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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 March 2010
This article is an ecumenical conversation between Pentecostal and Anabaptist-Pietist traditions. Emerging out of this will be a suggestion that the Christian worship practice of footwashing may provide a means to share Christian love and fellowship that is inclusive of all Christian traditions. In this article we will addresses important points of theological intersection of these two storied traditions, specifically soteriology as a ‘Christian synergism’ and ecclesiology as an ‘alternative society’. These traditions approach ecclesiology through soteriology with a conscientious concern to form eschatological communities. We believe that these traditions must engage in ecumenical dialogue for mutual theological support in forming and sustaining ‘alternative Christian communities’ while continuing to participate in ecumenical dialogue with other traditions.
1 We recognise that within these two classifications exist various denominational differences and emphases, but believe that the overarching designations are helpful in this discussion.
2 Unlike the modern meta-narratives, which totalise and seek to assimilate all other stories, the Christian meta-narrative resists such assimilation into a singular plot due to the diverse nature of the biblical witness. See Bauckham, Bible and Mission, (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2003), pp. 90–4.
3 It must be noted that a large portion of Andy's contribution is based upon research for his doctoral dissertation.
4 The use of this term serves to form some middle ground regarding reference to the ordinance/sacraments. Based upon our conversation, Pentecostals are drawn more to a sacramental understanding of these narratives, while the Anabaptist-Pietist communities hold more strongly to them as ordinances. What serve as the ordinances/sacraments of the Lord's Supper and Baptism for the greater believing community (from which it draws its religious identity), also become essential symbols for believers. Within these terms ‘ordinance’, ‘sacrament’ and ‘symbol’ lies a significant differentiation in language. Therefore it is necessary to acknowledge that we are attempting to discuss both the relationship between these theological and sociological categories as well as their effect upon each other and the community of believers. By referring to them as ‘symbols’, we are expressing the way in which they serve the community as interpretative filters by affecting how the community understands itself in relationship to its surrounding environment (including the other societal communities with which it has contact). Much like its use in literature, our use of this term also expresses the inherent quality that the ordinance or sacramental narratives represent a far greater reality than the literal meanings of the words.
5 Migliore, Daniel, Faith Seeking Understanding (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), p. 24Google Scholar.
6 By ‘experiential testimony’ we are referring to the intersecting events as perceived by the other when the Jesus narrative effects transformation in the other's narrative. It becomes testimony as the other shares the personal experiences of this intersecting event with others. This is both a conversion event that transforms the person holistically (affectations, perceptions and practices) in the process. Paul Ricoeur argues that the interpretative identity is formed by and through shared experiences plus the corporate remembrance of these experiences: The Conflict of Interpretations (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1974), pp. 47ff.
7 Richard Bauckham, ‘The Future of Jesus Christ’, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology (1998), pp. 97–110.
8 There is an essential connection between people that creates community and ultimately forms identity. It is the result of this that affects the interpretation of one's surrounding reality. Thus each time a community corporately recollects a particular narrative, their identity is essentially affected, bringing into a creative tension the particular past narrative with the shared present experiences. The combination of these shared experiences with the past narratives do, in fact, become narratives of identity. Therefore, as believers encounter the Jesus narrative when they are called to remember and re-enact in the Lord's Supper or Baptism, their own narratives become further conformed to the greater Jesus narrative. Their lives begin to look more like Jesus', thus revealing more of the Jesus narrative from within their own. In addition they encounter each other's narrative adding to the shared experiences, thus increasing the commonality shared within the congregation and the shared identity. For a fuller discussion of this, see Newbigin, Lesslie, The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989)Google Scholar.
9 MacIntyre, Alasdair, After Virtue 2nd ed, (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984), pp. 204–25Google Scholar. It is necessary to indicate that, while MacIntyre speaks particularly to social ethics, we are borrowing his ideas for theological purposes. The idea is that the narratives, of these symbols in particular and the Gospels generally, are internalised as they begin binding the narratives of the believers together. This is a spiritual event and not merely a social encounter.
10 Ibid. He underscores the significance of his previous statement saying, ‘Deprive children of stories and you leave them unscripted, anxious stutterers in their actions as in their words.’
11 Ibid.
12 This is not to say that the Anabaptist community has not been affected by Pietists – see Snyder, C. Arnold, Anabaptist History and Theology: An Introduction (Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 1995)Google Scholar; Finger, Thomas N., A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004)Google Scholar – only that there has not been the effects upon the community that are related either to a direct outgrowth from Pietism to Anabaptism, vice versa, or some other direct relationship such as to warrant the identifying marker to the community.
13 Some examples of these are as follows: Schwarzenau Brethren fellowships, the Brethren in Christ, the Mennonite Brethren, etc.
14 I (Andy) am unaware of whether or not all those representing the Anabaptist-Pietist community would agree with including the early church fathers. However, speaking specifically for the Brethren tradition, the writings of the early fathers and particularly the Didache contributed to the initial formation of the Brethren community. Thus it was not simply the New Testament but more specifically the early church or primitive Christianity.
