Occasional Papers

In the Occasional Papers series, Institute of Mennonite Studies publishes essays in the fields of Bible, history, theology, ethics and pastoral ministry. The intent of the series is to foster discussion and to seek counsel, particularly from within the Mennonite theological community. Many essays are in finished form; some may be in a more germinal stage, released for purposes of testing and inviting critical response.

#26 In Celebration of Wisdom: Life and Meaning in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes

#25 Even the Demons Submit: Continuing Jesus’ Ministry of Deliverance

#24 Using Scripture in a Global Age

#23 Take This Word to Heart: The Shema in Torah and Gospel

#22 Dutch Mennonite Mission in Indonesia: Historical Essays

#21 Without Spot or Wrinkle: Reflecting Theologically on the Nature of the Church

#20 By Faith They Went Out: Mennonite Missions, 1950-1999

#19 Theological Education on Five Continents (Mennonite World Conference)

#18 Discipleship in Context

#17 Making Disciples in the Congregation (Out of print)

#16 Peace Theology and Violence Against Women

#15 Alternative Models of Mennonite Pastoral Formation

#14 Anabaptist-Mennonite Identities in Ferment

#13 A Disciple’s Christology: Appraisals of Kraus’ Jesus Christ Our Lord

#12 Essays on Peace Theology and Witness

#11 Essays on Spiritual Bondage and Deliverance

#10 Perspectives on Feminist Hermeneutics

#9 Essays on War and Peace

#8 Dialogue Sequel to Moltmann’s Following Jesus Christ in the World Today

#7 Explorations of Systematic Theology

#6 Perspectives in the Nurturing Faith

#5 The Pastor-People Partnership: The Call and Recall of Pastors from a Believers’ Church Perspective

#4 Following Jesus Christ in the World Today (Out of print)

#3 The Bible and Law

#2 Themes on theological education from a missional perspective (Out of print)

#1 Themes of war, peace, and justice (Out of print)

No. 1 Biblical Essays on War and Peace
Willard M. Swartley, ed.
0-936273-00-3 88 pages. Out of print; photocopy available for $10.00

This first issue of Occasional Papers was commissioned by the Council of Mennonite Seminaries. The essays in this issue, in the field of Biblical studies, are written by Waldemar Janzen, Rebecca Yoder, Jean Lassarre, Tom Hanks, Millard Lind, and Henry Poettcker. It contains also two reviews of Lind’s book Yahweh Is a Warrior by J. J. Enz and E. Martens.

No. 2  Theological Education in Missional Perspective
Willard M. Swartley, ed.
0-936273-01-1 137 pages. Out of print; photocopy available for $10.00

This volume contains the papers from the conference on “Call to Theological Education in Missional Perspective,” conjointly sponsored by the Council of Mennonite Seminaries (CMS) and the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship (MMSF). The conference held at AMBS, February 26-28, 1981, brought together faculty members of four seminaries, the overseas mission administration of the various Mennonite mission agencies, MMSF members and AMBS students. The papers by David J. Bosch and Paul G. Hiebert present historical and conceptual backgrounds. Papers by Millard C. Lind, George R. Brunk, III, Helmut Harder, John H. Yoder, and Cornelius J. Dyck reflect on how specific disciplines might be taught if the missional perspectives were given priority. An evaluative summary is presented by John Miller. Also included are four book reviews.

No. 3  The Bible and Law
Willard M. Swartley, ed.
0-936273-02-X/1982 138 pages paper $5.00

This collection of essays, arising from a consultation on the topic sponsored by the Institute of Mennonite Studies, investigates the Old Testament and New Testament understandings of law, the various understandings of law in the Lutheran, Calvinist and Anabaptist branches of the Reformation and then examines the history of law and its influence on western society as well as the tensions between law and morality. The essayists are Millard C. Lind, John E. Toews, Thomas N. Finger, William J. Hawk and Conrad G. Brunk.

No. 4  Following Jesus Christ in the World Today
Jürgen Moltmann
0-936273-03-8 108 pages paper. Out of print; photocopy available for $10.00

Lectures delivered by Professor Moltmann at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries and Canadian Mennonite Bible College. After describing and critically reflecting upon Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms, Barth’s doctrine of the lordship of Christ and the experience of the Confessing Church, and political theology and political hermeneutics, Moltmann forges his own statement of what it means to follow Christ in the nuclear age. He dialogues with both the historic Anabaptist-Mennonite understandings of church and state and present day-emphases arising from liberation theology.

