7. 8.

9.

10.

read: "Die Familie besorgt als eine der wichtigsten erzieherischen Machte die Reproduktion der menschlichen Charaktere, wie sie das gesellschaftliche Leben erfordert und gibt ihnen zum grossen Teil die unerlassliche Fahigkeit zu dem besonders gearteten autoritaren Verhalten von dem der Bestand der biirgerlichen Ordnung in hohem Masse abhangt." Gutmann's personal notes. See "Karl Graul," in Stephen Neill, N. P. Moritzen, and Ernst Schrupp, eds., Brockhaus Lexikon zur Weltmission (Wuppertal: Verlag R. Brockhaus, and Erlangen: Verlag Evang. Luth. Mission, 1965); J. C. Hoekendijk, Kirche und Volk, pp. 71-75, 139-71; cf. Neill and Moritzen, Geschichte der christlichen Mission (Erlangen: Verlag der Evang. Luth. Mission, 1964), pp. 366f£., a translation of Christian Missions (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1964). Wilhelm Wundt, professor of inductive philosophy at the University of Leipzig, organized his course on socially conditioned processes, or phenomena of the human psyche, chiefly in the volumes of his Psychology of Nations. Language, art, myths, religion, society, law, culture, and history, the divisions of this series, are themes that recur throughout Gutmann's writings. A theological dictionary, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegentoart (RGG), vol. 5, p. 2052, says that Wundt's work "does not receive due attention from the theologians. This is especially true of his Ethics and the last volume of his Psychology of Nations. He is the moral philosopher of the collective will. It is he who asserted that the relationship of community to individual existence is the problem of problems, and he did not try to solve it collectivistically." Martin Kuchler, "D. Dr. Bruno Gutmann: Lebenslauf und Wurdigung

der Lebensarbeit D. Dr. Bruno Gutmanns," a pamphlet published in honor of Gutmann's seventy-fifth birthday, Erlangen, 1951. 11. In German: Dichien und Denken der Chagganeger: Beifriige zur ostafrikanischen Volkskunde (Leipzig: Verlag der Evang. Luth. Mission, 1909).

12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

See bibliography in E. [aschke. ed., Bruno Gutmann, pp. 215ff. Preface of Volksbuck der Wachagga, pp. 19f. M. Kuchler, "Dr. Bruno Gutmann," p. 7. Both books published in Leipzig. See especially his Christusleib und Nachstenschaft (Feuchtwangen: Frankenverlag, 1931). 17. See Iaschke, ed., Bruno Gutmann, bibliography. 18. Preface of Dichien und Denken. 19. Ibid., and Peter Beyerhaus, Die Selbstiindigkeit der [ungen Kirchen als Missionarisches Problem (Wuppertal/Barmen: Verlag der Rheinischen Missions-Gesellschaft, 1959), p. 90. 20. P. Beyerhaus, Selbstiindigkeit, p. 88. 21. Ibid., p. 89. 22. Ernst [aschke, unpublished manuscript, "Bruno Gutmann: His Work, His Thoughts, and His Life" (230 pages), pp. 15-16, 53-55. 23. Beyerhaus, Selbstiindigkeit, p. 90. 24. Ibid. 25. Walter Holsten, Das Euangelium und die Volker. Beifriige zur Geschichte und Theorie der Mission (Berlin/Friedenau: Buchhandlung der Gossnerschen Mission, 1939), essay on Bruno Gutmann's exegesis, pp.89ff. 26. Rene Konig, Die Familie der Gegentoart (Munich: Becksche Schwarze Reihe, 1977), vol. 116, pp. 9, 13.

The Reformation and Mission: A Bibliographical Survey

of Secondary Literature Hans Kasdorf Introduction

T

he intent of this article is neither to review nor to critique the writings dealing with world mission in the Protestant Reformation era; rather, it is to classify, introduce briefly, and then list secondary literature written on the subject. Without any claim of being exhaustive I submit what I have thus far been able to collect on the intriguing topic of the Protestant Reformation touching the matter of world mission. Catholic writ­ ings are not included. First, there are more than twenty-five titles which deal with the Reformation and mission in general. It is to be noted that some authors are not altogether unbiased, depending on their theological persuasion or denominational loyalty. In such instances the level of objectivity is relative and the matter of classification becomes somewhat of a problem. There are, for example, several titles that indicate a general topic, yet in their orientation they may be more Lutheran than Reformed, or more Anabaptist than either Lutheran or Reformed.

Hans Kasdorf is head of the Department of World Mission, Director of tbe Church Mission Institute, and Associate Professor at the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California.

October,1980

Second, I have selected items that deal quite specifically with Martin Luther (1483-1545) and his concept of world mission, or Heidenmission-Gentile mission-as the literature has it. Third, the Reformed Reformers-notably John Calvin (1509­ 64) and Huldreich Zwingli (1489-1531)-have received consid­ erable attention in the literature. The fact that the man of Geneva receives more credit for being mission-minded than the master of Zurich does not appear to be an unjust assessment of either. Finally, I list separately English and German materials that treat the Anabaptist missionary vision and activity. With rel­ atively few exceptions, mission historians have overlooked the actively dynamic witness and evangelistic zeal of the so-called Radical Reformers.

