Andy Rowell | Church Leadership Conversations: December 2009

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Andy Rowell is a fifth year Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) student at Duke Divinity School. His primary concentration is "Church, Ministry, Evangelism, and Mission" and his secondary concentration is "New Testament."
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7 Reasons to Read John Howard Yoder and 8 New John Howard Yoder Books

Here are seven reasons why I like reading John Howard Yoder (1927-1997).

1. He effectively argues for the importance of vibrant local churches.

2. His explains the importance of the church orienting itself by Scripture.

3. He interacts with a broad range of Christian perspectives.

4. He is a very good writer.

5. He is very interested in the practical.

6. His work is respected by philosophers, theologians and New Testament scholars.

7. His work is extremely valuable for articulating the free church, baptist, nondenominational, or Mennonite perspective on issues.

The Politics of Jesus is Yoder's best known work but I would recommend people start with the quick 80 page Body Politics which I reviewed at Best book on ecclesiology I read this year: Body Politics by John Howard Yoder. Then I would recommend reading The Politics of Jesus, Priestly Kingdom, Royal Priesthood, and For the Nations. The last three books are compilations of essays by Yoder.

I have also written a long academic paper on Yoder at: The Ecclesiology of John Howard Yoder paper

Here are eight recent books that have come out or are coming out that deal with his work. Below that I have listed a partial bibliography of older books as well.

New John Howard Yoder Books (2008-2010)

Edited by Jeremy M. Bergen and Anthony G. Siegrist: Power and Practices: Engaging the Work of John Howard Yoder
Herald Press (August 20, 2009) Description excerpt: In this collection of essays, a new generation engages the theology of John Howard Yoder.
Edited by John C. Nugent: Radical Ecumenicity: Pursuing Unity and Continuity after John Howard Yoder Abilene Christian University Press (March 2010) Description excerpt: A collection of essays that explores the ecumenical work of celebrated Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder, including two rare but important works by Yoder himself. "John Howard Yoder would have liked this book. He would have liked it because of the conversations made possible by the critical yet constructive essays engaging his work. We are extremely fortunate to have this book, which exemplifies not only Yoder's thought but also his life." --Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University
Edited by Peter Dula and Chris K. Huebner: The New Yoder
Cascade Books (January 1, 2010) Description excerpt: A new generation of scholars has begun reading Yoder alongside figures most often associated with post-structuralism, neo-Nietzscheanism, and post-colonialism, resulting in original and productive new readings of his work. At the same time, scholars from outside of theology and ethics departments, indeed outside of Christianity itself, like Romand Coles and Daniel Boyarin, have discovered in Yoder a significant conversation partner for their own work. This volume collects some of the best of those essays in hope of encouraging more such work from readers of Yoder and in hopes of attracting others to his important work.
John Howard Yoder: Christian Attitudes to War, Peace, and Revolution
Brazos Press (April 1, 2009) Description excerpt: John Howard Yoder was one of the most important thinkers on just war and pacifism in the late twentieth century. This newly compiled collection of Yoder's lectures and writings on these issues describes, analyzes, and evaluates various patterns of thought and practice in Western Christian history.
John Howard Yoder: The War of the Lamb: The Ethics of Nonviolence and Peacemaking
Brazos Press; 1 edition (December 1, 2009) Description excerpt: John Howard Yoder was one of the major theologians of the late twentieth century. Before his death, he planned the essays and structure of this book, which he intended to be his last work. Now two leading interpreters of Yoder bring that work to fruition. The book is divided into three sections: pacifism, just war theory, and just peacemaking theory. The volume crystallizes Yoder's argument that his proposed ethics is not sectarian and a matter of withdrawal. He also clearly argues that Christian just war and Christian pacifist traditions are basically compatible--and more specifically, that the Christian just war tradition itself presumes against all violence.
John Howard Yoder: To Hear the Word
Cascade Books; 2nd Ed (January 1, 2010) "Of very few people can it be legitimately said that their work fundamentally reconfigured the landscape of two theological disciplines. But if there is anyone in recent memory who would be worthy of such an accolade, it is John Howard Yoder. The two disciplines are, of course, theological ethics and biblical studies—though Yoder would cringe at their separation, and his work was both explicitly and implicitly a prolonged exercise in maintaining their indissoluble union. For him, to hear the word rightly was to do the word publicly. . . . [Yoder] guides us toward a truly ecclesial yet missional reading of Scripture, with a profoundly Anabaptist yet ecumenical and catholic spirit, in historically astute and literarily sensitive ways that are nonetheless "straightforward" and pastoral. Or, as he would himself say, he guides us toward a reading of Scripture that proceeds from and focuses on Jesus: Vicit Agnus Noster, Eum Sequamur; 'Our Lamb has conquered; let us follow him.'"—from the foreword by Michael J. Gorman
John Howard Yoder: Nonviolence - a Brief History: The Warsaw Lectures
Baylor University Press (March 15, 2010) Description excerpt: The eleven lectures collected in Nonviolence A Brief History were presented in 1983 in Warsaw, Poland, and this is their first publication together. Despite their apparent diversity, the lectures trace a single trajectory: the increasing relevance of nonviolent thought and action. They argue that nonviolence aligns with the inner logic of the world and, therefore, with human social existence.
Nathan R. Kerr: Christ History And Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission
Cascade Books (October 13, 2008) Description excerpt: On the basis of a rereading of John Howard Yoder's place within this genealogy, the author outlines an alternative "apocalyptic historicism," which conceives the work of Christian politics as a mode of subversive, missionary encounter between church and world. See also Analysis of Nathan Kerr's Christ, History and Apocalyptic at The Church and Postmodern Culture blog

Older John Howard Yoder Books (2007 and earlier)

Chris K. Huebner: A Precarious Peace: Yoderian Explorations on Theology, Knowledge, And Identity (Polyglossia: Radical Reformation Theologies)
Herald Press (November 17, 2006)
Craig Carter: The Politics of the Cross: The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder
Brazos Press (May 1, 2001)
Earl Zimmerman: Practicing the Politics of Jesus: The Origin and Significance of John Howard Yoder's Social Ethics (The C. Henry Smith Series)
Cascadia Publishing House; 1 edition (May 31, 2007)
Edited by Ben C. Ollenburger and Gayle G. Koontz: A Mind Patient and Untamed: Assessing John Howard Yoder's Contributions to Theology, Ethics, and Peacemaking
Cascadia Publishing House (April 2004)
Edited by Stanley M. Hauerwas, Harry J. Huebner, Chris K. Huebner, and Mark Thiessen Nation: The Wisdom of the Cross: Essays in Honor of John Howard Yoder
Wipf & Stock Publishers (May 2005)
John Howard Yoder: The Royal Priesthood: The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiastical and Ecumenical
Herald Press (1994)
John Howard Yoder: The Priestly Kingdom: Social Ethics As Gospel
University of Notre Dame Press (January 1985)
John Howard Yoder: The Politics of Jesus
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; 2 Sub edition (May 1994)
John Howard Yoder: Karl Barth and the Problem of War and Other Essays on Barth
Cascade Books (September 2003)
John Howard Yoder: The Schleitheim Confession
Herald Press (June 10, 1977)
John Howard Yoder: What Would You Do?
Herald Press; Revised edition (August 10, 1992)
John Howard Yoder: Discipleship As Political Responsibility
Herald Press (June 1, 2003)
John Howard Yoder: He Came Preaching Peace
Herald Press (January 6, 1985)
John Howard Yoder: The Fullness of Christ: Paul's Revolutionary Vision of Universal Ministry
Brethren Press (September 1987)
John Howard Yoder: Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World
Herald Press (June 1, 2001)
John Howard Yoder: For the Nations: Essays Evangelical and Public
Wipf & Stock Publishers (October 2002)
John Howard Yoder: The Christian Witness to the State
Herald Press; 2 edition (June 2, 2002)
John Howard Yoder: The Original Revolution: Essays on Christian Pacifism
Mennonite Publishing Network (June 1, 1971)
John Howard Yoder: Preface to Theology: Christology and Theological Method
Brazos Press (January 1, 2002)
John Howard Yoder: Nevertheless: The Varieties and Shortcomings of Religious Pacifism
Herald Press; Rev Sub edition (April 9, 1992)
John Howard Yoder: When War Is Unjust: Being Honest in Just-War Thinking
Wipf & Stock Publishers; 2 edition (October 2001)
John Howard Yoder: Jewish-Christian Schism Revisited
Herald Press (November 15, 2008)
Joon-sik Park: Missional Ecclesiologies in Creative Tension: H. Richard Niebuhr and John Howard Yoder
Peter Lang Publishing (June 2007)
Mark Nation: John Howard Yoder: Mennonite Patience, Evangelical Witness, Catholic Convictions
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (December 31, 2005)
Nigel Goring Wright: Disavowing Constantine: Mission, Church and the Social Order in the Theologies of John Howard Yoder and Jurgen Moltmann (Paternoster Theological Monographs)
Wipf & Stock Publishers (January 2007)
Thomas L. Shaffer: Moral Memoranda from John Howard Yoder: Conversations on Law, Ethics and the Church Between a Mennonite Theologian and a Hoosier Lawyer
Wipf & Stock Publishers (September 2002)

