[Without spot or wrinkle: reflecting on the nature of the church]

Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone, was the slogan of the Reformation which inspired our Anabaptist/Mennonite forebears to a never-ending process of cleansing the church from human inventions, idolatry and superstition. They were aiming at the restoration of the apostolic church.

Persecution enhanced their assurance of being the true, suffering church, reflecting God's holiness and Christ's sinlessness. They found a confirmation of their conviction in Ephesians 5:25-27: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church...having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle...holy and without blemish."

Implementing this high ideal has caused a great deal of dissension in our history. Like the world cannot easily be ruled by the Sermon on the Mount, the church is sometimes even less governed by the Rule of Christ. Ongoing biblical and theological reflection on the nature of the church should therefore be at the top of the Mennonite agenda, not only as an honest evaluation of Mennonite existence, but as a contribution to the ecumenical discourse on ecclesiology.

The concept of a pure and disciplined church has become questionable for several religious and sociological reasons. The pursuit of a a greater unity in Mennonite ranks gives rise to fresh--not exclusively Mennonite--questions on the authority and interpretation of the Scriptures, and on church-polity and discipline.

These questions were treated on a conference for scholars and church leaders at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in February 2000. Eight papers presented on that occasion have been collected in the Occasional Papers series. Two quotations from this important publication provide insight on the basic questions pertaining to biblical authority and ecclesiology.

Ben C. Ollenburger writes: "The work of the Holy Spirit--God's work--does not restrict itself to any prevailing consensus, ecclestical decision, or scholarly opinion on Scripture's meaning. If this were not so, there never would have been a Christian on earth, much less a Mennonite."

John Driver writes: "We can try to agree on our boundaries...by an underlying concern for conserving the purity of the church. On the other hand, we can seek to envision a new Mennonite church in dynamic and missional terms." I recommend the book highly.