A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

te Brethren. Such a system would contradict the very nature of their experiential under- standing, "The Anabaptists were always willing to "give ac- count of the hope that is in you* (1 Peter 3:15), but they were not willing, nor even able to construct a systematic theology, a rational edifice of thought. It would be foreign to them and 180 MENNONITE BRETHREN EDUCATION inadequate to the subjectivity of the new birth/40 Implicit the- ology became inadequate in the postwar era, Mennonite Brethren young people, scattered in academic and profes- sional pursuits, demanded reasons for their faith and practice in relation to the pluralism of North American evangelical and mainline denominationalism. The widening relationship to the larger Mennonite communities, all claiming to be in the Anabaptist tradition, also called for a more explicit theological identity. To more fully understand Mennonite Brethren theological education in its formative period it may be useful to relate a personal story. Among Mennonite Brethren in Canada I was the first to acquire an academic theological education, com- pleting the requirements for a Bachelor of Divinity and a Mas- ter of Theology degree in 1940. Subsequently while pastoring the Mennonite Brethren Church at Buhler, Kansas, 1 continued studies toward a Doctor of Theology degree. My uncle, the well-known Benjamin B, Janz, together with a second leader from the Mennonite Brethren Conference in Canada, visited my wife and me in Buhler to share their concern about my graduate studies. They feared that people with scholastic training at the doctoral level were in great danger of losing the simplicity of faith and dependence on the enlightening of the Holy Spirit to understand and preach the Word. Colos- sians 2:8 was their scriptural warning: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradi- tions of men." They even suggested that I might no longer be trusted with the responsibilities of leadership. My commit- ment to the Mennonite Brethren fellowship was such that I gave up my pursuit of a doctoral degree. A year and a half later B,B, Jan* and A. PL Unruh came to Buhler requesting that I become president of the new Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg. It had begun in 1944, with a student body of twelve and A.H. Unruh as president and the only full- time faculty member. In 1945, after a long inner struggle and 181 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH encouragement from a larger circle of fellow believers, I final- ly accepted the invitation. But I could not miss the irony o