A Prescription for the Ills of Modernity? Understanding A. James Reimer’s Approach to Theology PAUL C. HEIDEBRECHT* Abstract: This essay seeks to engage Mennonite theologian A. James Reimer on his own terms, interpreting his theology as a response to his construal of modernity that has been shaped significantly by…
Destination Amish Quilt Country: The Consumption of Quilts in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania JANNEKEN SMUCKER* Abstract: During the late twentieth century, visitors flocked to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, often with the goal of purchasing an Amish quilt. As fine art, souvenir, commodity and symbol, these Amish quilts played a significant role…
BOOK REVIEWS Building on the Gospel Foundation: The Mennonites of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and Washington County, Maryland, 1730-1970. By Edsel Burdge Jr. and Samuel L. Horst. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press. 2004. Pp. 928. $49.99, U.S.; $69.99, Can. Even in the nineteenth century, as the larger Mennonite Church was moving toward…
IN THIS ISSUE In a short novella titled Cecelia’s Sin, the Southern Baptist minister and peace activist William Campbell tells the story of a young Anabaptist woman in the Netherlands who is determined to document the martyrdoms of her fellow believers by committing their stories to print. When the authorities…
Contents of Volume LXXX July 2006 Number Three In This Issue Guy F. Hershberger’s War, Peace, and Nonresistance (1944): Background,Genesis, Message Theron F. Schlabach Mennonites, African-Americans, the U.S. Constitution and the Problem of Assimilation Lee Roy…
Guy F. Hershberger’s War, Peace, and Nonresistance (1944): Background, Genesis, Message THERON F. SCHLABACH* Abstract: War, Peace, and Nonresistance, written by Mennonite social scientist and ethicist Guy F. Hershberger and published in 1944, was an uncommonly important work. In it, Hershberger both articulated a broad consensus among…
IN THIS ISSUE Now that memories of the polarized rhetoric of the 2004 presidential campaign are receding, it may be a good time to revisit a longstanding theme in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition: the nature of the church’s witness to the state. Few topics have evoked more scholarly attention in the…
BOOK REVIEWS Dialogue and Drama: Elements of Greek Tragedy in the Fourth Gospel. By Jo-Ann A. Brant. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers. 2004. Pp. xvi + 304. $19.95. John’s Gospel has been analyzed historically, theologically, structurally and narratively, yielding rich insights. John has been valued as a spiritual Gospel, foundational to…
Contemporary Counsel on Mennonite Engagement with the State Anabaptist Advocacy J. DARYL BYLER* For a variety of reasons, some Mennonites choose not to vote or to engage in the political process. Others believe this is an important part of our faith witness. This essay assumes that some form of…
Mennonites, African-Americans, the U.S. Constitution and the Problem of Assimilation LEE ROY BERRY JR.* Abstract: European-American Mennonites and African-Americans are quite different from one another even though both are minority groups. These differences become especially evident in the issue of assimilation into mainstream American society. Mennonites have traditionally regarded…
