Mennonites and service have been linked together since the early Anabaptist movement more than a few centuries ago. Although there has been this rich history of service in the Mennonite denomination, there has been little work done on the theology of Mennonite service. However, since the conception of Harold S. Bender’s The Anabaptist Vision, in the 1940s, Mennonites have increasing speculated and then developed ideas behind Mennonite service theology. Bender’s influence on theology dominates many of the ideas of older texts and even plays a large role in some of the more recent texts from the 1990s and 2000s. The texts examined in this work focus primarily on the role of the Anabaptist vision and the development of service theology over time.
…show more content…
Not only does he use the same final chapter title, “The Continuing Compulsion,” but at some points their ideas and rhetoric are nearly the same. However, Unruh does not actually add on to Horst’s theological work nor contribute any of his own theological analysis. Instead, he merely repeats Horst. One such example is Unruh borrowing a line from Horst to finish his book: “As long as Mennonites seek to be a true brotherhood of believers and endeavor to implement their convictions of peace and nonresistance in the modern world they will share their faith and goods in devoted relief service.” Since Unruh does not contribute to these foundational ideas of Mennonite service theology, only one message prevails. The idea that behavior and actions are more important that words. This message is heavily influenced by the Anabaptist vision, which focuses on the action oriented points of discipleship, brotherhood, and …show more content…
Dyck addresses this by stating that this is a weaker type of service and that “[u]nless a man has acknowledged his own helplessness and asked for help, he will hardly be in a position personally ever to help someone else.” The point which he is driving is not so much that the need of a personal experience of being helped or saved by God will lead to “understanding and empathy,” which is important. Instead, Dyke is attempting to stress that service is strong when there is acknowledgement that God is “holding and lifting both of them.” The acknowledgement of what God has done can be shown through the way you interact with others in service. A piece is missing without
Not only does he use the same final chapter title, “The Continuing Compulsion,” but at some points their ideas and rhetoric are nearly the same. However, Unruh does not actually add on to Horst’s theological work nor contribute any of his own theological analysis. Instead, he merely repeats Horst. One such example is Unruh borrowing a line from Horst to finish his book: “As long as Mennonites seek to be a true brotherhood of believers and endeavor to implement their convictions of peace and nonresistance in the modern world they will share their faith and goods in devoted relief service.” Since Unruh does not contribute to these foundational ideas of Mennonite service theology, only one message prevails. The idea that behavior and actions are more important that words. This message is heavily influenced by the Anabaptist vision, which focuses on the action oriented points of discipleship, brotherhood, and …show more content…
Dyck addresses this by stating that this is a weaker type of service and that “[u]nless a man has acknowledged his own helplessness and asked for help, he will hardly be in a position personally ever to help someone else.” The point which he is driving is not so much that the need of a personal experience of being helped or saved by God will lead to “understanding and empathy,” which is important. Instead, Dyke is attempting to stress that service is strong when there is acknowledgement that God is “holding and lifting both of them.” The acknowledgement of what God has done can be shown through the way you interact with others in service. A piece is missing without