The Protestant Reformation and Mission in General At the risk of oversimplification I suggest three distinguishable views that have become traditions in this field of research over the past one hundred years. All three aim for objectivity; yet one is more negative, one more positive, and one more neutral in its conclusions. But each has gained considerable support. 169

The Wameck Tradition This is not the oldest, yet it is the one that presents the most persuasive arguments that the Reformers generally were indif­ ferent to world mission. Since the Anabaptists are left out of the discussion, this tradition represents a rather negative view. When Gustav Warneck (1834-1910)1 together with Theodor Christlieb (1833-89)2 and Reinhold Grundemann (1836-1924)3 founded the Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift (AMZ) in 1874, the dawn of a new era in missionary literature appeared on the ho­ rizon." Warneck the missiologist, Christlieb the theologian, and Grundemann the cartographer-statistician emerged as an eminent trio of scholars who devoted their expertise and energies to a hitherto neglected field of study. In their scientific pursuit to accumulate and interpret data they actually created a new genre, namely, the genre of missiological literature. Thereby they es­ tablished respect and credibility in academic circles for the whole missionary enterprise. Warneck became the authoritative spokesman and father of the Protestant branch of missionary science. Among his early achievements was a historical-theological interpretation of the Protestant Reformation and its relation to world mission. He was saddened by the existing spiritual condition of the state churches on the Continent. He claimed that the sixteenth-century Re­ formers and subsequent Protestant churches, though orthodox in theology, lacked evangelistic vitality and missionary vision. "When the Church is not active in mission," he wrote, "she pronounces her own spiritual death sentence."5 The three major sources in which Warneck deals with the missionary idea of the Reformation are his mission history," an address given at the 1883 Luther-Jubilee in Wittenberg, 7 and fre­ quent references in his five-volume Eoangelische Missionslehre.t He pleads for tolerance in judging the Reformers for their lack of missionary vision and thought." But he himself is less tolerant of them. In his history he proposes more than a dozen reasons why the Reformers did not become actively involved in mission to the "pagan world." When Luther talked about a mission field, Warneck points out, he meant the "repaganized (verheindischte) Christian Church."lO Warneck's thesis, as expressed in his history, has been critically analyzed by the historical theologian John Howard Yoder"! and by the mission researcher Herbert C. Jack­ son.P While the majority of Warneck's supporters see circum­ stances as the basis for the Reformers' apathy toward mission, Yoder blames their church concept and Jackson their theological frame of reference. Since Warneck's stirring essays on the Reformation and mis­ sion, numerous other writings have appeared, corroborating his findings. Such eminent missiologists as his disciple and younger colleague Julius Richter (1862-1940), the Halle professor and mis­ sion director Gustav Kawerau (1847-1918), as well as Karl Sell, and the American professor of church history Kenneth Scott La­ tourette (1884-1968), all relied heavily on Warneck's findings in their interpretation with regard to the missionary idea in the era of the Protestant Reformation. To the same tradition belong two other essays, which are as much theological discourses as historical investigations. My reference here is specifically to the one-time Zurich professor Walther Kohler (1878-1946) in his as­ sessment of the "Reformation and Mission" and to Otto Michaelis's interpretation of Martin Bucer's treatise Von der uiahren Seelsorge.l? Both essays merit careful reading.

The Positive View As early as 1897 Warneck met his first opponent in Paul Drews, who could not share the view that the Reformers had been in­

different to Christian world mission. Drews set the stage for the development of a positive position. In his essay on "Die Anschauungen reformatorischer Theologen," Drews raises the question about the Reformers' understanding of mission and fo­ cuses particularly on methodology. Luther did not conceive of mission as an organized agency, contends Drews, but as spon­ taneous expansion through the preaching of the gospel.P With reference to the Reformed Reformers, Drews believes that their idea of mission can in no way be brought into harmony with the modern concept. He again sees the main reason for his ar­ gument in method, not in motive.P Following Drews was the Lutheran scholar Werner Elert (1885-1954) who not only vehemently disagreed with Wameck, but also attempted to show that the traditional arguments were totally untenable. Walter Holsten believes that Elert was the first scholar who, with a measure of success, has discredited the neg­ ative Warneck tradition. That is not to say, however, that this tradition no longer has its supporters.P In more recent years such Continental scholars as Walter Holsten.!? Hans-Werner Gensichen.P and Wilhelm Maurer.'? and their American counterparts John Warwick Montgomery-? and Charles Chaney.F' have been the chief exponents of the positive view. Chaney's view can be cited to endorse Gensichen's position. The contention is (a) that Luther had, in fact, a positive view of mission; (b) that this view was deeply rooted in his under­ standing of the Gospels; and (c) that through the preaching of the Word the church is, by its very essence, missionary. Thus, negatively, Luther had no concept of the nineteenth-century para­ church mission structure; but, positively, he had a concept of the church's missionary nature.P Upon in-depth investigations these scholars quite persuasively conclude that the Reformers were not indifferent to mission as the Warneck tradition has shown them to be. Their contention is that the Reformers' position on mission cannot be measured in terms of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century concepts and methods, but that it must be assessed against the conditions of time and circumstances. Gensichen's view is characteristic of this position when he says: The question, "Were the Reformers indifferent to missions?", can no longer be answered with a plain yes or no. The answer may have to be yes, if we continue to regard the nineteenth-century idea of missions as the only possible standard. It may be quite different, if we allow the Reformers to challenge our own con­ ceptions, even if this leads to a somewhat painful readjustment on our part. 23

The Neutral Position One of the first essays on the Reformation and its relation to world mission was written by the Basel mission executive Albert Ostertag. His research antedated Warneck's work on the same subject by twenty-five years. 24 Ostertag argues that ever since the ascension of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit there has been no period in history in which the church was a mere corpse, devoid of mission, its very life. 25 This is not to say, however, that its missionary impulse has always been strong; in fact, there were times when it was so weak that it appeared to be more dead than alive. The German Protestant church was no exception until the Danish-Halle Mission sent out its first missionaries to Tranquebar in 1706. 26 The only positive note Ostertag sees in the Reformation is that Luther talked about preaching the gospel to tbe Gentiles-? and Melanchthon chal­ lenged the church actually to engage in such a mission.P Writers who hold the neutral position are generally, though not exclusively, more sympathetic to the Warneck tradition than to the positive view. To be especially noted are the theological 170

Occasional Bulletin

contributions by W. Liitgert, the philosophical essay by Paul Eppler, the historical survey by Gottfried Simon, and the in­ terpretations by Erich Beyreuther, the contemporary scholar of historical Pietism.

