Extensive descriptions of 61 works.

The purpose of this book is to shed light on the thought of Dirk Philips, who was a Mennonite leader in the sixteenth century, and to argue that his various doctrines, including his Christology, ecclesiology, soteriology, and anthropology, are interrelated with his view of the visible church. This book explains that Dirk Philips’ view of the visible church is much closer to the ecclesiology of Augustine’s tradition rather than to the ecclesiology of the Donatists’ tradition. Although Dirk Philips had excellent theological abilities and he was a leader who made a significant contribution to the development of the Mennonites camp, he did not receive much attention in the study of Anabaptists, and there has not been much research on this sixteenth-century Mennonite leader. Thus, this book will help you discover a great sixteenth-century leader who has been forgotten in church history. Is it true that the Radical Reformers are disciples of Donatus, that the Anabaptists thought that the failed believers cannot be forgiven because the church is a gathering of pure souls? This book will probe the idea that the Radical Reformation is closer to the ecclesiology of Augustine’s tradition than to the ecclesiology of the Donatists’ tradition.

By the end of the fifteenth century, the Eucharist had come to encompass theology, liturgy, art, architecture, and music. In the sixteenth century, each of these dimensions was questioned, challenged, rethought, as western European Christians divided over their central act of worship. This volume offers an introduction to early modern thinking on the Eucharist—as theology, as Christology, as a moment of human and divine communion, as that which the faithful do, as taking place, and as visible and audible. The scholars gathered in this volume speak from a range of disciplines—liturgics, history, history of art, history of theology, philosophy, musicology, and literary theory. The volume thus also brings different methods and approaches, as well as confessional orientations to a consideration of the Eucharist in the Reformation. Contributors include: Gary Macy, Volker Leppin, Carrie Euler, Nicholas Thompson, Nicholas Wolterstorff, John D. Rempel, James F. Turrell, Robert J. Daly, Isabelle Brian, Thomas Schattauer, Raymond A. Mentzer, Michele Zelinsky Hanson, Jaime Lara, Andrew Spicer, Achim Timmermann, Birgit Ulrike Münch, Andreas Gormans, Alexander J. Fisher, Regina M. Schwartz, and Christopher Wild.

On February 5, 2000, the Institute of Mennonite Studies held a conference at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary entitled "Without Spot or Wrinkle: Reflecting Theologically on the Nature of the Church." This conference gave attention to ecclesiology, in direct response to challenges that Mennonite church bodies in Canada and the United States have been facing in recent times. The phrase "without spot or wrinkle" comes from Ephesians 5:27, a text addressing relationships between husbands and wives within the Christian household. Historically it has also come to symbolize what Mennonites have sometimes believed about the nature of the church. Anabaptists, and Mennonites who came after them, have often maintained that the true church is a gathering of reborn and spiritually regenerated Christians called to be a community free from moral failure. At present, however, some Mennonites are questioning elements of this conceptual legacy, and, in light of personal failings and hurtful church schisms, are expressing doubts about its practical adequacy and theological tenability. The essays in this book do not provide a unified argument. What the authors have in common is concern for the church and commitment to faithfulness. Readers are invited to reflect on the issues and make their own assessments.

In this commentary on 2 Corinthians, Scott Manetsch guides readers through both familiar voices and lesser-known figures of the early modern period from a diversity of theological traditions, including Lutherans, Reformed, Radicals, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. This volume will open the Reformation's resources to preachers, scholars, and all who would be newly created in Christ.

In 1962, the Reformation scholar Hans Hillerbrand said the following of Menno Simons: For the past four hundred years he (has been) a man with a bad presscriticized not only by all of his foes outside his tradition, but also by many of his friends within. Outsiders accused him of, at the very least, sympathizing if not actively supporting the revolutionaries involved in the notorious Mnster uprising of 15341535, the jihadists of the sixteenth century. Many insiders, at first fearful that this might indeed be the case, sought early to distance themselves from him, calling themselves Doopsgezinde rather than Mennists. Later, other insiders, having moved beyond Menno theologically under the influence of the Enlightenment and Rationalism, criticized him for being overly dogmatic and narrow-minded. Only a few pietists like Jung Stilling and pietistically influenced Dutch Mennonites like Johannes Deknatel, together with the occasional Baptist scholar like J. Newton Brown, spoke highly of him. Indeed, the latter said of Menno: But there stood one among them (the great reformers) whom they knew not; who was greater than theymore truly eminent in the likeness of their common Lord. In a first section, this study begins with a chapter on the problem of reform in the sixteenth century. A second section on the 15341535 Mnster uprising that has so bedeviled Menno historiography follows. Both sections seek to recreate, at least to a degree, the larger context of Mennos life and activity and free him from the prejudices of the past. It does so by making the casenot made heretoforethat Menno was powerfully influenced, not by the revolutionaries, but by the two intellectual giants of the age: Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus. But the study also takes seriously Mennos repeated assertion that he had experienced a life-transforming conversion through the power of the Holy Spirit in early 1535. With this as background, the study then investigatesin a chronological sequencethe key problem areas of Menno scholarship that have arisen over the years. It concludes with a brief assessment of his legacy.

When the Reformers turned to John's Gospel, they found a multitude of theological treasures: affirmation of the full divinity of Christ; insights into the relationships among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and guidance for the church in their time. In this RCS volume, Christopher Boyd Brown guides readers through early modern commentary on chapters 13–21 of the Gospel of John.