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Dordrecht Confession - Original Text
Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 1:52 pm
by Bootstrap
I can't quickly find this - is it available online? Where?
Re: Dordrecht Confession - Original Text
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:31 am
by Hats Off
I would think there is some question about original text. Someone mentioned in conversation yesterday that we originate from Swiss Brethern so I pointed out that our Confession of Faith is actually Dutch. A fairly knowledgeable person said he has seen indications that when the Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession, they added one article and modified the one on the Bann. However, he did not know when the Swiss Brethern or South German Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession or what they had used previously.
In 1725 the Pennsylvania Mennonites, mostly Swiss, of what are now the Franconia and Lancaster Conferences, adopted the Dordrecht Confession, undoubtedly through the influence of the Dutch Mennonites of Germantown, near Philadelphia. Sixteen ministers signed a statement of adoption. A number of the more conservative Mennonite bodies of America, including the Mennonite Church (MC), now recognize the Dordrecht Confession as the official summary of their doctrinal beliefs.
This is a quote from J. C. Wenger found at. beliefs.
http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/about/fou ... uction.htm
Re: Dordrecht Confession - Original Text
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:39 am
by Neto
Hats Off wrote:I would think there is some question about original text. Someone mentioned in conversation yesterday that we originate from Swiss Brethern so I pointed out that our Confession of Faith is actually Dutch. A fairly knowledgeable person said he has seen indications that when the Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession, they added one article and modified the one on the Bann. However, he did not know when the Swiss Brethern or South German Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession or what they had used previously.
As I understand, this came about as a result of the Amish split off. (Or who ever split form who ever.) Oddly, it was the Amish who took the more restrictive 'Mennonite' stance on the ban (extending it to family relationships), but it was the other group (the main Swiss Brethren 'faction') that took the Mennonite name. (Maybe not took the name themselves, but came to be referred in that fashion. It would have been better if they would have kept some distinctive name, as it still causes confusion today.)
Re: Dordrecht Confession - Original Text
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:40 am
by Bootstrap
I think the first version is in Dutch. According to
this site, the first page is shown below. I can't seem to find the rest of the text.
I would be interested in later versions as well.
- confessie.gif (83.81 KiB) Viewed 738 times
Re: Dordrecht Confession - Original Text
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:23 am
by MaxPC
Neto wrote:Hats Off wrote:I would think there is some question about original text. Someone mentioned in conversation yesterday that we originate from Swiss Brethern so I pointed out that our Confession of Faith is actually Dutch. A fairly knowledgeable person said he has seen indications that when the Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession, they added one article and modified the one on the Bann. However, he did not know when the Swiss Brethern or South German Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession or what they had used previously.
As I understand, this came about as a result of the Amish split off. (Or who ever split form who ever.) Oddly, it was the Amish who took the more restrictive 'Mennonite' stance on the ban (extending it to family relationships), but it was the other group (the main Swiss Brethren 'faction') that took the Mennonite name. (Maybe not took the name themselves, but came to be referred in that fashion.
It would have been better if they would have kept some distinctive name, as it still causes confusion today.)
Hindsight is 20/20
Is this something that can be mitigated today? Or is there too much on their plate already?
Re: Dordrecht Confession - Original Text
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:22 am
by Neto
MaxPC wrote:Neto wrote:Hats Off wrote:I would think there is some question about original text. Someone mentioned in conversation yesterday that we originate from Swiss Brethern so I pointed out that our Confession of Faith is actually Dutch. A fairly knowledgeable person said he has seen indications that when the Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession, they added one article and modified the one on the Bann. However, he did not know when the Swiss Brethern or South German Mennonites adopted the Dordrecht Confession or what they had used previously.
As I understand, this came about as a result of the Amish split off. (Or who ever split form who ever.) Oddly, it was the Amish who took the more restrictive 'Mennonite' stance on the ban (extending it to family relationships), but it was the other group (the main Swiss Brethren 'faction') that took the Mennonite name. (Maybe not took the name themselves, but came to be referred in that fashion.
It would have been better if they would have kept some distinctive name, as it still causes confusion today.)
Hindsight is 20/20
Is this something that can be mitigated today? Or is there too much on their plate already?
If I need to distinguish between the two, I just try to always refer to the Swiss anabaptists as "Swiss Brethren", and to the others as "Dutch Mennonites". But I think that the differences between the two groups are greater now than they were then, so, as you say, hindsight.
Re: Dordrecht Confession - Original Text
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 1:12 pm
by Bootstrap
According to
GAMEO, Dordrecht was written by Dutch Mennonites, and was not accepted by the Swiss Mennonites. (This article agrees with what Hats Off shared, and expands on it a little.)
However, the descendants of the Swiss Mennonites in Pennsylvania did accept it, probably through the influence of Dutch Mennonites.
So if you want to be purist about Swiss Mennonite versus Dutch, the Dordrecht is probably not the confession you want to use. That would be Schleitheim.
Written in the first draft by Adriaan Cornelisz, elder of the Flemish Mennonite congregation in the Dutch city of Dordrecht, this confession of faith, containing 18 articles, was adopted April 21, 1632, and signed by 51 Flemish and Frisian Mennonite preachers as a basis of union. The official (Dutch) title reads: Voorstellinghe van de principale articulen onses algemeynen Christelijcken Geloofs, ghelijck de selve in onse Gemeynte doorgaens geleert ende beleeft worden. On Feb. 4, 1660, six preachers and seven deacons from Alsace, in a meeting held at Ohnenheim in Rappoltstein, adopted the Dordrecht Confession "as our own." Later it was adopted by the Mennonites in the Palatinate and North Germany; the Swiss Mennonites never accepted it, perhaps because it teaches shunning (Article 17) which only the Swiss Amish practiced, not the Swiss Mennonites. Probably through the influence of the Dutch Mennonites of Germantown, Pa., the Mennonites of southeastern Pennsylvania, of the Franconia and Lancaster Conferences (MC) adopted the Dordrecht Confession in 1725. The more conservative Mennonite bodies in North America, including the Mennonite Church (MC) prior to 1963, recognize it as their official articles of faith, but its personal acceptance is not required either for baptism or ordination. Historically this symbol has been much used as an instrument of catechetical instruction in preparation for baptism.