For Immediate Release
July 8, 2005
LUTHERAN-MENNONITE INTERNATIONAL STUDY COMMISSION BEGINS WORK ON CONDEMNATIONS OF ANABAPTISTS
Strasbourg, France – The first meeting of the Lutheran-Mennonite International Study Commission took place at the Institute for Ecumenical Research here June 27 to July 1. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) sponsor this Study Commission.
The mandate of the commission is to consider the condemnations of Anabaptists in Lutheran confessional writings and their applicability to the teaching of Anabaptists/Mennonites today.
The commission heard major papers by Lutheran Prof. Dr. Gottfried Seebass, Heidelberg, Germany, and Mennonite Prof. Dr. John Roth, Goshen, Indiana, (USA) on “The Condemnations of Anabaptists in the Augsburg Confession and the Book of Concord: Their Historical Meaning, Purpose and Effect.”
Through its deliberations the commission became more deeply sensitive to the lasting memory of the suffering of Anabaptists at the time of the Reformation as a result of persecution by civil authorities in Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed areas. For Mennonites, the condemnations in Lutheran confessions have played a role in this regard. The commission is also aware that Christians of all confessions were victims of persecution in that period. Reflection on this matter raises serious questions concerning the theological rationale for pursuing religious and social goals by violent means, including torture and killing.
At the national level, Lutheran-Mennonite dialogues have already been conducted in France (1981-1984), in Germany (1989-1992) and in the USA (2001-2004). These dialogues also considered the condemnations of Anabaptists in Lutheran confessions. Commission members from the Mennonite and Lutheran sides presented and interpreted the reports of the national dialogues which were discussed in detail. The outcomes of these dialogues constitute an important resource for the present, international commission. A systematic inventory of the content of the national reports will remain a working document for the commission.
A common assessment of the condemnations in the Lutheran confessions will require substantial work in the commission on the historical context of the condemnations and the hermeneutics of confessions, reflection on issues of soteriology and ecclesiology, and discussion of the relationship between church and civil authorities. The inclusion of wider issues pertinent to the two church bodies will serve the main mandate of the study commission.
At the end of its work, which will take at least three years, the commission hopes that an official declaration concerning the condemnations can be made by the authoritative bodies of the two world communions.
During the Strasbourg meeting, Lutherans and Mennonites alternatively led morning and evening prayers. On Wednesday, June 29, the commission visited the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar with the Isenheim Altar, as well as the Bibliothèque Humaniste in Sélestat and had dinner at the Mennonite farm restaurant Nouveau Chemin at Le Hang. The commission greatly appreciated the way it was received at the Strasbourg Institute. On Thursday evening, June 30, representatives of the French and German Lutheran and Mennonite churches were invited to a reception at the institute for mutual exchanges on the life of the two churches and on the work of the Study Commission.
Rev. Rainer Burkart, Neuwied, Germany (Mennonite) and Prof. Dr. Seebass (Lutheran) co-chair the commission. The co-secretaries are Dr. Larry Miller, MWC Executive Secretary, and Rev. Sven Oppegaard, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs.
The other participants are: Mennonites: Prof. Dr. Claude Baecher (Hegenheim, France), Ms. Hellen Biseko Bradburn (Arusha, Tanzania) and Prof. Dr. John Roth. Lutherans: Bishop Litsietsi M. Dube (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), Prof. Dr. Theo Dieter (Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg, France), Prof. Dr. Annie Noblesse-Rocher (Strasbourg, France), and Prof. Dr. Timothy J. Wengert (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA).
The next meeting of the commission will take place in Strasbourg June 5 to 9, 2006.