Peter Riedemann'sAccount of Our Religion

The Salvific Work of the Trinity

The united work of the Trinity is essential for effecting human salvation. In Confession of Our Religion, Teaching, and Faith, Peter Riedemann shows that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are each intimately involved in our salvation. The trinitarian work of salvation for God’s chosen ones should strike awe and wonder in our hearts. In salvation, the Father adopts us into his family, the Son rescues us from sin and death, and the Holy Spirit assures us of adoption and eradicates sin from our lives.

Father

Riedemann begins the confession by declaring that “we confess that God is our Father.”^[1] He is following the structure of The Apostles Creed^[2] when he points to God’s Fatherhood as a foundational declaration of the Christian faith. He is our Father “because in his grace he has accepted and chosen us through Christ to be his own.”^[3] In other words, he believes that a Christian has been graciously chosen for adoption by the Father. There are at least three implications of this amazing truth: children are accepted, loved, and obedient. First, if God is our Father then we are accepted. An orphan is keenly aware of their pain, rejection, and loss. In some sense, all of us became orphans because sin separated us from God. But this confession reminds us that if we have become God’s children, then we are accepted. Second, if God is our Father then we are loved. Therefore, we can “cry to him with confidence for all of our needs, since we know that he loves us.”^[4] Riedemann shows that those who are loved are never shy to approach their lover. Third, since God is our Father we aim to be obedient children. Riedemann is sure to highlight that the benefits of acceptance and love compel us to a life of obedience. He writes, “As obedient children, willingly and attentively, we want to endure and suffer his work in us.”^[5] God’s children obey the Father’s will because they are confident his will is the very best for their lives.

Son

Second, Riedemann continues his confession by showcasing the Son’s undoing of human disobedience in order to rescue humanity from sin and death. As he states, “This Word proceeded from the Father so that the harm caused by Adam’s transgression could be healed and the Fall restored.”^[6] Jesus was sent forth by the Father in order to undo the consequences of Adam’s transgression. The Son was commissioned to rescue God’s chosen children. As the Savior, he robbed death of its power and liberated humanity from its clutches. Adam brought death on the human race, but the Son became a human “so resurrection from the dead and salvation should also come through a human.”^[7] Furthermore, Riedemann affirms the hypostatic union. Although the Word took on human nature, he “did not relinquish the power through which all things were created.”^[8] His simultaneous possession of full humanity and full deity gave him the ability to conquer death once and for all. In Riedemann’s words, “Although the Word put on a human body and human nature, yet the divine nature remained completely in him.”^[9] Here he provides a clear confession of the orthodox view of Jesus' nature. Hutterites may have been suspected of heterodox teaching on Jesus’ nature since other Radicals questioned Jesus' full divinity.^[10] But Riedemann recognizes that Jesus' full divinity was necessary for him to be the agent through which the Father rescues his children and freely bestows on them all good things.^[11]

Holy Spirit

Finally, Riedemann focuses on the Holy Spirit’s role in human salvation and transformation. After liberating us from death, the Father “sealed us with his promised Spirit.”^[12] Riedemann finds the implications of this glorious truth expansive. Therefore, he confesses that “this Spirit now accomplishes everything [my emphasis] in us, eradicating and destroying the sin that we have by nature so that what is good, true, and holy, which he brings with him and plants in us, may take root and bear fruit.”^[13] All transformation in our lives finds its origins in the Spirit's work to eradicate and destroy our sinful nature. However, the Holy Spirit does not only destroy sin in us. He also confirms our status as God’s beloved children. As Riedemann says, “this same Holy Spirit of God assures us through his very real power in us that we are God’s children.”^[14] The Father begins the work of salvation by choosing children, the Son carries that mission forward by taking on human flesh and rescuing those children from sin and death, and the Holy Spirit confirms their work in us by testifying in our hearts that we are truly God’s children.

Delighting in Our Salvation

Like Riedemann, Julian of Norwich glimpsed the beautiful work of the Holy Trinity. She writes, “The Father is pleased, the Son is glorified, the Holy Ghost rejoices. Jesus wishes us to consider the delight which the Holy Trinity feels in our salvation, and wishes us to delight as much, through his grace, while we are on earth.”^[15] Notice how she thinks it vital for us to consider the delight that the Trinity feels in our salvation. In light of Riedemann’s confession and Julian’s profession, it is fitting to end this essay with a question. When was the last time you considered the Holy Trinity’s delight in your salvation?

^[1] Peter Riedemann, “Confession of our Religion, Teaching, and Faith by the Brothers Who are Known as the Hutterites,” in Peter Riedemann’s Hutterite Confession of Faith, trans. & ed. John J. Friesen (Waterloo: ON; Scottdale: PA: Herald Press, 1999), 59.

^[2] https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/apostles-creed

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Ibid, 62.

^[6] Ibid, 65.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Ibid.

^[9] Ibid.

^[10] Carlos M.N. Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450–1650 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2016), 283.

^[11] Ibid, 61.

^[12] Ibid.

^[13] Ibid, 61.

^[14] Ibid.

^[15] Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, trans. Barry Windeatt (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2015), 283.

The monastic chant rose and fell in parallel. The grotesqueness of the human voice was smoothed by the combination of other voices. The simplicity of the song drew hearts and minds heavenward and into thoughtfulness and contemplation. Lofty cathedral ceilings reverberated the spiritual song so that all lifted their spirits to the one on high. In writing for the Hutterites, Riedemann sketched the same principle in his dissertation on singing. Riedemann established the creation and importance of song and differentiated between the sinning singer and the praising singer.

Riedemann first verified the approval and singing and listening to music. He quoted from Paul, "Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs."[1] From that, the whole element of singing focused on God. He was the one from whom inspiration was given, and He was the one to be praised through song. Singing benefited one's devotion to God. Why is there significance in music being established by God? I contend that the reason is that music is not inherently evil. Some people view music as a prideful promotion of oneself. On the other extreme, some fully embrace the secularized version of music. Riedemann struck a balance between the two when he differentiated between one's use of music.

Riedemann defined the Holy Spirit as the factor between praising and sinning. Since God inspires music, it must be reiterated in the same spirit. The exact opposite was using music for sensual pleasure. That misuse of singing, he deemed sinning. Riedemann characterizes this sin in at least two ways. First, listening to a song for the harmonies or because "it sounds nice" is wrong because the focus is not on connecting with God. Secondly, taking what is Christlike and abusing it for personal enjoyment is a grievous sin and reminiscent of the "worldliness" that lies within. What may be spiritual to one man is sinful to another, and the problem lies in the motive. Singing in the Holy Spirit's presence is conducive to the spiritual journey of the singer, but sinful is the man who rejects the Holy Spirit and listens for personal delight.

Ideally, the correct motive behind music is attainable. One can decipher between spiritual and nonspiritual songs, correct? Practically, we may find the correct motive much harder to attain. For example, I may hear a "catchy" tune that is not spiritual whatsoever, yet I am humming that jingle throughout the day. Alternatively, the instrumental part of the music track sounds fantastic, but the lyrics stand for non-Christian values. Or maybe the equation is flipped, and the lyrics are spiritual, but the background instruments are not. Can one obtain the ideal motive in music?

Interestingly, Riedemann used the phrase that singing is to be done "in the fear of God."[2] What does that mean? One would need to decide what "fear of God" means to them, but I think of true song as a form of prayer. A true Christian approaches God in times of sorrow and in times of joy. A prayer can be a simple story about their day or can be a troubling theological question that one has. Prayer is a time of evaluation, meditation and inner reflection. Prayer is a method of considering the past and preparing for the future. In essence, there is no right or wrong way to pray unless one is not using prayer as a means to connect with God. Just as two men can sing the same song, two men can say the same prayer. However, one can be spiritual and the other sinning. One can sing for personal pleasure while the other approaches singing with godly fear.

As a Christian, we must first recognize the influence of music. Music is used to lighten one's mood or to create one. One sings when he is sad or when he is happy. Music reflects the emotions of the soul in the same way as prayer. It is that connection to the soul that requires music to be approached carefully. The true beauty of music connects our soul with its Creator. Other types of music drown out the soul. Songs may make one feel good but are only a cheap version of the joy that true, simplistic music brings. The heart must be in the right spirit for prayer; the heart must be in the right spirit for singing. While one continues to define his practical use of music and song, the Christian sees that music was created by God but can be a sin if used wrongly.

[1] Peter Riedemann, trans. John J. Friesen, Peter Riedemann’s Hutterite Confession of Faith (Waterloo: Herald Press), 146.

[2] Ibid.