Mennonite/Orthodox Dialogue...

We had a good afternoon at Annunciation for the Mennonite/Orthodox dialogue. You can download the paper I presented here. It is not perfect, but it is an iteration of how Anabaptists read and interpret the Bible. I think the part on how authority is expressed in the Mennonite (and more broadly the Protestant/Evangelical stream) is particularly important to understanding the contemporary situation in Western Christianity.

How is the way of Christ revealed? And what value (authority) do we give to the Apostolic "mindset" that is represented in Tradition as a way we discern Biblical faithfulness to Christ? I suggest, that what we tend to see expressed in the modern approach to Scripture, particularly in American Christianity, is an individualistic engagement with the Gospel--private, subjective interpretation, un-accountable to a broader (Apostolic) mindset through which the Christ of Scriptures is crystallized and expressed. Grenz and Franke offer this critique. I included this critique in the paper, but skipped over it in my presentation, because of time constraints.

I'm thinking about starting another blog that is a forum for ongoing converstation between Anabaptism and Orthodoxy. Stay tuned.