Letters to the editor

Mennonite Brethren Herald welcomes your letters on issues relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church, especially in response to material published in the Herald. Please keep your letters courteous, brief and about one subject only. We will edit letters for length and clarity. We will not publish letters sent anonymously, although we may withhold names from publication at the request of the letter writer and at our discretion. Publication is also subject to space limitations. Because the Letters column is a free forum for discussion, it should be understood that letters represent the position of the letter writer, not necessarily the position of the Herald or the Mennonite Brethren Church. Send letters to: Letters, MB Herald 1310 Taylor Ave. Winnipeg, Man.  R3M 3Z6 or send via e-mail. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.)

Students can strengthen their faith

I appreciate receiving the Herald. I respond to Jonathan Poh (Oct. 15) “The best case for faith.” Poh writes convincingly, illustrating his thoughts and faith. It is admirable when students are willing to stand alone and think on their own.

Higher education, with its false teachings and arguments, has taken its toll on students. The fact remains that there is individual choice. How do students act or react to all of the negatives tossed at them? They can be turned into positives if the students use these hurdles as a springboard to strengthen their faith

The Word of God needs no defence. The fruits of the Spirit, when manifested in Christian lives, could change the outlook of non-Christians, and offer a new perspective.

Books of the calibre of Lee Strobel, as mentioned by Poh, need to be used in the higher education. Our students have the right to hear, meditate on and accept the truth which is found in Christ Jesus alone.

E.M. Unruh,
Abbotsford, B.C.

Get back to main purpose

Can we please have a break from letters about singing/music/worship styles in our churches? After all the debate the only thing we know for sure is that it is a personal choice and we can’t agree on it. The fields are white for harvest (John 4:35). This is as true now as in any time in history yet we endlessly argue about what we should sing before we go out to work! Satan must be ecstatic. It is long past time when our leadership, including the MB Herald, called the church back to its true calling – preaching the gospel, baptizing and making disciples. One day we will have all the time in the world to ask God what style of music He prefers. In the meantime we have work to do.

Rick Koss,
Winnipeg, Man.

Worship for all

Like Jake Hiebert, I wish I could hear “hearty congregational singing” in our churches. Many churches have adopted worldly strategies to increase church attendance. When that happens, inevitably something is both gained and lost. Presently our churches think it is better to forsake traditional styles of worship for contemporary worship formats. While this may help draw some non-Christians into the church, others will not be attracted. The church should offer opportunities of service in worship for all people.

Roland Derksen,
Vancouver, B.C.

One student’s response

Re “Life at school, Should faith fear education?” (Oct. 15).

I am a third-year student at Brandon (Man.) University, majoring in English with a History minor.

I cannot say that I wanted to attend a university that prided itself on its liberal attitudes. I was not thrilled to sit in class after class where I was indoctrinated with philosophical, sociological and scientific notions penned by the intellectually elite. I was not able to identify with people with a worldview so openly against mine as a Christian. But I thank the Lord I did.

I never realized until I was confronted in a head-on collision with a world I detested that I have so little in common with secular worldviews, and that it is okay and even expected that my perspective would seem different. I cannot think of anything in the same way as a person who does not believe in God and that comes down to things as simple as what to wear or what to read or where to stand on a particular issue. As a believer in Christ, my outlook is shaped by God and my thoughts have little in common with a mind convinced of the lack of existence of a supreme being.

I have been a Christian for a long time and I have always been certain of the existence of God, the sacrifice of Jesus, and the promise of a better life in the future. My faith is firm but has been tested every single day for the last three years. I have been forced to take the perspective of theories in direct opposition to the existence of my Lord and Saviour and have been put into a position in which I was left to argue [issues like] cultural relativism, evolutionary theory and philosophical reflection. But my faith has not faltered.

Beyond that, I have gained something that I can take with me beyond the walls of this university: understanding. I have been forced to gain understanding on why an individual would not believe in the Christian God, or why so many people believe that evolution is fact. I understand why cultural relativism provides an appealing alternative to proclaiming the truth of one religion over others. I can understand the philosophies of a mind apart from Jesus. I can formulate these arguments as these individuals would state them, and I can see how and why the world believes what they do.

I have learned to look inside the eyes of a person so vastly different from myself and see a soul, holding a personality somewhat like mine, wishes that resemble my own, intelligence mirroring what I possess, and passion reminding me of myself. I have learned what other people believe and why they hold these beliefs to be true. From being forced to adopt this perspective for so many classes, I feel as if I can almost see the world in this way. My perspective on how to share Jesus with these people has changed.

Being at Brandon University has shown me that everyone needs love. Everyone needs compassion. Nobody will respect my beliefs unless I live them. Nobody will respect my beliefs unless I respect theirs as well.

I’m getting my footing for the things God has in store for me while broadening my knowledge at a secular institution. I am living and working with people who have never met the Saviour. My future ministry could not begin until I was ready to be educated by those who need Him most. I am still learning.

Tatiana Warkentin,
Brandon, Man.

Reading of Scripture

Re Jonathan Epp’s letter (Sept. 24).

I am always interested in the selective ways we read Scripture.

The Old Testament women fulfilled the following roles: judge and general (Deborah), prophetess (Huldah and others), businesswoman (Proverbs 31), God-affirmed challengers of the legal status quo (Numbers 27), diplomat (Abigail). Most, of course, were wives and mothers also.

In the New Testament, Jesus performed many miracles for women. Indeed, His revolutionary treatment of women has been offered as the real reason the Jewish hierarchy had to ensure His departure from the scene. He thought the Samaritan woman (John 4) was worthy of a theological discussion. She has been called “the first evangelist.”

Women were among the disciples, remained with Him during His final suffering, and were the first witnesses to the resurrection, though their word was doubted (Luke 24:11).

Paul worked with women like Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis; called Priscilla a co-worker and Junia an apostle. The task of hermeneutics must be to discern the implications of Paul’s practice alongside his teaching. Is Galatians 3:26–28 the fundamental principle? Or is the fundamental principle, for Jesus and Paul, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6)?

The importance of the passages above for our present day were pointed out to me by my daughter. Reading her Bible with that much attention to present-day application, is it any wonder she became a pastor?

D.J. Stewart,
North Vancouver, B.C.

Difficulty with viewpoint

Jonathan Epp (Letters, Sept. 24) doesn’t think we should have exegetical difficulties regarding the role of women. However, I have difficulty with his interpretation of Scripture. According to Epp, Paul teaches that the role of women is “to marry, bear children, keep house and stay out of trouble.” Epp reduces the role of women to what is found in one verse (1 Timothy 5:14), a verse that is not even for all women. The verse is in the context of teaching on the needs of widows, and offers some counsel for younger widows.

Paul is urging the church to care for the needs of widows (because they may have been lacking the material resources for their own needs), but then he goes on to say that this doesn’t necessarily apply to younger widows. Younger widows may have been capable of caring for themselves. The point is, they should live normal, productive lives and not be dependent on the support of the church. To take this one verse as God’s statement defining the role of women is comparable to stating that the role of men is to be self-controlled (Titus 2:6).

Good exegesis demands we examine the context, and when we do, we sometimes encounter difficulties. Sometimes we have interpretive differences because we are doing the work of Bible study. I hope we will keep studying Scripture, even if that causes us some difficulties along the way.

Lorne Willms,
Coaldale, Alta.