?

Pretty gosh-darn good apparently. I am only 100-pages into the Introduction and becoming more impressed with each page. If the rest of this book, and the Mennonite denomination itself, is as quote-worthy as this book, we are all in for a grandiose retreat.

Here are some selected excerpts that caught my attention:

On Western Heroes vs. Religious Martyrs.

Of old, among the heathen, the greatest and highest honors were accorded to the brave and triumphant warriors, who, risking their lives in the land of the enemy, conquered, and carried off the victory. Thus Homer, the foremost of the writers of heroic poetry in Greece, has, in twenty-four books, extolled and embellished with many eulogies the warlike deeds of Odysseus. Quintus Curtius described, in ten books, the deeds of Alexander, the son of Philip of Macedonia: how triumphantly he conquered and subjugated Europe, Asia, India, and the countries bordering on the eastern Ocean, till he ultimately lost his life in Babylonia. Plutarch composed a voluminous work devoted to the praise of illustrious and valiant men. Titus Livius has written of the Roman heroes, how praise-worthily they acquitted themselves in behalf of the country of Romulus. Virgilius Maro and others eulogized the emperor Augustus…

We say nothing of the honor and praise, which, many years after their death, was bestowed in public theatres, upon those who had been sacrificed to idols, for the narration of it would consume too much time.

Yet, the whole volume of holy Scriptures seems to be nothing else than a book of martyrs, replete with numerous, according to the flesh, sorrowful, but according to the spirit, happy, examples of the holy and steadfast martyrs, whose sufferings, conflicts and triumphs have been recorded in as holy and worthy manner as it is possible to imagine.

The honor, therefore, which is due to the holy martyrs, is infinitely greater and better than that of earthly heroes; just as the fight they fought, was infinitely more profitable, and their victory, as coming from the hand of God, infinitely more praiseworthy and glorious.

Through earthly wars countries and their inhabitants are destroyed, the innocent killed, the fugitive robbed of their property, and much weeping and mourning caused among those who remain. But through the warfare of the martyrs, at least through the martyrs themselves, the prosperity of countries and their inhabitants was promoted because of the fervent prayers offered up by the martyrs to God for those who did them harm and for the common welfare of all the inhabitants.

...The life of the innocent, who otherwise would have had to die, their spiritual and eternal life, was obtained and preserved through the medicine of their good teachings, admonitions, examples, and unwavering continuance to the end of life.

On the Young, the Middle-Aged, and the Old

... Persons of every age may enter this school of practice in virtue; the young, the middle-aged and the old, all shall be led to true godliness by the living examples of those who went before them.

The young people who today live after their lusts, and have not come to the light, will see here, that many of their equals, who were only fourteen, fifteen, eighteen, twenty years old, or even younger, had at that age already forsaken the vanities of the world and the lusts of youth; nay, some so early that they had not yet come to know them, much less to practice, them…

The middle-aged, who, like the firmly-rooted oaks, are so deeply engrossed in, and joined to, earthly affairs and household cares, that it is next to an impossibility to detach them there-from because of their inseparable desire for the goods of this world...

The aged, who have neglected their youth and middle life, and are now come to the eleventh hour, and yet are still not working in the Lord's vineyard… watching and waiting for the hour of their departure and the day of their redemption, that they might become an acceptable offering to the Lord.

On “Riches of the Soul & Heart” vs. Material Wealth

… Those who had no eternal rest or dwelling-place found rest and a mansion of content in their souls and hearts. Those who went almost naked, having no clothes to put on, were most preciously clothed and adorned according to the soul, with the robe of righteousness and the garment of salvation and godly virtues. Those who had to abandon their secular business, and submit to despoilment of their money, goods and everything they had, so that outwardly they were very poor, possessed great riches within themselves through the grace of God which they received through the consolation of the Holy Spirit, and the word of the Lord, which was more precious to them than many thousand pieces of gold and silver.

Many of them would not have exchanged the darkest and severest dungeons, or the caves of the earth, in which they had to hide themselves, for royal palaces. The wilderness was to them a delightful pleasure-garden, the howling of the wild beasts which surrounded them, as sweet music or the songs of birds; and water and roots or dry bread delighted them more than the daintiest viands and drink from the tables of the great.