No. 5  The Pastor-People Partnership: The Call and Recall of Pastors from a Believers’ Church Perspective
Leland Harder
0-936273-04-6/1983 180 pages; paperback $5.00

Describes the pastoral ministry from Anabaptist origins until the present, focusing on current reinterpretations of the pastoral ministry. It also presents findings from a case field study in the Central District of the General Conference Mennonite Church and develops a model for the pastor-congregation partnership today.

No. 6  Perspectives on the Nurturing of Faith
Leland Harder, ed.
0-936273-05-4/1983 189 pages; paperback $5.00

Contains seven essays with perspectives from the Old Testament (Waldemar Janzen), New Testament (George R. Brunk, III), patristic and medieval periods (Peter C. Erb), Anabaptist/Mennonite (Cornelius J. Dyck), Hispanic (Rafael Falcon) and powerless-oppressed (John A. Rogers). The volume concludes with a findings report from the 1982 consultation on Christian education sponsored by the Institute.

No. 7  Explorations of Systematic Theology from Mennonite Perspectives
0-936273-06-2 111 pages. Out of print. Photocopy available for $10.00

Five Mennonite scholars describe their understanding of what a Mennonite systematic theology should look like. The proposals range from an emphasis upon the distinctive Anabaptist perspectives to a recovery of a comprehensive approach based on the history of doctrine, especially of the early and medieval church. Essayists are Marlin Jeschke, J. Denny Weaver, Thomas N. Finger, A. James Reimer, and Howard John Loewen.

No. 8  Dialog Sequel to Moltmann’s Following Jesus Christ in the World Today
Willard M. Swartley, ed.
0-936273-11-9/1984 67 pages paper $5.00

This volume begins with an introductory article to Moltmann’s thought by Thomas Finger. It then includes six responses to Moltmann’s essays in No. 4 followed by Moltmann’s own response to the responses. The result shows critical reflection on and discussion between Moltmann’s contribution and scholars in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition.

No. 9  Essays on War and Peace: Bible and Early Church
Willard M. Swartley, ed.
0-936273-09-7/1986 154 pages; paper $6.50

This volume includes a detailed study of the Old Testament use of the word “herem” (Fretz), a summary and analysis of Girard and Schwager’s contributions on the relationship between violence and sacrifice (Pries), a summary and analysis of Peter Stuhlmacher’s distinctive contribution to New Testament theology (Dyck), an essay on Jesus as Conscientizer (Lugibibl) and two essays on the early church and pacifism. The first, by William Elster, investigates the significance of the early church’s use of the phrase, “new law of Christ,” in its reference to specific biblical pacifist traditions. The second, by John Friesen, examines the developments of war and peace in the patristic age thought and practice, noting both continuity and discontinuity.

No. 10  Perspectives on Feminist Hermeneutics
Gayle Gerber Koontz and Willard Swartley, editors
0-936273-10-0/1987 128 pages paper $6.50

Six essays on Feminist hermeneutics resulting from a consultation followed by four Bible studies illustrating the application of such hermeneutics. These are followed by responses. Contributors are Catherine Clark Kroeger, David Schroeder, Toinette M. Eugene, Mary Schertz, Diane L. McDonald, Lydia Harder, Willard Swartley and Ben C. Ollenburger.

No. 11  Essays on Spiritual Bondage and Deliverance
Willard Swartley, ed.
0-936273-12-7/1988 224 pages paper $8.00

This volume contains essays prepared for a consultation on the subject of demonic phenomena and the church’s role in responding to it. The subject is addressed from numerous perspectives: biblical, theological, historical, psychological, sociological, and pastoral care. Though the dominant tradition represented is Mennonite, it contains other perspectives also: Roman Catholic, evangelical Protestant, and charismatic. These papers and responses were the basis of a consultation held on the campus of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries in the summer of 1987.

