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Ecclesiology John Howard Yoder Karl Barth Lesslie Newbigin Missiology

John Howard Yoder, at age 30, on Newbigin and the church as missionary

I thought John Howard Yoder's reference to Lesslie Newbigin was amusing in the quote below. This reference to Newbigin is the only reference to an individual contemporary in the pamphlet.  Yoder (1927-1997) age 30, not only takes a little shot at Newbigin while agreeing with him fundamentally, he misspells both his first and last name.  One book on Yoder is entitled: A Mind Patient and Untamed–untamed indeed.

John Howard Yoder, Ecumenical Movement and the Faithful Church (Scottdale, Pa: Mennonite Pub House, 1958), 32.  "The content of this pamphlet . . . appeared serially in the Gospel Herald during January and February 1957." p. 44

"Alone of all the churches of the Reformation, they [the Anabaptists] insisted that the church is essentially missionary, and that she must be separate from the world, even if that world be Christianized; this is an idea which Leslie [sic. Lesslie] Newbiggin [sic. Newbigin], one of the bishops of the United Church of South India, thinks is a new discovery, and which is gradually becoming one of the accepted principles of ecumenical discussion."

Interesting background:

Both Yoder and Newbigin knew Karl Barth in the 1950's when he was articulating his ecclesiology.   

Newbigin and Barth worked together regularly from 1951-1953 on the "Committee of Twenty-Five" theologians in preparation for the 1954 World Council of Churches conference.  Newbigin (1909-1998) was 48 in 1957 and had published The Household of God–his most systematic book on the church–in 1953.

Yoder took courses with Karl Barth (1886-1968, age 71 in 1957) and others in Basel from 1950-1957. 

Barth wrote his three ecclesiological paragraphs in the 1950's: § 62 The Holy Spirit and the Gathering of the Christian Community in Church Dogmatics volume IV.1 in 1953; § 67 The Holy Spirit and the Upbuilding of the Christian Community in CD IV.2 in 1955; and § 72 The Holy Spirit and the Sending of the Christian Community of the Church Dogmatics in CD IV.2 in 1959. 

See also my:

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

Advice about exploring Karl Barth's ecclesiology in Church Dogmatics IV.2 67.4 "The Order of the Community”

One reply on “John Howard Yoder, at age 30, on Newbigin and the church as missionary”

Andy, I came across this post (again) on a not especially successful Google search for Newbigin video. I wanted to let you know that when I read the post originally I discussed Yoder’s claim about Reformation-era Anabaptists with a couple of historical theologians here, including one specialist in the Radical Reformation. They find Yoder’s claim here questionable at best. I also had my trusty RA track down primary sources the specialist recommended reviewing, but the search did not confirm the claim. Unless Yoder is reading some secret accounts, he either does not understand the claim Newbigin is making or, more likely, he is being overly generous toward his own tradition. If you know of other sources to which Yoder was referring, I’d love to know. It’s a very interesting comment.

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