From Dogmatism to Mindless Tolerance: Mennonites in the Last Century.
by Henry Neufeld.
 
This was a remarkable and historical event that happens too rarely. On a rainy fall evening at Abbotsford’s Bakerview MB church, over 100 people gathered to hear two elder statesmen from Canada’s largest Mennonite groups reflect on the faith communities that nurtured them and the changes they’ve seen in recent decades, an event organized by the Mennonite Historical Society of BC.

John Neufeld is a former Winnipeg pastor and president of Canadian Mennonite Bible College; David Ewert a well-known and esteemed Mennonite Brethren New Testament scholar.  Neufeld and Ewert reflected on the changes in their denominations and personal lives.  “Life is not static but demanding… a continuous process of learning, changing, and hopefully maturing,” said Neufeld. This is true about congregations as well as individuals.

Relying largely on official MB documents, David Ewert focussed on significant changes in MB theology and ethics in the past half century. Scripture is unchanging, Ewert said, but our understanding of Scripture changes. Major issues in MB circles included eternal security, teachings on the “end times” and dispensationalism, the charismatic movement and spiritual elitism, creation and science, baptism, homosexuality, the role of women in the church, scriptural inerrancy, abortion, divorce and remarriage, and spiritual warfare. Such matters were referred to the MB Board of Faith and Life, and eventually resulted in recommendations to national MB conventions. Ewert reviewed MB positions on these issues. “We have come through a rather stormy half century,” he said.

On science and creation Ewert observed that the God of creation and the God of the Bible are the same. “It was recognized that the Bible is not a text book on biology, geology or astronomy, but is a history of salvation… (and) that the age of this earth cannot be established on the basis of the genealogies of Genesis.”

Regarding baptism Ewert noted that MBs have moved from a rigid adherence to baptism by immersion to the acceptance as full members of those baptized by other means. More recently the issue of baptism and church membership has become controversial, with a recommendation that the two be linked in keeping with New Testament teachings.

In discussing the role of women in the church Ewert noted an important principle: “when the scriptures point in two different directions it is not proper to choose one or the other emphasis alone; both have to be taken into account.” Thus the Biblical rationale for changing the role of women was based in part on the view that the restrictive passages of the NT were culturally determined. As well, it was felt that the freedom the gospel offered pointed to a time when it would be acceptable for women to assume leadership positions.

On the issue of inerrancy of Scripture, Ewert stressed we “should not get hung up on definitions of interpretation,” rather we should be challenged to live under the authority of the word of God.
Responding to Ewert’s presentation, Bruce Guenther from ACTS seminary in Langley noted that MBs have changed their positions on some issues identified by Ewert. “If scripture hasn’t changed, what has changed?” he asked. Guenther expressed appreciation for MB study conferences on issues prior to decisions being made, reflecting a community based hermeneutic. He wondered why MBs have been absent from the development of an Anabaptist theology. “We focus on personal ethics, not social ethics… why can’t MBs name the idolatries, the principalities and powers?” he asked.

John Neufeld drew on his experiences of growing up in a relatively closed community in the Fraser Valley, where conformity and tradition were valued, and where home, school, and community together helped internalize values. Church leaders knew the truth and enforced it for the sake of social cohesion. “Outsiders were viewed with suspicion or disdain,” said Neufeld. Biblical admonishments  “not be conformed to the world” and to be “in the world but not of it” were common. Neufeld speculated that most of us have not heard a sermon on non-conformity in ten years.

Neufeld recalled the contentious issue of transition from German to English and the pressure to be able to identify a specific personal conversion time.  He observed that there is an increase in biblical illiteracy in our congregations.

Secularization, pluralism, relativism, individualism, affluence, mobility and the impact of the media describe our current cultural context, said Neufeld.  “Our culture has left its mark on each of us, probably more than we realize.
We have moved from certainty to ambiguity, from dogmatism to mindless tolerance, from clarity about nonconformity to ambivalence, from separation from the world to unthinking and unchallenged assimilation.”

Ethical issues are no longer black and white. “People were utterly sincere, but in retrospect they were sincerely wrong on a number of counts,” he said, wryly adding that 60 years from now people might say the same thing about him. He blamed past rigidity on a dogmatic certainty that claimed to know exactly what the Bible taught on any issue.

In the future, suggested Neufeld, our thinking about morality and ethics might need to be more oriented to Jesus’ teaching than to our traditions. “The Bible as the inspired word of God is more important to me than earlier, said Neufeld, calling on pastors and teachers to “share what we know and believe about the Bible as a whole with congregations.”

In responding to Neufeld, Columbia Bible College faculty member Gareth Brandt noted that the plagues of individualism and Biblicism continue to this day. He also said churches are not speaking out enough about our culture of violence. Brandt pointed to the recent actions of the Amish who showed the most effective witness: the witness of love.
Neufeld said the Jewish experience in Babylonian exile is instructive: don’t just drink from the cultural well of Babylon, learn as well from that which preceded you. Church history is important not only for nostalgic yearnings for the past but also to teach us about the present. The past is not always pretty. Examining past events helps us look to the future. While individuals, congregations and denominations will continue to face doctrinal disputes and division, we have Jesus’ assurance: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”

MHS of BC is to be commended for their prophetic courage in planning this event. Sadly, current BC Mennonite pastors were virtually absent at this event. They also need Isaiah’s reminder: “Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the rock from which you were dug.” (Isaiah 51:1)