List of Tables

Preface: Arrival . . . and Departure

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Representations of the Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites

The problem of the future

Book overview

Chapter One The transformations of community

Introduction

Persecutions, migration, and settlement

Contemporary organization of the Church of Christ

Authoritative texts

Identifying the Church of Christ

Regulating the Church of Christ: the Ordninj

Conclusion: Mennonite transformations

Chapter Two Negotiating states, rejecting nations

Introduction

Invitations, impositions, schisms and migrations

Excursus: those who stayed behind

Paraguay

Uruguay, Brazil, and Belize

Conclusion: the Mennonites' place in a world of nation-states

Chapter Three Inter-colony dynamics

Introduction

The founding of new colonies

Cross-border practices

Parish records

Conclusion: externalization of dissent, and cross-border strategies

Chapter Four Articulations, connections and short-circuits

Introduction

Perceptions of others

Controlled connections

Franz's balancing act

Short-circuits

Conclusion: isolation and the management of borders

Chapter Five Careers in the faith

Introduction

First movement: from the inside-out

The paths to riches, poverty, suffering and enlightenment

Second movement: from the outside-in

The road to Damascus

Conclusion: the reconstruction of the Christian self

Chapter Six Scriptural practices

Introduction

Writing dissent

Becoming worldly, becoming Christian

The Roboré project

Interpreting the world and the Word

The Church of God

The Beasts of the Book of Revelation

Conclusion: alternative imaginations

Chapter Seven The handling of dissenters

Introduction

Translations and transgressions

Letters to the Mennonites

Blessing as disguise

The uninvited host

Encounter with Sergio

The visitors

Conclusion: patterns in dealing with dissent

Conclusions

Glossary

References

Index