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This small book has both a particular and an abiding genesis. The particular genesis, that which precipitated the initial draft of the book, was the existence of the Anabaptist Seminar following after the Anabaptist Colloquium that met at Eastern Mennonite University in April 2006. The assignment for the presenters at the seminar was to discuss the relevance for the contemporary church of their findings presented in the history-focused colloquium. The invitation to the seminar constituted the specific impetus to put in writing the abiding genesis of our work, namely our ongoing, longstanding, many-sided discussions about the character of sixteenth-century Anabaptism and its importance for the contemporary church. This book was thus actually begun long before either of us knew we were writing a book together. It has been a mutually enriching conversation. We have grown through dealing with our differing academic disciplines: theology and rhetoric. It is our intent that the book display that mutual learning. Alongside our ongoing conversations, producing the actual manuscript for the book was also a cooperative activity. Each of us wrote first drafts of some sections, and the other author then revised and expanded the draft. Each author has worked over the entire manuscript so that both of us identify with the whole. We are grateful to our colleagues from around the world who debate the character of Anabaptism. Even when we disagree with some of their views, the conversation keeps interest in Anabaptism alive and also demonstrates its importance for the future of the peace churches. We are grateful to publisher Michael A. King for his interest and support of this manuscript in particular and for his important work of managing Cascadia Publishing House LLC to give visibility to Anabaptist-oriented publications generally. And we are grateful to Bluffton University: for bringing us together in the mission of Anabaptist education; for providing an institutional context that is supportive of the time and energy required to address the kinds of questions we take up in this book; and for generous financial support for publication of the manuscript. The index was prepared by Anna Yoder, a Bluffton University student and now a veteran indexer in her role as the research assistant for the Communication and Theatre Department. C. Henry Smith, who taught at Bluffton University for nearly the entire first half of the twentieth century, had much to do with beginning the recovery of the Anabaptist Vision, even though he was drawn into significant disagreements with others about how to properly interpret Anabaptist-Mennonite history. His work helped the Mennonite church remember its Anabaptist roots and to begin thinking critically about how to continue the Anabaptist witness in the modern world. We are grateful for his legacy and dedicate this work to his memory. —Gerald J.
Mast, Bluffton University |
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