Bibliographical Listing (A few items not referred to in the text must also be listed here.) Beyreuther, Erich. "Evangelische Missionstheologie im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert." Euangelische Missionszeiischrift 18 (1961): 1-10, 33-43. Chaney, Charles. "Martin Luther and the Mission of the Church." Journal

of the Evangelical Theological Society 13, no. 1 (Winter 1970): 15­ 41.

Drews, Paul. "Die Anschauungen reformatorischer Theologen iiber die Heidenmission." Zeiischrift fur praktische Theologie 28 (1897): 1-26, 193-223, 289-316. Elert, Werner. The Structure of Lutheranism. 2 vols. Trans. Walter Hansen. St. Louis: Concordia, 1962j vol. 1, pp. 385-402. Eppler, Paul. "Die Gedanken der Reformatoren iiber die Frommigkeit und Seligkeit der Heiden." Euangelisches Missionsmagazin 62 (1918): 6-14, 143-52. Frick, Heinrich. Die Euangelische Mission: Llrsprung, Geschichte, Ziel. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroder Verlag, 1922. Gensichen, Hans-Werner. "Were the Reformers Indifferent to Missions?" History's Lessons for Tomorrow's Mission. Geneva: World Student Christian Federation [1961]j pp. 119-27. Gensichen, Hans-Werner ed. "Das Reformationsjahrhundert" in: Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte, vol. 4- T: Missionsgeschichie der neueren Zeit. 3rd ed. Gottmgen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1976j Ts-TI0. Goldammer, K. "Aus den Anfangen evangelischen Missionsdenkens. Amt und Mission bei Paracelsus." Etiangelische Kirche, Missionszeitschrifi 4 (1942): 42-71. Holsten, Walter. "Evangelische Mission." Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. 3rd ed. 1960j vol. 4, pp. 1001-1007. - - . "Reformation und Mission." Archiv fu'r Reformationsgeschichte 44 (1953): 1-32. - - . "Von den Anfangen evangelischer Missionsarbeit." Welfmission in okumenischer Zeit. Ed. Gerhard Brennecke. Stuttgart: Evangelisher Missionsverlag, 1961j pp. 144-52. Jackson, Herbert C. "The Missionary Obligation of Theology." Occasional Bulletin (from the Missionary Research Library) 15, no. 1 (1964): 1-6. Jager, Siegfried: Kasdorf, Hans: and Kim, Myung H. "A Survey of Prot­ estant Mission 1500-1800." Unpublished manuscript, Fuller Theo­ logical Seminary, Pasadena, Calif., 1974. Kawerau, Gustav. Warum [ehlte der deutschen eoangelischen Kirche des 16. und 1 7. [ahrhunderis das volle Verstandnis fur die Missionsgedanken der Heiligen Schrift? Breslau: G. W. Korn, 1896. Kohler, Walther. "Reformation und Mission." Die Schtoeizerische Theologische Zeitschrifi 28 (1910): 49-66. Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of the Expansion of Christianity, Vol 3: Three Centuries of Advance 1500-1800. CEP ed., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970. Original ed., New York: Harper & Row, 1939. Liitgert, W. "Das reformatorische Evangelium und die Mission." AllegemeineMissions-Zeitschrift 44 (1917): 209-29. Maurer, Wilhelm. "Reformation and Mission." In Ihr toerdei meine Zeugen sein. Ed. Walter Ruf. Niirnberg: Selbstverlag der Bayerischen Missionkonferenz, 1963j pp. 20-50. Michaelis, Otto. "Zur Frage des Missionsverstandnisses der Refor­ matoren." Zeitschrift fur Missionskunde und Religionstoissenschaft 41 (1926): 337-43. Montgomery, John Warwick. "Justified by History." Christianity Today 10, no. 15 (April 29, 1966): 802. Oehler, Wilhelm. Geschichte der deutschen eoangelischen Mission. 2 vols. Baden-Baden: Verlag Wilhelm Fehrholz, 1949-51. Ostertag, Albert. "Die deutsche Reformation und ihr Verhaltnis zur Basler Mission. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der evang. Missionsgesellschaft zu BaseL" Eoangelisches Missionsmagazin 1 (1857): 7-34. Pfisterer, H. "Ober den Missionsgedanken in Wiirttemberg wahrend des Or+nhDr 1 o~n

Reformationsjahrhunderts." Eoangelisches Kirchenblatt fU'r Wurffemberg 78 (1917): 219f. Richter, Julius. Evangelisch e Missionskunde. 2 vols., 2nd ed. Vol. 1: Euangelische Missionsgeschichte. Leipzig: A. Deichertsche Verlagsbuch­ handlung, 1927j pp. 1-5. Schick, Erich. Verboten und Bahnbrecher. Grundziige der evangelischen Missionsgeschichte bis zu den Anfangen der Basler Mission. Basel: Basler Missionbachhandlung, 1943. Schomerus, Hilko Wiardo. Missionstoissenschaft. Leipzig: Verlag Quelle und Meyer, 1935. Sell, Karl. "Der Ursprung der urchristlichen und der modernen Mission." Zeitschrift fur Theologie und Kirche 5 (1895): 437-85. Simon, Gottfried. "Ansatze zur Mohammedanermission im Reforma­ tionszeitalter." Allgemeine Missions-Zeiischrift 44 (1917): 129-46. Warneck, Gustav. Abriss einer Geschichte der protestantischen Missionen von der Reformation bis auf die Gegenwart. 7th ed. Berlin: Martin Warneck,1901. - - - . Euangelische Missionslehre. Ein missionstheoretischer Versuch. 5 vols., 2nd ed.. Gotha: Friedrich Andreas Perthes, 1892-1905. - - - . "Missions to the Heathen B: Protestant Missions." The New Schaff­ Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge 7 (1910): 403-18. - - - . "Reformation und Heidenmission." Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift 10 (1883): 433-40. Yoder, John Howard. "Reformation and Missions: A Literature Review." Occasional Bulletin (from the Missionary Research Library) 22, no. 6 (1971): 1-9.