On Modern Comforts & Hidden Dangers

These are sad times, in which we live; nay, truly, there is more danger now than in the time of our fathers, who suffered death for the testimony of the Lord. Few will believe this, because the great majority look to that which is external and corporeal, and in this respect it is now better, quieter and more comfortable; few only look to that which is internal and pertains to the soul, and on which everything depends, "for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

… All this is hid under a beautiful appearance. Satan appears to be a prince or king, and the world a noble princess or queen. The servants and servant-maids who follow them as pages and maids of honor, appear as cavaliers and ladies, reveling in joy and delight; though, as regards the soul, they are poor and deformed, yea, meaner than beggars, and without the true joy which delights the upright soul in God.

These times are certainly more dangerous; for back then Satan came openly, through his servants, even at noon-day, as a roaring lion, so that he could be known, and it now and then was possible to hide from him… but now he comes as in the night, or in the twilight, in a strange but yet pleasing form, and, in a two-fold way, lies in wait to destroy the soul; partly, to trample under foot, and annihilate entirely…

He reveals himself on the one hand as an angel of light, II Cor. 11:14, 15, as a kind, pleasant, yea, even divine messenger, with humble countenance, downcast eyes, plain garb, and living in seclusion from the throng of the worldly-minded, even as the holiest people, yea, the martyrs of God, formerly did. His words are modest, trembling and full of contrition-seemingly coming from deep meditation, inward fear and apprehension, lest he might speak amiss or untruthfully. Meanwhile, and before one is aware of it, he seizes hold and tears like a wolf in sheep's clothing, robbing the innocent lambs of Christ of their precious faith, which, he pretends to be of small importance…

It grieves us to the heart that we must live to see these times, and therefore speak this wise. O Lord, strengthen our faith! help Thy weak, trusting lambs, that they may not be led into error, nor moved from the foundations of the most holy faith.

On the other hand, through his instigation, the world now reveals itself very beautiful and glorious, more than at any preceding time, in a threefold pleasing form-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Almost all men run after her, to worship her as a queen supreme; but all are deceived thereby; yea, many who have drunk of the poisoned wine of her lusts from the golden cup of her iniquities and deceptions, die a spiritual death.

Who shall escape these snares? He that would at no time be taken unawares by it, must indeed be cautious and watchful. But our very flesh seems prone to it. Here must be fasting, watching, praying, and calling upon God for help, otherwise there is no escape.

It was the world and its lusts that of old caused all the great calamities of which we have spoken; and not only this, but it has also caused thousands who live in various cities, countries, kingdoms, empires, yea, on the face of the whole earth, to mourn, weep and wail, on account of their natural misery as well as on account of their experiencing the wrath of God in their souls because of the magnitude and enormity of the sins perpetrated by them.

In the world men would perceive nothing but vanity, mingled with much vexation, sorrow, grief and misery, and this in such abundance, that if as many tears could be wept over it, as there is water in all the sea and all the rivers, yet the weight of the true sorrow that springs from them it could not be adequately expressed, for they draw after them not only temporal but also everlasting miseries.

O corroding and cankering luxury, that draggest after thee such a train of unspeakable miseries! Help, Lord, that our soul be delivered from all these dangers.

On the Pitfalls of Global Trade & Lavish Parties

Hence arises that shameful and vast commerce which extends far beyond the sea into other parts of the world, Ezek. 27, but which notwithstanding cannot satisfy those who love it, but, on the contrary, brings great danger, that that which has already been gotten, may be lost, others defrauded, and they themselves, both in soul and body, stripped and robbed of their possessions.

The giving and attending great dinners, lavish banquets and wedding-feasts (though one may never be found in taverns or tippling-houses), where everything is in profusion, and where the beneficent gifts of the Lord which should not be used otherwise than with great thankfulness, and of which a portion naturally belongs to the poor, are squandered and consumed without the least necessity, even by those who are considered sober and temperate, is an incontrovertible evidence of a sensual and wanton heart; and proves also that those who have much to do with these things, cannot be exculpated from living after the flesh; for which carnal life certainly has no promise of salvation…

O how different is this from the life of a true Christian, who has forsaken himself and his lusts. How great the step that is between their walk and that of the holy martyrs, who delivered up, not only their carnal desires, but also their bodies and lives, unto death for the Lord's sake! But how great a difference will also be between the two classes afterwards! When the former, having had their good things in this life, shall be shut out from the true, heavenly riches, but the latter, because they have love to God, renounced and abandoned their possessions, which might have led them into sin, be admitted to the true enjoyment of the heavenly riches and pleasures, and that for ever and ever!

