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Advance Comment
Anabaptist
Theology in Face of Postmodernity
"This book offers a wealth of
insights into Mennonite scholarship, past and present.
Weaver's central thesis, that nonviolence needs to inform
the whole of Mennonite theology, is important and well
argued. Such a theology will find its source not in the
creeds but in the story of Jesus."
—Nancey Murphy, Professor of Christian
Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Weaver has undertaken a bold tour
de force moving back over 450 years of
Mennonite-Anabaptist theological reflection. In the quest
for an Anabaptist theology and Christian identity in our
contemporary postmodern era, this is a book Mennonite and
peace church pastors and scholars cannot afford to miss.
"Weaver maintains that Mennonites, as a peace
church, should and must construct a theological
alternative to the time-honored creedal formulas of
Christendom underlying much of Western violence. He is
doing us a great service by insisting that for a theology
to elucidate the way of Jesus and the kingdom of God in
our postmodern context, peace must be at its very core.
He convincingly argues that the peace-living, socially
marginalized Anabaptists constitute a key resource for
constructing such a theology."
—Ray Gingerich, Professor of Theology and
Ethics, Eastern Mennonite University
"Can the Anabaptist-Mennonite
faith community give rise to a distinctive peace church
theology divorced from the classic formulations of
orthodox Western theology? Working from his conviction
that following the nonviolent Jesus is the ground of
Christian faith, J. Denny Weaver audaciously rejects the
prevailing "theology-in-general" as exemplified
in the historic creeds of Christendom. It is the story of
Jesus, not the Nicene and Chalcedonian formulations- that
ought to shape an authentic Christian theology for the
twenty-first century.
"Building from his simple yet profound thesis that
it is ‘precisely at the point of rejecting violence
that the reign of God made visible in Jesus is most
distinct from the prevailing social order,’ Weaver
tests his approach through attention to questions of
atonement and ecclesiology in samplings taken from
several centuries of Mennonite theologizing. He finds
supportive methodological parallels in contemporary black
and womanist theology.
"Weaver does not hesitate to pass judgment on
writers in the Mennonite camp who seem comfortable with
subsuming Anabaptism under the generic Protestant fold.
He appropriates the postmodern context that enables
freedom for theology to move in a unique direction
without giving up its claim toward universal validity.
"This book stands as the culmination of the line of
thought that Denny Weaver has been arguing for more than
a decade. It demands the attention of anyone interested
in Anabaptism and peace church theology."
— J. R.Burkholder, Professor Emeritus of
Religion, Goshen College
"Here is a stirring call to
nonconformity in theological method for the believers
churches in general and Mennonites in particular.
Moreover, Weaver shows how such an Anabaptist theology
joins its voice in solidarity with the voices of others
who have been marginalized or neglected by the
assumptions of mainstream theological orthodoxies."
—Gerald and Susan Biesecker-Mast, Assistant
Professors of Communication, Bluffton College
Anabaptist Theology in Face
of Postmodernity orders:
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