John Howard Yoder: Radical Theologian

by J. Denny Weaver, Earl Zimmerman, Zachary J. Walton

John Howard Radical Theologian' shows that for John Howard Yoder both theology (in particular Christology) and ethics are expressions of the meaning of the narrative of Jesus. All such statements are relative to a particular context, so that theology and ethics are subject to reaching back to the narrative in order to restate the meaning in new and ever-changing contexts. This methodology is visible in Yoder’s 'Preface to Theology', which has been little used in most treatments of Yoder’s thought.
Yoder has been characterised as standing on Nicene orthodoxy, criticised for rejecting Nicene orthodoxy, called heterodox, and designated a postmodern thinker to be interpreted in terms of other such thinkers. None of these characterisations adequately locates the basis of his methodology in the narrative of Jesus. Thus 'John Howard Radical Theologian' aims to go beyond or to supersede existing treatments with its demonstration that Yoder is a radical theologian in the historical meaning of radical – that is, as one who returns to the root – but also relates his theology to the personal accusations that clouded his later years. For Christian faith, this root is Christ. Parts II and III of the book explore the sources of Yoder’s approach, and its application in several contemporary contexts.

440 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2014

About the author

J. Denny Weaver is Professor Emeritus at Bluffton University where he taught for 31 years. He continues as editor of The C. Henry Smith Series. His most recent books include The Nonviolent Atonement, 2nd edition, and the co-authored Defenseless Christianity: Anabaptism for a Nonviolent Church. His many articles and chapters in edited books as well as speaking engagements address a variety of topics related to nonviolence, violence in traditional theology, atonement theology, the character of God, violence in society, and Anabaptist history and theology. He has lectured in the United Kingdom, the Congo, and in Germany.

Reviews

[Tim Chesterton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many people, I have read and appreciated John Howard Yoder's books, but have also been saddened and shocked by the accounts of his sexual immorality and sexual violence against many, many women. Most of this book is taken up with discussion of Yoder's 'radical' theology; that discussion was stimulating, and for the most part enjoyable. However, I would say that only a minority of the authors addressed the issue of Yoder's sexual abuse with any seriousness.

I thought this was a good but uneven book. In my mind, Gerald Mast's chapter on 'Sin and Failure in Anabaptist Theology', and Lisa Schirch's afterword 'To the Next Generation of Pacifist Theologians' were the best chapters in the book. Schirch's chapter was a trumpet call that made me want to cheer, but it also made me wonder whether I will ever read Yoder again, despite his enormous contribution to 20th century theology. Maybe the abuse, and his unwillingness to face up to its implications, was just too evil for the theology to balance it out. And maybe that's okay; as Schirch says, pacifist theology is not dependent on John Howard Yoder, and a new generation of Anabaptist and Mennonite thinkers are well able to take the conversation forward.

[Clif Hostetler]

I never got around to writing my review. I thought it was going to be long, and consequently I kept putting it off until I forgot about it being unfinished. I still hope to write something about it.