BOOKS, FAITH, WORLD & MORE

THE BALD-HEADED MEN AND THE COMB
A Review of The Reformation and of A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology

Daniel Hertzler

The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Viking, 2004. 683 pp.

A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology by Thomas N. Finger. InterVarsity, 2004. 566 pp.

Although I doubt that the authors of these two blockbuster books are acquainted, I find them complementing each other. The former author provides extensive documentation for the context in which Anabaptism arose and struggled to survive. The latter combs through Anabaptist writings for theological material to construct his own Anabaptist theology. He offers this for discussion in ecumenical contexts.

Although MacCulloch’s major attention and space are given to the magisterial Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, he is quite aware of the Anabaptists. For example, he quotes from Conrad Grebel’s letter to Thomas Muntzer in which he held that "‘True believing Christians are sheep among wolves’," which, as MacCulloch observes, "was a denial of the concept of Christendom, the alliance with worldly power that had sustained the Medieval Church and that was now beginning to sustain the magisterial Reformation" (164-165).

Anabaptists and Mennonites turn up regularly throughout the tome as counterpoint to the "Christendom" the Reformers from Luther to Zwingli, Calvin, and others could not bring themselves to renounce. The foreground issue was infant versus adult baptism. None of those three could find infant baptism in the Bible, but they felt constrained to perpetuate it. "God’s Law laid out in Scripture . . . gave [Zwingli] good reason to justify infant baptism against Anabaptists by analogy with Israelite circumcision, the seal of the covenant" (173).

The background issue was a question of what sort of church there should be. Calvin held that "because Israel had been a mixed church, so was the new Testament Church of Christ. The Anabaptists were mistaken" (237).

Some of the Anabaptist radicals challenged the historic Christian creeds, believing "that Constantine’s alliance with the church had represented a wrong turn. . . . The more historically aware of them felt that theology decided in this era was tainted. They preferred the pre-conciliar theological genius Origen to Augustine" (180). Others "said that the idea of the Trinity was a Nicene (and therefore tainted) doctrine not seen in the Bible" (181).

Such radical ideas were not acceptable in a society in which the "alliance of magistrate and magisterial reformer rapidly hardened after 1525" (161). MacCulloch’s survey covers some 200 years from 1490 to 1700. It was two centuries of mayhem and bloodshed which more or less culminated in the major convulsions of the Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648. Some consider that as many as 40 percent of the inhabitants of Germany were destroyed (469).

After 200 years, the geography of Europe was roughly as follows. The Scandinavian countries were principally Protestant, Southern and Eastern Europe were mainly Catholic, and Germany was divided. The British islands had their own distinctive Reformation, bloody in England, mainly peaceable in Scotland, and with Ireland divided.

North American Christians should not overlook the significance of Independents such as William Penn. In Pennsylvania he made a place not only for English Quakers, but also for other English Protestants, Scotch Presbyterians "and the descendants of radical Reformation groups of mainland Europe, like Anabaptists and Moravian Brethren." MacCulloch observes that Pennsylvania was the first of the colonies to devise the denominational pattern of religious expression common in the United States today (525). He finds also that, whereas in Europe a majority shows no interest in formal religion, Protestantism in America is "pervasive and exuberantly assertive" (527).

This volume is enriched with more details than can be comprehended even in multiple readings. Benjamin Schwartz in Atlantic Monthly (Dec. 2004) included this book as one of seven "Books of the Year" in 2004, books "from which you should be able to derive pleasure and profit a decade hence."

Hans Hillerbrand, a Reformation scholar, wrote in Christian Century (Feb. 8, 2005) that this is "the most readable and competent history of the actual Reformation period available." But he criticizes the author’s generalizations in the latter part of the book. If we have the fortitude we can inform ourselves regarding a multitude of details about a period of history which has had a significant impact on our lives today.

Even so, MacCulloch proposes that the lack of Christian activity in Europe today suggests "a story of two bald headed men fighting over a comb; an ultimately futile struggle over issues that now seem trivial or irrelevant" (652). Yet he observes that it is "possible to argue that the most significant contribution of the two Reformation centuries to Christianity was the theory and practice of toleration" although it can be suggested that "the contribution was inadvertent and reluctant" (652).

In the end MacCulloch returns to the Anabaptists, the "radical thinkers and preachers [who] represented possible future identities for Latin Christianity. . . . A modern Anglican—or even a modern Roman Catholic—is likely to be more like a sixteenth-century Anabaptist in belief than he or she resembles a sixteenth-century member of the Church of England" (682).