I would also love someday to watch

John Howard Yoder's course New Testament Social Ethics at Regent College which is available on DVD at the Regent College Bookstore.

Posted at 03:11 PM in John Howard Yoder | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

December 08, 2009

Celebrating Lesslie Newbigin's 100th Birthday Today with 10 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Him

Today is the centennial of Lesslie Newbigin's birth. He was born 100 years ago today on December 8, 1909. He died January 30, 1998.

Ten Things You Probably Did Not Know about Lesslie Newbigin in Honor of the Centennial of his Birth

10. Newbigin means "new building" according to the first page of his autobiography.

9. Though only three years apart in age, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Feb 4, 1906 – Apr 9, 1945) and Lesslie Newbigin (Dec 8, 1909 – Jan 30, 1998) never did to my knowledge meet one another though the 27 year old Bonhoeffer was in London pastoring a German congregation from 1933-1935 while the 24 year old Newbigin was training for the ministry in Cambridge. Both were very involved in ecumenical affairs and international relationships but Bonhoeffer was active in the 1930's with the World Alliance, Life and Work, and Faith and Order; and Newbigin was primarily involved in the 1940's, 50's and 60's in the International Missionary Council, World Council of Churches, and Faith and Order. Though both were highly effective in the international sphere, both ended their lives more optimistic about the local church and somewhat disappointed in the theological compromises of the large ecumenical organizations.

8. Newbigin was sent out as a missionary by presbyterians (the Church of Scotland) to India in 1936 but in 1947 the Presbyterians, Methodists and Anglicans in that part of India joined together and became The Church of South India. He was elected a bishop. That is how a Presbyterian--they do not have bishops--became a Bishop.

7. On August 15, 1947, India gained its independence from Britain. A month later, on September 27, 1947 the Church of South India was established. There was enormous Hindu (India) vs. Muslim (Pakistan) strife and so it was important for the Christians to demonstrate that they were not divided. Ecumenism for evangelism. Both E's were crucial to Newbigin. In the fall of 1947, Gandhi was 76 and Newbigin was 37. Gandhi was assassinated January 30, 1948. Newbigin died 50 years later to the day: January 30, 1998.

