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The War of the Lamb: The Ethics of Nonviolence and Peacemaking
John Howard Yoder was one of the major theologians of the late twentieth century. Before his death, he planned the essays and structure of this book, which he intended to be his last work. Now two leading interpreters of Yoder bring that work to fruition.
The book is divided into three sections: pacifism, just war theory, and just peacemaking theory. The volume crystallizes Yoder's argument that his proposed ethics is not sectarian and a matter of withdrawal. He also clearly argues that Christian just war and Christian pacifist traditions are basically compatible--and more specifically, that the Christian just war tradition itself presumes against all violence.
The book is divided into three sections: pacifism, just war theory, and just peacemaking theory. The volume crystallizes Yoder's argument that his proposed ethics is not sectarian and a matter of withdrawal. He also clearly argues that Christian just war and Christian pacifist traditions are basically compatible--and more specifically, that the Christian just war tradition itself presumes against all violence.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2009
About the author
Glen H. Stassen
16 books11 followersGlen Harold Stassen was a Southern Baptist theologian who helped define the social-justice wing of the evangelical movement in the 1980s and played a role in advancing nuclear disarmament talks toward the end of the Cold War.
Stassen studied nuclear physics at the University of Virginia and worked briefly in a naval laboratory after graduation before deciding that he could not contribute to the development of nuclear weapons. He quit to attend Union Theological Seminary in New York City and received his doctorate from the Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., in 1967.
He taught at Kentucky Southern College (now part of the University of Louisville) and Berea College in Kentucky before joining Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. There, Dr. Stassen clashed with administrators who urged faculty members to place ideas like prohibiting abortion, the subordination of women in the family and the literal truth of biblical texts at the core of their teaching.
More than personal rectitude and obedience to rules of behavior, Dr. Stassen argued, Christian ethics demanded organized action to save the world from self-destruction.
“Christians need more than an ethic of ‘just say no,’ ” he wrote. “Jesus didn’t just say no to anger and revengeful resistance, but commanded transforming initiatives: ‘Go make peace with your brother or sister; go the second mile with the Roman soldier.’ ”
What Christians needed, he said, was “an ethic of constructive peacemaking.”
Dr. Stassen championed a pragmatic approach to social justice and world peace. In a series of books beginning in 1992, he outlined a program of grass-roots activism to reduce military spending, improve the lives of the disadvantaged and give citizens a voice in international conflict resolution.
Dr. Stassen’s version of political activism in the 1980s and ’90s put him at odds with leaders of the religious right, who were focusing on opposing abortion and gay rights.
Dr. Stassen was among the few prominent evangelical leaders to publicly challenge the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the leader of the Moral Majority, over his electioneering on behalf of Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1984. And he was among the few to criticize Reagan over his domestic spending cuts, his military buildup and his use of the phrase “evil empire” in 1983 to describe the Soviet Union.
He went on to help mobilize the international disarmament movement that, by some accounts, played a role in removing intermediate range nuclear missiles from Western Europe in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Theologians had long wrestled with the Christian response to war, and whether it was ever morally justified to kill. Two schools of thought had emerged: pacifism, which said it was never justified, and “just war” theory, which described circumstances in which killing in war was morally defensible. Dr. Stassen advocated what he called a third option: preventing wars from starting in the first place.
In Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives of Justice and Peace (1992) and a dozen other books on nonviolence and conflict resolution, Dr. Stassen described techniques for hard-nosed negotiating in which both parties admit culpability for past deeds, take a clearheaded measure of the interests of the other side and sometimes make calculated unilateral initiatives.
“Biblical realism,” as he described the mind-set for negotiations like these, “is about diagnosing sin realistically and seeking deliverance, not merely about affirming some high ideals.”
- summarised/edited from The New York Times Obituary
Stassen studied nuclear physics at the University of Virginia and worked briefly in a naval laboratory after graduation before deciding that he could not contribute to the development of nuclear weapons. He quit to attend Union Theological Seminary in New York City and received his doctorate from the Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., in 1967.
He taught at Kentucky Southern College (now part of the University of Louisville) and Berea College in Kentucky before joining Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. There, Dr. Stassen clashed with administrators who urged faculty members to place ideas like prohibiting abortion, the subordination of women in the family and the literal truth of biblical texts at the core of their teaching.
More than personal rectitude and obedience to rules of behavior, Dr. Stassen argued, Christian ethics demanded organized action to save the world from self-destruction.
