MB Atonement Confessions and Mission (Historical Dimensions of Mission)
Presenters: Andrew Dyck & Jon Isaak

Guest blogger: Clayton Gladish

Perhaps one of the greatest struggles for the MB conference is to know how to communicate a succinct confession of our faith that both allows us to remain faithful to Scripture as well as to express our unique perspective on it. Certainly, this is not made any easier by the mixed theological heritage of our Anabaptist and evangelical ancestors.

In this particular workshop, Andrew Dyck and Jon Isaak facilitated discussion around two of the “surprises” encountered by Doug Heidebrecht while studying atonement statements made in the four editions of the MB Confession of Faith. The first was a labeled “a new direction in MB atonement language.” The second makes reference to the link between justification and resurrection found only in the first three editions. Our discussion considered the theological, practical, and missional implications of these changes.

Without getting into every detail, I must point out that there were many, including the presenters, who commented on the value of accepting the diversity of images found within the biblical text to describe how Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection brings about the salvation and justification of believers today. Reducing our confession to one model does not do justice to the text, nor does placing one in a primary position above others. Instead, we could hang on to the biblical images themselves rather than attempt to construct and prove our own models. This resonates with the goal of those who participated in the formation of most recent Confession of Faith, who wished to honour the diversity of the churches that they represented and of the biblical text.

Just as we attempt to hold our Anabaptist and evangelical roots in a healthy tension, we must do the same with the biblical images of atonement that we experience as a result of the faithfulness of Jesus.

Clayton Gladish is an MA student in New Testament at Fresno (Cal.) Pacific Biblical Seminary. He is a graduate of Bethany College, Hepburn, Saskatchewan.