Eberhard Arnold

From The Work Among The Educated

[Arnold, Eberhard and Emmy papers – P.M.S.]

[Draft Translation by Bruderhof Historical Archive]

EA 07/2

From The Work Among The Educated

by Eberhard Arnold

1907

1. Where we Stand

Our time can be rightly compared with the fermenting time in history when the message of the Cross was first proclaimed with such powerful results. Today too the most varied streams surge up and down in the spiritual world, drawn together as never before, seeking either to combat or to balance one another. Even if, characteristically, the lower social classes obviously take part in this combat, the educated world remains the real battleground for this struggle. The power with which God allows His saving Gospel to be proclaimed in this battlefield must inspire and enthuse us all. It reveals that we are in the midst of an awakening period of the greatest significance. But it has not yet succeeded, in any great measure, to reach, in the narrowest sense, educated circles.

Certainly God has proved His power wonderfully in the conversion of individuals, but the broad mass of educated people have scarcely a presentiment of renewed New Testament Christianity in the present time. It is natural that the struggle around the contemporary philosophy of life is most noticeable in the rising generation of educated men, namely, in our student circles. Here we see most clearly the devastation caused by a view of history ending in skepticism, where the relativism of rising and falling evolution does not allow any absolute truth. Here we meet the apathetic resignation in which a man rejects the struggle within himself, and the overwhelming difficulties outside himself, because the will is seen as nothing more than the influence of environment and predisposition. Here too we hear about the so called freedom of love, justified in all sorts of ways, and we see too so many ruined by it. But just here we become aware of the longing for strength which fills our time and in vain seeks gratification in hypnotism and mesmerism. Above all we encounter that purely contemporary longing for something complete and consistent, successfully offering Monism, the doctrine that there is only one supreme Being (rejecting the belief that there are good and evil principles) and Nietzsche's teaching of the superman. The influence of these movements makes itself very evident in theology. Just as the presumption of natural science declares that there is no need for a divine revelation, so the laws of nature disregard Christ's divinity and miraculous powers! Just as the conception of an uncompleted evolution is turned against an absolute truth in history, the critique of history is directed particularly sharply against the authenticity of the New Testament Christ.

It is not surprising that the students, under the depressing burden of problems briefly indicated here, seek distraction at least for a few hours, in limitless pleasures and excesses. Obviously much more frequently the cause is the well known student's inclination to loose living in superficial pleasure-seeking and finally, always the unfulfilled longing for happiness and joy. Thinking of this, it must strike us how much the minds of our German students are filled to excess with theories so that many think that a young man is most difficult to win when he is a student.

But last year's special work with students proved that this is not so. Since 1890 the founders and workers in the German Christian Student Movement have opened branches of the S.C.M. (D.C.S.V.) in nearly all German universities through annual conferences and weekly Bible studies to support and offer community to the faithful and to win others for Jesus Christ. The strenuous work in the S.C.M. is carried by student volunteers and two secretaries who have the task of supporting these circles with the journal communications (Mitteilungen), with visits, conferences and such activities. A lot of strenuous work is necessary. The secretaries can reach very few outside the circle of the S.C.M., at the most 100 and the least ten.

The influence of the S.C.M. has remained limited to a minority of about 500 in the whole of Germany. But often through their faithful work in the course of the years, students have been constantly won for Jesus. Quite clearly there were not always times of awakening and conversion, but just in the last two terms Jesus has been able to work. A fresh wind is blowing through our ranks. Here and there fellow students are waking up to a sincere witness for Jesus. It is so important for students that from their own ranks people stand up and with their whole strength and personality testify to Jesus as their Savior in the midst of the struggle of academic life. In this respect the testimony of our union has always been good.

"The S.C.M. is founded on the Scripture as on God's Word and acknowledges Jesus as Lord and God. Its goal is to move, not only its members, but as many students as possible, to personal relationship with the Savior and to work for Him." But not always, and also not today, does the life in all circles express this testimony. We stand in the midst of a struggle to bring this foundation to a real, general recognition in the S.C.M. When the truth of these sentences is completely represented by the Movement and with strength from God, their influence will be tremendous. But if this is not so the Movement will have no future and no justification for its existence. It is time that our growing student movement wakes up over the whole front to a courageous advance with flying colors! If we want victory we must rally round our covenant banner, held high, testifying to Christ and the Scripture so as to open the attack with widest vision, having no less a goal than the whole student body.

2. Our Purpose

 In this great conflict the Student Movement about which I especially want to report, carries out the most important service for the Christian Student Mission. Their work, that could be called apologetic aggressive revival work for the educated, is completely independent of the D.C.S.V. but with their personnel, and for practical purposes they work closely together. It was founded in the year 1902 in many university towns and other large centers, and has attracted great attention and brought much blessing. Looking over the scene of the battlefield described above, the full meaning of it can be seen most clearly in the six principles drawn up by Herr von Gerdtell, until now the only professional worker in the mission. But they were not represented by him alone, there were many students with their whole personal responsibility behind it.

The wording of these principles is as follows:

1."We stand on the foundation of the complete Holy Scriptures which we recognize as the only authority in life and in teaching. The inviolability and the all round sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures is our firm hold and stand.

2. We emphasize the divinity of Jesus and His vicarious sacrifice to atone for sin in the apostolic sense.

3. We require from each one a personal and whole hearted decision for Jesus as well as a break with sin and the world. We believe in eternal damnation for those who refuse to accept Jesus.

4. We want to win students and university men for Jesus, and to deepen those who are already won over in a personal and scholarly understanding of early Christianity.

5. We serve no particular creed nor do we want to support any particular church political program. But we guarantee, so far as possible that each one has complete freedom of conscience to serve God without human reservation according to his knowledge of the Bible.

6.We work as brothers as much as we are able hand in hand in thankful recognition of what God has done for all these existing, living missionary efforts among the students.

If we apply these principles to the contemporary academic/ spiritual life where they will have an effect, their strength and significance will be revealed more deeply to us.

1. In the face of modern higher criticism, and the relativistic interpretation of history, the old and new blends of religion, and the mixture of Christianity with philosophical heathen ideas, we declare the Lord and the Apostles as our only authority, and for this reason take the whole Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, for God's complete revelation, which does not allow anything to be taken away from it, but must be translated into deed and life.

2. Contrary to modern distortion and destruction of the image of Jesus to self redemption of the mystics and moral theology, we emphasize, according to the Scriptures, the center of salvation, more important to us than anything else, because we have to thank Him for everything: The Crucified Jesus for mankind!

3. For this reason we dispute any eternal value in 'Christian development', all 'inner growth' of the unconverted man, before he has taken a decisive step away from sin and rebellion and turned wholly and single heartedly to God and His service. We hold that concessions concerning the endless, terrible damnation of those who will not turn around, and all compromises concerning the necessity for an all round break with unconverted mankind and all its pleasures, are fraught with the most serious disaster because they fling God's truth and love in His face.

4. We know only one purpose for our work, to make the apostolic, living Jesus Lord over students and scholars. While in all these things we take early christianity for our decisive standard, we seek to understand it as fully as possible and for this purpose the pamphlets of Herrn v. Gerdtell do an extremely valuable service.

There are in our time many educated people who are biased against reading directly from the Bible or 'writings' of an 'edifying' nature but they are eager to read books about early Christianity as soon as they appear in modern scholarly style. That is why we ask readers who have the opportunity to talk about the Gospel with educated men and women, students, seminarians, etc. to draw attention to these pamphlets and in this way take their part in serving the Lord in this important mission. The apostolic Gospel purged from the debris of historical and ecclesiastical encumbrances well defined in new modes of thought, translated into modern language that is what we moderns lack.

5. It is clear from what we have said before that in our work we have not made efforts to follow any kind of creed or church policy. We have not the slightest concern to press others to accept our conviction, by which every man personally should live, but to lead, them, sincerely and alone, independent of all human opinions, to trust Christ himself and to obey what he understands in the Scriptures according to his innermost recognition.

6. From which we conclude that we should have community with all those who follow with us the truth of this goal, even though our understanding may be very different in some matters.

What is the use of the best principles, for what do we have the most glorious, greatest and only truth if we do not see that it is taken out among the people? Have we not that high purpose too bold for many to reach the whole student body and bring them to decision! Love urges us and the Spirit drives us to consider ways to open the gate to the academic world so that the truth must be heard. And the way is not difficult to find. It is there wherever love leads us. If we want to reach scholars and students we must try to understand and answer the questions they ask. We must be able to say to them: Here are people who feel and think with you, who question and work with you and are ready to answer whatever questions you put to them. In this for the most part lies the secret of the astounding response to the invitations to Herr von Gerdtell's meetings. In preparing lectures and reports, the impartiality of the questioning was carefully protected until the absolute truth of the Gospel was given and Jesus alone stood in the center. But of course we should not have filled the hall if we had not advertised on billboards and in newspapers and written polite personal invitations, so that if possible every educated person in the town would learn, and be constantly reminded that contemporary questions for the educated would be considered.

