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2025 Friesen Lectures Series | Anabaptist Peace Witness - Historical Significance and Today's Mission (videos)
Featuring Dr. Astrid von Schlachta, Universitat Regensburg
2025 John and Margaret Friesen Lecture Series is a two-part installment titled, "Anabaptist Peace Witness – Historical Significance and Today's Mission," with Dr. Astrid von Schlachta, Head of the Mennonite Research Center and lecturer at the University of Regensburg. The lectures took place on Thursday, January 23, 2025 at CMU.
Lecture 1 | Anabaptists and the Peasants' War
January 23, 2025
11:00 AM | CMU Chapel (600 Shaftesbury Blvd.)
2025 marks not only the 500th anniversary of the first Anabaptist baptism of believers, but also important events in the Peasants' War. The Peasants' War has been a difficult chapter for Anabaptists and their descendants in the past. The participation of later Anabaptists in the Peasants' War and the defamation and criminalization of Anabaptists with the Peasants' War raised the question of the peace testimony of Anabaptist congregations. This lecture deals with Anabaptist debates on "the sword" and the use of violence in the sixteenth century. How can the close relationship of later Anabaptists to the Peasants' War and in particular to Thomas Müntzer be reconciled with an understanding of Anabaptism that was measured at the "Articles of Schleitheim" (1527)?
Lecture 2 | Mennonites and Military Service
January 23, 2025
7:00 PM | CMU Chapel (600 Shaftesbury Blvd.)
The question of military service has arisen repeatedly for Mennonites throughout their 500-year history, with varying consequences. On the one hand, the Mennonite conviction not to take up arms brought persecution and expulsion. On the other hand, the toleration of Mennonites in cities such as Altona and Neuwied was linked to the promise that the tolerated would not have to take up arms. From the 19th century on and the introduction of universal conscription, Mennonites then found themselves challenged to justify their position of non-violence and to bring it into the political debate. The lecture examines the significance of the Mennonite peace testimony in different political situations and the impact of changing surrounding conditions on the congregations.

Dr. Astrid von Schlachta of Weierhof, Germany, is head of the Mennonite Research Center and lecturer at the University of Regensburg. As a historian, she has published widely on the history of Anabaptism, Pietism and the Estates in the Early Modern period. She is a member of the Mennonite congregation in Regensburg and on the board of the Associated Mennonite Churches in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mennonitischer Gemeinden in Deutschland).
She is the author of Hutterische Konfession und Tradition, 1578–1619 (Zabern, 2003), Die Hutterer zwischen Tirol und Amerika (Wagner, 2006), Gefahr oder Segen? Die Täufer in der politischen Kommun-ikation (V&R, 2009), Täufergemeinschaften: Die Hutterer (Institut für Europäische Geschichte, 2011), Alles Mythos! 20 populäre Irrtümer über Preußen (Theiss, 2011) and Die Täufer in Thüringen. Von wehrhaften Anfängen zur wehrlosen Gelassenheit (Vopelius, 2017).
Two of her books have been translated into English, including From the Tyrol to North America: The Hutterite Story Through the Centuries. Trans. Werner and Karin Packull (Pandora Press, 2008) and "Holding Fast to What is Good?" Tradition and Renewal in Hutterite History. The 2020 Jacob D. Maendel Lectures. Trans. Jesse Hofer (Hutterian Brethren Book Centre, 2020).
The John and Margaret Friesen Lectures in Anabaptist/Mennonite Studies are co-sponsored by Canadian Mennonite University, the Mennonite Heritage Centre, and the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies. The inaugural lectures in November 2002 were delivered by Dr. Abraham Friesen (Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara), the generous donor who initiated the lecture series.