6. Newbigin (age 42-44) and Karl Barth (age 65-67) worked together regularly from 1951-1953 on the "Committee of Twenty-Five" theologians in preparation for the 1954 World Council of Churches conference. Emil Brunner and Reinhold Niebuhr were also in the group. Newbigin, like Karl Barth, did not have an earned doctorate in theology. Newbigin was elected the chair of the group. Barth remembers that the 1952 meeting went better than the 1951 meeting. "I would also suggest that it was because this time we had a chairman, in the person of the young Bishop Lesslie Newbigin from South India, who was able to bring us together and keep us together not only because of our common concern and the human links which joined us, but above all because of his spiritual discipline and his bearing and conduct from the beginning" (Eberhard Busch, Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and and Autobiographical Texts, 399. See pages 395-400 for Barth's memories of those events).

Image from Eberhard Busch, Karl Barth: His Life From Letters and Autobiographical Text, p. 396. "Preparations in Bossey for the Evanston Assembly of the World Council of Churches, August 1953. On the left of Barth are Florovsky, Newbigin and Visser 't Hooft; behind him is Marie Claire Frommel (who later became his daughter-in-law), and on the left of her are H. Vogel, E. Schlink and D.T. Niles." Newbigin is in the middle in the gray suit in the first row.

5. Newbigin wrote what are arguably his three most significant works (Open Secret, Foolishness to the Greeks, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society) after retirement from the position of bishop at age 65 in 1974. But before the procrastinators take too much comfort in that, he also wrote many articles and books throughout his ministry responding to the needs of the day. Nor did he "retire and write" but rather took a position as a professor of missiology for five years, served as moderator of a denomination (The United Reformed Church), and then pastored a small church for five years.

4. Newbigin and John Howard Yoder (December 29, 1927 – December 30, 1997) both addressed Donald McGavran's "Church Growth theory." See John Howard Yoder, “The Social Shape of the Gospel,” in Exploring Church Growth (ed. Wilbert R. Shenk; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1983), 277-284. and Newbigin, "Conversions, Colonies and Culture" in Signs Amid the Rubble, 78-94 and Newbigin, ""Church Growth, Conversion and Culture" in Open Secret, 121-159. Gayle Gerber Koontz in Radical Ecumenicity: Pursuing Unity and Continuity after John Howard Yoder cites Wilbert Shenk as saying that Newbigin said that Yoder wrote one of the most critical reviews of Household of God that he ever received but I have not found that review yet. Also Yoder used Household of God as an optional text in the syllabus of his "Free Church Ecclesiology" course. Brad Brisco, Josh Rowley, and I discussed Newbigin and Yoder in the comments at Lesslie Newbigin and the GOCN

3. Newbigin's autobiography Unfinished Agenda was originally published in 1985 when Newbigin was 76. It was later published with a new final chapter in 1993 when Newbigin was 84 with a new subtitle Unfinished Agenda: An Updated Autobiography. I was impressed with his leadership, passion for the unity of the church, constant championing of evangelism, love for missions, and emphasis on Bible study.

2. There are in existence many audio recordings of Newbigin's lectures and sermons but they are hard to find. Who will put them online for all of us? Holy Trinity Brompton bookshop in London, UK had lots of Newbigin cassette tapes in 2004 when I visited but they do not list their offerings online. I know of a couple lectures online: the first is from 1995 on "Nihilism" from a conference at Holy Trinity Brompton; the second is from a 1991 conference in Toronto and it is called "Christ: Unique and Universal". Here is a Lesslie Newbigin Photos and Images PowerPoint Slide Show

1. Finally, what Newbigin books would I recommend? I would recommend Open Secret for missionaries; Foolishness to the Greeks for those interested in politics; Household of God for people trying to make sense of denominational differences such as seminary students; The Gospel in a Pluralist Society for those interested in apologetics; Sin and Salvation for theologians, Unfinished Agenda: An Updated Autobiography for historians; The Light Has Come for readers of John's gospel; and The Good Shepherd (out of print--c'mon publishers!--but available for free at Newbigin.net as a pdf) for church staff devotionals.

Happy Birthday, Newbigin!

Here are the books we read this Fall 2009 in Geoffrey Wainwright's Newbigin Course at Duke Divinity School in which I was a teaching assistant.