It is with grief that we note the discarding of historic Anabaptist distinctives by mainline Mennonites. In a recent comment piece in the Goshen (IN) News, a retired Mennonite pastor and retired Goshen College professor states, “To suggest that God communicates with humanity only through words written in a book two thousand years ago places restrictions on God that I am not prepared to accept.” He goes on to support “gay marriage” and those who perform same-sex ceremonies.
So, the question before us is, “What is an Anabaptist?” If the aforementioned writer in the Goshen News is an Anabaptist, then many of us are not Anabaptists. If the positions previously discussed in this column are truly Anabaptism, then he is not an Anabaptist! It cannot be both ways. The definitions cannot be broad enough to include a clear denial of absolute Biblical truth on the one hand and a clear affirmation of the absolute truth and authority of the Scriptures on the other hand.
The above is a bold-faced denial of Biblical authority and the historic Anabaptist position of the Holy Scriptures. It is clear to this writer that the above quoted minister does not worship the same God as Biblical Anabaptists! He does not believe in Biblical Anthropology (what the Bible teaches about man and his depravity). One would wonder if he believes there is only one specific and exclusive way of salvation or if individual salvation from sin is really necessary at all. We can only conclude that he does not really believe in the Heaven and particularly the Hell of the Bible. The principle of absolute truth is gone for him.
So, will the true Anabaptists please stand up, and will the pseudo-Anabaptists please sit down!
Written by: Paul Emerson