This site is to give others the inside look of the life and beginning of our family starting in 1500. I will be posting from my Fisher Famliy 1988 History book.
Hope to hear from others that might know of the book or would like to see if your name is listed in this book.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
1 of 4 A General History
Prior to 1500 we find very few, if any, toher organized denominations except the Roma Catholic Faith, and at that time, the Catholics had ruled their church by Government of State control। In other words if one had violated or disobeyed their church discipline, they were under obligation to be prosecuted by State authorities.
The Bible at that time had been held as a secret book and was only printed in the Latin language, which many people could not understand or even read। The Pope and priests were looked upon as being the only ones necessary to study the Bible, with the Pope being considered the only one to know right from wrong. In that way they had kept their church united.
However, we find in "Martyr's Mirror", pages 363 to 366 (English edition), in about the year 1540, that a few churches in Greece and Turkey had not been related to the Roman Catholic Church in any way, but had still held the attitude of Faith as did the Apostles. The Thessalonica Church in Greece, who derived their name from Hans Schwitzer, had well agreed upon the Articles of Faith in every respect. It is stated that the Church of God at Thessalonica had remained unchanged in Faith from the time of the Apostles, and at that time had still preserved in good condition the letters which the Apostle Paul had written to them with his own hand.
In the early part of the sixteenth century, a number of Catholic priests had found by searching the Scripture that they had drifted far from the old Apostolic Church and had wished to reinstate the Church under the form of the apostles. But because they feared being expelled from office, as they had received large sums of money, for some time, they kept on holding church services as before even though it had been against their conscience. Finally they decided to break the news no matter what the consequences may be.
Martin Luther, Conrad Grebel, Ulrich Zwingli, Menno Simons and others in different localities of the European countries, all were being educated to priesthood in the highest degree.
On October 13, 1516, Luther preached from the pulpit, strong and powerfully, against the Catholic customs. He said, "I seek salvation of souls and not the contents of purse." He once said, "I felt the pains of hell in my soul, had it lasted an hour or half or ten minutes it would have turned my bones to ashes." His preaching was like a match touching gun powder, as it aroused the people considerably.
Luther, being well educated in Greek, German, Latin, and Hebrew languages, had some thesis of scripture literature printed and had them distributed among the people of different nationalities. It was soon known of in most of the civilized countries of Europe.
The Pope and others drew up documents against Luther leading to his excommunication and as an outlaw. In 1520 he was put in prison which gave him the privilege to translate the Bible from Latin to German.
About ten years later, Menno Simons followed Luther in almost the same manner.
He once said, "I thought I was leading a clean and pious life but found that my body was full of a dead man's bones."
Menno was baptized and ordained to the ministry by Obbie Philips. The congregation at that time was called Obbinites in honor of Philips. Later it was called Mennonites in honor of Menno Simons.
He died a natural death January 31, 1561, twenty-five years after the denunciation of Catholicism.
This period is called the Reformation or the beginning of the Protestant churches.
The Bible at that time had been held as a secret book and was only printed in the Latin language, which many people could not understand or even read। The Pope and priests were looked upon as being the only ones necessary to study the Bible, with the Pope being considered the only one to know right from wrong. In that way they had kept their church united.
However, we find in "Martyr's Mirror", pages 363 to 366 (English edition), in about the year 1540, that a few churches in Greece and Turkey had not been related to the Roman Catholic Church in any way, but had still held the attitude of Faith as did the Apostles. The Thessalonica Church in Greece, who derived their name from Hans Schwitzer, had well agreed upon the Articles of Faith in every respect. It is stated that the Church of God at Thessalonica had remained unchanged in Faith from the time of the Apostles, and at that time had still preserved in good condition the letters which the Apostle Paul had written to them with his own hand.
In the early part of the sixteenth century, a number of Catholic priests had found by searching the Scripture that they had drifted far from the old Apostolic Church and had wished to reinstate the Church under the form of the apostles. But because they feared being expelled from office, as they had received large sums of money, for some time, they kept on holding church services as before even though it had been against their conscience. Finally they decided to break the news no matter what the consequences may be.
Martin Luther, Conrad Grebel, Ulrich Zwingli, Menno Simons and others in different localities of the European countries, all were being educated to priesthood in the highest degree.
On October 13, 1516, Luther preached from the pulpit, strong and powerfully, against the Catholic customs. He said, "I seek salvation of souls and not the contents of purse." He once said, "I felt the pains of hell in my soul, had it lasted an hour or half or ten minutes it would have turned my bones to ashes." His preaching was like a match touching gun powder, as it aroused the people considerably.
Luther, being well educated in Greek, German, Latin, and Hebrew languages, had some thesis of scripture literature printed and had them distributed among the people of different nationalities. It was soon known of in most of the civilized countries of Europe.
The Pope and others drew up documents against Luther leading to his excommunication and as an outlaw. In 1520 he was put in prison which gave him the privilege to translate the Bible from Latin to German.
About ten years later, Menno Simons followed Luther in almost the same manner.
He once said, "I thought I was leading a clean and pious life but found that my body was full of a dead man's bones."
Menno was baptized and ordained to the ministry by Obbie Philips. The congregation at that time was called Obbinites in honor of Philips. Later it was called Mennonites in honor of Menno Simons.
He died a natural death January 31, 1561, twenty-five years after the denunciation of Catholicism.
This period is called the Reformation or the beginning of the Protestant churches.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
2 of 4 Persecution and the 30-Year War
The Catholics had lost considerable power as thousands of people left their faith and joined the Protestants. This caused a great uproar among the European countries. The Catholics tried in vain to demolish the new faith by persecutions, and had sent out large armies to capture the chief leaders of church organizations, or any one being suspicioned as members of their faith. They dealt with them in the most cruel inhuman manner that they possibly could, such as burning at stake, drowning and throwing them into dens with wild beasts. In 1572 in France alone 80,000 persons were slaughtered. Small children were taken away from their parents, were baptized and put in Catholic homes.
A large part of "Martyrs Mirror" is written on the occurrences of the sixteenth century.
The Bible had up to now not only been a secret book but also a scarce book. They were greatly handicapped in printing and distributing scriptural literature. If anyone was suspicious of owning any of these writings, it was sought to be destroyed by Catholicism.
Even though Luther had translated the Bible in their own tongue, many people didn't have the ability to read it. On many occasions the Word of God could only be obtained by speech. This could be the reason for much misunderstanding and misrepresentation which caused differences in opinions and great confusion. The people as a whole were very confused over which is right or which is wrong. Many different denominations sprang up and each claimed to be the true followers of the Apostolic Church.
In the latter part of the 16th century a few of the Protestant churches had agreed in bearing arms in times of war. This had caused much bloodshed and it evidently turned into a revolt, the Protestants against their Catholic Government.
In 1610 the King of France was killed (Henry IV). In 1618 the whole continent of Europe was engaged in war. This war is called the Thirty Years War. It could also be called "A Religious War." By 1648 the Protestants now held the reins of Government of most of the European nations.
Not all the Protestant churches had agreed in bearing arms or supporting a state church. The Mormons, Huttrians, Mennonites and others had not agreed. For that reason they were not only persecuted by their mother church, the Catholics, but also by their neighbor churches, the Protestants, in such ways as being banished from their country, sold as galley slaves and forced to do heavy work with little food. At one time there had been several thousands of these people living in France. Those who had survived through persecutions were all driven from their country to other unoccupied areas. They found refuge in Netherlands and Northern Germany. There they suffered severe cold winters and lack of food so that many people died from starvation. These poor people were called peasants.
After the long and dreadful rebellion, the European countries suffered one of the greatest famines of all times. Their industries had been at a standstill, their farming land out of production. For example, if one party had sowed their crops and hoped to harvest them, they found them being destroyed by other parties and in that way neither one had food for themselves. This continued year after year so that many died from starvation. It is estimated that over two-thirds of the population of Europe had perished either through wars, persecutions, starvations, plagues, and diseases.
A large part of "Martyrs Mirror" is written on the occurrences of the sixteenth century.
The Bible had up to now not only been a secret book but also a scarce book. They were greatly handicapped in printing and distributing scriptural literature. If anyone was suspicious of owning any of these writings, it was sought to be destroyed by Catholicism.
Even though Luther had translated the Bible in their own tongue, many people didn't have the ability to read it. On many occasions the Word of God could only be obtained by speech. This could be the reason for much misunderstanding and misrepresentation which caused differences in opinions and great confusion. The people as a whole were very confused over which is right or which is wrong. Many different denominations sprang up and each claimed to be the true followers of the Apostolic Church.
In the latter part of the 16th century a few of the Protestant churches had agreed in bearing arms in times of war. This had caused much bloodshed and it evidently turned into a revolt, the Protestants against their Catholic Government.
In 1610 the King of France was killed (Henry IV). In 1618 the whole continent of Europe was engaged in war. This war is called the Thirty Years War. It could also be called "A Religious War." By 1648 the Protestants now held the reins of Government of most of the European nations.
Not all the Protestant churches had agreed in bearing arms or supporting a state church. The Mormons, Huttrians, Mennonites and others had not agreed. For that reason they were not only persecuted by their mother church, the Catholics, but also by their neighbor churches, the Protestants, in such ways as being banished from their country, sold as galley slaves and forced to do heavy work with little food. At one time there had been several thousands of these people living in France. Those who had survived through persecutions were all driven from their country to other unoccupied areas. They found refuge in Netherlands and Northern Germany. There they suffered severe cold winters and lack of food so that many people died from starvation. These poor people were called peasants.
After the long and dreadful rebellion, the European countries suffered one of the greatest famines of all times. Their industries had been at a standstill, their farming land out of production. For example, if one party had sowed their crops and hoped to harvest them, they found them being destroyed by other parties and in that way neither one had food for themselves. This continued year after year so that many died from starvation. It is estimated that over two-thirds of the population of Europe had perished either through wars, persecutions, starvations, plagues, and diseases.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
3 of 4 A Division in the Mennonite Church
In the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, in 1693 a dispute arose in the Mennonite congregation over church discipline or upon the views of scripture as held by Menno Simons.
John Reist and Jacob Ammon both were Bishops. Reist being the elder bishop had been accused by Ammon as being too liberal in the use of excommunication and the ban. On the other hand, Reist accused Ammon as being too strict upon the same matter. At first the problem was only between the two bishops but it soon passed to the congregation and in a short time all the Mennonite colonists were afflicted.
Meetings had been called but there was no success in finding a solution for the problem. Meetings only brought on other disagreements upon The Articles of confession in church documents. Both bishops had a group of their congregation that would side with them. Much criticism had been done which caused many heartaches and ill feelings.
At last Ammon expelled Reist from the church but Reist didn't pay too much attention to what Ammon had done. He kept on holding church services as before. Upon this Ammon expelled all members that would side with Reist. This sad affair continued for some years and nothing was being accomplished.
The followers of John Reist held the name of Mennonite while the followers of Jacob Ammon held the name as Amish.
About the year 1700 the Amish made an effort to return to the Brethren, going so far as to admit that they had done wrong, asking for patience, and entreating the Brethren to pray for them, but the desired reconciliation was not received. The Reist brethren could not bring themselves under the practice of avoidance and the Amish could not with good conscience discontinue the practice. The divison was a very painful one.
So here again we find that history proves itself, "Prosperity has often been fatal to Christianity but persecution never."
John Reist and Jacob Ammon both were Bishops. Reist being the elder bishop had been accused by Ammon as being too liberal in the use of excommunication and the ban. On the other hand, Reist accused Ammon as being too strict upon the same matter. At first the problem was only between the two bishops but it soon passed to the congregation and in a short time all the Mennonite colonists were afflicted.
Meetings had been called but there was no success in finding a solution for the problem. Meetings only brought on other disagreements upon The Articles of confession in church documents. Both bishops had a group of their congregation that would side with them. Much criticism had been done which caused many heartaches and ill feelings.
At last Ammon expelled Reist from the church but Reist didn't pay too much attention to what Ammon had done. He kept on holding church services as before. Upon this Ammon expelled all members that would side with Reist. This sad affair continued for some years and nothing was being accomplished.
The followers of John Reist held the name of Mennonite while the followers of Jacob Ammon held the name as Amish.
About the year 1700 the Amish made an effort to return to the Brethren, going so far as to admit that they had done wrong, asking for patience, and entreating the Brethren to pray for them, but the desired reconciliation was not received. The Reist brethren could not bring themselves under the practice of avoidance and the Amish could not with good conscience discontinue the practice. The divison was a very painful one.
So here again we find that history proves itself, "Prosperity has often been fatal to Christianity but persecution never."
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