Anabaptism

Review: Footsteps of Faith

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Cover image of "Footsteps of Faith" edited by John D. Roth

Footsteps of Faith, John D. Roth, editor. Herald Press (ISBN: 9781513815169) 2025.

Summary: A 40-day devotional on what it means to live in Jesus’ footsteps, published for the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism.

This year marks the five hundredth anniversary of the Anabaptist movement. Anabaptism has always been marked by a focus, not on creeds, but following in the footsteps of Jesus. For example, my own congregation, in the Anabaptist tradition describes its mission in this way: We are a group of friends and neighbors with whom you can pursue God’s love, become more like Jesus, and build God’s Kingdom through word & deed. Living as disciples of Jesus together, in love of God and neighbor, and living a faith evident in deed as well as word has always been central to Anabaptism.

Footsteps of Faith richly reflects this focus on following Jesus. Editor John D. Roth has collected forty devotional reflections drawn from the gospels. They are written by people in Anabaptist churches throughout the world. The devotionals are grouped in eight sections:

  • The Promise of a New Creation
  • Announcing the Kingdom
  • The Kingdom Taught
  • The Kingdom Lived
  • The Upside-Down Kingdom
  • On the Road to Jerusalem
  • Resurrection
  • Walking in the Resurrection

The devotionals are two to three pages in length. Each begins with a biblical text, and a couple verses from that text highlighted. Following the reflection, each writer offers some questions for reflection and a concluding prayer.

Each takes one incident in the life of Jesus. Linda Dibble, for example, considers the anger of Jesus as he cleansed the temple and the place of righteous indignation acted upon when power is abuse, afflicting the marginalized.

Cindy Alpizar, from Costa Rica reflects on Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well, the deep wells of sadness in our lives, and how Jesus breaks through barriers in beautiful conversation, filling us with living water. Then Desalegn Abebe, from Ethiopia, reflects on Jesus healing of the demon-possessed man. Rather than spiritualize it, he writes of how Jesus delivered him and others from the shackles of demons. Vikal Pravin Rao, from India writes of the reality of how faithfulness to Jesus divides families.

Thus, these testimonies from global believers bring to life passages that seem culturally distant for many of us. In addition, they remind us of both Christ’s great love the cost entailed in following in the footsteps of Jesus. It’s not always a sweet walk in the garden. but it is always worth it!

Finally, the concluding devotion focuses on Jesus’ commission to his disciples. Agos W. Mayanto concludes in a statement that sums up five hundred years of Anabaptist tradition:

“The decision to bind oneself with the missionary God–the Creator, Savior, and Sustainer who reconciles the entire universe with himself–is also the path of discipleship, walking in the way of the Master Teacher Jesus in the midst of the world in full obedience, attentive to his voice, moved by his Spirit, and following his example. The sixteenth-century Anabaptist Hans Denck once said, ‘No one can truly know Christ unless he follows him daily in life.’ Therefore, in the process of discipleship, we must heed the words of the Master Teacher Jesus Christ, ‘teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). It is impossible to be a disciple of Christ without a commitment to live in harmony with his will” (p. 193).

This is a rich representation of Anabaptist faith from a global community of writers. It is a wonderful resource that may be used at any time. However, it seems especially fitted for Lent and into Eastertide. And given the communal character of Anabaptists, churches might choose to do this communally.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

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Review: The New Anabaptists

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Cover image of "The New Anabaptist" by Stuart Murray

The New Anabaptists, Stuart Murray. Herald Press (ISBN: 9781513812984) 2024.

Summary: An effort to describe the practices emerging Anabaptist communities embody with three case studies as examples.

In 2010, Stuart Murray published The Naked Anabaptist, articulating the core convictions that have shaped the Anabaptist movement. In recent years, working with Mennonite church planting efforts, it became evident that a follow-up work was needed to, as it were, “clothe the naked Anabaptist” (this was considered as a title for this book). What Murray offers here is a description of common practices, reflecting Anabaptist heritage, that characterize these emerging communities. In six chapters, he explores twelve practices common to these communities. Following this, three case studies of diverse Anabaptist communities exemplify these qualities.

Murray’s first practice is a commitment to start with Jesus. He offers examples of war, baptism, tithing, oaths, and women in leadership to show how a commitment to start with Jesus works in each of these matters. Rather than treat the Bible as a “flat” book in which all parts have equal weight, he proposes that Anabaptists read all scripture in light of Jesus and treat the gospels as starting points.

