Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Wind
He alone is the firm rock of salvation for the anchorless wrecks that are tossed here
and there in the opinions and tendencies of the present day…We want to put him in
the center of a world that mocks him and says he is outdated…We do not want to
be or become an isolated sect, but rather a missionizing power for all groups in our
universities. We do not want to set up a party or direction within Christianity, but
rather to unite Christians of every hue under the banner of Jesus…Only Jesus! That
is the motto of our movement. We know we do not belong to ourselves any longer,
but that he has redeemed us to God by his blood. 10
The local SCM chapter had grown steadily in strength ever since Eberhard had
joined during the previous fall. “When I came to Halle,” Eberhard later wrote,
“the confusion in the SCM was beyond description. God granted the grace to bring
the spirit of Jesus to rulership and to drive out what was alien and unclear. We
have had wonderful, glorious experiences. It was not my work, nor anyone else’s,
but only the work of the Lord and his spirit.” 11
Eberhard’s maturity and his acivity in the local SCM soon gained wider
recognition. Before long he was asked to participate as a “student member” on
the SCM’s national executive committee. With-in the circle of intellectual and
influential men in which Eberhard now found himself was a face not altogether
unfamiliar to him – he already knew Ludwig von Gerdtell from the itinerant
Baptist lecturer’s early days as SCM secretary.
Back in 1902, a week of lectures by von Gerdtell in Breslau had inspired a small
revival among the local secondary students. 12 Von Gerdtell, eleven years Eberhard’s
senior, was a brilliant and powerful seaker. Originally, aside from his law pracice,
he had also traveled around the country giving popular religious lectures for the
general public. He rejected infant baptism, lashed out at the state church, and
did not shrink from taking the offensive in discussions on modern science. He
attached importance to cultivated manners, but could be deliberately rude and
hurtful. He enjoyed making jokes at other people’s expense. This had assured him
of an attentive audience over many years. Karl Heim, who admired von Gerdtell,
wrote of him in 1906: “The truth of Jesus’ sayings is proved with a lawyer’s logic
and is intersersed with strikingly powerful testimonies.” 13
Von Gerdtell’s relentless manner of seech coupled with his uncompromising
lifestyle could not fail to impress a young man of similarly keen intellect. So it
is not surprising that Eberhard initially associated closely with him during this
early time in the SCM. Frequently, Eberhard supported von Gerdtell’s direction
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