Editorial: Time Machine Edition

It seems like just about every day on the major news channels, at some point, an anchor will deliver a story that requires the statement, “We’ve never seen anything like this!” The line is a marketing tool designed to draw viewer attention, but it also taps into something deep within the human experience.

There is a temptation for each new generation to believe that it is living in unprecedented times; that no other group has felt the way they feel or experienced what they have experienced.

Certainly, as the world has gone through a global pandemic, as temperatures rise (politically and geologically), as the conversation around human sexuality becomes increasingly complicated and divided, and as spy balloons float over North America (or are they UFOs?), it feels like a unique point in history.

It also goes without saying that technological advancements have dramatically changed how we work, play, learn, and interact with each other. Microsoft recently announced that it was integrating an artificial intelligence directly into its online search engine, which can effortlessly walk you through anything you want to know in a lifelike conversation. The world is changing at a staggering rate.

The church also seems to be going through an exceptional transition. Pandemic restrictions forced dramatic changes in the way we do church, and we have staggered out of this time with many burnt out pastors, fractured congregations, and big questions around ecclesiology in our modern context.

And yet, as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (1:9 NIV) Pandemics, political tensions, anxieties around climate and culture have come and gone. “Is there anything of which one can say ‘Look! This is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” (1:10)

With all this in mind, it felt appropriate this year with Theodidaktos to take a step back from the tumult of our current situation, and intentionally look to the past. What do the voices of previous generations have to say to our modern context? Are their words still relevant for us today?

Is there precedent for our unprecedented times?

As Kevin and I prepared this issue of Theodidaktos, we jokingly referred to it as The Time Machine Edition. The guiding question was: what would the thinkers, theologians and pastors of years past want to say to us if we were to whisk them to the year 2023 and give them the rundown on the state of the world, and the state of the church.

It is with this spirit that we present a letter from John Newton, titled “On Controversy”. Nearly 200 years ago Newton counseled his colleague, opening the letter “Dear Sir, as you are likely to be engaged in controversy…”. His words speak directly into the midst of our divided times, and give clear-headed, biblical advice on how to enter controversy in a Christlike manner.

We include a letter from the personal correspondence of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written from prison. It is an intimate and raw exploration of faith and identity that can connect powerfully with a culture that is desperately searching for meaning, purpose, and a foundation for self. “The unbiblical concept of meaning,” Bonhoeffer muses, “is only one translation of what the Bible calls ‘promise’.”

With some clever editing, we place Menno Simons in the guest seat for a one-on-one interview that walks through his ministry and provides advice for how to deal with division within the church taken directly from his writings.

We have also included an 1882 sermon preached by Aeltester Abraham L. Friesen to the Kleine Gemeinde in Manitoba.  Friesen preached the sermon during a difficult time in our conference shortly after a significant church split.  How can we continue to hold to spiritual unity in the midst of “our last sad and deceiving time”?

In all these things we hope you are encouraged and edified by the wisdom of generations past. These may feel like unprecedented times, but it turns out those who have come before us have much wisdom to speak into our current struggles.

Enjoy!