The Reformer of Wittenberg and Mission It goes without saying that much of what has been written on the Protestant Reformation and mission in general applies to the Lutheran as well as to the Reformed persuasion of the Reformers. Yet there are specific writings that must be considered separately. These deal with Luther, and only in general terms with other Lutheran Reformers. Karl Holl (1866--1926) deserves credit for his early assessment of Luther and his thoughts on the preaching of the gospel. 29 Holl goes to great lengths by quoting from Luther's writings different passages to refute the arguments that the Warneck tra­ dition usually upholds to show the Reformer's indifference to mission. In 1953 the Swedish professor Gustaf Wingren developed the argument that, since mission means basically sentness and since Luther did not promote sending, he did not motivate mission in a gospel preached out of love and in a love that emerges from the gospel. 30 In the Anglo-American camp we have at least three defenders of Luther as a man who had deep missionary concerns. One is the church historian and theologian John Warwick Montgom­ ery, mentioned above; the second is Rolf A. Syrdal, author of a useful mission historyr'! and the third is Professor Charles Chaney, to whom reference has already been made. Montgomery becomes almost vehement in his defense of Luther, especially in his second article.P Syrdal and Chaney likewise propose that Luther was, indeed, a promoter of Christian mission.P Their as­ sertions are endorsed by the Germans Holsten, Maurer, and Gensichen, all cited above. However, the Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder objects to such positive statements. In prin­ ciple he not only upholds Warneck's view that Luther and his Protestant contemporaries were indifferent to mission (Calvin per­ haps excepted), but he (correctly) identifies ecclesiology as the realreason behind that indiffernece.s! To this I shall return later.

Bibliographical Listing Birkeli, Fridtjov. "Luthers teologi Missionstidskrift 42 (1954): 60-62.

171

og

verdensmisjonen."

Soens]:

Chaney, Charles. "Martin Luther and the Mission of the Church." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 13, no. 1 (1970): 15-41. Drews, Paul. "Die Anschauungen reformatorischer Theologen tiber die Heidenmission." Zeitschrift fur Praktische Theologie 28 (1897). Part 1: "Luther," pp. 1-26; part 2: "Lutherische Theologen," pp. 193­ 217.

Holl, Karl. "Luther und die Mission." Neue Allgemeine Missionszeitschrift 1 (1924): 36-49.

Lachmann, E. "Dr. Martin Luther und die Heidenmission." Zeitschrift fur Missionskunde und Religionstoissenschaft 11 (1896): 65-71, 129-44.

Montgomery, John Warwick. "Justified by History." Christianity Today 10, no. 15 (April 29, 1966): 802. - - - . "Luther and Missions." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 3 (Summer 1967): 193-202.

One of the finest essays on Calvin's missionary ideas comes from the German scholar Ernst Pfisterer, of Bochum. Pfisterer has studied Calvin's Institutes and succeeded in lifting out nine mission principles inherent in the Genevan Reformer's theological thinking. Particularly those who do not share the Believers' Church perspective on mission will find these ideas remarkably relevant even for our day.41 Another tribute to the man of Geneva has been made by C. George Fry, "John Calvin: Theologian and Evangelist."42 In his list of "insights into the art of witnessing," gleaned from the writings of Calvin, Fry points out the missionary passion of the Reformer. Written on a similar note is an essay by Charles Chaney on the missionary dynamic in Calvin's theology.P

Schlyter, H. "Wort und Mission von Luther her gesehen." Eoangelische Missionszeiischrift 14 (1957): 1-8.

Syrdal, Rolf A. "Mission and the Reformation." Chap. 10 of To the End of the Earth. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1967; pp. 106-11, 175.

Wiebe, Franz. "Missionsgedanken in den Lutherischen Bekenntnis­ schriften." Lutherisches Missionsjahrbuch fur das [ahr 1955. Hrg. Wal­ ther Ruf. Selbstverlag der Bayerischen Missionskonferenz, 1955; pp. 15-71.

Bibliographical Listing Chaney, Charles. "Missionary Dynamics in the Theology of John Calvin." Reformed Review 17 (1964): 24-38.

Drews, Paul. "Die Auschauungen reformatoriseher Theologen tiber die Heidenmission." Zeifschrift fUr Praktische Theologie 28 (1897). Part 3: "Die Schweizer Reformatoren," pp. 217-23, 289-97. Fry, C. George. "John Calvin: Theologian and Evangelist." Christianity Today (October 28, 1970), pp. 3-6. Perbal, A. "Non-Roman Catholics in Latin America." International Review of Missions 41 (1960): 455-59.

The Reformed Reformation and Mission

Pfister, Rudolf. "Zur Begriindung der Seligkeit von Heiden bei Zwingli."

The two representatives to be considered briefly are Zwingli of Zurich and Calvin of Geneva.

Pfisterer, Ernst. "Der Missionsgedanke bei Kalvin." Neue Allgemeine

Eoangelisches Missionsmagazin 95 (1951): 70-80.

Zwingli and Mission

Missionszeiischrift 11 (1934): 93-108.

Powers, Marshall K. "The Legal Status of Non-Roman Catholic Mission Activities in Latin America." International Review of Missions 49 (1960): 201-5.

