The Activist Impulse: Introduction

In our introduction to the book, Jared and I* situate The Activist Impulse relative to the last book on the topic of the intersection of evangelicalism and Anabaptism, the 1979 volume simply titled Evangelicalism and Anabaptism, edited by C. Norman Kraus (hereafter E&A). At the time of E&A, evangelicalism was still pretty new to the American national consciousness, and the contributors to E&A thus try to make sense of this phenomenon from an Anabaptist perspective. Their treatment of evangelicalism tends to be largely negative, focusing on the excesses in books such as The Battle for the Bible and The Late Great Planet Earth. The general approach of those essays--with a few exceptions--was to view evangelicalism as a negative force infiltrating the ranks of Anabaptism. While there may be some truth to this "infiltration" thesis, in the light of over thirty years of hindsight, The Activist Impulse takes a markedly different approach. First, rather than comparing the best of Anabaptism with the crassest forms of evangelicalism (say, for instance, a treatment of the the Left Behind series of the apologetic ministry Kirk Cameron), The Activist Impulse highlights the best of both traditions, while not ignoring the foibles of either. Second, instead of viewing evangelicalism as a force that infiltrated Anabaptism, The Activist Impulse highlights the mutual influence of these traditions as well as the ways both traditions simultaneously wrestled through the same issues, such as the modernist-fundamentalist controversies of the early twentieth century. Third, The Activist Impulse tries to strike a better balance of authorial perspectives. While the majority of contributors would self-identify as Anabaptists, a large portion would self-identify as evangelicals, with a number (perhaps most) self-identifying with both traditions. This allows, I believe, for a more balanced assessment of these traditions. Finally, as I mentioned above, The Activist Impulse has the advantage of being able to reflect on the last three decades, which have seen much activity and development from both traditions. We thus conclude our introduction by expressing

our hope that these essays demonstrate the potential for fresh scholarly inquiry, continued conversation, and greater clarity regarding the activist impulse at the intersection of evangelicalism and Anabaptism. Moreover, though we would not presume to speak for the others who have contributed to this volume, as both of us have been profoundly shaped personally and spiritually by the evangelical-Anabaptist intersection, it is our hope that these essays will offer a glimpse into the richness of Kingdom living that is at once irreducibly evangelical and unabashedly Anabaptist.**

*Truth be told, Jared wrote the first draft of the introduction solo, and I came in and made some suggestions and added some content on a later draft. I'm grateful that he nevertheless decided it would be okay to include me on the byline!

**The Activist Impulse, 5. Most of the introduction can be accessed at Amazon's "search inside this book" feature.

The Activist Impulse by chapter

In his forward to The Activist Impulse, George Marsden writes: "Those who wish to explore the interactions between Anabaptists and evangelicalism are particularly blessed by a generation of fine scholars who can guide them in that exploration. . . . Not only are these essays helpful guides for people of Anabaptist allegiances who are seeking to assess how best to relate to their fellow evangelicals, they also offer
excellent resources for other evangelicals who may wish to see what might be learned by looking at the larger evangelical movement from Anabaptist perspectives." (vii, x). So, whether you are a person of "Anabaptist allegiances" or an "evangelical" or both, I trust that you will find the various chapters in The Activist Impulse as interesting and helpful as I do.

Over the next couple months, we'll offer a brief summary of and interaction with each of the chapters in the book, from essays on Anabaptist fundamentalists, such as Daniel Kaufman, to Anabaptist progressives, such as John Howard Yoder and Ron Sider, and many others, beginning next week with Steve Nolt's fascinating and informative chapter, "Activist Impulses across Time: North American Evangelicalism and Anabaptism as Conversation Partners." Be sure to check in regularly for more!

The Moral Minority

I'm excited about Asbury history professor David Swartz's forthcoming book, The Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservativism (UPenn Press, 2012, forthcoming), which promises to be a fascinating read. Based in large part on the research for this book, David wrote chapter 10 in The Activist Impulse, "Re-baptizing Evangelicalism: American Anabaptists and the 1970s Evangelical Left," which to me is one of the most interesting chapters in our book. You can read more about The Moral Minority and follow Swartz's political and religious musings here.

Was John Howard Yoder "Heterodox"?