No. 12  Essays on Peace Theology and Witness
Willard Swartley, ed.
0-936273-13-5/1988 213 pages paper $8.00

This collection of ten essays presents an overview of major current issues in Mennonite peace theology and witness. The essays were prepared for the 1985 Peace Theology Colloquium. Some issues dealt with are: how Mennonites do peace theology, church and state, the use of power, feminism and peace theology, and numerous biblical issues concerning peace and justice. The concluding essay, “On God: Ethics and the Power to Act in History,” by Stanley Hauerwas, was especially commissioned for this volume.

No. 13  A Disciple’s Christology: Appraisals of Kraus’s Jesus Christ Our Lord
Richard A. Kauffman, ed.
0-936273-15-1/1989
112 pages paper $7.00

This is a collection of papers presented at a Christology consultation held October 1988 on the campus of the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries. The papers were written and presented in response to C. Norman Kraus’s major work on Christology, Jesus Christ Our Lord: Christology from a Disciple’s Perspective (Herald Press, 1987). At the beginning Kraus gives an autobiographical introduction to his work, attempting to explain the personal and theological agenda which motivated it. Other persons then respond to his Christology from a variety of perspectives (biblical, historical, theological, pastoral, and missional). At the conclusion Kraus then himself responds to the critiques.

No. 14  Anabaptist-Mennonite Identities in Ferment
Leo Driedger, Leland Harder, editors
0-936273-17-8/1990 194 pages paper $8.00

This book is a report of a consultation held on the AMBS campus November 11-12, 1988 on Church Member Profile II. Two theologians and five sociologists presented major papers with responses from sociologists, theologians, and historians and discussions by the participants. The purpose of the consultation was to find new creative ways of conceptualizing a second North American social survey of Mennonites and Brethren in Christ (the first was conducted in 1972).

No. 15  Alternative Models of Mennonite Pastoral Formation
Jim Egli and Paul M. Zehr
0-936273-19-4/1992 134 pages paper $10.00

This book contains two essays written on the subject of equipping persons for pastoral ministry. Zehr’s paper is a description of the philosophy, objectives and curriculum of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference program of which he is the director. It might be seen as a supplement to existing residential college and seminary programs. Egli’s paper is a hard-hitting critique of the academic, residential approach to pastoral formation as practiced in the seminaries as we know them. These are followed by responses by Lois Barrett, Harold E. Bauman, the late Richard C Detweiler, Ralph A. Lebold, and Erick Sawatsky.

No. 16  Peace Theology and Violence Against Women
Elizabeth G. Yoder, editor
0-936273-20-8/1992 125 pages paper $10.00

This book contains a collection of papers and responses from the October 1991 Consultation on Peace Theology and Violence Against Women held on the AMBS campus. The consultation dealt with the subject of violence against women and how Mennonite peace theology with its emphasis on submission and suffering may be contributing to the passivity with which many Mennonite women are responding to the violence which husbands and other male figures “in authority” are perpetrating on them.

No. 17  Making Disciples in the Congregation: A Guide to Christian Formation through the Process of Mentoring and the Experience of Congregational Worship
Paul Versluis
0-936273-23-2/1995 98 pages paper. Out of print; photocopy available for $10.00

One pastor’s reflections about the necessity for mentoring and concrete guidelines for mentors. Versluis shares from his own study and reflection. He also reports on the experiences of members of his congregation as they are involved in a mentoring process. Included in the book are guidelines for services which mark significant steps in the mentoring process.

No. 18  Discipleship in Context: Papers Read at the Menno Simons 500 International Symposium, Elspeet, Netherlands, 1996
Alle Hoekema, Roelf Kuitse, editors
0-936273-26-7/1997 169 pages paper; $15.00

In July 1996 the Algemeene Doopsgezinde Societet of the Netherlands sponsored a symposium commemorating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Menno Simons. The papers presented at the symposium were published in this volume, making it possible for those who were not present to wrestle with the focal question, Can Menno Simons still inspire the Mennonite congregations around the world? Photo pages included.

No. 19  Theological Education on Five Continents: Anabaptist Perspectives
Nancy R. Heisey, Daniel S. Schipani, editors
0-936273-27-5/1997 131 pages paper; $15.00

This book was published cooperatively by Mennonite World Conference and IMS with the hope that it would further the dialogue begun at the Consultation on Theological Education on Five Continents convened by MWC in Calcutta, India, in January 1997. It represents a partial record of a conversation in process among people involved in theological education in the global Mennonite and Brethren in Christ family of faith.

