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“Let us test our faith in the fire. This fire will harm my soul as little as the fiery furnace harmed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” – Jakob Hutter Hutterite reconciliation with the Roman Catholics and Protestants at the Goldene Dachl in Innsbruck, where Jakob Hutter was burned at the stake https://hutt-writevoice.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-on-huttererpark-opening-in.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/02/martyrs-mirror-jakob-hutter-1500-to.html |
490 years ago on this date, February 25, 1536, Hutterite Founder, Jakob Hutter was burned at the stake at Das Goldene Dachl in Innsbruck, Austria.
To remember this Anabaptist Leader, I will present an open letter to my Anabaptist brothers and sisters in Christ, especially to those who are Hutterites (including those who are from the Bruderhof).
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Plaque at the Golden Roof: "Jakob Huter, one of the most important leaders of the Tyrolean Anabaptists, died here on 25 February 1536 as a martyr of his Christian faith at the stake." |
To my Anabaptist Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I been to Austria about more than 5 times, I visited Innsbruck and saw Das Goldene Dachl. I also saw the “Übrige Brocken” memorial at Huttererpark. That was how I learn about Jakob Hutter and the Hutterites.
Jakob Hutter was one of the most celebrated martyrs among Anabaptists, which includes Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites. As a reformed Christian myself, I also have great admiration for him together with my Anabaptist brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jakob Hutter, founder of
the Hutterer
I admired him and learned a lot from him for several reasons: First, He persevered to end in the sense, I see him as a faithful Christian who rather die than give in to the tyranny of the papists. As he must have obeyed Acts 5:29 - Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. He quoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego before he was burnt at the stake.
“Let us test our faith in the fire. This fire will harm my soul as little as the fiery furnace harmed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” – Last words of Jakob Hutter
One of his articles: Wake Up, Your King Is Coming [https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/anabaptists/wake-up-your-king-is-coming] has inspired me to live as though there is no tomorrow.
12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” – Revelation 14:12-13 (ESV)
Second, Just like the Amish and Mennonites, the Hutterites also follow the Anabaptist four core values: Faith, Family, Community and Simple Living.
Everyone helping with
the annual potato harvest. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://7nn.010.mwp.accessdomain.com/our-beliefs/community-goods/] https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-common-purse-in-bruderhof-hutterites.html
Third, I also love his idea of the Community of Goods: This is the central tenant. All property, land, and resources are owned collectively, not individually. This model ensures that no member is excessively wealthy or extremely poor, as the focus is on shared responsibility and mutual aid. Although there are pros and cons of the Community of Goods, I feel that wealth it should be shared among your family members.
“Outdo one another in
showing honor (Rom. 12:10) Live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16)
Admonish one another (Rom. 15:14) Greet one another with a holy kiss (Rom.
16:16) Wait for one another (1 Cor. 11:33) Have the same care for one another
(1 Cor. 12:25) Be servants of one another (Gal. 5:13) Bear one another’s
burdens (Gal. 6:2) Comfort one another (1 Thess. 5:11) Build one another up (1
Thess. 5:11) Be at peace with one another (1 Thess. 5:13) Do good to one
another (1 Thess. 5:15) Put up with one another in love (Eph. 4:2) Be kind and
compassionate to one another (Eph. 4:32) Submit to one another (Eph. 5:21)
Forgive one another (Col. 3:13) Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)
Pray for one another (James 5:16) Love one another from the heart (1 Pet. 1:22)
Be hospitable to one another (1 Pet. 4:9) Meet one another with humility (1
Pet. 5:5)” ― Eberhard Arnold,
Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People PHOTO CAPTION: Die
abgebildeten Personen sind vlnr: Emmy Arnold, Emmy-Margret (4 Jahre), Heini (1
Jahr), Eberhard Arnold und Hardy (3 Jahre) https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2023/07/140th-birthday-for-eberhard-arnold-july.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/11/plain-people-and-mutual-aid-why-we-live.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/07/eberhard-arnold-on-simple-living.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/11/remembering-eberhard-arnold-90-years.html
About 400 years later after his death, there was another Neo-Hutterite, Eberhard Arnold was known as the second Jakob Hutter. Those people who live in the Bruderhof (founded by Eberhard Arnold), are known as Neo-Hutterites. They are the ‘daughter’ group of the Hutterites. Just like my admiration of Jakob Hutter, I follow the writings of Arnold and I learn a lot from him too.
As a Reformed Christian, I love to reconcile with my Anabaptist brothers and sisters. As Eberhard Arnold was quoted from his article, Politics and the Fire of Reconciliation:
What is needed is a work of reconciliation that will overcome all the
blockages and barriers in our hearts and in the conditions around us.
