The lord's supper in the 1995 Confession of faith in a mennonite perspective : Re-presenting the body of christ
2007; Volume: 81; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0025-9373
Autores Tópico(s)Agriculture and Farm Safety
ResumoAbstract: This article examines the use of the language of in the Lord's Supper article of the 1995 Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, where the text reads: Lord's Supper re-presents the presence of the risen Christ in the Using archival resources, it seeks to trace the provenance and intended significance of this term through an examination of the meeting minutes, article drafts, resource materials and solicited responses preserved by the committee that drafted the article. The paper suggests that the term was indeed intended to encompass a sacramental dimension to the Lord's Supper. Finally, some of the ecumenical implications of the use of this term are briefly indicated. ********** The supper re-presents the presence of the risen Christ in the church. As we partake of the communion of the bread and cup, the gathered body of believers shares in the body and blood of Christ and recognizes again that its life is sustained by Christ, the bread of life. (1) - Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, Article 12 This brief excerpt from article 12 in the 1995 Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective raises important questions within the context of Anabaptist-Mennonite theological reflection on the Lord's Supper. As a representative point of contrast, consider the following passage from the 1955 Mennonite Encyclopedia article on Communion: Communion (Lord's Supper, Abendmahl, Nachtmahl) has always had only a symbolic meaning for the Anabaptists and Mennonites and is observed as the ordinance of the Lord and not a sacrament which in itself conveys the grace of God to the participant. (2) Against the background of this traditional formulation the use of the term in the article on the Lord's Supper in the Confession stands in stark relief. The language of re-presentation is a technical term that carries with it very specific theological freight, a theology that can only be described--in contrast to the Mennonite Encyclopedia article--as sacramental. This shift in terminology poses significant questions. First, how did the language of re-presentation find its way into the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective? Second, what possibilities are opened by the wording of this article for Anabaptist theological--even sacramental--reflection? Third, what avenues for ecumenical dialogue might be opened by this language? (3) WHO DRAFTED THE CONFESSION ... AND WHY? The impetus to develop a new confession of faith originated in the early 1980s within both the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. The Mennonite Church was historically composed of people from one ethnic background (the Swiss-South German branch of Anabaptism) and two ecclesiastical backgrounds (Mennonite and Amish Mennonite). (4) Historically the Mennonite Church had a significant confessional tradition beginning with the Schleitheim Articles (Switzerland, 1527), and continuing with the Dordrecht Confession (Holland, 1632), the Christian Fundamentals (U.S., 1921) and the Mennonite Confession of Faith (1963). The General Conference Mennonite Church was initially formed from three small congregations at West Point, Iowa, on May 28, 1860, in the pursuit of greater church among several small Mennonite conferences. (5) The next year eight more congregations were added, and throughout the nineteenth century most of the Mennonite immigrants from Russia, Prussia, Poland and Switzerland joined this conference. (6) Thus, historically the General Conference Mennonite Church was more ethnically diverse than the old Mennonite Church, and was also characterized by a different ethos--for example, a strong emphasis on missions, individual freedom and congregational autonomy (with a correlative decrease in congregational discipline), and greater ecumenical openness. (7) From its beginnings the accent within the General Conference Mennonite Church was unity in essentials; liberty in nonessentials; and love in all things. …
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