Conversion is a complex term and broad in its usage. It is primarily used in a religious sense, but can be used more widely to describe any profound change of conviction or way of life. In its religious sense, the reference is generally to the initial stage of spiritual experience, as in moving from unbelief to faith in God, or in changing from one religious viewpoint to another. The change involved is perceived to be radical in nature and contains some element of reversal, i.e., a change between opposites. Although sometimes popularly associated with instantaneous change, the experience may take place over a longer period of time and, in any case, is usually preceded by preparatory influences and explorations.

Conversion is not self-defeating. Its exact nature and form depend upon the expectations of the belief system to which one is converted and, furthermore, upon the personality characteristics of the convert. Conversion can be described as intellectual, moral, or religious, depending on its focus in the human experience. In Christian conversion all three dimensions come into view, although differing accents appear in the various Christian traditions.

Conversion translates the biblical terms for turn or return. In the Old Testament the concept refers to the return of the people of God after leaving the way of God. The return involves both a spiritual renewal of relationship to God in covenant and a moral change toward upright living. It implies a restored life in community with the people of God. The New Testament takes up this viewpoint while expanding it. Conversion is given a special meaning by its linkage to Jesus' kingdom teaching. All are called to repent, to reorient their outlook in the light of the arriving rule of God in Jesus and his work. Even the pious in Israel must convert to this new reality that Jesus brings. This is the ground for the universal call to conversion that the church directs to people of every religious persuasion. Since the kingdom is identified with the person and work of Jesus the Christ, the call to convert (repent and believe) becomes a call to identify with Jesus Christ and to follow him. Repentance is the principal word in the New Testament to express the human decision to leave the old sinful life and to embrace the way of Jesus. Other concepts such as regeneration, new birth, new creation, justification, and sanctification speak of the divine work to effectuate and empower the new life in the believer. Conversion in the biblical sense is not just an inward, spiritual religious event; it is an event of exodus from an old life in a fallen social order into a new life in a renewed social order, which is the church. The entire person is involved in the change at the intellectual, volitional, affective, and behavioral levels.

The Anabaptists of the 16th century can well be described as a conversionist movement. They did not assume that people in the Christianized society of Europe were true believers. They directed a strong critique against that society for its moral decay and compromise. Their message was a call to renounce the life of general society and to take up a life of following Christ in the context of a believing community. Each member of the church was expected to exercise personal faith and to manifest the evidence of regeneration by a changed life. The Anabaptists, in contrast to later Pietism, had little interest in the psychological process and the inner experiences associated with conversion. They focused rather on the changed outlook on self and on the resulting changed behavior. The subjective experience, or the itinerary of the soul, is not explored. This aspect is neither denied nor suppressed; it is simply not seen as determinative. The means of conversion is the active grace of God mediated by the work of the Holy Spirit in response to faith. They insisted on baptism as a sign that conversion had taken place and rejected the concept of sacraments as the means of grace. The effect of grace was a real change in the self of the believer. Anabaptists were critical of other reformers who spoke of justification by grace its a change of status before God without equal emphasis on a real change in the believer. Neither did they distinguish sharply between justification as the initial experience, and sanctification as the later experience.

Conversion is the indispensable protection of the voluntaristic principle of the believers church. The Anabaptist and Mennonite tradition has not found it easy to preserve the earlier meaning of conversion. For a socially isolated and community oriented people, the depth of personal religious commitment in the new generations can easily he replaced with ethnic identity and cultural forms. Even where religious experience is deeply felt, there is less of a sense of sudden change than of a gradual nurturing of spirituality. The individual is formed by the community to such an extent that a personal spiritual identity can be missing or weak. Thus the meaning of conversion can be modified or lost altogether.

Not surprisingly, therefore, Mennonites have shown considerable openness to renewal influences such as Pietism, the revival and holiness movements, and, most recently, the charismatic movement. All of these movements make a greater distinction than did the Anabaptists between the initial experience (conversion) and later experiences, such as sanctification or baptism with the Spirit. As a result, many Mennonites have been led to a personal encounter of faith that makes conversion it meaningful concept, as in early Anabaptism. However, the close integration of faith and obedience, individual and community, and of new birth and Spirit, characteristic of the early movement, is attenuated or lost because these renewal movements have reflected other theological traditions and claims.

The sociological studies of Kauffman and Harder (1975) document and illustrate the variation of understandings on conversion among the Mennonite subgroups as a reflection of these influences. They also show that all contemporary Mennonite and Brethren in Christ groups continue to emphasize strongly a personal, life-changing faith in their members.

Bibliography

Additional Information

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 205-206. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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