On Simplicity & Salvation

Let your simplicity be coupled with prudence. Your faith as well as your life are the objects aimed at. If Satan gain the mastery over you, your precious faith which has been commended to your keeping as dearly as your soul, is ruined. If ye are overcome by the world, it will soon put an end to your Christian and virtuous life, without which latter the best of faith is of no avail.

Faith without the corresponding life, or the life without the faith, can, will, and may not avail before God. They are like two witnesses, who must agree, and of whom the one cannot stand or be received without the other. …Knowing, then, that we must care for both, there remains nothing for us but to do it… since it is certain that the crown is not to be found in the beginning or in the middle, but at the end.

… As necessary as it is to finish well, so necessary it is also to begin well, and, having begun, to go on well; for without a good beginning and a good progress it is impossible to attain to a good end.

Let us be patient together, then, most beloved in the Lord, till the day come, which, if we remain faithful unto the end, will assuredly bring us that which we here wait for in hope. Then the tears, which we, sighing and longing for the highest salvation of God, have wept here, shall surely be wiped away from our eyes; then shall we no longer see through a glass, darkly, but face to face; then shall the heavenly be shown us no longer in thought or in spirit, but it shall be given us, and we be made participants of it, by experience alone, in truth and in deed. O great and precious subject! we can go no further: our reason cannot comprehend it; our earthly tongue cannot express it!

What prophetic words written in the 1600’s by the Early Mennonites. The admonition of the “lusts of youth”. The critique of “shameful and vast commerce which extends far beyond the sea into other parts of the world”. I felt like I was reading a classic western book promoting localism & perennialism for a moment. I strongly recommend this 1,000-page book, at least the 100-page Introduction, for anyone interested in the early mindset of the Mennonite. Alongside this book I have been reading Cornelius Dyck’s Introduction to Mennonite History which is also an interesting tome in order to become acclimated to the Early Anabaptist world.

MY final thoughts today are this:
Often in today’s society the roles have been reversed. Instead of following the adage of “treat others how you would treat yourself”, Most of us end up “treating others how they treat us”; And therefore if the Modern world is conditioned by technology to be impatient and cantankerous so are you too! All the lack of virtue that we see in the world and in ourselves, they are mere reflections of the society at large. Is it empathy that one lacks, Or does society lack it? At times you think you lack empathy for others, but aren't you just a reflection, an emulation of the Capitalist & Marxist dominated world that we live in? This dog-eat-dog world of conflicting stakes within inequality & equality, but not in terms of the soul and of the heart; NAY, in terms of strictly Material possessions. I say that if you keep fighting that Materialistic-battle you’ll keep wondering why you never find what you shall seek.

As the Mennonites once told; Find your wilderness. Your delightful pleasure-garden. Where the howling of the wild beasts surround you. As natures sweet music and the songs of birds; and water and roots delight you more than the foolhardy drinks from the tables of the great. More precious than many thousand pieces of gold and silver. What everyone around you seeks in this world is a separation from their spiritual nature, an embrace of the materialism of this earthly world. Is this not just the beautiful appearances of a hidden evil in our midst?

If you, like us, strive to build a virtuous community based on simplicity, like the Anabaptists for example, is it not because you simply see a complete lack of virtue in the popular, hedonistic, & often-false communities of our day? NAY, in our false dichotomy between Capitalism and Marxism, Neo-liberalism and Conservatism, all these false idols and utopias, none of which come from the truly revolutionary spirit of life within mankind; They are all more a reaction to material conditioning. Whereby in the process have these very modern ideologies not hardened our spiritual hearts and souls too?

The Power of Coming to Spiritual Knowledge on Your Own.
Where-as some of the earthly religions preach infantile baptism, foisting a belief on a child who has no reason or rational faculties to hold such a belief; are the Anabaptists & Dunkards not correct in rejecting this and favoring baptism, after much rational and reasonable deliberation, only in Adulthood? I dare say that this is one of the strongest points of the Mennonites versus the earlier Christians such as Luther, Calvin and Roman-Catholics.

The Anabaptists, Baptized in adulthood when you have learned & earned the proper way of living.

Until next time…

& Don’t miss the next ramblings…

Don’t forget to tell your friends!

Or if you want to buy direct from our Farm, Goat-Meat (We ship frozen in the US) or a Tanned Goat-Hide or clothing & stuff (WORLDWIDE), please support us: https://www.heartlandgoats.com/

CONSUME OUR PRODUCT, DO NOT ASK QUESTION