Daily Archives: July 25, 2008

A theology of the world’s end

Biblical eschatology, I propose, is best understood if the think of “end” (eschatos) more in terms of purpose in the here and now and less in terms of the future outcome of history. If we do think of eschatology in this way, we will be more likely to find present-day peaceable ethical significance of biblical teaching than if we think this world is inevitably heading for destruction.

I argue for this view of eschatology in my article, “The end of the world: why we are here,” first published in The Mennonite, August 6, 2002.

The Anabaptists: what we can learn from their troubles

The traumas the 16th-century Anabaptists faced due to their core convictions (church free from state control, refusal to support war, rejection of social hierarchies, and non-possessive economics) remain highly instructive, both for helping us understand problematic elements in Mennonite communities and for reminding us of the continuing relevance of those ideals.

This article, “The Anabaptist faith: a living tradition” that was published in The Mennonite (May 2, 2006), reflects on these themes.

The Old Testament message of mercy

Many people, we could call them the “cultured despisers,” reject the Old Testament as a “bloody book.” Many others, probably more, affirm the Old Testament as a “bloody book” and all too often use that “bloodiness” as a justification for their own.

This article, “Mercy not retribution,” argues for a reading of the Old Testament that recognizes the centrality of God’s mercy in the story–and sees that mercy as the biblical basis for Jesus’ own peaceable message.

It was originally published in The Mennonite, September 6, 2005.