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

s and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and 105 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Clearly, Mennonite Brethren missionaries can take their place in the missionary hall of fame with David Livingstone, Henry Stanley, William Carey and Hudson Taylor. God, through Mennonite Brethren missionaries, has done the humanly im- possible. They did not count their lives dear. Could it be, as the twentieth century draws to a close, that God is again call- ing Mennonite Brethren to set aside their material comforts and give themselves anew to the task of world evangelism? 106 CHAPTER 9 Eschatology: Not With One Voice T|he Mennonite Brethren understanding of Scripture has historically governed its view of the end times. The Confession of Faith published in 1902 contained only Scripture passages on the matters of Christ's re- turn, second coming and final judgment.1 It included no in- terpretation as to the how and when of these events. The center of the confessional eschatology was Christ as supreme Lord who is leading history to its final consummation. The writers and adopting conference were not preoccupied with setting dates or speculating about specific events. They went no further than to echo the words of Jesus: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matt. 25: 13).2 Abraham H. Unruh was correct when he wrote: "The early brethren exhorted each other to watchfulness and a holy walk. The present views with regard to the rapture and the millennium were apparently foreign to them. However, they joined in the prayer: 'Amen, come Lord Jesus'."3 Nonetheless, speculation about the end times generated spirited debate in some circles and produced some awkward aberrations. The matter of an earthly millennium, for exam- ple, was pointedly dismissed in this comment by a Mennonite bishop named Isaak Peters: On earth Christ has no earthly kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom of grace consisting of His believers. But He pos- sesses a heavenly kingdom of glory, into which He shall in the end lead all His believers. That is the biblical 107 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH teaching of Christ's future [one and only one resurrection, that is a simultaneous resurrection of all men] and also the original Mennonite teaching; for the doctrine concerning a future kingdom of Christ was not accepted in the Men- nonite churches until the previous century, Menno Si- mons never