The Controversy at Goshen College

There is much being made in Mennonite circles about Goshen College allowing the national anthem to be played at sports events. It is thought that Mennonites are separate from nationalism, representatives of the Kingdom of God, and to play the national anthem is a display of worshiping the false idol of patriotism.

From my perspective, Goshen College has been a compromised institution from the beginning. Not because they have as many conservative evangelical students as Mennonites-- that's great. No, the Mennonite colleges are simply one sign of many that Mennonites are not "representatives of God's Kingdom", but simple Americans, acting in a usual American way.

In general, Mennonites are very partisan in their politics, being pretty easily divided along party lines. Jesus isn't partisan, but shows a new way of looking at all of politics.

The colleges aren't focused on the poor, as Jesus would be. How many scholarships are there for people who couldn't afford to go there otherwise? How many homeless or poor single mothers do they house in their many rooms? Who do they assist other than the cultural core of the upper middle class they focus on?

The colleges are a part of a semi-capitalistic system, where value is measured by money and position which is given to the education and popular, rather than in the kingdom of God where value is measured by the praise of humility and service.

The education that is given, for the most part, is the standard education given to Americans with a few classes concerning Mennonite distinctives. However, should the kingdom of God be in charge of education, almost everything would be distinctive-- there would be classes on alternative economics, classes on being poor as well as helping the poor, classes on the practice of devotion, classes on the surrender of power for another's good.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not going to get all up in arms about a song being played. I suppose it's a proper symbol of what has been happening all along.

Classic Anabaptism: Two Kingdoms Theology

By William Higgins

idea of two orders – comes out of the tension between

 the ethics of the sword required to run a worldly government – force, coercion, violence
 and the ethics of Jesus the sermon on the mount – loving enemies and not resisting evildoers

In a Christendom model of Christianity you have to deal with this tension because when church and state are fused together – you have Christians running the State - using the sword – ‘How can this be?’
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Catholics – two realms within one society

 lay realm that can use the lower righteousness the sword
 and the monastic, priestly realm that holds to the way of Jesus
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Luther – two realms in each person’s life

 public realm where you use the sword – if you are in office
 private realm where you are to hold to the way of Jesus


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Anabaptists – two separate realms: the church and the world

The church is a separate social entity from the rest of society which is “the world.”

This is not a Christendom model so they don’t have to be fused together.

 the world lives by the lower standard of the sword (given by God to order the realm “outside the perfection of Christ” as Schleitheim famously says)

 all Christians live by the way of Jesus no matter what position they might have
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favorite text here - John 18:36 - "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world."

Christendom models try to reduce the tension between the sword and the way of Jesus to allow for Christians to take up the sword
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But for Anabaptists - The two orders cannot be combined, they are different

awkward relationship: Christians are to respect and submit to governments . . . (in as much as this doesn’t require what is contrary to Jesus), but they cannot themselves take part in what involves the ethics of the sword.

some vagueness in the early Dutch here – some saw some possibilities for a Christian to be in government – but this faded over time – in terms of the confessional tradition.
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Note: This is not the same as our Separation of church and state – which seems to mean:

the political part of society is kept separate from the religious part of society, but they are really just two parts of one society – its just best practically, legally to keep them separate

Anabaptist view: The church is a complete social unit – spiritual and political - not the spiritual part of secular or civic society

two halves of a whole // or two separate wholes that coexist in the same place.

church has its own leader – Jesus, elders, own justice system – discipline process etc.
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Summary: The world lives by the lower standard of the sword. Christians are to live by the standard of the way of Jesus in all situations.

Distinctive #26- Apocalyptic

Jesus will return at any time to judge the world, and save his own people. The world can be seen in the terms of apocalyptic according to the Anabaptists: the beast and the whore (the persecuting state and the unfaithful church) verses the saints of God. This reinforced their two kingdoms outlook. It also placed their suffering in the wider cosmic context of God’s plan for all of creation.