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2009-07-07 issue:

Mennonite, Shiite scholars meet in Iran

Seventeen scholars find similarities and differences in faith, peace perspectives.

by Jeremy Bergen

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Seventeen Mennonite Christian and Shiite Muslim scholars of religion met together for four days in Qom, Iran, to discuss the themes of peace and justice. 

The Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute hosted the May 24-27 conference. Mennonite Central Committee organized the Mennonite side. This conference, the fourth in a series that began in 2002, grew out of an exchange program between MCC and IKERI in which Iranian doctoral students study at the Toronto School of Theology, and Mennonite couples from North America live and study in Qom.


The group of Mennonite and Shiite scholars in Qom, Iran. Photo provided.

The Mennonite delegation extended an invitation to a fifth dialogue to be held somewhere in North America in 2011.

Participants presented papers rooted in their own tradition’s theological understanding of the nature, mandate and implications of peace and justice. Formal and informal discussions followed.

The Mennonites presented papers on biblical perspectives, the centrality of Jesus for peace and justice, pacifism, church, martyrdom, advocacy and the history of Mennonite practices of peace and justice.

Shiite presentations examined the relationship between justice and peace in the Qur’an, war and jihad, eschatology, divine mercy, and the nature of the international political order.
The relationship between justice and peace emerged as a key theme of the conference. In his opening lecture, Ayatollah Rajabi explained that, in Islam, justice is an absolute requirement while peace is conditional upon justice.

While peaceful means are ideal, he said, violence may be required when justice is violated, the innocent are attacked or people are prevented from worshiping God.

“It seemed we were trying to ask them if there were moments in the Qur’an or Islam that could resource faithful yet nonviolent responses to injustice,” said Susan Kennel Harrison, “while they were demanding us to be more realistic about all the ways they saw war or self-defense justified within our own texts.”

Mennonites and Shiites share perspectives and experiences. For example, both sides agreed that the human pursuit of justice and peace ought to be rooted in God’s justice and God’s peace. Both have a future-oriented hope for justice to be fully realized upon the return of Jesus and/or the 12th Imam. Both are minority groups within Christianity and Islam and have experienced persecution that shapes their perceptions. 

Gordon Zerbe, a first-time participant, notes how the Shiites have a religious imperative to dialogue because of what Islam holds in common with Christianity. At times there was a remarkable similarity in theological language and concerns.  Yet some conversations made evident significant differences in culture, context and patterns of thinking. 

“This dialogue required me to contemplate some foundational assumptions of my own faith,” he said. “We often take the logic of our own convictions for granted until we explain it to someone who has a different frame of reference.”

A difference emerged in the discussion of how to move from sacred text to contemporary context.  One Mennonite scholar argued that the social location of the interpreter or the community of interpretation will partly shape what peace or justice looks like in practice.

A Shiite scholar countered that the meaning of the Qur’an is always clear; perspective should not affect its meaning.

The Mennonites who presented papers were A. James Reimer and Jeremy Bergen of Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont.; Harry Huebner and Gordon Zerbe of Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Man.; Susan Kennel Harrison of the Toronto School of Theology; Wilma Bailey of Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, and David Shenk of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Henry Paetkau and Nathan Funk of Conrad Grebel University College, and Jon Hoover of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut participated as official observers.

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