Lindsey Memory’s Reviews > Proclaim Peace: The Restoration's Answer to an Age of Conflict > Status Update

Great book. But these later chapters are too bogged down in the conceptual rather than any practical application, which is what I’d be more interested in. I know the second to last chapter is about application, but I still have to slog through chapters about “divine violence” and a friendship-centered “political theology” to get there. 🥱

This fundamental Christian proclamation, that the grave have no victory, is the ultimate reality. It reaffirms the indestructibility and immortality of each human soul, and becomes the foundation for social and political ethic rooted in human dignity. Resurrection extends the timeline for the achievement of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s assertion that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

Virtually every culture has perpetuated, a myth of redemptive violence in which violence saves, might makes right, and war brings peace. The crucified Christ gives lie to this myth. If Homer or Hollywood had written the story, we would expect the innocent victim would show a mighty display of power, and avenge himself. Instead, Jesus goes way off script. He offers forgiveness. And above all, he dies.

Note that Jesus did not declare the soldiers’ actions to be morally neutral. By extending forgiveness to them, Jesus was explicitly declaring that their violence was offensive. A dual message of condemnation and reconciliation. His words suggest that ignorance and distance do not excuse us from at least partial moral accountability for acts of violence committed in our name.

In the ultimate reversal, the cross, followed by the resurrection, became the means by which the influence of Jesus Christ became an everlasting dominion. Exercised without compulsory means, true power began to flow unto him forever and ever at the very moment the world considered him most powerless.

Jesus purposefully, confronted the ruling religious and political authorities, knowing he would pay for it with the ultimate penalty. He voluntarily proceeded from the garden. For Jesus, the public spectacle of the cross was a deliberate destination. Crucifixion’s brutality and injustice revealed the violence of the worlds kingdoms, while simultaneously proclaiming the nonviolent character of Christ’s kingdom.

All humans are inherently divine and eternally interrelated. Enduring power can be achieved only through persuasion and love. Conflict is built into creation and can be constructively transformed for positive purposes. Zion is an achievable aim for this world if individuals and societies embrace principles taught by Jesus Christ: love, equality, justice, and peace as a way of life.