Schlatter,

In Zwingli's "hall of fame of the blessed," says Paul Eppler, appear not only names of the Hebrew heroes of faith such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, but also such "upright" Gen­ tiles of antiquity as "Aristides, Socrates, Fabius, Camillus, Scipio, and others'." Zwingli admired the faith of Seneca and elevated Pliny and Cicero-together with other ancients--on a special pedstal, states Eppler.i" Years later the Zurich pastor Rudolf Pfister wrote on the same subject.i" With no reference to Eppler, Pfister analyzes Zwingli's writings, particularly his last work, Fidei christianae expositio (1531), which Zwingli's son-in-law, Heinrich Bullinger, published in 1536. Pfister reports that Luther acted shocked when he read the exposiiio. In his response in 1544 (thirteen years after Zwingli's death), the Reformer of Wittenberg expressed doubt concerning the salvation of the Reformer of Zurich, who, according to Luther, was "gantz und gar zum Heiden geworden."37

Calvin and Mission Considerably more has been written on Calvin than on Zwingli touching the mission issue. One of the first essays deals with "Calvin und die Mission," By Wilhelm Schlatter of the Basel Mission.:" Schlatter offers one of the finest histories dealing with the often cited mission expedition by the French admiral, Nicolaus Durand de Villegagnon. This has become the classical example of active Protestant mission work of the Reformation era. The outcome, however, was disappointing. Villegagnon betrayed the believers and the first Protestant overseas mission venture ended in failure and tragedy. The story has also been written up in some detail by the Reformed apostle to Muslims, Samuel M. Zwemer (1867-1952), and by two Roman Catholic scholars, Mar­ shall K. Powers and A. Perbal.39 Zwemer correctly asserts that Calvin has contributed both theological and practical principles to the cause of world mission.t?

Wilhelm.

"Calvin

und

die

Mission."

Eoangelisches

Missionsmagazin 53 (1909): 333-43.

Zwemer, Samuel M. "Calvinism and the Missionary Enterprise." Theology Today 7 (1950): 206-16.

A concluding comment: When one reads through the wealth of literature here briefly surveyed and searches for the missionary nuggets to be gleaned from the Reformers themselves, one is compelled to conclude with the renowned mission historian Ste­ phen Neill: "When everything favourable has been said that can be said, and when all possible evidences from the writings of the Reformers have been collected, it all amounts to exceedingly little./ 44

The Radical Reformers and Mission The Anabaptist movement was primarily an ecclesiocentric move­ ment. Church and mission belong together. Where the church is dynamic and vital, there the missionary vision and activity will be likewise. The frequently quoted words of Emil Brunner (1899-1966) are true: "The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning." The Anabaptists were convinced of this truth cen­ turies before it was penned.

English Sources I have pointed out elsewhere how mission historians have ne­ glected the Anabaptists' involvement in carrying out the magna charta of our Lord.V Even the renowned American church his­ torian Kenneth Scott Latourette makes no mention of it in his seven-volume History of the Expansion of Christianity.46 In a later work he redeems the situation by devoting several chapters to the Anabaptists.V 172

Occasional Bulletin

The man who has helped the English reader most in gaining an appreciation for the mission of the Anabaptists is Professor Franklin H. Littell, as the bibliography shows.t" Littell's work was soon followed by a translation of an essay by Wolfgang Schaufele on "The Missionary Vision and Activity of the Anabaptist Laity."49 Schaufele speaks of an "apostolate of the laity" among the Anabaptists. The postapostolic and present di­ chotomy between clergy and laity is as un-Anabaptist as it is unbiblical. Among the Anabaptists "lay members did not simply turn over to the ordained missioners and elders the task of spread­ ing the faith, but they themselves as individual members spread the message in the framework of their own contacts with their environment."5o In his "Literature Review" (mentioned above), Yoder makes a strong case for a biblical missionary ecclesiology. The Ana­ baptists, he writes, began n~t with a new opinion about the "regions beyond," their status and locations, but with a rejection of the claims of Chris­ tendom at home; they rejected the Augustinian visible/invisible division which could say of the bulk of Europe's population at the same time that they were baptized Christians and that they were not true believers. 51

The Radical Reformers found these norms for a missionary church in the New Testament, and that is what they sought to actualize. Along similar lines of thought are two essays, one by the late Professor J. A. Toews,52 the other by David Ewert of the Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California." Toews not only presents an excellent interpretation of existing secondary literature, but adds several insightful nuggets from his investigation of the writ­ ings of Sebastian Franck (1499-1543).54 Ewert's essay is more theological in nature. Alone the use of the singular "mission" in his title indicates a direction that is much more in keeping with the Anabaptist ecclesiocentric concept of their responsibility to the world about them than the plural form "missions," com­ monly used in Anglo-American writings since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Several other English titles deserve mention. One is a paper by Arnie Neufeld, instructor at the Winkler Bible Institute in Canada. Neufeld develops his thoughts quite effectively around the Anabaptist understanding of the world, the church, and the Great Commission.t" Of a somewhat specialized nature is an ar­ ticle by Myron S. Augsburger.P" He considers conversion to be one primary goal of Anabaptist mission. At the 1953 Menno Simons Lectureship series, Roland H. Bainton presented two lec­ tures on the Anabaptist missionary mood. The first deals with the spread of the Anabaptist movement in Hesse.V the second with Menno Simons's contributions to missionary thought.P Again with a strong emphasis on ecclesiastical mission in Anabaptist thought, J. D. Graber asserts: "The meaning of the church and the mission of the church are in a real sense in­ terdependent if not identical."59 The Radical Reformers may have been pessimistic about the social and political world orders, but they were optimistic about the church and the impact of its revolutionary witness within these chaotic power structures. In a concluding summary, Graber lists nine principles of abiding value for the mission of the church.s?

