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Mennonite Brethren Convictions

Pastors Credentialing Orientation 2012 Brian Cooper and Doug Heidebrecht. Mennonite Brethren Convictions. Overview - Mennonite Brethren Convictions - Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics - Confessing our Faith - Mennonite Brethren Discipleship - A Reconciling People.

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Mennonite Brethren Convictions

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  1. Pastors Credentialing Orientation 2012 Brian Cooper and Doug Heidebrecht Mennonite Brethren Convictions

  2. Overview - Mennonite Brethren Convictions - Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics - Confessing our Faith - Mennonite Brethren Discipleship - A Reconciling People

  3. Mennonite Brethren in Canada (2010) British Columbia 106 churches (19,545) Alberta 24 churches (2282) Saskatchewan 30 churches (3217) Manitoba 38 churches (6321) Ontario 32 churches (4595) Quebec 10 churches (575) Maritimes 5 churches (235)

  4. Mennonite Brethren in Canada Cantonese German English Mandarin French Ethiopian Korean Arabic Japanese Eritrean Spanish Filipino Lao Punjab Romanian Vietnamese Russian

  5. What are Convictions?

  6. What are Convictions? A conviction is a persistent belief or persuasion that cannot be relinquished without making you a significantly different person than before. Mark 12:30 - “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” James Wm. McClendon, Jr. and James M. Smith, Convictions: Defusing Religious Relativism, rev. ed. (Valley Forge: Trinity Press, 1994), 5.

  7. What are Convictions? Convictions are expressed in what we actually say and do. Romans 10:9-10 - “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you professyour faith and are saved.”

  8. What are Convictions? Community convictions are the shared persuasions and beliefs that guide thought and shape life. These often form a discernable conviction set. Ephesians 4:4-6 - “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

  9. Mennonite Brethren Core Convictions Core convictions are merely convictions made explicit. Myth: Core convictions are non-negotiable elements of our theological identity, unlike other convictions, which can be traded away or relinquished if necessary. Fact: Changing convictions changes identity. All convictions arise in a context, and for specific reasons. What sets aside core convictions is the manner in which they have developed, and the degree of specificityconcerning their content.

  10. MB Confession of Faith (1999) God Discipleship Revelation of God Marriage, Singleness, and Family Creation and Humanity Society and State Sin and Evil Love and Nonresistance Salvation The Sanctity of Human Life Nature of the Church Stewardship Mission of the Church The Lord’s Day, Work, and Rest Christian Baptism Other Faiths Lord’s Supper Christ’s Final Return

  11. Mennonite Brethren DistinctivesA.E. Janzen (1966) - Biblicism - Conversion - Family - Church - Evangelism and Missions - Discipleship (Nonresistance) - Eschatology (Premillennialism) A.E. Janzen, Mennonite Brethren Distinctives (Hillsboro: Mennonite Brethren Publishing House), 1966.

  12. Mennonite Brethren Faith PremisesJ.B. Toews (1980) - Commitment to the Bible - Conversion that resulted in a transformed life - Redeemed community as a brotherhood - Obedient discipleship - Evangelism and mission J.B. Toews, “Influences on Mennonite Brethren Theology,” Symposium, Winnipeg, November 21-22, 1980, Box 8, Folder B, No. 1, Centre for MB Studies.

  13. Mennonite Brethren Core ValuesCanadian Conference (1995) - Searching the Scriptures - Encountering Jesus as Lord - Reconciling People - Valuing Covenant Community - Extending the Kingdom Mennonite Brethren Herald, May 17, 1996, 7.

  14. Theological Witness StatementMBBS (2008) - Conversion - Believer’s Baptism - The Bible - Church - Discipleship - Mission - Peace Witness “MBBS Theological Witness Statement” In Touch, Fall/Winter 2008, 5.

  15. Mennonite Brethren Convictions What is at the center of our convictions?

  16. Mennonite Brethren Convictions Reveals God Jesus Christ Model of Discipleship Lord of Mission Unique Saviour Head of the Church

  17. Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ

  18. Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ Church

  19. Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ New Life Church

  20. Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ New Life Discipleship Church

  21. Proclamation Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ New Life Discipleship Church

  22. Proclamation Incarnation Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ New Life Discipleship Church

  23. Proclamation Incarnation Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Spirit Jesus Christ New Life Discipleship Church

  24. Proclamation Incarnation Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ New Life Discipleship Baptism Church

  25. Proclamation Incarnation Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ New Life Discipleship Lord’s Supper Church

  26. Proclamation Reconciliation Incarnation Mennonite Brethren Convictions Bible Jesus Christ New Life Discipleship Church

  27. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics Bible Jesus Christ Discipleship

  28. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics Mennonite Brethren are biblicists. MB Confession of Faith – Article 2: The Revelation of God We believe that the entire Bible was inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit guides the community of faith in the interpretation of Scripture. The person, teaching and life of Jesus Christ bring continuity and clarity to both the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament bears witness to Christ, and Christ is the one whom the New Testament proclaims. We accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God and the authoritative guide for faith and practice.

