On Monday, March 23, Anabaptist and Jewish scholars and religious leaders gathered in the Strite Conference Room of 91短视频鈥檚 Campus Center for a consultation on Judaism, the Bible, and Anabaptism. The invite-only event was planned by Peter Dula, professor of religion and culture at 91短视频, and Trina Trotter Nussbaum, director of the Center for Interfaith Engagement (CIE), and included all-day discussions centering around the work of Matthew Thiessen and Daniel Weiss.

According to Dula, Thiessen, a Mennonite New Testament professor at McMaster University, is 鈥渙ne of the most influential voices in the 鈥楶aul within Judaism鈥� school of New Testament studies.鈥� The discussion of Thiessen鈥檚 work at the consultation centered around four articles of his.

Weiss, according to Dula, is a Jewish professor of Jewish studies and the philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge, 鈥渨hose work at the intersection of early rabbinic literature and early Christian literature has significant resonances with traditional Anabaptist understandings of violence and the state and critiques of Constantinianism.鈥� Weiss also had four articles discussed.

The morning began with a presentation by Thiessen titled, 鈥淲hat Mennonites Need to Know 91短视频 Judaism,鈥� which introduced the work of Weiss. Weiss then responded, and there was time for some questions from the audience. Following a break, a panel engaged with some of Weiss鈥檚 research, including articles on Christians and Levites, and the possibility that early Christians did not baptize their children, instead letting them be born into salvation.

After a lunch break, Weiss took a turn introducing Thiessen鈥檚 work in a section called, 鈥淩eading the New Testament within Judaism.鈥� Thiessen then responded. A panel then engaged in Thiessen鈥檚 work, including reflections on how to read Paul with an awareness of Judaism, and whether Jesus meant to start a new religion.

Dula was the guiding force in bringing the two scholars together to have the event. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got a Jewish scholar writing really perceptively about Anabaptist themes, and you have this Mennonite scholar writing really perceptively about Judaism,鈥� Dula said. 鈥淪o, I thought we should get them together.鈥�

Nussbaum reflected on the efficacy of the dialogue, and how it was in large part also due to the highlighted speakers. 鈥淚t worked because the two scholars we were highlighting shared the spotlight so well,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ow many times did we hear, 鈥榓nd now I want to open it up to you all?鈥欌��

Miranda Beidler, an 91短视频 senior who helped coordinate the event in her role as a student chaplain with the CIE, praised the event and guests for creating 鈥渋nherent dialogue.鈥� She said, 鈥淸The speakers] were so willing and open to talk about their beliefs, their theology, in ways that were open and curious about the others鈥� theology and beliefs, but without imposing their beliefs on somebody else.鈥�

Sara Kennel, another senior student chaplain at 91短视频, was struck by the openness and intellectualism of the event participants, saying, 鈥淚t felt like a gathering of a lot of people that care about understanding differences, but also are deeply intellectual. … I don鈥檛 think that I鈥檝e encountered that many spaces at 91短视频 that are that level of scholarship.鈥�

Nussbaum was struck by the impact of cross-religious dialogue, saying, 鈥淚t鈥檚 something pretty amazing that we can see ourselves in another faith. … It was a spiritual love-fest.鈥� Beidler, similarly, connected the event to CIE鈥檚鈥攁nd 91短视频鈥檚鈥攇oals of interfaith work, saying, 鈥淚t鈥檚 us putting into action when we say we care about learning from other people and from other cultures.鈥�

And so, early on Easter Sunday, 2008, the 91短视频 junior biblical studies and philosophy major from Lansdale, Pa., was baptized in the Jordan River into the community of faith.

91短视频 student John Tyson during his baptism in the Jordan River on Easter Sunday.

What made the experience even more special: Tyson was baptized by Linford L. Stutzman, associate professor of culture and mission at 91短视频 and witnessed by 29 fellow students in his Middle East study group. Dr. Stutzman and his wife, Janet M. Stutzman, are leading the cross-cultural seminar during the university’s second (spring) semester.

‘Sharing Something Special’

“The community I’ve experienced in this cross-cultural group and the journey we are sharing is something special,” Tyson said afterwards. “I’ve been active in the Mennonite church for several years, but traveling with this group has been the place where I’ve been most at home with God and the world.

“John had asked about the possibility of being baptized several weeks before Easter, when our group was still in Jerusalem,” said Stutzman. “I mentioned that the Jordan River runs through the back of Kibbutz Afikim, and that we would be there over Easter. Perhaps that would be a good opportunity.”

The 91短视频 group arrived at Kibbutz Afikim on Mar. 17 for two weeks of work, study and field trips. Kibbutz Afikim is a secular Jewish agricultural commune established around 1925. In the fields behind the kibbutz is their graveyard on a bluff overlooking the Jordan River.

Easter Sunday morning the entire group, got up early and assembled at 5:30 for the 20-minute hike to the graveyard. They walked through the kibbutz quietly to keep the dogs from barking, toward the Jordan. In the graveyard, the students led songs and read scriptures as the sun rose over the Golan Heights. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning.

Then they hiked for about another 10 minutes down toward the Jordan through the fields of freshly-cut barley singing, “As I went down to the river to pray.” Earlier, Stutzman had found an ideal baptismal spot with a break in the reeds that grow along the banks that allowed the group to stand on the bank and see the water flowing.

“I recounted the journey of learning and faith that everyone is traveling on this cross-cultural, paralleling the journeys of faith in Scripture, how wilderness and water are so much a part of it, and how baptism connects to these stories – Moses and the Hebrew children crossing the Red Sea, the Hebrews wandering through the wilderness then crossing the Jordan to the promise, John baptizing in the Jordan, Jesus being baptized in the Jordan. All of these places and events have been part of the group’s travels, and all relate to the meaning of baptism,” Stutzman recalled.

‘God at Work in the World’

Tyson and 91短视频 Professor Linford Stutzman, leader of the Middle East crosscultural, embrace after Tyson’s baptism.

Tyson then recounted his own journey of faith and why he chose to be baptized at this point in his life.

“I decided that taking this step [to be baptized] was appropriate and the time and place and people only confirmed that,” he said. “For me, water baptism symbolized the life of God at work in the world through things we often take for granted but that create new life.”

The men waded into the middle of the Jordan, and Stutzman poured water over head. (The Jordan is fairly shallow, so immersion wasn’t a good option). Then they waded back to shore, and the students gave their encouragement and blessing, sang several songs and hiked back to the kibbutz in time for breakfast.

Tyson has been attending Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church since age 17. More recently, he’s attended Park View Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg.

It is the fifth time for Linford and wife Janet, a former director of alumni/parent relations at 91短视频, to lead a cross-cultural program in the Middle East. The group is scheduled to return to campus Apr. 22.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary is making plans for a study tour to the Middle East next spring.

Dorothy Jean Weaver, professor of New Testament at EMS, and Kevin A. Clark, a Virginia Mennonite Conference pastor, will host “Places, People and Prayers: A Cross-Cultural Encounter with the Holy Land,” May 4-27, 2005.

The trip will provide “a rich and multi-faceted introduction that has been home

The language and literature department will hold its first “Writers Read” program of fall semester 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16 in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 91短视频.

Author Lauren F. Winner of Charlottesville, Va., will read from her works, Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath, published by Algonquin Books (Chapel Hill, N.C).

The child of a reform Jewish father and a Southern Baptist mother, Winner became an Orthodox Jew. But as she faithfully observes the Sabbath rituals and studies Jewish laws, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Christianity. Eventually she converts, but finds that her world is still shaped by her Jewish experiences.

Girl Meets God, by Lauren Winner

Winner