Winter and all, We welcome discussions on this list of how the Brethren lived and what they thought, with this caveat: such discussions should always be done with respect for and a sincere desire to understand our ancestors *as they were,* not as we see things today, nor as we *wish* they had been. The authors of the source documents we find often had biases which influenced the way they interpreted the facts (no doubt, in another generation or two, those who read our discussions will see that sometimes our statements are also fraught with biases). So, we should always be careful in asserting that any one author has everything just right. One of the Biblical aphorism often quoted by the Brethren is "in a multitude of counselors there is safety." These discussions can prove valuable to us all, if we keep these guidelines in mind. JS, for the moderators At 11:00 am -0700 7/2/08, winter dellenbach wrote: >Hi - I don't intend to debate theology here - anabaptism, pietism or >pacifism. My intention is to clarify beliefs when doing so can shed >light on our gen. research. Pacifism is grounded in our Brethren/ >Mennonite European history and persecution and is a big subject with >current application and relevance - but shouldn't that discussion done >elsewhere? >winter -- __________________________ James Shuman, Co-Moderator jshuman@telis.org __________________________