Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Baptism
Against the Wind
Once the prosect of taking the theology examination evaporated, Eberhard
saw no reason to postpone his baptism. In the spring he had made friends with
a Leipzig physician, Dr. Gotthelf Müller, and asked to be baptized by him. For
months, Eberhard had been thinking of a suitable place for his baptism, and there
are several indications that he found it in the Halle suburb of Ammendorf, on
the White Elster, a Saale tributary. The baptism took place there, probably on the
25th, but in all events not before the 20th, of October 1908. 4
It is characeristic of Eberhard that he later took his baptism as a matter of
course and very rarely brought up the subject himself. Believer’s baptism was never
a theme in his public lectures or articles except in surveys of church history. 5 In
fact, the only time baptism had been an issue for him was during those months of
intense seeking back in the summer of 1907. Others had far more problems with it
and either created or predicted difficulties for him.
Eberhard’s parents took the news of his baptism bitterly. And it was equally
hard for him when, as a result, they banned him from the family home. On
December 2, Elisabeth Arnold wrote a scathing letter to her son, seaking of
“perversity,” of a “fatal step,” accusing him of “foolish, short-sighted views,” and of
“loveless inconsideration.” She even cast him as a victim of “sectarianism with all its
deceptions,” and finally, regretfully, predicted for him “a very difficult life, full of
disappointments.” Carl Franklin Arnold declared, and not for the first time, that
he could not teach students when his own son was doing the opposite of what he
taught, and that therefore he would have to resign his professorship immediately
(which, however, he did not do).
on thEir own fEEt
The bottom line by the end of October was that both Emmy and Eberhard were
deprived of parental support and sympathy – she through loyalty to him, he through
baptism. In spite of this, their letters during the following year ring with the same
carefree tone as those exchanged during the very first weeks of their engagement.
The conflict with their parents had crystallized their situation in more ways than
one: They could at last appear in public as an engaged couple, without scruples
and without breaking any promises. Furthermore, unencumbered by parental
expectations, Eberhard could freely follow his inner call, arrange his doctoral
studies, and resume spiritual responsibilities. Neither Eberhard nor Emmy were
financially dependent on their parents any longer.
40