Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Windher up to date with all that is happening in Breslau. She tells him in great detailwhat is going on in the family, among people in the Alte Promenade Fellowship,and in Christian circles in Halle. And there are always many and often complexevents to recount.thE iSSuE of baptiSmExternal events forced the issue of baptism on Eberhard and his fiancée. Influencedby members of the fellowship, in May 1907 Emmy’s sister Else announced herwish to be baptized. The von Hollander parents stood strictly opposed to theidea and wrote to Eberhard via Emmy, urging their future son-in-law to apply histheological knowledge to dissuade Else from her plans. Their request impelledEberhard to search out the biblical arguments for and against both infant and adultbaptism. Until this moment it had never been an issue for him. Once the questionarose, however, it took Eberhard nearly five months to draw a final conclusion.Emmy, through their regular exchange of ideas and by pursuing her own line ofthought, arrived at the same conclusion. This process of recognition unfolds stepby step through the pages of their correspondence. Their letters clearly illustratehow Eberhard thought, what his faith meant to him, and how consistently hefollowed it. Quite clear as well is the fact that Emmy played an important role inthe process and is by no means a minor character in this drama. For these reasonsthis development of the topic of baptism is recounted below in detail:26May 11, 1907: Referring to Romans 3–4, Eberhard holds that “infant baptism isnot invalid, but is the will of Jesus and God; if any person longs to possess its savingpower he must undergo circumcision of the heart (conversion) and experience thebaptism of the Spirit.”May 31: He writes to the von Hollander parents: “We owe a great amount tothe church and must regard as unproven the frequently asserted contradictionbetween its baptismal practice and the Scriptures.”June 16: Then, to Emmy he writes: “These days I am having serious doubts aboutmy baptism theory and am leaning strongly toward believer’s baptism! My doubtsarise from a difficult question: if baptism should be widely practiced in the senseI have held, how would it be conceivable to have the strictly separated fellowshipof believers, as required and carried into effect by Jesus and the apostles? This