Building on this, the other practices include baptism of would-be disciples and communion as a peace meal. Communion is understood as a celebration of Jesus’ radical work of peacemaking and it is a real meal, enjoyed in community. Closely related to this is the Anabaptist practice of hospitality, extending from shared meal to offering refuge. A commitment to a multi-voiced church in which members listen to each other include multi-voiced worship and biblical interpretation, non-hierarchical leadership, and consensual decision-making. I especially appreciate these last two in light of the abuses of leadership power and the stifling of dissent in authoritarian churches. Murray follows this by practices of truthtelling–mutual accountability and truth-telling, extending beyond not needing oaths to trustworthiness in our speech and actions.

The next two practices affirmed are simplicity and sharing. The author argues here against tithing, which he believes to have no New Testament foundation. Rather, the call is to live an uncluttered and generous lifestyle. This is reflected in a commitment to mutual aid and commonality. Finally, he describes practices of Anabaptist witness. This includes ethical evangelism: inviting without inducing, persuading without pressuring, friendship without strings, sensitivity without compromise, and humility that foreswears having all the answers. Anabaptist witness is also a peace witness. This means emphasizing restorative justice. And it means building bridges of understanding between different cultures and faiths.

In the second part of the book, three women offer case studies of emerging communities. Alexandra Ellish describes the Incarnate project of planting Anabaptist communities in the UK. Karen Sethuraman describes one of these communities, SoulSpace Belfast. She also shares the core values of a spinoff, Soulspace Bristol, an embodiment of Murray’s practices. Finally, Juliet Kilpin offers an account of Peaceful Borders. It offers support to a concentration of asylum seekers and refugees in Calais, France. Appendices to the book summarize core convictions and practices, and offer a liturgy for gathering around the table.

In concluding, Murray proposes that what he is doing is to articulate the spirituality and practices of post-Christendom churches. I think he properly diagnoses our moment. Rather than trying to return to the Christendom project, Murray returns to Jesus and practices reflecting a gospel-centered understanding of discipleship.

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Disclosure of Material Conection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction

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The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction
The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction by James W. Skillen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In our current toxic political climate one might ask the question, “can anything good come of politics?” James W. Skillen would answer that affirmatively. His main contention is that to be created in the image of God means, among other things, that we are political creatures and that political life, along with things like work and family, is part of God’s creation intention for us. It is not a consequence of the fall. Like other aspects of the human condition, political life certainly has been distorted by the fall but part of our call as the redeemed is to bring a redemptive influence into political life.

After laying out the biblical basis for this position in Part One, Skillen goes on in Part Two to survey how the church through history has addressed itself to this question. He covers Augustine’s two cities, the ascendancy of the church over civil government, and the splintering of authority and the two kingdom approach of the Reformers, particularly Luther. Finally he moves to the contemporary scene and the influences of Hobbes and Locke on the American Experiment.

Along the way, he engages the Anabaptist alternative of Hauerwas and Yoder and others that advocates for the kingdom of God as its own political entity and that the church, which is called to peace, should abstain from political engagement which inevitably requires the use of force in restraining evil, including lethal force. He argues that while this may allow the church to maintain its purity, it raises questions about the character of a God who ordains government to restrain evil through the power of the sword. My difficulty with this contention is that these questions are unavoidable no matter whether you are Anabaptist or not and go back to the question of why God permits evil at all. However, like those who would ascribe to some form of just war theory and who take this seriously, he argues that many instances of warfare do not meet this test and should be opposed by Christians.

This last is covered significantly in the third part of the book where Skillen engages the questions of how Christians engage in politics. He explores hot button issues like marriage, family, economics, and the environment. Because this book is an “introduction” he covers a lot of ground. His most interesting sections to me were his discussions of citizenship and the responsibilities all of us have in a republic, and his thoughts on politics in a globalized setting–avoiding nationalism and one world government options while allowing for various regional and other international regimes to deal with the international issues that are inevitable. In this discussion he argues that our situation is not one of a clash of civilizations between country blocks but rather competing claims within many of our countries: secularism, Christianity, capitalism, Islam to name a few.

The one thing I found most impractical was his proposal for “proportional representation” in the House of Representatives of national parties based on voting percentages for each party in elections. What he is trying to do is create a context where parties address national concerns rather than simply being split into electoral base politics. What seems to have a better (though still a long shot to me) chance is redistricting reform that requires districts to make geographic sense and to be demographically representative of a state’s population as far as that is geographically possible. The current gerrymandering of political districts means that one only need cater to one’s base to get elected rather than representing all the people. At least both Skillen and I agree on the problem that makes the House so dysfunctional.

On balance, this is a helpful proposal for how Christians might think about political life and exercise redemptive influence in politics. The most important part of this book is his argument for politics as a result, not of the fall, but the creation. His survey of historical positions is also helpful. His exploration of contemporary issues seemed somewhat cursory, even though he is thoughtful and nuanced. Yet he shows some of the directions Christians might go in pursuing these issues in greater depth.

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