For those of you who, like me, are interested in the legacy of John Howard Yoder, you won't want to miss the latest Yoder "controversy." Here's the play-by-play so far:

First, Baylor theology professor—and editor of two of Yoder's books, Nonviolence and Revolutionary Christianity—Paul Martens published a book with the controversial title, The Heterodox Yoder, arguing that over time Yoder's view of the distinctiveness of Jesus faded and Jesus became for Yoder little more than the "paradigm" for the right way to orient oneself politically in the world.

Second, within weeks of the release of Martens' book, Kuyper College professor—and author of the forthcoming book on Yoder, Things Hold Together—Branson Parler published a nearly 40 page response to Martens' book at Englewood Review of Books, titled, "The Forest and the Trees," in which he challenged Martens' major claims before concluding:

Although Martens only hints at this on the last page of his book, I suspect that his own experience of Anabaptism may be shaping his intense desire to avoid reductionism, a desire that I wholeheartedly affirm. In that sense, I think Martens and I are on the same page (and I think Yoder is with us, although Martens does not). Yet, I am afraid that he is laying either too much blame or too much credit—depending on your point of view—at Yoder’s feet. As I noted earlier, however, I frequently encounter non-Mennonites (scholars and otherwise) who have simplistic and confused ideas about what Yoder thought, and I am afraid that Martens’ book only confuses rather than clarifies things, in part, because Martens does not account for the “whole forest” of Yoder’s corpus. Martens’ thesis simply does not do justice to the nuanced position of Yoder’s texts.

Third, within weeks of that, Great Lakes Christian College professor—and editor of Yoder's The End of Sacrifice and a collection of essays on Yoder called Radical Ecumenicity as well as author of The Politics of Yahweh—John Nugent wrote on his blog that Parler's review offers a "devastating critique of Paul Martens' new book." (As an aside, Parler and Nugent went to Calvin Theological Seminary together, both wrote their dissertations on Yoder—which are both being published as the books already mentioned—and are currently working together on a very nice resource, the Yoder Index.) He then goes on to express his frustration with those who think it is bad form to try to defend Yoder's work from its critics. Others followed suit, relying on Parler's review as well as the perspective of Eastern Mennonite professor and longtime Yoder scholar, Mark Thiessen Nation, editor of a number of Yoder books and author of John Howard Yoder.

Fourth, Nation jumped into the mix on his blog, praising Parler and Nugent (literally stating that he can "now die in peace" knowing that guys like Parler and Nugent are writing on Yoder!) and commending some of Martens' edited work (one of which Nation co-edited with Martens) before ultimately dismissing The Heterodox Yoder, noting Parler's "really wonderful, lengthy review of Martens’ book" and promising a review of his own to come in an upcoming issue of The Mennonite Quarterly Review.

Fifth and finally (for now), Eastern Mennonite professor—and editor of a collection of Yoder's writings called A Pacifist Way of Knowing—Ted Grimsrud wrote a two part response to The Heterodox Yoder, arguing basically that Martens' is not clear enough in his definition of ortho/heterodoxy and that he ultimately fails to make the case for the thesis he set out to argue. More than any of the other responses, Grimsrud's generated quite a few comments (some from notable Yoder scholars such as Earl Zimmerman and Anthony Siegrist).

[Update (5/17/12): Sixth, Martens has responded to Parler's review here.]

What do I think of all of this? Well, for one, since I'm still relatively new to the Yoder discussion, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. I'm open to whichever arguments are most compelling and don't really have much of a stake in how it all goes down. Secondly, as Martens' current student, I'm not sure it's my place to opine even if I did have a leaning. I will say that I think there was a bit of a rush to judgment with Parler's review and those following after it. So I do play a bit of "refereeing" in a couple comments to Grimsrud's response. Beyond that, I'm just delighted that there is so much interest in Yoder right now. As those of you who follow this blog know, I have written on Yoder before and will likely be doing so in the future. But, while I enjoy watching the blog world duke it out, I'll probably save my views for another venue.

Activist Impulse has arrived!

The Interfaith Observer

In light of John Hick's recent passing, my encyclopedia article on Hick has just been reprinted in the e-journal, The Interfaith Observer. You should check out this new journal and its list of contributors. (Pretty sad how this blog has turned into nothing more than a place for me to promote my work, huh?)