15 See Stoffer, Dale R., Background and Development of Brethren Doctrines, 1650–1987 (Philadelphia: Brethren Encyclopedia Inc., 1989)Google Scholar; Andrew S. Hamilton, ‘Counting the Cost: Church of the Brethren as a Hermeneutical Community’, thesis, University of St Andrews, 2002; Wiebe, Katie Funk, Who are the Mennonite Brethren? (Winnipeg: Kindred Press, 1991)Google Scholar. This form of ‘living’ is marked by nonviolent maintenance and nurture of whole relationships.
16 Driver, John, Images of the Church in Mission (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1997), pp. 17ffGoogle Scholar.
17 This is particularly true due to its marking a significant event in the development of sacerdotalism and particularly the dichotomisation of the church between the priestly order and the laity. While the former issue was to some extent addressed by the Reformation, the latter has been perpetuated under the guise of ‘clergy-laity’ within Protestantism. The Anabaptists and Pietists have resisted this dichotomisation, emphasising the ‘priesthood of all believers’, although with varying success.
18 For a more thorough treatment of this subject, see Durnbaugh, Donald, European Origins of the Brethren (Elgin: Brethren Press, 1986)Google Scholar; Stoffer, Background and Development.
19 This persecution was due primarily because of the Anabaptist-Pietist conviction of ‘adult believer's baptism’. However, their nonresistance stance has also been a source for persecution. See Durnbaugh, European Origins, pp. 217ff.
20 Grenz, Stanley J., Guretzki, David and Nordling, Cherith Fee, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 90Google Scholar.
21 Concerning the diversity of Pentecostalism, see the essay by Johns, Jackie David, ‘Pentecostal Churches’ in Encyclopedia of Christianity, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans-Brill, 2005), pp. 14–21Google Scholar. For an informative read that takes seriously the global diversity of Pentecostalism, see Anderson, Allan, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge: CUP, 2004)Google Scholar.
22 See Dayton, Donald, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987)Google Scholar. Some affirm his work as an important developmental backdrop of early Pentecostalism; however, I believe it can serve also as an implicit Pentecostal spirituality which can contribute to the development of a Pentecostal theology of worship and witness informed by the full gospel. See further, Kenneth J. Archer, The Gospel Revisited: Towards a Pentecostal Theology of Worship and Witness. Pickwick Publishers, forthcoming.
23 I have developed this in more detail elsewhere. See Archer, Kenneth J., ‘Pentecostal Story: The Hermeneutical Filter for the Making of Meaning’, Pneuma 26/1 (Fall 2004), pp. 36–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
24 See Faupel, D. William, The Everlasting Gospel: The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of Pentecostal Thought (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), pp. 19–43Google Scholar.
25 Noll, Mark A. in his Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books and InterVarsity Press, 1997), pp. 32–3Google Scholar, raises the important issue of the ‘historian's’ point of view related especially to early Christianity. Noll states that even among Christian historians there are three possible ways to explain how God guides the church through history. Noll identifies a Roman Catholic view, an Orthodox view and a Protestant view. Pentecostalism, like Anabaptist-Pietism, offers a ‘subversive reading’ to the basic Protestantism associated with the Magisterial Reformation.
26 See Coulter, Dale M., ‘The Development of Ecclesiology in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN): A Forgotten Contribution?’, Pneuma 29/1 (2007), pp. 58–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. pp. 64–7.
27 Most early North American Pentecostal denominations were pacifist in practice. For further insightful discussion on ‘Constantinianism’ and its impact on Pentecostal ecclesiology see Shuman, Joel, ‘Pentecost and the End of Patriotism: A Call for the Restoration of Pacifism among Pentecostals’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 9 (Oct. 1996), pp. 70–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
28 The model that emerges from Pentecostal testimonies is more in line with primitive Christianity's Christus Victor understanding of God. See Chan, Simon, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), pp. 26–7Google Scholar. He discusses Asian Christianity, but I (Ken) feel this also could apply to some early forms of North American Pentecostalism.
29 Based upon a close reading of 1 Cor. 11, the Early Brethren elders would visit the homes of the church members to ensure that everyone's lives were in good standing and especially that there were no divisions in the body prior to the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
30 Nead, Peter, Theological Writings on Various Subjects (Youngstown, OH: Dunker Springhaus Ministries, 1997), pp. 131–2Google Scholar.
31 Ibid.
32 Traditionally, the interpretation of Matt. 18:17 was the basis for the application of the ban. However, following an extensive study of the passage it was understood to be the application of mercy, compassion and forgiveness. This reinterpretation centred on Jesus' instruction for relating to disobedient brothers and sisters. Instead of the traditional understanding of ostracising the member as one would a ‘tax collector or sinner’, the committee observed how Jesus treated just such people and reinterpreted it in the spirit of imitatio Christi. Thus it was understood that Jesus would extend forgiveness and love while still attempting to bring the member in line with discipleship. The reinterpretation was accepted and affirmed at the 1976 annual conference.
