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Pacifists in Chains: The Persecution of Hutterites during the Great War. By Duane C. S. Stoltzfus. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2013. Pp. 268. The 1918 deaths of two Hutterite conscientious objectors (COs) after being tortured in U.S. prisons links them to ancestors who died for their faith and also...read more
ROGER E. OLSON and CHRISTIAN T. COLLINS WINN. Reclaiming Pietism: Retrieving an Evangelical Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015. Pp. 190. $18.00 (U.S.) If you know anything at all about the Brethren in Christ Church, you probably know it has been influenced theologically by Anabaptism, Pietism,...read more
John E. Sharp. My Calling To Fulfill: The Orie O. Miller Story. Harrisonburg, VA/Kitchener, ON: Herald Press, 2015. Pp. 439. $29.99 (U.S.) Orie O. Miller is described as “one of the major architects of North American Mennonite Church life in the twentieth century” (p. 7) and as one who “has...read more
RONALD J. SIDER. Nonviolent Action: What Christian Ethics Demands But Most Christians Have Never Really Tried. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2015. Pp. 191. $19.99 (U.S.) Ron Sider, in Nonviolent Action, addresses both Just War theorists and pacifists on the demands and effectiveness of nonviolent action. He defines nonviolent action...read more
DONALD B. KRAYBILL, STEVEN M. NOLT, DAVID L. WEAVER-ZERCHER. The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Pp. 267. $16.95 (U.S.) There is no dearth of new literature related to the Amish, and the authors of The Amish Way have contributed their fair share to the...read more
APRIL YAMASAKI. Sacred Pauses: Spiritual Practices for Personal Renewal. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2013. Pp. 189. $16.99 (U.S.). In Sacred Pauses, April Yamasaki provides a basic overview of spiritual contemplative practices. Her intention is not to be “comprehensive, but to provide an introduction, give opportunity for practical exploration, and kindle...read more
KEITH GRABER MILLER. Living Faith: Embracing God’s Callings. Telford, PA: Cascadia, 2012. Pp. 126. $12.95 (U.S.) The notions of calling and vocation are grounded in centuries-old tradition but are also dynamic and contextual. Some may suggest that this leads only to confusion, but various theological interpretations actually add nuance and...read more
Esther Epp-Tiessen. Mennonite Central Committee in Canada: A History. Winnipeg, MB: CMU Press, 2013. Pp. 328. $29.50 (CDN) In 2013 Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Its formation in Canada was not nearly as smooth as that of the original MCC in the United States. Without the...read more
BETH HOSTETLER MARK, ANNARUTH SIDER OSBORNE, and DEVIN C. MANZULLO-THOMAS. Worthy of the Calling: Biographies of Paul and Lela Swalm Hostetler, Harvey and Erma Heise Sider, Luke Jr. and Doris Bowman Keefer. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Brethren in Christ Historical Society, 2014. Pp. 351. $15.00 (U.S.) Reviewed by John Hawbaker * When...read more
TIM DAY. God Enters Stage Left. Oakville, ON: The Meeting House, 2013. Pp. 154. Reviewed by John R. Yeatts Tim Day is the senior pastor of The Meeting House, a congregation that, as the book cover says, is “a safe place away from the shadow of traditional religion to have...read more
ERVIN R. STUTZMAN. Discerning God’s Will Together: Biblical Interpretation in the Free Church Tradition. Telford, Pa.: Cascadia Publishing House, 2013. Pp. 176. $16.95 (U.S.) Reviewed by Zach Spidel Ervin R. Stutzman’s attempt to draw upon the discernment function of free church ecclesiology in order to “aid the contemporary church in...read more