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

f the situation; In 1943 I had been asked to give up my theo- logical studies. In 1945 the same conference leaders urged me to become president of ueine habere Bibelschuld* (a high- er or advanced Bible school) because they had no other acad- emically qualified for the position. The new school was to be a Mennonite Brethren college, the first such school in Canada. Overtures from the General Conference Mennonites to establish a joint college were de- clined. There was no academic model to follow for this new type of school, and no resources in terms of a theological library or reference works. The only alternative was to expand existing Bible school curricula, with the emphasis on biblical and exposi- tory studies plus theology, with literary resources from evangeli- cal seminaries as available. Augustus H. Strong's Systematic The- ology and Edgar Y, Muliins's The Christian Religion in its Doctri- nal Expression provided some of the intellectual framework for the initial years.41 Interpretive lectures attempted to move from a mere implicit to an explicit theology in keeping with Menno- nite Brethren understanding. In soteriolpgy and eschatology, the works of Menno Simons were major resources. The renaissance of Anabaptist interest led by "Old" Men- nonite Church scholar Harold S. Bender was only emerging at this time. Mennonite Brethren were slow to benefit from this new interest, as they had not related strongly to the acade- mics of other Mennonite groups. Furthermore, some avail- able Mennonite literature did not offer a significant Anabaptist alternative. For example, Daniel Kauffrnan's Doctrines of the Bible n was largely based on Evans's Great Doctrines of the Bible and What the Bible Teaches by R.A. Torrey, both used in some Mennonite Brethren Bible schools.0 The historical journal, Mennonite Quarterly Review, which first appeared in 1927, offered some sources for outside the- matic reading. Basic initial efforts at Mennonite theologizing 182 MENNONITE BRETHREN EDUCATION like John C. Wenger's Introduction to Theology was not pub- lished until 195 144 and Harold S. Bender's These are my Peo- ple: The Nature of the Church and its Discipleship According to the New Testament did not appear until 1962.45 Helping compensate for the scarcity of published re- sources was the strength of faculty members at MBBC. Over decades teachers like A.H. Unruh, prince among Bible exposi- tors, John A. Toews, historian and theologian with strong An- abaptist persuasion, Frank C Peters and David Ewert, both strong in their respective fields, began the move from an