In the April 2024 edition of the journal, Randy Basinger explored the history of the Brethren in Christ peace position and how the statement about peacemaking in the current Articles of Faith and Doctrine came to include what he called a “qualifying clause.” By inserting that that clause, “While we respect those holding different interpretations, we believe,” some think that a fundamental shift in Brethren in Christ doctrine occurred—from being unabashedly a peace church to allowing wiggle room. That debate continues.
Another issue on which there has been a shift in doctrine and practice is the matter of divorce and remarriage. Where once there was little to no tolerance for divorce and remarriage in the church, based on the church’s understanding of Scripture, there is now a much more forgiving stance toward couples who experience marital stress that ends in divorce and who eventual are remarry other partners. How did the shift happen? Andy Saylor, a layperson in the church and an attorney, sets out to answer that question in the first article.
The second article features Robert Mann’s careful documentation of the period in the late 1970s when the war for independence and majority rule in Rhodesia forced Brethren in Christ missionaries to withdraw and three mission stations to close. Bob had a front row seat as the field secretary (liaison between the missionaries and the North American-based mission board) and tells the story of why and how the decision was made to withdraw. My own parents were back in Rhodesia after retirement for a term of voluntary service, and had to return to the US before they intended to, so I was aware of the situation but did not know many of the details of what actually happened to precipitate the withdrawal and the decision-making process. Bob’s story fills in those details.
Some years before, missionaries had handed over the administration of the Brethren in Christ Church in Rhodesia to national leadership. This meant that nationals were already in place to keep the church going, which they did under great stress as Rhodesia finally achieved independence in 1980 and became Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Brethren in Christ Church is now the largest conference of the Brethren in Christ anywhere in the world. Praise God!
Finally, in the third article, Cody Cook, as someone who is very new to the Brethren in Christ and still discovering what it might mean to commit to the church, explores whether suffering is necessary for salvation. He is responding to a question he was asked about whether Christians should prefer “a world with more suffering because it makes our work, and the gospel with it, more relevant.” You can decide whether he has adequately answered the question!
Coincidentally, the first of the book reviews features one on the meaning of suffering, followed by reviews of books about returning to the faith, the connections between faith and science, and “sparking peace” in children and families.