German Sources

excellent delineation of church order and structure.s- Wiswedel describes the missionary messenger, his message, and his method.r" In a fascinating manner he gives an actual example of a commissioning service, which was a special occasion for the whole church.s! We also possess an instructive _biographical sketch of an Anabaptist missionary named Hanns Schlegel.P The author, Hans J. Hillerbrand, points to a letter written by the Sendboie, or mis­ sioner himself. The uniqueness of this letter lies in the fact that it was neither addressed to a sending church nor to a fellow missionary: it was written to an outsider who at one point had expressed interest in the message the Anabaptists preached. This was not a call to "cheap grace," but a call to costly discipleship.s" The most complete study ever undertaken is Schaufele's dis­ sertation, Das missionarische Bewussfsein und Wirken der Tiiufer. 67 No other work has dealt so thoroughly with the question of the Reformation and mission as this one. Schaufele demonstrates from original sources the extent to which the Anabaptists went in obedience to the Great Commission and the price they paid for radical discipleship.

Bibliographical Listing Augsburger, Myron S. "Conversion in Anabaptist Thought." Mennonite Quarterly Review 36 (1962): 243-57. Bainton, Roland H. "The Enduring Witness." Mennonite Life (April 1954), pp.83-90. - - . "The Great Commission." Mennonite Life (October 1953), pp. 183-89. Ewert, David. "The Covenant Community and Mission." Consultation on Anabaptist Mennonite Theology. Ed. A. J. Klassen. Fresno: Council of Mennonite Seminaries, 1970; pp. 127-47. Graber, J. D. "Anabaptism Expressed in Missions and Social Service." Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision. A Sixtieth Anniversary Tribute to Harold S. Bender. Ed. Guy F. Hershberger. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1962; pp. 152--66. Kasdorf, Hans. "Anabaptists and the Great Commission in the Refor­ mation." Direction (April 1975), pp. 305-18. - - . "Church Mission through the Ages: A Historical Model." Un­ published manscript, Fresno, Calif., 1978. - - . "Obedience and the Great Commission in the Protestant Ref­ ormation: A Missing Chapter in Mission History." Unpublished manuscript, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, Calif., 1974. Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity. Rev. ed., vol. 2: Reformation to the Present. New York: Harper & Row, 1975; pp. 77S­ 96. Littell, Franklin H. "The Anabaptist Theology of Missions." Mennonite Quarterly Review 21 (1947): 58-70. - - . "The Great Commission." Chap. 4 of Anabaptist View of the Church. Boston: Starr King Press, 1950; pp. 109-37, 195-206. - - . "Protestantism and the Great Commission." Southwestern Journal of Theology, New Series 2 (1959): 26-43. Neufeld, Arnie. "The Anabaptist Theology of Missions." Unpublished paper, Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Calif. (1975). Schaufele, Wolfgang. Das missionarische Betousstsein und Wirken der Tsufer. Hamburg: Neukirchener Verlag des Erziehungsvereins, 1966. - - . "The Missionary Vision and Activity of the Anabaptist Laity." Mennonite Quarterly Review 36 (1962): 99-113. Wiswedel, Wilhelm. "Die alten Taufergemeinden und ihr missionarisches Wirken." Archiv fUr Rejormationsgeschichte 40 (1943): 183-200; 41 (1948): 115-32. Yoder, John Howard. "Reformation and Missions: A Literature Review." Occasional Bulletin (from the Missionary Research Library) 22, no. 6 (1971): 1-9.

Credit goes to Wilhelm Wiswedel for giving serious thought to the mission work of the Anabaptists. Little was known to the average reader prior to Wiswedel's essay "Die alten Taufergemeinden und ihr missionarisches Wirken."61 After an 173

Conclusion As stated earlier, this survery was not to be of an interpretive nature. At no point have I deliberately attempted to answer the burning question whether or not the mainstream Reformers­ Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli-were indifferent to mission. A sur­ vey of the original writings must be undertaken to answer that question. But even then the conclusion will be relative, depending on the view of the church and on the concept of mission of

the one doing the research. It is hoped that the literature here listed will stimulate and facilitate others to carry on the study with the objective to dis­ cover principles that will help the church in our day become more effective in its world missionary outreach to the glory of God between the resurrection and return of Christ, the Lord.