33 See Ramirez, Frank, The Love Feast (Elgin: Brethren Press, 2000)Google Scholar, for a popular (within the CoB) understanding about the footwashing ceremony. Admittedly, there are a few explanations regarding how footwashing represents a form of cleansing. However, this is not the norm. For other sources regarding the interpretation of footwashing (particularly referring to it as cleansing ritual), see also Thomas, John Christopher, Footwashing in John 13 and the Johannine Community (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991)Google Scholar; ‘Footwashing in the Context of the Lord's Supper’, The Lord's Supper: Believers Church Perspectives.
34 Nead describes the act of footwashing not only in relationship to Matt. 18, but as an extension of it. He says, ‘In like manner to gain, or have a brother cleansed from his trespasses, we must go in love and with great humility, and apprize our brother of his conduct, expostulating in an humble manner with him, and by so doing, it may be, that your brother will receive the admonition, and give himself into your hands, so that you can wash him from his trespasses, which is accomplished whenever a reconciliation takes place.’ He then makes the direct connection between the two commands, stating, ‘Whereas, it may be, if you had not humbled yourself – that is, bent or stooped before your brother, he would not have acknowledged his fault – that is, given himself into your hands, (in order to forgiveness,) so that you might forgive – that is, wash him.’ Theological Writings on Various Subjects, p. 132.
35 Bach, ‘The Agape in the Brethren Tradition’, The Lord's Supper: Believers Church Perspectives, Dale Stoffer, (ed.) (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1997), p. 163.
36 Even as the primary meaning of the meal signifies the eschatological feast of the Lamb, Nead expresses both the hoped for future and the contemporary experience of unified love as he sums up his argument regarding this meal, saying, ‘O! how solemn and instructive, to see the children of God seated at one table, united in the bonds of brotherly love, partaking of a repast which serves to remind them of that blessed time and state, when they, in common with other children of God, shall surround the table of their Lord in the Kingdom of God!’ Theological Writings on Various Subjects, p. 145.
37 For more recent, extensive and developed attempts at a Pneumatic Pentecostal ecclesiology, see Amos Young, ‘The Acts of the Apostles and of the Holy Spirit: Toward a Pneumatic Ecclesiology’ in his The Spirit Poured out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2000), pp. 121–66, and Macchia, Frank, ‘Signs of Grace in a Graceless World: Toward a Spirit-Baptized Ecclesiology’, in his Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), pp. 155–256Google Scholar.
38 John Christopher Thomas was the first to call for an integrative Pentecostal theology specifically structured around the Five-Fold Gospel. See his ‘1998 Presidential Address: Pentecostal Theology in the Twenty-First Century’, Pneuma 20/1 (Spring 1998), pp. 3–19, esp. pp. 17–19. See also Archer, Kenneth J., ‘Nourishment for our Journey: The Pentecostal Via Salutis and Sacramental Ordinances’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 13/1 (Oct. 2004), pp. 79–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
39 I have discussed this in more detail elsewhere. See Archer, Kenneth J., ‘A Pentecostal Way of Doing Theology: Manner and Method’, International Journal of Systematic Theology 9/3 (July 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
40 See further Ricardo Waldrop, ‘Mision trinitaria e historia salvific: Reflecciones sobre la naturalez misonera del dios trino y de la iglesia’, Sanjuaoche (forthcoming).
41 I am affirming that Jesus' whole existence of the incarnate Son of God, from conception to ascension and current high priestly mediator, provides for our atonement without downplaying his earthly ministry, miracles and crucifixion.
42 See Alexander, Kimberly Ervin, Pentecostal Healing: Models in Theology and Practice (Blandford Forum: Deo Publishing, 2006) for further developmentGoogle Scholar.
43 Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), p. 207.
44 For Pentecostal resources, see <www.pcpj.org>; and for Anabaptist-Pietist resources, see <www.brethren.org/oepa>, <www.bic-church.org>.
45 These meta-narratives pertain to the dominant controlling modern stories of Western society. These stories attempt to explain rationally the universal reality to the exclusion of all others: see Lyotard, Jean-François, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. Bennington, Geoff and Massumi, Brian (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997)Google Scholar. In North America we have most recently been experiencing the effects in terms of capitalism, democracy (politically, both liberal and conservative), and most notably patriotism. These three meta-narratives have historically led to violence undermining the gospel of Jesus Christ, through the manipulation of word games, and injustice by perpetuation of poverty, disease and the destruction of the environment. What has been most disconcerting is that it appears that a growing number of members within our traditions are adopting such stories as their own, thus affecting detrimentally their identity and witness.
46 We agree with Jürgen Moltmann's pointed discussion concerning the requirements of the participants which merit a fruitful inter-faith dialogue. We believe these same prerequisites apply to dialogue participants within Christianity's diverse yet complementary traditions. See his Experiences in Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), pp. 18–22.
47 It is necessary to note that this by no means suggests positioning ourselves as adversaries with these other Christian traditions, or that we should in any way interrupt (obstruct or cease) ecumenical conversations with these other traditions. What we are arguing for is preserving our distinct narrative traditions as a means of protesting witness. The alignment with ‘magisterial’ and evangelical we refer to is more ideological and concerned about compromising identity rather than relational.