A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

onite Brethren in Vol- untary Service Chapter 21. Understanding Biblical Revelation: Developments and Distinctives in Mennonite Brethren Theology 361 Historical Roots of Mennonite Brethren Theology — Characteristic Distinctives of Mennonite Brethren Theology — Outside Influ- ences on Mennonite Brethren Theology Chapter 22. Cooperating with Other Groups: Inter-Church Relations .... 380 Cooperation on a Local Level — Cooperation on a Regional Level — Cooperation on a National Level — Cooperation on a Continen- tal Level — Cooperation on an Inter-Continental Level Chapter 23. Mennonite Brethren Around the World 400 Asia — Africa — Latin America — Europe Footnotes 439 Appendixes 469 Bibliography 484 Index 491 PART I MENNONITE BRETHREN: EUROPEAN BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1 Spiritual Heirs of the Early Anabaptists "All attempts to interpret the past are indirect attempts to under- stand the present and its future." 1 The study of the origin and development of the Mennonite Brethren Church is also to serve this purpose — to understand more fully the spiritual dynamic in the origin of the church, to see more clearly the gracious providence of God in the history of the brotherhood, and to discern more adequately the present and future missionary role of the Mennonite Brethren in today's world. Church renewal and new life movements cannot be explained simply in terms of an historical framework of cause and effect. An understanding of events in redemptive and religious history requires more than an analysis and evaluation of social, cultural or economic conditions in the context of which these events occurred. A proper interpretation and appreciation of events as well as developments in religious history demands the dimension of faith — a faith that acknowledges the gracious sovereignty of God, who guides, intervenes and overrules in the affairs of men and nations, and also in the history of His people. Such faith is a confession that Jesus Christ is the Lord of history, also of the history of the Mennonite Brethren Church. The name, "Mennonite Brethren," which the founding fathers gave to the new church, was not the result of practical expediency, nor a matter of ecclesiastical diplomacy. It was a conscious and deliberate identification of the early Brethren with the historic theological position of the Anabaptist-Mennonite movement. In the Document of Secession (Jan. 6, 1860) they make four specific references to the teachings of Menno Simons, with which they identify, and then conclude their declaration with the significant statement: "In all other articles of our confession we are also in accord with Menno Simons." 2 The early Brethren regarded their withdrawal from the existing Mennonite 3 4 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH churches not as a retreat from true Mennonitism, but as a return to it. 3 Although strongly influenced in their early his