A Declaration on Peace: In God's People the World's Renewal Has Begun: A Contribution to Ecumenical Dialogue

by John Howard Yoder, George Hunsinger

Many Christians have become increasingly sensitive to the destructiveness of war. They are recognizing war's limited ability as a public policy instrument. They are acknowleding the social, economic, and spiritual consequences of preparing to wage war. These concerns have begun to revive the conscience of the church in new ways.
This text contends that peacemaking is essential to Christian discipleship. It is the vocation of the church as a whole. Moving beyond the traditional debate around pacifism. This statement seeks dialogue concerning a renewed vision of the entire purpose of God in the world.
In A Declaration on Peace, Brethren, Friends, Mennonites, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation seek conversation with Christians everywhere on peace, war, militarism, and justice. The book offers an ecumenical dialogue on the morality of war grounded in a biblical vision common to all Christian communions.

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Yoder was a Christian theologian, ethicist, and Biblical scholar best known for his radical Christian pacifism, his mentoring of future theologians such as Stanley Hauerwas, his loyalty to his Mennonite faith, and his 1972 magnum opus, "The Politics of Jesus".

Reviews

[James]

A small book on peace. This was prepared by an ecumenical group from four fellowships: Bretheren, Quakers, FOR, and Mennonites. It also has two long appendices of other peace documents that were drafted around or after WWII. This is some of the most in depth and powerful literature I have read regarding peace, the Christian, war, and pacifism. It looks at the OT and the role of the priests and the prophets as instruments and signs of God's peace and healing in the world. This was really interesting because most of the time pacifists are gaining arguments from only a few NT texts. This book looks at the whole will of God, the whole story of redemption and reconciliation and healing in this world. The book soundly declares that Christians should not participate in war, and that the church should have no place in it. There are two appendices of papers written in 1948 and 1954, that were generated by world councils of churches on the subject of war.

Although these papers were no doubt initiated in response to world events, the main chapters of this book were published in 1991. There is also an appendice of 40 years of history of dialog from the "Historic Peace Churches" - very interesting. Overall an awesome book that goes beyond the traditional pacifist arguments. It is a good, compelling, and deep read - I definitely recommend it.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview of why peace is biblical and war is not.

[Norman Falk]

Este pequeño libro (54 págs.) es un llamado a la iglesia a tomar en serio actuar 4 facetas importantes: la tarea sacerdotal, profética, sabiduría y servicial. El libro da una perspectiva de cómo estas 4 facetas eran entendidos en el A.T, como se aplicaron a Jesús y finalmente también a la iglesia. La idea principal es que a través de esas 4 facetas, la iglesia puede y debe trabajar para la restauración del shalom en el mundo. La guerra o cualquier acto de violencia bloquea el ministerio de esas funciones y debería por lo tanto nunca ser justificada.
3 estrellas porque usa un lenguaje para mi gusto demasiado académico para hablar de estos temas y tampoco es muy práctico. De todos modos, vale la pena echarle un vistazo.