Community and Catastrophe: An Ecclesio-Political Reading of the Schleitheim Confession

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This book enters a conversation with the Schleitheim Articles from a contemporary perspective. To do this, it closely follows Schleitheims seven articles, each of which discusses a practice to shape the church community.

These range from freely chosen baptism to mutual discipline, the election of leaders, and the dissociation from worldly sovereignty. On its surface, the text suggests a severe separation from the outside world. On closer reading, however, we find a text marked by tensions and openings. Separation is never quite achieved, and negotiating ambiguity becomes key to shaping a nonsovereign co-presence. The shared life it envisions remains a matter of repeated practice, persisting without guarantee, making space for human freedom in response to Gods invitation and amid creaturely existence.

Author Bio

Marius van Hoogstraten is Lecturer at the Amsterdam Mennonite Seminary/VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands.