Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology

Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology is published twice a year to encourage theological reflection on the identity, mission, and practices of the church from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

The journal is published by the Institute of Mennonite Studies at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and by the Canadian Mennonite University Centre for Faith and Life (Winnipeg, MB). The AMBS editor is Jackie Wyse-Rhodes, and the CMU editor is Karl Koop. CMU’s Abram Bergen serves as advertising manager.

Vision is digital!

In addition to print copies for subscribers, current and back issues of Vision are all available free online. Read the current issue in its entirety and check out back issues at the official website.

Spring 2025: War and peace

Edited by Karl Koop

We live in a world where military conflicts seem to be intensifying. After the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, there was much optimism that the world had become a safer place, but since then wars have been on the rise—with an increasing number of soldiers and civilians dying and millions of people experiencing loss of home and necessities of life. In looking to the future, it seems that the best that we can hope for is to muddle through and try to avoid the worst of catastrophes.

Christians have frequently insisted that war is terrible and wrong but have often pointed out that it may be a necessary evil and that under certain conditions it is justifiable. Anabaptists, along with other peace churches, have countered, arguing that all of life is sacred, and, because of the incarnation, cross, and resurrection, war is always wrong. Christians must practice nonresistance and work actively toward building peace. The Christian life is about following Jesus, imitating Christ, living a life of discipleship, and holding firm to Jesus’s teachings and example—the one who called on his followers to not resist evil (Matthew 5:39).

Peace traditions have not always been clear about what a peace witness entails, and since the mid-twentieth century attitudes in some Mennonite circles have evolved. There has been a shift away from an ethic of quiet nonresistance toward an emphasis on engagement with the world and a commitment to active peacebuilding that includes resisting evil while maintaining an ethic of nonviolence.

In recent times, Mennonites have begun to deal with violence closer at hand and have sought to address issues related to racism, domestic violence, and sexual abuse in the context of work, school, church, and home. Considering these issues and the conversations that have ensued, the question arises: Do Mennonites have new insights about what it means to work for peace, both at home and abroad? A few of the articles in this issue begin to shed light on this question.

Read the most recent issue of Vision

Online notification: To be notified when a new issue is available free online, register at www.mennovision.org.

Print subscriptions: A one-year subscription is $20; subscribe for three years for $50. Send your check—made out to AMBS—to IMS, 3003 Benham Avenue, Elkhart, IN 46517-1999, or pay by credit card by calling the AMBS receptionist at 574-295-3726. For more information, contact visionsubscribe@ambs.edu. Canadian subscribers, contact vision@cmu.ca.

To request permission to copy or reprint articles, contact Vision permissions. To request information about advertising rates or to reserve ad space, contact Vision advertising. To request a print copy of back issues, contact the Vision managing editor. Complete text of all back issues is available at www.mennovision.org.

Forthcoming issues

  • Apocalypse (Fall 2025). Edited by Jackie Wyse-Rhodes.

Back issues

Vision editorial council

Sarah Kathleen Johnson (Mennonite Church Eastern Canada)
Jonny Rashid (MC USA pastor)
Rachel Ringenberg Miller (Mennonite Church USA)
Sheila Klassen-Wiebe (CMU faculty)
Allan Rudy-Froese (AMBS faculty)
Susanne Guenther Loewen (MC Canada pastor)
Staff: Karl Koop (CMU editor), Jackie Wyse-Rhodes (AMBS editor), David Cramer (managing editor), Abram Bergen (advertising manager)

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