He served as president of the American Society of Church History, and was a major scholarly influence on fellow Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder.

[3] Bender graduated from Elkhart High School (1914), Goshen College (Bachelor of Arts, 1918), Garrett Biblical Institute (Bachelor of Divinity, 1922), Princeton Theological Seminary (Master of Theology, 1923), and Princeton University (Master of Arts, 1923).

[1] Bender taught one year at the high school in Thorntown, Indiana (1916-1917), and two years at Hesston College (1918-1920).

From 1924 to 1962 he was professor at Goshen College in church history, Bible, and sociology.

The Anabaptist Vision was a short essay intended to refocus the Anabaptists and Mennonites during the trying years of World War II by re-examining the religious movement's historical context.