Book Review -- Brethren Society

REVIEW OF BOOKS IN PRINT
Brethren Society: The Cultural
Transformation of a "Peculiar People
By Cad F. Bowman; The John Hopkins University Press
(Baltimore); 491 pages, 1995.
It is obvious to those who have studied Brethren history that the Church of the Brethren today is very different from the Church of the Brethren of our parents' day. Carl Bowman's recent book is a thorough historical and social study of the rapid transition of the Brethren from being a peculiar people that stressed plainness to a group of "worldly" people who have tended more and more to follow the dictates of our society. Already in the Preface Bowman asks the question, "How did one group move so far so fast?" Brethren Society is a study of the changes that have taken place and the struggles and tensions which were associated with making the changes.
Bowman's research has found that over the years there was an abandonment of many of the Brethren distinctives because some felt that feet washing, the sisters' prayer covering, the greeting with the holy kiss, etc. made it difficult to reach the non-churched. Bowman says that when new church starts (or missionary endeavors) did not prove as successful as those of the Methodists or Baptists, the obvious explanation was to blame "Dunker peculiarities" (page 324). Yet as Bowman points out, the denomination's membership has declined at the same time that the church was shedding its peculiarity and was moving gradually into the religious mainstream. As we read Brethren Society, it becomes apparent that one of the reasons why our heritage was discarded was the tendency to "reach the lost at any cost." The end result of several decades of change has seen the Brethren become more and more just a "lightly Christianized" version of American secular culture.
The author of Brethren Society emphasizes the social, cultural, and popular sides of Brethren history. His evaluations are fair and balanced. For example, some historians think of Brethrenism during the latter part of the 1800s (with all its rules and prohibitions) as "the wilderness period" or "the dark period" of the Brethren story. Carl Bowman says, in a footnote, that "there are good reasons to believe that just as the claims for the glories ofBrethren achievement in the colonial period can be shown to be overdrawn, just so can the darkness of the wilderness period can be shown to be exaggerated" (page 456). Bowman does not romanticize the past, but neither does he paint it as a time of ignorance and smug legalism.
Bowman's pen treats major events, noted leaders, and important institutions. The demise of the deacon's office, the passing away of the eldership, and the influx of trained pastors--are all described on pages 290-310. Many of the changes that have taken place in our Brotherhood are said to have trickled down into the churches through the church colleges and through printed literature (page 326).
Bowman says that those with advanced degrees were seen as "the cream of the Brethren leadership (page 292). But the writer does not cast stones. He realizes that for the most part Brethren leaders have been decent, fair-minded, and compassionate. He mentions persons like William Beery, H. C. Early, S. H. Hertzler, Henry Holsinger, John Kline, D. W. Kurtz, Sarah Major, Floyd Mallott, D. L. Miller, Anna Mow, and M. R. Zigler. On pages 281-282 he gives a great portrait of Elder Otho Winger and explains how Winger helped to maintain unity even though he was hammered from both sides. Winger acted as a bridge between progressives and conservatives.
Bowman seems disappointed by the fact that the traditional understanding of the mission of the church has been abandoned in favor of lobbying for political causes (page 389); that leaders have become silent on the personal moral issues such as divorce and remarriage (page 381); that the denomination has gone from the "faithful house keeper" free ministry to the "trained brain" salaried pastoral ministry (page 159); and that while the church in the closing decades of the 1800s sought to remain pure, the new century saw some young progressives ushering in a new order (page 209).
Most historians among the Brethren write our history in such a way that it is implied that we are better off having dropped those things which were discarded. Bowman does not make that mistake. A few of the quotes from people with whom he did personal interviews contain some crude expressions (for example, the quote on page 311), but time and again, Bowman explores trends with fairness and integrity.
Brethren Society. The Cultural Transformation of a "Peculiar People" is marked by thorough research, clarity of thought, and an uncomplicated style that makes for easy reading. It is an inspiring book filled with factual detail and helpful comments. It is not a general history of the Brethren, but a treatise on those developments which are related to the cultural transformation which has taken place during the history of the denomination. The book will hopefully cause readers to discover again those concepts which could be valuable in the church today.
Brethren Society is an impressive handbook which will be a valuable aid for pastors, Sunday School teachers, and students of Brethren history' There is included in the book a five-page "Chronology of Change" (pages 419-423) listing the dates when major changes occurred in the Church of the Brethren. On page 86 there is an interesting table listing the items prohibited to Brethren in the 1800s. There are more than 50 pages of footnotes included in the book. The index is complete and is an added benefit for those who use the book.
Many Brethren continue to believe that the church is to be a people radically different from the world, and that in order to accomplish its God-assigned task in the world, the church must wake up, get off the easy path toward acculturation, and become a distinctive community that takes seriously the instructions of Jesus and the apostles. Brethren Society contains more than enough to challenge readers. It has been the most significant book I have read in the last five years.
--Harold S. Martin
November/December 1995

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