Living in the World

“In a compelling combination of historical analysis and theological reflection, Jantz tells the story of a people who have traditionally avoided the spotlight. Weaving together the story of an ethnic/religious community caught over time in the struggle between separation and assimilation, Jantz offers an effective meditation on the insider/outsider problem of identity and the struggle to maintain core principles and values in the modern world.”


—Dugan McGinley, Rutgers University





“In Living in the World, Ronald Jantz traces the spiritual and geographic journey of the people who became the Church of God in Christ Mennonite. Along the way, he invites readers to consider with him how a tradition of nonconformity and nonresistance shaped Christian communities in the past and asks what it might mean for our contemporary context. A thoughtful meditation on faith and culture across time.”


—Steven M. Nolt, Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College





“Readers of Living in the World encounter a small religious and ethnic community that has maintained—or recovered?—its identity across five centuries and countries. After examining the doctrinal elements of this identity and the migration to the community’s successive homes, the author uses his genealogical database of 6,200 names and a comparison of the founding doctrines of the Mennonites with the theology of Holdeman people today to convincingly demonstrate continuity across time.”


—James P. Niessen, Alexander Library, Rutgers University