Call for Papers

Proposals are invited for papers that address the emergence and development of
Anabaptist convictions in light of the work and life of Pilgram Marpeck and of the Marpeck circle. This interdisciplinary conference seeks to strengthen the development of contemporary Anabaptist convictions through a careful analysis of the emergence of historical Anabaptist convictions-especially those found in the Marpeck circle. The planning committee welcomes proposals from the standpoint of any academic discipline and solicits both presentations that are primarily descriptive as well as those that make prescriptive claims.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• the social and historical background of Marpeck and his circle
• the religious and political exigencies addressed by the texts of the Marpeck circle
• the theological and historical relationships between Marpeckites and other Anabaptist figures and groups
• the contemporary discovery and appropriation of Marpeck
• the illumination of historical and contemporary Anabaptist theological developments and controversies by the convictions of the Marpeck circle
• comparisons of Marpeckite convictions with those of other historical and contemporary Anabaptist circles

The conference will be held at Bluffton University, where a student center named after Pilgram Marpeck highlights the continuing visuals and material impact of a once obscure sixteenth-century radical reformer. The conference is sponsored by Anabaptist-Mennonite Scholars Network (A-MSN), the Anabaptist Sociology and Anthropology Association (ASAA), and the Institute of Mennonite Studies (IMS). The conference planning committee includes the following members: Trevor Bechtel (A-MSN); Gerald Mast (ASAA); John Rempel (IMS, AMBS); John D. Roth (MHS). Paper proposals should be sent to John D. Roth or Trevor Bechtel. Mail proposals to Box 141, Bluffton University, 1 University Drive, Bluffton, OH 45817.

Deadline: February 15, 2009

Student Paper Contest Deadline: April 15, 2009