Jon Zens is an American author, speaker, scholar and theologian on Christian topics. Zens is best known for pioneering New Covenant Theology, which sees the entire Bible as a revelation of the gospel of grace fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Christians are no longer under the Law of Moses, but under grace.
According to Zens, the Law is fulfilled in Christ and reveals Christ. Jesus’s words to love God and love one another fulfills the Law. New Covenant Christians are called to walk in love and through repentance and faith in Christ, they can receive God’s grace, which includes the forgiveness of sins and the power to do God’s will. See “Is There a Covenant of Grace?” by Jon Zens
Zens is also an expert on the Anabaptist history and theology. He holds a B.A. in Biblical studies from Covenant College, a M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, and a D.Min. from the California Graduate School of Theology.
He is the editor of Searching Together magazine, which was originally started in 1972 as the Baptist Reformation Review. The original editor was Norbert Ward, based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1975, Zens moved to Nashville to work with Norbert on the magazine.
Because of health issues, Norbert asked Zens to be the editor in 1978. In 1982, the name of the quarterly was changed to Searching Together. It seeks to carry on the founding thought expressed by Norbert in 1972,
“We make no claim to be the voice of a movement or an organized denomination. We do not, on the other hand, claim to be a lone voice. We believe that we are expressing the hope and earnest prayer of concerned believers.”
The quarterly magazine features articles by Zens and many other divergent thinkers who have broken with status quo evangelicalism.
Zens is also an advocate of the organic church and he and his wife Dotty have ministry to women who have been taken into the sex slave industry, aiding women who have been the victims of sexual abuse and involved in prostitution. Zens has done various workshops helping victims of prostitution and sex trafficking for the International Christian Alliance for Prostitution.
Zens once served a local pastor, but felt the role was not according to the New Testament perspective of shepherd, so he left the position.
Today he is an active author and a traveling speaker, ministering in organic church conferences and conferences to rescue women from the sex industry and prostitution.
Bibliography
What’s With Paul & Women: Unlocking the Cultural Background to 1 Timothy 2
The Pastor Has No Clothes: Moving from Clergy-Centered Church to Christ-Centered Ekklesia
No Will of My Own: How Patriarchy Smothers Female Dignity & Personhood
A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick?
Christ Minimized? A Response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins
58-0: How Christ Leads Through the One Anothers
External Links
Jon Zens 