Notes

the Eoangelische Missionszeitschrifi (which was not existing in 1926) 1. The best biographical sketch of the father of Protestant missiology as the source of Michaelis's article. is that by his colleague Martin Kahler and his son Johannes Wameck, 14. Drews, in Zeitschrifi fUr praktische Theologie 28 (1897): 3ff., 193ff. Cf. D. Gustav Warneck 1834-1910. BlaUer der Erinnerung (Berlin: Martin Holsten, "Reformation und Mission," pp. 1-32. See also Holsten's Wameck Verlag, 1911). Cf. also my manuscript, "Gustav Wamecks later contribution, "Von den Anfangen evang. Missionsarbeit," missiologisches Erbe," unpublished dissertation, Fuller Theological Welfmission in "okumenischer Zeit, ed. Gerhard Brennecke (Stuttgart: Seminary, 1976, pp. 1-22; 384-90, and my article, "The Legacy of Evangelischer Missionsverlag, 1961); pp. 144-52. Gustav Wameck," Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Research 4, no. 15. Drews, Zeitschrift,' pp. 317ff., 291ff. 3 (July 1980). 16. Support for this tradition has been referred to above. For further 2. Christlieb's significant contributions to missionary thinking are high­ references, see nn. 11 and 13, above. lighted in a memorial article by Gustav Warneck, "Zur Einnerung 17. Holsten's position is amply clarified in his writings. See n. 14, above. an Th. Christlieb," Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift (AMZj 16 (1889): 18. The Heidelberg professor read a paper at the World Student Christian 445-48. Cf. Eugen Sachsse, "Christlieb, Theodor," in Religions­ Federation meeting in 1960. This was subsequently published under enzyklopaaie fUr protestantische Theologie und Kirche, 3rd ed., vol. 4 the title "Were the Reformers Indifferent to Missions?" in History's (1898), 1-5. Christlieb's view on the Reformation and mission is best Lessons for Tomorrow's Mission (Geneva: World Student Christian Fed­ reflected in "Der Missionsberuf des evangelischen Deutschlands," eration, [1961]): pp. 119-27. Gensichen is also the editor of the his­ AMZ 2 (1875): 193-210, 298-354. toriographical work, Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte, vol. 4-T: 3. For a listing of Grundemann's major writings see my dissertation, Missionsgeschichte der neueren Zeit, 3rd ed. (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck "Gustav Wamecks missiologisches Erbe," pp. 98-104, 402-23, 524­ und Ruprecht, 1967). In a special section entitled "Das 25. Reformationsjahrhundert," Gensichen reviews some of the literature 4. Elsewhere, I have made an attempt to assess more critically the on the subject. The present survey, however, includes a number of Allgemeine Missions-Zei ischrift. I have also cited numerous references items not listed by Gensichen. to similar evaluations ("Wameck's missiologisches Erbe," pp. 25-33, 19. In 1963 several Lutheran missiologists and other scholars made a 392-94). special tribute to the late Georg Vicedom's sixtieth birthday, entitled 5. Gustav Warneck, Euangelische Missionslehre, vol. 1: Die Bergrundung Ihr toerdet meine Zeugen sein. Among them was Wilhelm Maurer, der Sendung, 2nd ed. (Gotha: Friedrich Andreas Perthes, 1897), p. who wrote on "Reformation und Mission," Lutherisches Missions­ 260. jahrbuch fUr das [ahr 1963, ed. Walter Ruf (Niirnberg: Selbstverlag 6. Warneck, Abriss einer Geschichie der protestantischen Mission von der der Bayerischen Missionskonferenz, 1963), pp. 20-25. Maurer's ac­ Reformation bis auf die Gegentoart, 7th ed. (Berlin: Martin Warneck, cusation that "Martin Wameck" (p. 20) was "falsifying history" is 1901), pp. 8-21. Later revisions and English translations of this in­ incorrect. It should go to "Gustav Wameck," father to Martin. valuable interpretive mission history may be found in some older 20. Montgomery, "Justified by History," Christianity Today 10, no. 15 libraries. Several religious encyclopedias carried Warneck's original (April 29, 1966): 802. 1882 draft of this History. See "Bibliographical Listing," above, and 21. Chaney "Martin Luther and the Mission of the Church," Journal n. 19, below. of the Evangelical Theological Society, 13, no. 1 (Winter 1970): pp. 15­ 7. Wameck, "Reformation und Heidenmission," AMZ 10 (1883): pp. 41. 433-40. 22. Ibid., passim. 8. The complete set of five books appeared in two editions between 23. Gensichen, History's Lessons, p. 120. 1892 and 1905. The references in Warneck's works to the Reformation 24. It should be noted that the first edition of Wameck's Abriss first are too numerous to be listed here. 9~ Warneck, Abriss, p. 9. See also his article in AMZ 10 (1883): pp. appeared in the Realenzcyklopedie fUr protestantische Theologie und Kirche, 433-40. 2nd ed., vol. 10 (1882), pp. 33-125. Subsequently the German edition 10. Warneck, Abriss, p. 10. In fairness to Luther it should be noted was revised and updated nine times and translated in Scotland, Amer­ that, in theory, he did go beyond the repaganized church, but not ica, and Sweden. See my dissertation, "Warnecks missiologisches in practice. There are numerous references in his writings which in­ Erbe," pp. 49-53, and p. 399, n. 2. dicate his concern for the "heathen" outside the immediate Protestant 25. Ostertag, "Die deutsche Reformation und ihr Verhaltnis zur Basler and Catholic folds. Mission," Eoangelisches Missionsmagazin 1 (1857): pp. 7-34. 11. Yoder offers a critical review of Warneck's arguments why the Re­ 26. Ibid., pp. 8-9. formers, particularly Luther, failed to become conscious of world mis­ 27. Ibid., p. 10. sion. "Reformation and Missions: A Literature Review," Occasional 28. Ibid., p. 11. Bulletin (from the Missionary Research Library) 22, no. 6 (1971): pp. 29. Holl, "Luther und die Mission," Neue Allgemeine Missionszeitschrifi 1-9. Yoder's "Review" lists a number of items touching the main­ 1 (1924): pp. 36-49. stream Reformers; his major focus is on the missionary vision of 30. Wingren, "Luthersk teologi och varldsmissionen," Svensk Missions­ the Anabaptists, to which I shall return later. iidskrift 41 (1953): pp. 15-21. 12. "The Missionary Obligation of Theology." Occasional Bulletin (from 31. Syrdal, To the End of the Earth (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing the Missionary Research Library) 15, no. 1 (1964): pp. 1-6. House, 1967). 13. "Zur Frage des Missionsverstandnisses der Reformatoren," Zeitschrift 32. Whereas Montgomery's first article is more general, the second deals fUr Missionskunde und Religionsunssenschaft 41 (1926): pp. 337-43. In specifically with Luther: "Luther and Missions," Evangelical Missions an article on the same subject, Walter Holsten incorrectly refers to Quarterly 3 (Summer 1967): 193-202. Montgomery makes reference