If the hall too, has this neutral, academic character, we can reckon confidently with an unusually crowded attendance. But it would be an awful shame if these hundreds of people were to be disappointed in their expectation of a serious scholarly dissertation, or if the Gospel, without power from above, should be offered to them. For this reason we cannot be serious enough in warning everyone against the slightest imitation that does not come from God, and on the other hand failing to pray urgently and persistently enough that this work is done in the strength of the Spirit for the sake of educated people. This is what we want, that God allows His power to be proved and His honor to be victorious. We hate all excitement and sensation which does not bring real and lasting results. For this reason von Gerdtell's work almost always has the most emphasis on prayer, by which we understand a persistent talking with God, quietly and soberly resting on His promises, and then the hindrances that stand in the way of God's working would actually be eliminated. With this truth held firmly in our hearts, we know no other power which could destroy the victory. For this reason our hopes soar so high, and for this reason we are working towards the goal of a general awakening in the Universities in Germany.

3. What we experience

Already now there are good beginnings which show that the blessing depends upon the degree and seriousness with which the stated principles in Christ are carried through. Our little group of dedicated friends may testify with thanks to God that He has blessed their work through conversions and definite progress. Also this year's Student Conference in Wernigerode was a clear witness to the truth and has brought about splendid decisions and resolutions.

The actual work of the Students Mission has been carried out in Halle this year in two lecture series in November 1906 and January 1907. It was the German Student Christian Movement in Halle which invited Herr von Gerdtell to lecture and evangelize. I reported in the 'Evangelischen Allianzblatt' in November about the work as follows: "This Union has already worked for a long 9time in Halle with God's blessing. Recently there were 70 to 90 people in the public Bible study meetings, and 20 to 30 students came to the prayer meetings. The circle of converted students joyfully took preparations for this work in hand and soon through the newspapers, advertisement pillars and 5000 invitations by mail, the educated circles in the town knew that a member of the nobility from Berlin would hold six lectures in the Logensaal about 'Weltanschauung' questions (questions concerned with the philosophy of life). The result was that the first lecture was very well attended. 600 to 700 men filled the hall and many were unable to get in. Women were not admitted. The scholarly well prepared lecture with definite reference to Jesus aroused such a tension that the attendance continued and on the fifth evening even more than 800 men found places although 250 of them had to stand. The police had to cordon off the Logansaal several times and perhaps hundreds were turned away. Educated circles were overpowered by a widespread movement. Everywhere, among professors and students, business people and teachers, among pastors as well as in the atheistic Monist alliance, the lectures and the relationship to the Christ of the Scriptures were spoken about. All the newspapers, from church papers to popular social democratic newspapers carried long articles written by friends and enemies, but all valuable to the movement.

But if these had been the only results we should have felt the work had suffered a heavy defeat. No, in many groups God's children were to be found, particularly among students, meeting daily to ask God for salvation from sin and the purification of His own. We relied only on the Word in our prayer meetings, lasting sometimes more than an hour, and accepted the victory from God even though nothing was yet to be seen. And He gave the victory. It was at the end of the fifth lecture that, in response to Brother von Gerdtell's invitation, about 80 men remained behind in order to draw closer to five themes of which the first was: 'I Accept Jesus as my Lord!'

3. What we Experience

Now the personal interviews increased. From morning until evening von Gerdtell worked, with the help of one of his friends, to do justice to the throng of men. Several times three rooms were full of men with questions about Jesus on their hearts. Many of them experienced a conversion. And we told them as clearly as possible that Jesus can only accept people who stand completely on His side. Those who came for these personal talks were engineers and business men, pharmacists and photographers, lawyers and doctors, theologians and professors of language, and not least, students from the agricultural college.

All directions could be found there, completely atheistic circles were particularly struck. Shocking confessions of sin alternated with honest scholarly doubts. Totally erroneous conceptions of Christianity had to be discarded, and staggering ignorance overcome. Truly a work needing the intercession of the faithful! Great grace is needed.

At the end of this task before Christmas, our believing students were deeply impressed by God's power and holiness. In a prayer meeting one after the other stood up and confessed his lukewarmness and half heartedness and solemnly promised to be decisive and faithful. Some of the newly converted have joined our prayer meeting and are now active in the work of the D.C.S.V. A few weeks ago I met again a fellow student who had experienced, like scales falling from his eyes, how simple conversion to Jesus is, and since then is a joyful witness for his Savior. Before this he had been a conscious non Christian, and instead of deciding, was waiting for a mystical experience. Another student who recently felt bitterly disappointed in a relationship, brought his landlady a newspaper report of a Gerdtell lecture. The lecturer's challenge to complete surrender to Jesus, Son of Man, gave him no rest until he also went to the meetings, and in one of the last, surrendered himself to Jesus. Since then he is seeking for a work by which he can bring others on the way of conversion to Jesus. I will only mention a third, who had been an atheist and sought a long time for a firm foundation. How often he told me how the lectures had overwhelmingly convinced him and finally brought about his conversion and how happy he was to be now firm and certain in Jesus.

In the meantime von Gerdtell's work had not limited itself to students. In the Bible lectures of a more intimate character with which he continued the larger meetings in November, about one hundred older men came together. Special requests from various circles in Halle caused him to give a second series of lectures after Christmas to which also women were invited. The lecture hall was stormed even more than before. The people waited for the beginning in crowded rows for more than an hour. One policeman, who with other policemen was keeping order, told us that on one evening they had to refuse entry to a thousand people. Again many reports appeared in the press. From all those which appeared before and after Christmas we give one which is a qualified defense of Gerdtell, apparently presented by a Monist in one of the two meetings discussing von Gerdtell, and secondly one of the many reports which the press accepted willingly and thankfully from us.

"German Monisten Alliance in Halle. In their last meeting the writer Ernst Georgy Halle gave an extensive, strictly objective account of the four lectures which Herr von Gerdtell has given so far. The speaker did not hold back his recognition of the likeable personality of the lecturer, and his undertaking to unearth the apostolic early church from the confusion and rubbish of dogmatic traditions. But to the subject itself, the speaker pointed out that Herr von Gerdtell, by making use of some initial steps, used Jesus to prove a united philosophy of life. The speaker said that that is not the point."

About the Gerdtell Lectures

On Thursday, the writer Ludwig von Gerdtell Berlin gave his third lecture in the 'Loge zu den 5 Türmen', Albrechtstrasse. The doors had to be closed already at 8:15 p.m. because the hall was full. The theme that evening was: 'Can a thinking man still believe in the divinity of Jesus?' Four possibilities are available for an opinion about Jesus. His self assurance is founded on deception, insanity, fanaticism or reality. While the lecturer dismissed the first two possibilities relatively briefly, he spoke at length about the last two. He tried directly and indirectly to prove that a thinking man still today can and must believe in Jesus. First he brought twelve points to show why Jesus could not have been a fanatical dreamer because the acceptance of a charge of fanaticism would lead to illogical contradictions. The direct proof was the powerful witness of a man who had personally experienced Jesus as his Savior from guilt and sin and who had often convincingly testified to this experience. For those who had the privilege of following Herr von Gerdtell's address on that evening, his powerful and unforgettable words will ring in their ears for a long time. The next lecture will be given on Monday, November 26 on the theme: 'The new man'."

The picture given at that time by the press in Halle was to some extent completed by the opinion of a Pastor who is quite objective about the work, but unfortunately it is very difficult to give a typical quotation from the unclear attack carried by only one newspaper. The Pastor mentioned above had this probably in mind when he wrote a lengthy article of appreciation in his church paper, as follows:

"He who follows with understanding the lecturer's addresses, continually challenging as they are, will be quite unable to miss the one essential characteristic; it is difficult, in deadly earnest, to awaken living faith in Jesus, the true Son of God, in the sense of personal life surrender, and with this to bring real authority to the Christianity of the New Testament in all its strength and clarity."

This personal life surrender under Christ, faithful to the New Testament has been reached by so many that it inspires us to praise and thank God to whom alone and exclusively we give the honor. God has so blessed it that in the lectures, the personal conversations and the whole subsequent work, the emphasis has been laid exclusively on winning the individual, the whole man, whereby, with all the strength given to us, we call for the unlimited surrender and boundless trust in Christ that alone brings rebirth. I am allowed to recount two typical instances from the Movement. A well known artist in Halle was converted to Jesus by reading John 3. where the Lord testifies to Nicodemus the necessity for a new birth. Following this decisive experience he designed a picture that can be warmly recommended, which very movingly shows Jesus talking with Nicodemus. The successful reproduction of this picture aroused a lot of attention and resulted in many conversations about the Movement and rebirth.

One gentleman in an executive industrial position belongs to those who have been won for Jesus through this work. I had a particular opportunity to see how God makes use of His people's simplest faith. Through the joyful witness of this man his accountant was soon converted to God. He now reads the Scripture with him every morning in the office and other employees are also earnestly seeking. The Movement is still going forward, and is a living demonstration of the Acts of the Apostles. I am allowed to see how whole families are saved and through the influence of highly placed converts, employees and servant girls come to faith in Jesus. These proofs of God's work say more to every sincere person than all the opposing directions and enmity towards the Movement which are and never will be lacking. Our experience repeatedly confirms the enormous significance of this Mission for the crying need in our educated circles and urges us continually to prayer, that God might purify the work from all weakness and build it up to the glory of His Son!

4. What we need

If we consider again the description of this situation, everyone will be convinced that this work needs a special grace from God. We need grace in order to understand the scholarly work of the modern trend and to direct it towards Jesus. We need grace in order time and again to reach the whole academic world with our witness. Grace above all for the great fight along the whole front to be protected from the slightest influence which does not come from God. We need the Holy Spirit in order in His strength to glorify Jesus as the Divine Ruler over everything that can be named; as the most perfect Savior of the most lost, and through self indulgence, the most ruined of mankind; as the only way to God for everyone who really and truthfully wants to go that way.

We must turn to God for everything we need. We ask Him too for the necessary coworkers so urgently wanted by Herr von Gerdtell for the sake of the great need and countless pleas for help. What we need for Brother von Gerdtell and his whole work for the mission among the students and undergraduates is a power of prayer from the faithful. This means those who are aware of the significance of this field of work for God's honor and Germany's salvation.

At the same time we call on those who know prayer in faith as the condition set by God for His intervention, seriously and with emphasis to clear, purposeful supplication.

1. Pray for the smallest and yet necessary means that God always gives as needed for this costly work.

2.Pray that God calls the coworkers who, by His direct commission bring, in the power of the Spirit, many from educated circles to Christ.

3. Pray that in the circles of our Student Union the Scriptures are accepted and acted upon as the inviolable, absolutely unambiguous, Truth of God, so that within them Jesus can powerfully prove Himself.

4. Pray that especially in our circles all worldliness may be torn out by the roots.

5. Pray for the increase of the faithful, particularly the newly converted, that they may grow more deeply into the Word and are filled with the Holy Spirit.

6. Pray that many more students are saved, that many more university men belong completely to Jesus, that we experience a widespread awakening in the educated world and the educated young people of Germany.

7. Pray above all things, and with your whole soul, that in this work, as in all work for God's Kingdom in this present time, no one is praised except Jesus alone. We are afraid of nothing more than the praise and honor of men, the root of all sin. God won the greatest victory when in the ranks of the faithful, all glorification of men was fully and completely killed, so that only One was prayed to, only One praised and honored: JESUS CHRIST!

Herr L. v. Gerdtell, Steglitz, Filandastrasse 34, is willing to supply any information required. All enquiries about the evangelizing of Universities and all questions concerning this Mission to be sent directly to him.

Donations are to be sent to the Mission Treasurer, Herrn Paul Harnisch, Frankfurt a.M. Waldschmidstr, 49

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"BURNING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MEANING AND PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE"

Answered for thinking modern people by LUDWIG VON GERDTELL

1.Pamphlet: Is the article (dogma) about Christ's vicarious sin offering still valid?

2.Pamphlet: Are the miracles of early Christianity sufficiently testified to in the historical studies of this period?

3.Pamphlet: The early Christian miracles before the forum of the modern philosophy of life.

Some Reviews from the press:

PROFESSOR E.F. STRÖTER: These writings are precise, arresting, and written with unrelenting logic. The reader would find a careful study very rewarding. He would worship the Crucified with increasing love and adoration. Here the redeeming word is spoken to many tormented thoughtful minds.

VIKAR VIELHAUER BASEL: It was like a revelation from Heaven when I read this clear and simple exposition.

PASTOR MUMSSEN: Here together you find the style of a modern, literary, educated man with the strength of Nietzsche in the manner of his expression and the keen eye of a New Testament theologian, the good sense for what is tangible and practical and behind it all the heart and conscience of a weatherproof Christian personality.

PASTOR SAMUEL KELLER: (in "Auf Dein Wort"): A scholarly tract of the first order.

PARTICULARLY SUITABLE AS A GIFT FOR AN EDUCATED UNBELIEVER (or an unbelieving scholar)