Everywhere there are things that separate one person from another; everywhere
people hold things against each other. They come with their wishes and demands,
their complaints and accusations; they feel a lack of genuineness in their
mutual assurances of love and respect, of dedication and community, of justice,
and friendship. They see how others try to hold on to privileges and property
that they have gained, or conversely how they themselves make every effort to
obtain property or privileges that they see in the hands of others. Peoples and
classes, business competitors, families and individuals – all are part of the
fight for existence, the struggle of debit and credit, for profits and
advantages; and yet deep down they all feel that it could be different, that
the same space in the same world, the same commitment of time and effort could
be spent in a different way: no longer against each other, but for each other,
no longer in competition and enmity, but in the service of love. - Politics
and the Fire of Reconciliation By Eberhard Arnold https://www.eberhardarnold.com/explore/all-articles/2020/08/25/politics-and-reconciliation https://www.eberhardarnold.com/explore/all-articles/2019/11/02/eberhard-arnold-and-dietrich-bonhoeffer https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/our-garden-must-be-gods-garden BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/04/unlocking-our-inheritance-conference.html
In 2003 and 2005, the late Swiss Reformed Pastor, Geri Keller and Amish Bishop, Ben Girod, held reconciliation conferences in both America and Switzerland in those two years.
“Return, O my soul, to
your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” –Psalm 116:7
ESV Return unto thy rest, O
my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. – Psalm 116:7 (KJV) Kehre zurück, meine
Seele, zu deiner Ruhe, denn der Herr hat dir wohlgetan! – Psalmen 116:7
(SCH2000) Sei nun wieder
zufrieden, meine Seele; denn der HERR tut dir Gutes. – Psalm 116:7 (LUTH1545) Ben Girod, Amish Bishop
and Geri Keller, Swiss Reformed Clergy [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.klkurtz.com/post/eyes-wide] https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/05/heal-our-land-conference-2003.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/04/unlocking-our-inheritance-conference.html
During the ‘HEAL OUR LAND’ CONFERENCE 2003, the late Pastor Geri Keller was telling the Swiss Mennonites:
“We thank you from our hearts that you have come as a table of fellowship to break bread together with Jesus our Lord. We bless you that these days will be days of refreshing, for your days when friendships and relationships will be released anew where hope will return. It says in Psalm 116:7 (KJV): Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee…… And I want to speak this over the Anabaptists. Your souls shall return to rest, because the Lord has been good to you.”
The Hutterites have done the same thing in Austria – they have reconciled with Protestants and Roman Catholics.
In 2006–2007, a working group with representatives from Protestant and Catholic churches, the peace movement Pax Christi and the Association of Evangelical churches in Tyrol worked toward reconciliation with the Hutterites. On 25 February 2007, the group, along with three couples invited to represent the Hutterites, held a memorial ceremony at the Golden Roof and a joint prayer service in the old city hall in Innsbruck.
Stein Bruderhof youth
group at the “Übrige Brocken” memorial at Huttererpark. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://derhuttererweg.com/blog/f/memories-of-innsbruck]
It fills my heart with joy when I see Hutterite youths visit “Übrige Brocken” memorial at Huttererpark, to remember what their ancestors have gone through. It is an excellent idea as there is a saying: “History does not survive by accident. It survives because people care enough to preserve it.”
On that day the Lord their God will save them,
as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.
– Zechariah 9 vs 16 (ESV)
To my anabaptist brothers and sisters in Christ, we, Reformed Christians have reconciled with you all. Let us forgive and love one another as it says in Psalm 85:10
“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” – Psalm 85:10 (KJV)
From Jonathan Xue,
Blogger of The Black Forest Project 421
Jakob Hutter’s Life & Letters: Emmy Maendel gives the history of Anabaptist leader & wife Katharina
Mar 10, 2025
Buy the book here (Canada): https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/jakob-hutter-his-life-and-letters/9781636080901.html
Buy here: https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/anabaptists/jakob-hutter
About the book: This comprehensive, annotated collection of Jakob Hutter’s letters and related documents begins with an extensive biography of Hutter and his wife, Katharina, based on recent archival research. This introduction serves to contextualize the Hutterite movement, a communal and pacifist Anabaptist group that emerged as part of the Radical Reformation in sixteenth-century Tyrol and Moravia.
The main text of the book opens with Hutter’s eight surviving letters, newly translated directly from the seventeenth-century codices where they have been preserved. As the leader of a scattered, persecuted movement, Hutter wrote pastoral letters of encouragement and admonition to various congregations in Tyrol and Moravia. The second chapter consists of material from Hutterite chronicles that describe Hutter’s life and context. Some of these are previously unpublished; in all cases, new translations have been made from the original codices. The third chapter is a collection of reports on government interrogations of Anabaptists who describe Hutter’s missionary activity, typically written by a state official during an interrogation process that often involved torture. Chapter Four is a compilation of writings by fellow Hutterites written during Hutter’s life and in the decade after his death, which show the importance of Hutter’s life and teachings. The fifth chapter includes internal correspondence between government authorities trying to suppress the Anabaptist movement. The accounts offer insight into the government’s perspective on the significance of Hutter and the Anabaptist communities in his spheres of activity. Additional documents relating to Hutter’s death and legacy from both within and outside of the Hutterite tradition are included in a final chapter.
This meticulously researched volume, peer-reviewed for inclusion in the Classics of the Radical Reformation series, is a valuable contribution to the scholarship of a volatile and fruitful chapter of church history.
VIDEO SOURCE: https://youtu.be/OZnNhlqI2pw?si=H7rPNIUGJcEfniaI
Täufer Symposion | Emmy Maendel Frauenleben in der hutterischen Gemeinschaft
Dec 6, 2025 WIEN
Ein Vortrag von Emmy Maendel, Bruderhof, beim Symposium "Gegen den Strom - 500 Jahre reformatorische Täuferbewegungen" am 24. Oktober 2025 in Wien.
Weitere Vorträge des
Symposiums in dieser Playlist: 
• 500 Jahre Täuferbewegung
Anabaptist Symposium | Emmy Maendel: Women's Lives in the Hutterite Community
A lecture by Emmy Maendel, Bruderhof, at the symposium "Against the Current - 500 Years of Reformation Anabaptist Movements" on October 24, 2025, in Vienna.
Further lectures from the symposium can be found in this playlist: • 500 Years of the Anabaptist Movement
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIbpArOXzyM
PHOTOS OF HUTTERITES AND THE BRUDERHOF:
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Stein Bruderhof youth group at the “Übrige Brocken” memorial at Huttererpark. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://derhuttererweg.com/blog/f/memories-of-innsbruck] |
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Uebrige Brocken - A circle of stones at Hutter Park in Innsbruck, Austria, commemorates 12 Anabaptist martyrs. — John E. Sharp [PHOTO SOURCE: https://anabaptistworld.org/history-stones-of-remembrance/] |
RELATED LINKS:
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/07/150-years-of-hutterites-in-north.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/02/martyrs-mirror-jakob-hutter-1500-to.html
https://hutt-writevoice.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-on-huttererpark-opening-in.html
https://hutt-writevoice.blogspot.com/2016/02/this-day-in-hutterite-history-jakob.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/05/martyrs-mirror-dirk-willems-died-may-16.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-common-purse-in-bruderhof-hutterites.html
EBERHARD ARNOLD WEBSITE:
We live in an age where it seems Jesus has become almost unknown or his words distorted and disfigured, his work weakened. All the more, we must rediscover this Jesus and hold him up before all the world. We must place the Jesus of the four Gospels in the center of our faith and our life.
Remembering Eberhard Arnold 90 years later - The Jesus of the Four Gospels By Eberhard Arnold
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/11/remembering-eberhard-arnold-90-years.html
Love Is Work Working together with others is the best way to test our faith, to find out whether or not we are ready to live a life of Christian fellowship. Work is the crucial test of faith because such a life can come into being only where people work for love. Love demands action, and the only really valid action is work. Christian fellowship means fellowship in work...Talk, May 1934 By Eberhard Arnold
EBERHARD ARNOLD ON SIMPLE LIVING
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/07/eberhard-arnold-on-simple-living.html
“We must live in community because we are stimulated by the same creative Spirit of unity who calls nature to unity and through whom work and culture shall become community in God.” — Eberhard Arnold
PLAIN PEOPLE AND MUTUAL AID - WHY WE LIVE IN COMMUNITY BY EBERHARD ARNOLD
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/11/plain-people-and-mutual-aid-why-we-live.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2023/07/140th-birthday-for-eberhard-arnold-july.html
https://www.eberhardarnold.com/
https://www.eberhardarnold.com/biography
https://www.facebook.com/EberhardArnold
https://twitter.com/eberhard_arnold
https://www.anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Eberhard_Arnold
https://www.bookey.app/quote-author/eberhard-arnold
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/reading-romans-13-under-fascism
OTHER EBERHARD ARNOLD LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberhard_Arnold
https://www.anotherlifeispossible.com/themes/what-money-cant-buy/eberhard-arnold
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/from-mutual-aid-to-global-action
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/our-garden-must-be-gods-garden
ARTICLE BY EBERHARD ARNOLD LINKS:
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/church-community/from-property-to-community
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/reading-romans-13-under-fascism
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/politics/becoming-flesh-and-blood
https://www.eberhardarnold.com/archive/2020/02/25/2012598714s
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/our-garden-must-be-gods-garden
THE HUTTERITES LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/TheBruderhof
https://www.anotherlifeispossible.com/
https://koorong.com/search?q=plain%20spoken
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2023/11/community-living-quotes.html