No. 20  By Faith They Went Out: Mennonite Missions, 1850-1999
Wilbert R. Shenk
0-936273-28-3/2000 133 pages paper; $15.00 US

A noted missiologist surveys and synthesizes aspects of the Mennonite experience in mission, and lays a foundation for a Mennonite theology of mission that is both biblical and consonant with Anabaptist tradition.

No. 21  Without Spot Or Wrinkle: Reflecting Theologically on the Nature of the Church
Karl Koop and Mary H. Schertz, eds.
0-936273-29-1/2000 136 pages paper; $15.00 US

Mennonite scholars and church leaders wrestle with urgent agenda of faithfulness and unity—biblical authority, mutual accountability, and ecclesiology—from historical and biblical perspectives.

No. 22  Dutch Mennonite Mission in Indonesia: Historical Essays
Alle Hoekema
0-936273-31-3/2001 148 pages paper; $15.00 US

“These essays are rich with insight. Hoekema’s intention to present an honest picture is patently clear, but his sympathy and compassion for the people studied results in a balanced and sensitive evaluation. He succeeds in bringing us into close contact with significant leaders of previous generations from whom we can learn valuable lessons,” writes Wilbert R. Shenk in the Foreword.

No. 23 Take this Word to Heart: The Shema in Torah and Gospel
Perry B. Yoder
0-936273-38-0 133/2005 133 pages paper; $15.00 US
Copublisher: Herald Press, Scottdale, PA
Contributors: Jackie A. Wyse, James W. Carlson, Jeff T. Williams, Amy Barker

“In Take this Word to Heart, Perry Yoder and his former students make important contributions to our understanding of the two great commandments in the Gospels-Jesus' command to love God and to love our neighbor. Yoder's own introductory chapter and the excellent studies of Deuteronomy and the Synoptics that follow shed fresh light on the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and the New Testament's use of it. Preachers, scholars, and other students of scripture will be grateful to the Institute of Mennonite Studies for publishing this unique resource, which should be widely read.”—Ben C. Ollenburger

No. 24 Using Scripture in a Global Age: Framing Biblical Issues
C. Norman Kraus
1-931038-35-X/2006 $19.95 US, $29.95 Can
Publisher: Cascadia Publishing House
Copublisher: Herald Press, Scottdale, PA

How should one read that ancient book called the Bible these many centuries after its formation? How can its instructions to civilizations of three and four thousand years ago be relevant to our modern technical age? Each chapter, a whole in itself; addresses some aspect of how the Bible may speak today as Kraus engages a variety of major issues, including Christology, hermeneutics, peace, sexuality, creationism, miracles, social justice, and spiritual reality. Several concluding autobiographical chapters also set the larger book in the context of the author’s long experience as a teacher of the Bible and theology in many different cultures.

No. 25 Even the Demons Submit: Continuing Jesus’ Ministry of Deliverance
Loren L. Johns and James R. Krabill, eds.
0-936273-40-2/2006 232 pages paper; $19.95
Co-publisher: Herald Press, Scottdale, PA

What would it look like if deliverance ministers, psychologists, pastors, biblical scholars, missiologists, anthropologists, and people who have experienced deliverance and healing were to compare notes, tell their stories, and try to learn from one another? This book aims to reflect that conversation and promote further conversation. The diversity of the book is an attempt to honor the complexity of the issue. In Even the Demons Submit, you will find not only different points of view but also different kinds of material. Some essays are articulated with scholarly care, and others are reflections from a pastoral heart. There are stories and case studies. Some of the contributions are intensely personal, and others step back to offer a larger perspective on the matter.

No. 26 In Celebration of Wisdom: Life and Meaning in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes
Steven Schweitzer, ed.
0-936273-42-29/2009 83 pages paper; $15.00
Co-publisher: Herald Press, Scottdale, PA

“ This collection of textual studies is a welcome contribution to our continued learning. The focus on wisdom takes up a much neglected part of scripture and opens for us large theological affirmations and demanding ethical summonses. In a society that has majored in foolishness on a large scale, the book is a reminder that wisdom that can generate life is rooted elsewhere in a hidden governance that is nonnegotiable and cannot be outflanked. The reader will find these several studies suggestive and accessible, grounded good scholarship but addressed to a church audience that seeks practical guidance for faith.” —Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary