Book Description
This digital document is an article from Utopian Studies, published by Society for Utopian Studies on March 22, 1997. The length of the article is 4151 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Witness of the Brothers: A History of the Bruderhof. (book reviews)
Author: Calvin Redekop
Publication: Utopian Studies (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1997
Publisher: Society for Utopian Studies
Volume: v8Issue: n2Page: p104(7)

Article Type: Book Review

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Church History, published by American Society of Church History on June 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1054 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Other Side of Joy: Religious Melancholy Among the Bruderhof.
Author: Leonard Gross
Publication: Church History (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2001
Publisher: American Society of Church History
Volume: 70Issue: 2Page: 375

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Customer Reviews (1)

Powerful Selections
Fifty years after his death members of the Bruderhof communities (which he founded) chose those excerpts of Arnold's talks and writings, which they felt, were the most moving and relevant to them personally. This selectionbecame the manuscript for God's Revolution, which Plough later published.Orbis Press has also just come out with another fine book entitled EberhardArnold / Writings Selected that readers of this book should look at. It ispart of their Spiritual Masters series. ... Read more

Product Description
First Printing, Christmas, 1982. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was one of Russia's most celebrated writers and thinkers. After writing his famous novels, Tolstoy published dozens of stories and essays about living the Christian life. 69-page stapled booklet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Dostoevsky... Dancer in the dark....
Here are the dark side of the human soul, with all its charm and idealism! The beauty of the female, the goodness of the idiot, the criminal who falls in love and punishes himself. Here are love stories that make you weep and laugh. You meet a noble thief, and get to know the insulted and the inhumiliated that suddenly seem to you to be the most loveable people in the world. The world of Dostoyevsky is full of love, children, women and... contradictions and conflicts.

Homilies in Classic Literature
The Soviet Union burned Bibles and banned their importation.Yet, possibly out of national pride, they never censored the work of this great Russian novelist.Luther once said that if the entire Bible were lost,except the Book of Romans, that it alone would be enough for salvation. Dostoyevesky takes us a step further:in a land where one could be born,grow up, and die at normal life expectancy, all under the aegeis ofCommunism, without ever seeing a Bible, could the message of the Gospelstill be found?Of course, the author died decades before the Revolutionof 1917, but his work answeres the question we pose in the affirmative. His works, excerpted for this book, contain what can only be described aslengthy homilies, clothed as literature.From the famous "GrandInquisitor" from "The Brothers Karamatzov," to lesser-knownpassages from "The Idiot" and other works, each selectionexpounds on Christian doctrine.Strongly influenced by the Gospel of St.John, Dostoyevesky uses the resurrection of Lazarus, for example, as thebasis of a conversation between a murderer and a prostitute in "Crimeand Punishment."The eleventh chapter of John is included in nearentirety, as one sufferer reads it to the other.Nearly all of the imageryhere is Johnnine; perhaps Dostoyevesky was a visionary:Spengeler wrotethat the next millenium of Russian histoty would belong to St. John.Alall events, this is a bedside companion that will provoke deep reflectionin those who read it, and perhaps make them wonder, as I do, ifDostoyevesky's works weren't intended by a higher power to be a light inthe darkest days of the Evil Empire. -Lloyd A. Conway

Brightful and Enlightening
These two words describe simply the book. However, for those "busy souls intimidated by the length of his great novels", I must say: "Buy his long great novels, particularly 'The Idiot' and 'Crime andPunishment'. It will only take you more time reading them but it will beworth it for sure. Believe me."

Great for discussion groups.
There are two books that I know of that are truly great introductions to the Russian Classics. "Walk in the Light" compiles some of the best short stories from Tolstoy and "The Gospel in Dostoyevsky"collects important excerpts from Fyodor that stand on their own as readablestories. Both are great for discussion groups, or even out loud familyreading.

A good intro to the Russian classics!
While the Dostoyevski excerpts compiled in this collection stand on their own as meaningful and wonderfully readable short stories, they will also serve to awaken an interest in the more complete Russian classics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A must read for all serious students of Hutterianism.
This outstanding book presents the "other side", another viewpoint regarding the Bruderhof Movement (Arnoldleut Hutterians).It is a must read for all serious students of Hutterianism.It is certainly notthe "party line", but it does present a point of view that needsto be looked at and considered by all students of Hutterianism and anypotential recruits to Arnoldianism.Zumpe cannot be dismissed out-of-hand,that's for sure.There are hundreds of others who think just like shedoes.Their "side" needs to be heard.In the end, the Truthwill win out.

Torches Extinguished The title says everything to the reader
Elizabeth must be a very angry women.This is the sad impression I got on reading this book.I hope she experiences Peace before she dies.To the reader I would recommend "Why Forgive" by Johann Christoph Arnold

history of the Bruderhof from another angle
This book relates the history of the Bruderhof from the view of a child growing up. The author was raised as a member of this religious group, took her membership vows then left as a young adult. Bohlken-Zumpe is thegranddaughter of founder Eberhard Arnold.My understanding of theBruderhof, where I also grew up, was enhanced by reading this book. Inrelating her story, Bohlken-Zumpe does not flinch in revealing personaldifficulties. This book along with other ex-bruderhof members books, shouldbe permitted reading among the current membership to help them understandthemselves,and their history. I recommend this book for anyone who hasexperienced belonging to a "cult-like" closed society or wants tounderstand similar situations. Thankyou for writing your story ElizabethBohlken-Zumpe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Names fictionalized to protect the innocent orthe guilty?
This is the facinating account of the life and times of a major ex-leader/minister of the Bruderhof sect, then known as the Society of Brothers (an on again/off again "Hutterian" group).Hutteritesrefer to them as the "Arnoldleut" (English: Arnold People). Although out of print, it should be reprinted.It's an important part ofthe permanent record and presents a viewpoint that needs to be heard.Amust-read for every student of Hutterianism, Arnoldism, and communalsocieties.It's an especially necessary read for anyone consideringChristian communalism "for life". ... Read more