Without giving evidence of being aware of MacCulloch’s work, Thomas Finger offers Anabaptist theology as a basis for discussion and ecumenical conversation. In what must be a tour de force if I understand that expression, Finger has done three things: 1) he has combed through Anabaptist writings to extract theological topics; 2) he has compared these perspectives with the work of selected contemporary writings in the Anabaptist tradition and critiqued these from his own perspective based on Scripture and the historic Christian creeds; 3) he offers this as a formula for use in ecumenical discussions.

Finger has already published two volumes of Christian Theology: Volume I (Herald Press, 1987) and Volume II (1989). So he is not entering a new field. But what he has set out to do seems distinctive. He proposes that "in today’s culture which prizes particularity yet where many tendencies press swiftly toward globality, an unlikely, very particular communion, the Anabaptists, can aid theology in addressing both dimensions" (12). Well, MacCulloch, here we are.

After a brief review of "modernity" and "postmodernity" to clarify the context in which he writes, he provides a brief survey of Anabaptist history followed by a sampling of current theological writings in the Anabaptist tradition, noting particularly the points of reference.

He finds that they begin with a variety of assumptions: Evangelical (J. C. Wenger, Ronald Sider); "rooted in biblical narrative" (John Howard Yoder, J. Denney Weaver, Norman Kraus, James McClendon). "Other Anabaptist theologians, however, are beginning not so directly from Scripture but within some broader perspective." Here he finds "Christian tradition (James Reimer), methodological considerations (Gordon Kaufman), social considerations (Duane Friesen), and science (Nancey Murphy with George Ellis). Finally, I will examine postmodern issues, mostly through briefer writings on (intra) textuality, Christ and culture, contemporary construction and desire" (57).

Finger then provides his own theological formula, which he uses to evaluate both the historic and contemporary Anabaptist writings. He describes his formula as "The coming of the new creation in three inseparable dimensions—personal, communal and missional." Although he indicates he does not intend to treat this formula as "Anabaptism’s essence," he considers it more viable than "discipleship" or "kingdom" (106). He gives one chapter to discussion of each of these three dimensions, drawing on both the historic and the contemporary Anabaptist writers.

He concludes the third of these chapters on the missional dimension with reference to "the scandal of particularity," the perception that God chose Israel, then Jesus, and that "God’s particular vehicles are now churches, aptly called eschatological sacraments" (322). He proposes that Anabaptism "can draw a very sharp contrast between the church and the ‘world,’ yet insist that Jesus’ Lordship, including his way in many specifics, is for everyone" (323).

Chapter 8 on Christology is crucial in Finger’s strategy, since some historic as well as some current Anabaptist writers have not been impressed by the definitions found in the historic Christian creeds. But Finger, drawing support from John Howard Yoder, recommends "that Anabaptists use the creeds as point of contact with many evangelicals and ecumenicals." Further, he finds that "the creeds compatible, at the least, with the Anabaptist theme of Christ’s kenotic Lordship" (418).

In chapter 9 Finger is inclined to find Anabaptism’s view on human nature in Scripture, peasant ideals, and medieval mysticism. He concludes that Anabaptists resisted Augustine’s inclination to ascribe all choice to God and little to humankind. This view seemed to "sanction the status quo and imply that Christian activity must accord with it." Anabaptists called for radical change in behavior and Finger perceives they must have assumed "some capacity for what people experience as genuine choice" (511).

In the end, says Finger, "I consider my theology one among other valid contemporary Anabaptist approaches" (562) although he has critiqued most of them from his position with Scripture and the creeds. But in the final word he acknowledges the paradoxical nature of the world in which we live. "A theology shaped by this paradox can be deeply concerned about worldwide processes like mission but still prioritize radical transformation in local settings" (566).

What do we do with Finger’s book? Maybe, like The Reformation, take it down once in a while and ponder its implications. Finger has taken a bold step. He opens himself not only to Anabaptist historians and other theologians but also to the group of current Anabaptist-related writers. What will they be thinking and saying about the book?

At the least he reminds us that if our heritage is worth practicing it is also worth sharing. Ecumenical relations in my hometown are basically cordial, although not all churches participate. Evidently some prefer the scandal of particularity. Recently a Catholic man died whose daughter was a member of our local Mennonite congregation. The funeral mass was held in the Catholic Church and the funeral meal in the Mennonite meetinghouse. This is Pennsylvania, after all. Perhaps the spirit of William Penn still pervades.

—Daniel Hertzler, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, a longtime editor and writer, contributes a monthly column to the Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pa.).