John Christian Wenger

He was the eldest of five children born to A. Martin Wenger (1884–1960) and his wife, Martha A. Rock (1889–1975).[1] He was born at the Reese H. White farm in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, which his parents rented.[1] His family moved in 1923 to Telford, where his father had gotten the job of janitor at the Rockhill Mennonite Church.[1] Wenger was baptized on May 11, 1924, at the age of 13.[1] He reported that he was disappointed when he did not feel a sense of "joy" and "Christian assurance" following the practice.[1]

He attended Sellersville High School in Bucks County.[1] He graduated in the class of 1928 as class president, valedictorian, president of the literary society, and captain of the debate team.[1] That fall, he found work at the Royal Pants company in South Perkasie.[1] He resigned in the spring of 1929 when his boss began asking him to pick up whiskey for him (that was during Prohibition).[1]

With the assistance of Amos David Wenger, the president of the school, John was able to attend Eastern Mennonite School (now Eastern Mennonite University) for two years (1929–1931).[1] He attended Goshen College for the final two years of college (1932-1934).[1] One summer, he worked in the brickyard of D.D. Derstine.[1] He was the vice-president of the junior class, president of the Young People's Christian Association, and a director of the Mennonite Historical Society.[1] Harold S. Bender helped instill in Wenger the desire to go to seminary.[1]

Upon his graduation, there was an opening for a minister at Rockhill.[1] Wenger anticipated being given the position but was rejected because its bishops were uncomfortable with college education.[1]

On 3 April 1937, Wenger married Ruth Derstine Detweiler (19 December 1906, Sellersville, Pennsylvania - 19 February 1992, Goshen, Indiana). They had four children: Daniel, John, Mary, and Elizabeth.

In 1935, he was invited to write the history of the Franconia Mennonite Conference between two years of study towards a master's degree at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.[1] In 1937, he embarked for Europe without his new bride.[1] He attended classes at the University of Basel and the University of Zurich under Emil Brunner and Karl Barth.[1] Ruth came to live with him on March 15, 1938.[1] He returned in 1938 with a Doctorate of Theology from the University of Zurich.[1]

Wenger had been invited to teach at Goshen college by President Sanford Calvin Yoder in 1936, and in early September 1938, he began a teaching career there.[1] Also in 1938, he took the Westminster Examinations (which he had failed to do before leaving for Europe) and did badly.[1] Wenger joined the editorial board of the Mennonite Weekly Review in March 1939.[1] He took summer courses at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1939, 1940, and 1942, earning him an M.A. in Philosophy.[1]

Wenger taught at Goshen College and Goshen Biblical Seminary from 1938 to 1969.[1] When the Goshen Biblical Seminary moved to a new campus in Elkhart, he went with and taught there from 1969 - 198].[1] Goshen Biblical Seminary then shared the Elkhart campus with Mennonite Biblical Seminary. The two eventually merged into Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

In 1965, Wenger was appointed to be a part of the Committee on Biblical Translation.[1][2] The CBT met between 1965 and 1978 to oversee the translation the New International Version.[1]

In addition to articles, booklets, and chapters in larger works, Wenger wrote 22 books[1] such as the following:

• History of the Mennonites of the Franconia Conference, 1937.
• Glimpses of Mennonite History and Doctrine, 1947.
• Separated Unto God, 1951.
• Introduction to Theology, 1954.
• The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan, 1961.
• Even Unto Death, 1961.
• Mennonite Church in America, 1966.
• God’s Word Written, 1966.
• Disciples of Jesus, 1977.
• The Book We Call the Bible, 1980.

Wenger also edited a number of books including:

• The Complete writings of Menno Simons, Translated by Leonard Verduin, 1956.
• They Met God: A Number of Conversion Accounts and Personal Testimonies of God’s Presence and Leading in the Lives of His Children, 1964.

The NIV is still used today.[1]

Wenger wrote the chapter on Mennonites in the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Encyclopedia Americana.[1]

Wenger's personal records are held at the Mennonite Church USA Archives and can be found here.