“Christians need more than an ethic of ‘just say no,’ ” he wrote. “Jesus didn’t just say no to anger and revengeful resistance, but commanded transforming initiatives: ‘Go make peace with your brother or sister; go the second mile with the Roman soldier.’ ”
What Christians needed, he said, was “an ethic of constructive peacemaking.”
Dr. Stassen championed a pragmatic approach to social justice and world peace. In a series of books beginning in 1992, he outlined a program of grass-roots activism to reduce military spending, improve the lives of the disadvantaged and give citizens a voice in international conflict resolution.
Dr. Stassen’s version of political activism in the 1980s and ’90s put him at odds with leaders of the religious right, who were focusing on opposing abortion and gay rights.
Dr. Stassen was among the few prominent evangelical leaders to publicly challenge the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the leader of the Moral Majority, over his electioneering on behalf of Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1984. And he was among the few to criticize Reagan over his domestic spending cuts, his military buildup and his use of the phrase “evil empire” in 1983 to describe the Soviet Union.
He went on to help mobilize the international disarmament movement that, by some accounts, played a role in removing intermediate range nuclear missiles from Western Europe in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Theologians had long wrestled with the Christian response to war, and whether it was ever morally justified to kill. Two schools of thought had emerged: pacifism, which said it was never justified, and “just war” theory, which described circumstances in which killing in war was morally defensible. Dr. Stassen advocated what he called a third option: preventing wars from starting in the first place.
In Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives of Justice and Peace (1992) and a dozen other books on nonviolence and conflict resolution, Dr. Stassen described techniques for hard-nosed negotiating in which both parties admit culpability for past deeds, take a clearheaded measure of the interests of the other side and sometimes make calculated unilateral initiatives.
“Biblical realism,” as he described the mind-set for negotiations like these, “is about diagnosing sin realistically and seeking deliverance, not merely about affirming some high ideals.”
- summarised/edited from The New York Times Obituary
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 12, 2010
Here are more excellent essays by Yoder. He repeats a lot of things here, but the best essays include "A Theological Critique of Violence," wherein he discusses Rene Girard's thesis on mimetic violence; and the entire Part III, where he talks about the actual practice of non-violence.
April 28, 2012
"The War of the Lamb" by John Howard Yoder and edited by Glen Stassen, Mark Thiessen Nation and Matt Hamsher is a collection of essays. The book is thus written on an academic level as you would expect from such a brilliant and well studied person. Yoder has a great grasp of the topics he covers and writes as a scholar. "The War of the Lamb" covers a large variety issues concerning war, peace making, violence, non-violence, power, coercion, conflict, and Just War Theory. Yoder considers such issues from a couple different viewpoints including social science perspectives, political outlooks, theological beliefs and historical practices and outcomes. Yoder does a great job bringing in the history behind such movements and views; he considers what the church has taught, how it has actually acted, what it has historically believed as well as some Jewish history, beliefs, etc. In addition, Yoder gives scriptural references throughout his work and much of the book is infused with the teachings of scripture. Due to the advanced writing this is a book that is geared more for those who wish to examine these topics deeply and aren't out for an easy pleasure read. I struggled through much of this book and wished I had a greater understanding of what Yoder was trying to communicate. I would love to have a group with which to read and discuss this book as I am sure it would enhance my enjoyment of the read and assist me in grasping the concepts.
-Curtis
-Curtis
May 30, 2012
This book is a collection of essays and is thus written on an academic level as you would expect from such a brilliant and well studied person. Yoder has a great grasp of the topics he covers and writes as a scholar. "The War of the Lamb" covers a large variety issues concerning war, peace making, violence, non-violence, power, coercion, conflict, and Just War Theory. Yoder considers such issues from a couple different viewpoints including social science perspectives, political outlooks, theological beliefs and historical practices and outcomes. Yoder does a great job bringing in the history behind such movements and views; he considers what the church has taught, how it has actually acted, what it has historically believed as well as some Jewish history, beliefs, etc. In addition, Yoder gives scriptural references throughout his work and much of the book is infused with the teachings of scripture. Due to the advanced writing this is a book that is geared more for those who wish to examine these topics deeply and aren't out for an easy pleasure read. I struggled through much of this book and wished I had a greater understanding of what Yoder was trying to communicate. I would love to have a group with which to read and discuss this book as I am sure it would enhance my enjoyment of the read and assist me in grasping the concepts.
November 28, 2009
This might be the best book I've read on peacemaking.
December 26, 2011
Preparing to write a paper defending Christian nonviolence as a viable option for today's Christian.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews