“For years, I have been piecing together readings in my Mennonite history courses because there was no adequate textbook,” says EMU Professor of History Mary Sprunger. However, Troy Osborne’s new book, “Radicals and Reformers,” provides a near-comprehensive collection of the Mennonite experience from around the world. Osborne was selected by the history and political science department as the keynote speaker for the 2025 Keim Lecture, a lecture series dedicated in the honor of EMU visionary and former history professor Albert Keim.
“With 2025 being the 500th anniversary of the beginning of Anabaptism, and because the department was running a special class on this topic, Troy was a natural choice,” shares History and Political Science Program Director Mark Sawin. Released in conjunction with Mennonite World Conference’s 500th anniversary of Anabaptism celebration in Zurich, Switzerland, this past summer, Osborne provides a number of new insights into the various branches of Mennonite history.
“It is wonderful to have this new, readable, up-to-date college-level overview of Anabaptist and Mennonite history. It is difficult to synthesize 500 years of a diverse movement, but [Osborne] managed to do that and do it well,” says Sprunger. Sprunger and Associate Professor of Theology and Religion Andrew Suderman are currently using the book for a seminary course they are leading on Mennonite history and thought. As a member of the book’s advisory committee, Sprunger also used some drafts of chapters in her undergraduate courses, passing student feedback on to Osborne throughout the process.
“I actually joined the Mennonite church a couple years ago through my fiancée, so I would say now I’m more spiritually Mennonite,” says sophomore Justin Hodgin. “It was a good presentation, and I am very curious… about the book now.” One of Osborne’s main intentions behind writing this book, highlighted during the lecture, was to provide an accessible historical narrative of Mennonite faith and Anabaptism to non-ethnic Mennonites, in other words, people who were not born into the tradition. He shared that one of both the beauties and delicacies of Anabaptism is that the tradition does not sort things out for people, but requires them to come to their own conclusions and interpretations. This book aims to help newer Mennonites make these personal connections to the long tradition of Anabaptist history and formulate their own version of the faith.
“[The presentation] expanded my view on how religion has changed throughout the years and how people perceive Anabaptists nowadays, very different than back then and it’s just the way society has evolved,” shares sophomore Daven Molina. A cultural Mennonite himself, Molina says that his beliefs have developed from what he has observed from the beliefs of his family. Sawin also expressed this sentiment of how dynamic Mennonite traditions are, and will continue to be: “[This book is] also very important because he explores the question of how the history of a tradition can and should influence its future.”
Concluding his lecture, Osborne highlighted the words of American-Canadian historian Natalie Zemon Davis. “We can take heart from the fact that no matter how dire the situation, some will find means to resist, some will find means to cope, and some will remember and tell stories of what happened.”
