Ian M. Randall is a Research Associate, the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide, and a Senior Research Fellow at Spurgeon's College, London, and the International Baptist Theological Study Centre, Amsterdam. He is a Baptist minister and has been a hospital chaplain. He has written numerous books and articles.
"The Bruderhof was a community of Christians who tried to live a
simple life dedicated to the ideal of peace. Their visionary German
founder Eberhard Arnold had started the movement in the wake of the
disasters that enveloped Germany after the First World War. . . Ian
Randall has written a full, evocative, and appealing account of a
group who in troubled times 'wanted to follow Jesus and do his
will.'"
--David Bebbington, Professor of History, University of Stirling,
Scotland
"This detailed narrative fills a longstanding gap in Bruderhof
historiography--the story of the Cotswold Bruderhof in England,
particularly during the formative years as it took shape between
the Nazi confiscation of the Rhoen community in 1937 and the
Bruderhof's transition to Paraguay in 1940 . . . As images of
refugees, racial violence, and warfare once again dominate the news
media, the Cotswold story is powerful and timely testimony to an
alternative vision for humanity."
--John D. Roth, Professor of History, Goshen College
"This absorbing book is an important contribution to the history of
the Anabaptist movement. Based on thorough research and drawing on
a wide variety of sources, it charts the early years of the
Bruderhof in Germany and England during a turbulent period of their
history and explores the remarkable commitment of the founders and
community members to peace witness, shared lifestyle, and mission.
Through this sympathetic historical study, Ian Randall highlights
issues which remain relevant today."
--Linda Wilson, Research Fellow, Bristol Baptist College
"Christians from many traditions have been learning from the
Anabaptists in recent years. The Bruderhof communities embody a
distinctive and enduring witness to principles and practices
inspired by the Anabaptist vision. Ian Randall's detailed study
tells the story of the Bruderhof in a crucial early phase of their
life in England, inviting us to learn from their faithfulness in
the midst of struggles."
--Stuart Murray Williams, Anabaptist Network, Chair, Mennonite
Trust, United Kingdom
"In A Christian Peace Experiment, Ian Randall offers a scholarly
and approachable case study of the Bruderhof, a significant
Christian movement, at an important stage in its development and
growth when it moved from Germany to England and later to the
Americas. Randall offers a fascinating and well-documented account
of a pacifist Christian community with a German foundation in
England at the start of World War II . . . Randall provides a
valuable resource for both scholars interested in Christian social
movements and for those of us who are asking ourselves what it
means to be a Christian in the world today."
--Kevin Ahern, Assistant Professor, Director of Peace Studies,
Manhattan College
"I've long been an admirer of the Bruderhof community and its
vibrant commitment to peacemaking, and Ian Randall's book about the
community's British history only increases that esteem. A Christian
Peace Experiment brims with insights into the historical realities
faced by peacemakers in a time of war."
--Colman McCarthy, Director, Center for Teaching Peace, Washington,
D.C.
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