  29. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics But to say that Mennonite Brethren are biblicists does not provide a clear picture regarding how we have read the Bible historically. 1. Implicit Theology 2. Community Hermeneutics 3. Naivety about the Hermeneutic Problem 4. Affinity with other Evangelicals

  30. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology When faced with a question or issue in the church, Mennonite Brethren insist it must be answered from the Bible, “What does the Word say?” Mennonite Brethren have not been concerned with creating a systematic doctrinal framework that could make sense of the content of faith. The significance of Scripture is supported by the evidence of new life and a walk of discipleship.

  31. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Mennonite Brethren have practiced what Robert Friedmann called an “implicit theology.” This has both pros and cons. On the one hand, an implicit theology has proven dynamic and flexible for Mennonite Brethren. On the other hand, J.B. Toews acknowledges, “an implicit faith can be sufficient for a church movement as long as it exists in the context of a homogeneous culture with a prescribed lifestyle that expresses the movement’s understanding of faith and practice.” But what about when it does not? J.B. Toews, Pilgrimage of Faith: The Mennonite Brethren Church, 1860-1990 (Winnipeg: Kindred Press, 1993), 180.

  32. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Mennonite Brethren have adopted what has historically been called biblical theology as our defining approach to the study of the Scriptures. In contrast to the philosophical categories employed by systematic theology to construct a logical doctrinal system, biblical theology seeks to synthesize the biblical material using biblical categories. Rather than creating polarizing positions based on different perspectives or theological camps, biblical theology seeks to sensitively read the text using the best interpretive tools available, and to live with the emphases and tensions within the text.

  33. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology To say that we do biblical theology is not to say that others do unbiblical theology, or that Mennonite Brethren have not, or do not, study the bible systematically. We study Scripture believing that there is a consistency and coherence underlying biblical revelation than demonstrates the consistent faithfulness of God. But our biblical interpretation lives with the tension between the conviction that God is consistent and our human inability to completely resolve apparent inconsistencies in the text.

  34. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology But Mennonite Brethren have not made consistent efforts to clarify just what the preferred approach to the text actually is, which has caused problems. For example . . .

  35. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Case Study #1: Eschatological Positions Amillennialism Post-millennialism Pre-millennialism Bible Pre-tribulation Mid-tribulation Post-tribulation

  36. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Case Study #2: Inerrancy Debate “The real test of whether we hold to the doctrine of inspiration is not to be found in man’s inadequate attempts to define the mysteries of God’s revelation in the Scriptures but in our willingness to live according to the teachings of the Word of God...Lindsell’s book is of no help in this arena. Indeed, the reader can easily be deceived into thinking that if only he has the right definition of inerrancy, he is already a true and faithful follower of Jesus, Lord of the Scriptures.” – David Ewert David Ewert, Review of The Battle for the Bible by Harold Lindsell. Direction 6, no. 2 (April 1977): 40.

  37. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Case Study #2 (cont’d): Inerrancy Debate “For thirty-five years I have preached and taught the Word in the Mennonite Brethren Church...Never once have I even suggested that the Scriptures may be in error. Indeed, when faced with what appear to be insoluble problems of interpretation (and every sincere and informed Bible reader knows about such), I have always proceeded on the assumption that the Bible is correct, even though my understanding of it may be far from perfect.” – David Ewert .

  38. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology “To accept the Bible as the Word of God was for them an exercise of faith that found its verification of genuineness in a life of obedience to the teaching and life of Jesus. There was no room to question its divine origin and character or to doubt that it was sufficient for the redemptive purposes of God.” “The effort to produce a system of logic as proof for the absolute trustworthiness of the Bible and the struggle to defend the ‘inerrancy’ of the Scriptures diverts attention from the center of the Bible, that of the person of God in Christ, and from the Holy Spirit who is the authority to guide us into all truth.” J.B. Toews, “The Influence of Fundamentalism on Mennonite Brethren Theology,” Direction 10, no. 3 (July 1981): 23-24.

  39. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology 1987 MB General Conference Resolution on Inerrancy “That we identify with those who confess the inerrancy of the original documents of the biblical books.” “That we recognize that the precision of any person’s definition of revelation and inspiration (including our own) is not necessarily an index of his or her spiritual depth or faithfulness to God and his Word.”

  40. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Although Mennonite Brethren have not always agreed regarding how the biblical text ought to be interpreted, we have generally been resistant to theology which has sought to impose extrabiblical concepts (e.g., the philosophically modern idea of inerrancy) upon the text. Mennonite Brethren are open to those who use inerrancy language, but have not made this language part of our confession. In our confession, we “accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God and the authoritative guide for faith and practice.”

  41. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Doctrinal Statement

  42. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Doctrinal Statement

  43. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Reader Reader Doctrinal Statement

  44. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Reader Reader Doctrinal Statement

  45. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Confession of Faith

  46. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Confession of Faith

  47. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Reader Reader Confession of Faith

  48. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Implicit Theology Biblical Text Reader Reader Reader Confession of Faith

  49. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Naivety about the Hermeneutic Problem Reading the Bible requires us to understand both the world of the Bible and our own contemporary context. The hermeneutic problem emerges as one seeks to discern how best to bridge the distance between these two contexts. Mennonite Brethren biblicism has tended to ignore the hermeneutic problem with its emphasis on a straightforward reading of the biblical text.

  50. Mennonite Brethren Hermeneutics:Naivety about the Hermeneutic Problem Biblical Text Reader MeaningSignificance Hermeneutic Problem How do you enter into the world of the Bible?

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