174

Occasional Bulletin

to an article written by Wameck in the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1910. Insofar as Wameck treats the Reformation era on only one page of that article, Montgomery's basis for the conclusion he reaches seems rather inadequate. He also quotes. (or misquotes) Elert's sarcastic remarks about Wameck, saying: "Poor Luther! [sic. 'The poor man!'] Instead of foundlng a missionary society, accompanying Cortez to Mexico, or at least assuring for himself a professorship of missionary science, he devoted himself, of all things, to the reformation of the church!" Montgomery ("Luther and Mis­ sions," p. 194) quotes Elert's question and comments in its support: "A good question-and one that gains even greater force when one considers the extent of missionary activity carried on by the church bearing Luther's name during the two centuries immediately following his split with Rome." One is left to wonder what exactly Montgomery means by "the extent of missionary activity," and to what time of the "two centuries" he refers. If he means the Danish-Halle and Herrnhut missions, then we are still left with the question whether "the church bearing Luther's name" can be credited for the missionary spirit of early Pietism. 33. Syrdal, To the End of the Earth, p. 175; Chaney, "Martin Luther," passim. 34. Yoder, "Reformation and Missions: A Literature Review," Occasional Bulletin, (from the Missionary Research Library) 12, no. 6 (June 1971): 6,9. 35. Eppler, "Die Gedanken der Reformatoren iiber die Frommigkeit und seligkeit der Heiden," Eoangelisches Missionsmagazin 62 (1918): 12. 36. Pfister, "Zur Begriindung der Seligkeit von Heiden bei Zwingli," Evangelisches Missionsmagazin 95 (1951): pp. 70-80. Pfister has also written an extended version on Die Seligkeit erwiihlter Heiden bei Zwingli. Eine Studie zu seiner Theologie. But this work is not accessible to me at this time. 37. Zwingli "has altogether turned into a Heathen." See Pfister, "Begriindung de Seligkeit," p. 71. 38. Schlatter, "Calvin und die Mission," Eoangelisches Missionsmagazin 53 (1909): pp. 333-43. 39. The articles by Powers and Perbal are an attempt to provide a historical corrective with legal implications to Calvin's mission efforts in Brazil. Other than that, they contribute little of interest to our survey. For complete reference, see the "Bibliographical Listing" under "Calvin and Mission." 40. Zwemer's article on "Calvinism and the Missionary Enterprise" (The­ ology Today 7 [1950]: 206-16) is a fine tribute to Calvin. But he makes a serious biographical error when he makes reference to "the great theologian [Adolf] Schlatter of Tiibingen" (p. 206), crediting him with an essay entitled "Kalvin und die Mission." This essay is not by the Tiibingen theologian, Adolf Schlatter, but by the mission leader of Basel, Wilhelm Schlatter. 41. Pfisterer, "Der Missionsgedanke bei Kalvin," Neue Allgemeine Missionszeitschrift 11 (1934): pp. 94--104. 42. Christianity Today, October 23, 1970, pp. 3-6. 43. Chaney, "Missionary Dynamics in the Theology of John Calvin," Reformed Review 17 (1964): pp. 24--38. 44. Neill, A History of Christian Missions, paperback reprint (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1971), p. 222.

45. Kasdorf,"Anabaptists and the Great Commission in the 'Reformation," Direction (April 1975), pp. 303-18. For a more extensive treatment of the subject, see my manuscript, "Obedience to the Great Com­ mission in the Reformation: A Missing Chapter in Mission History" (1974). 46. In vol. 3, Three Centuries of Advance, Latourette mentions the Ana­ baptists' unique contribution to ecclesiology, but not to the mission of the church. 47. Latourette, A History of Christianity, 2 vols., rev. ed., vol. 2: Reformation to the Present (New York: Harper & Row, 1975), pp. 778-96. 48. In addition to several articles, Littell's book is of importance: The Anabaptist View of the Church (Boston: Starr King Press, 1958), chap. 4, pp. 109-34; notes 195-206. This work is now published as The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism, paperback ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1972). 49. Mennonite Quarterly Review 36 (1962): 99-103. 50. Ibid., p. 100. 51. Yoder, "Reformation and Missions," p. 6. 52. In The Church in Mission}, A Sixtieth Anniversary Tribute to J. B. Toews, ed. A. J. Klassen (Fresno, Calif.: Board of Christian Literature, 1967), pp. 85-100. 53. A paper by Ewert, read at the 1969 Aspen Conference, in Consultation on the Anabaptist Mennonite Theology, ed. A. J. Klassen (Fresno, Calif.: Council of Mennonite Seminaries, 1970), pp. 127-47. 54. J. A. Toews wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on "Sebastian Franck: Friend and Critic of Early Anabaptism," University of Minnesota, 1964. 55. Neufeld, "The Anabaptist Theology of Missions." Unpublished paper, M. B. Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Calif., 1975. 56. Augsburger, "Conversion in Anabaptist Thought," Mennonite Quar­ terly Review 36 (1962): 243-57. Cf. also Augsburger's address given at the 1969 Aspen Conference, "Modem Man and the New' Man," in Consultation on the Anabaptist Mennonite Theology, pp. 78-99. 57. Bainton, "The Great Commission," Mennonite Life (October 1953), pp.183-89. 58. Bainton, "The Enduring Witness," Mennonite Life (April 1954), pp. 83-90. 59. Graber, in The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision, ed. Guy F. Hershberger (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1962), p. 153. 60. Ibid., pp. 165-66. 61. Wiswedel, in Archiv fUr Reformationsgeschichte 40 (1943): pp. 183-200; 41 (1948): 115-32. 62. Ibid., 40 (1943): 184--97. 63. Ibid., 40 (1943): 197-200; 41 (1948): 115ff. 64. Ibid., 41 (1948): 116ff. 65. Hans Joachim Hillerbrand, "Ein Tauferisches Missionszeugnis aus dem 16. [ahrhundert," Zeitschrift fUr Kirchengeshichte 71, no. 9 (1960): 322­ 27. 66. Ibid., 325-26. 67. Published as vol. 21 in the series of Beifrffge zur Geschichte und Lehre der Reformierten Kirche (Hamburg: Neukirchener Verlag des Erzie­ hungsvereins, 1966).

171;