From his Latin American perspective, Daniel Schipani of Argentina reflects on the significance of Yoder's theological writings for the global church. (the editor)
John Howard Yoder was born in Smithville, Ohio, the son of Howard Christian Yoder and Ethel Good Yoder. On December 30, 1997, one day after turning 70 years old, he died from an aortic aneurysm in his office at the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana. He received his undergraduate degree from Goshen College and went to Europe to serve with Mennonite Central Committee after World War II. There he married Anne Marie Guth in 1952. They had seven children. One daughter preceded him in death.
Yoder received his doctoral degree from the University of Basel in Switzerland in 1962. He became a lecturer at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, in 1960 and joined the faculty in 1965. He was president of Goshen Biblical Seminary, one of the schools that made up AMBS, from 1970 to 1973.
He joined the faculty of the University of Notre Dame in 1977 and was named a Fellow of the Notre Dame Institute of International Peace Studies. He returned to AMBS in the fall of 1997 as a part-time teacher. He was a member of Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana.
From his Latin American perspective, Daniel Schipani of Argentina reflects on the significance of Yoder's theological writings for the global church. (the editor)
John Howard Yoder died on December 30, 1997. Ever since the news of his death became public, he has been hailed by many as one of the great theologians of the century and one of the most prominent voices of the peace churches. In this short word of tribute, with gratitude to God, we remember Yoder's contribution primarily as a teacher of the church, which was his vocational identity.
Those who came to know John Howard Yoder personally were soon amazed at his extraordinarily incisive mind, his logical and critical thinking, and the breadth of his scholarship crossing boundaries of languages and disciplines. But even more impressive was his unfailing commitment to the call to teach and to articulate a certain vision of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the content of such a teaching that we wish to highlight as pertinent reminders for the global church on the threshold of a new century. We can do so by selecting four interrelated guidelines, forcefully presented by Yoder in his writings and speeches, briefly stated in the next paragraphs.
First, the church is called to become a messianic community in the midst of society and the world. Yoder demonstrated that the church must bear the message of the gospel by actually becoming that message. He argued that if the gospel of God's love had political implications for Jesus' disciples, it would also have political implications for contemporary Christians. If the gospel decisively shaped the life of Jesus' first followers, it must also shape the life of the Church today.
Second, Jesus is truly our normative authority. Yoder helped us to see clearly that Jesus the Savior was deeply concerned with the agenda of politics and the related issues of power, status, and right relations. He showed that the impact of Jesus' life and ministry on his disciples' social behavior points to a special kind of pacifism in which the Cross is the model of Christian efficacy. In other words, the radical way of life to which Jesus called his disciples is also the key to Christian faithfulness for us today.
Third, discipleship and pertinent witness requires that we engage in a lifelong study of Scripture. Yoder modelled for us what it means to take the Bible seriously and how to allow the inspired text to show us the way of God's shalom. For example, in Latin America and elsewhere he demonstrated that the messianic expectation of God's reign is one of the major keys for an adequate interpretation of the Bible in today's world.
Fourth, our practice of ecumenical conversation must not be separated from the biblically grounded vision of the faithful church. Such a vision calls for transformation for Christians of all communions, including the heirs of the Radical Reformation. Yoder taught us how to remain open and respectful as well as truthful and prophetic in such an ecumenical practice, as illustrated in his many dialogues with representatives of the "just-war" tradition.
Yoder's most influential book, The Politics of Jesus, concludes with a short Latin phrase: "Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur." ("Our Lamb has conquered; him let us follow.") The conviction that victory has been accomplished by Jesus Christ was the source of Yoder's hope that sustained and guided his endeavors until the end.
We praise God for the provision of teachers for the church and for the enduring teaching ministry of our brother John Howard Yoder.