Search Results: non-violence
Responding to Critics On A Pacifist View of the Syrian Crisis
Category: Essays
Tags: Current Events, Essay, Friendly Disagreements, Non-Violence, Pacifism, Politics, Tyler Tully, Wrath
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
…go beyond what God planned and do more damage than he expected (e.g. Zech.1:15). It just means that, given that the governments of this world are “bent on violence” (Hab 1:9), God is willing to get his hands dirty by influencing the way they engage in violence to minimize evil…
Eye for Eye: That Time Jesus Refuted An Old Testament Teaching
Category: General
Tags: Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology, Jesus, Non-Violence
Topics: Christology, Following Jesus
…the Warrior God, Jesus’ radical teaching on enemy-loving non-violence stands in tension with every OT narrative in which Yahweh is depicted as acting or sanctioning violence. For example, it’s significant that when James and John wanted to follow the precedent of Elijah and “call fire down from heaven to destroy”…
The Forgotten Heart of King’s Dream
Category: General
Tags: Non-Violence
…love prevails and that recognizes the insanity of hatred, oppression and violence. And while America has certainly made important strides toward racial equality – as evidenced by Obama’s presidency – it seems to me that we have not progressed one iota toward the ideal of non-violence. If anything, it seems…
The Source of Violence
Category: Essays
Tags: Blessing, Violence
When people think of violence, they think of physical violence. But the truth is that our actions are only violent because our hearts and minds are violent first. For this reason, Jesus emphasizes purging violence from our minds as much as from our physical behavior. In Matt 5:21-26, he reminds…
A Little Whining and a Book Review (Overcoming Evil God’s Way)
Category: General
…always — always! — leads to more violence, this act of mercy brought an end to the fighting between Syria and Israel (2 Kg 6:23). God’s ideal will is for his people to fight like Elisha, not Joshua. Three other points of emphasis in Russell’s material on Old Testament violence…
Was the Early Church Pacifistic? A Response to Paul Copan (#11)
Category: General
Tags: Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology, Non-Violence, Pacifism, Paul Copan
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
…objection against me, for while I defend “the predominant nonviolence of the early church” prior to “the Augustinian revolution,” I also explicitly note that the earlier unqualified depictions of the early church as uniformly against military service “were not sufficiently nuanced” ((CWG, 24, n.45). Indeed, I refer readers to some…
Do the Gospels Promote Anti-Semitism?
Category: General
Tags: Anti-Semitism, Gospels, Jesus, Religious Violence
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Over the last couple of weeks we have been looking at various passages from the Gospels that have been used by some to argue that Jesus condones violence. Here is a link to each of them: The Cleansing of the Temple and Non-Violence Was Jesus Unloving Toward the Pharisees? Violent…
V Theology
…Bible (Westminster, 1985) 2 E. Yoder, Peace Theology and Violence Against Women (Institute of Mennonite Studies, 1992) 2 P. D. Young, Feminist Theology/Christian Theology: In Search of a Method (Fortress, 1990) 3 Theology From Third World Perspectives / Liberation Theology See also: V Theology: Humanity (Imago Dei) V Theology: Church,…
The Principle of Non-Violence
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Anabaptism, Greg Boyd, Non-Violence, Paul Eddy, Peace, Woodland Hills Church
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
https://youtu.be/_bmyHMU5Hzs Several years ago, Woodland Hills Church hosted a Q&A with Greg Boyd and Paul Eddy to answer questions that arose from their exploration of Anabaptism. In this short clip, they address the Anabaptist principle of non-violence, and point out that this principle goes far beyond refraining from external violence….
The Violent Vineyard Owner: A Response to Paul Copan (#8)
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Judgment, Non-Violence, Parables, Paul Copan, Violence
Topics: Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
Verse: Luke 20, Matthew 21
…Considerations. First, consider the way God in fact brought about this judgment in 70AD. It was a brutally violent judgment, but none of the violence was brought about by God. This much is clear in Jesus prophesy when he says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, … the days will come…
A Coming Storm
Category: Essays
Tags: Bible, Cruciform Theology, Debate, Essay, Evangelism, Jesus, OT Violence
Topics: Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
…a moral certainty that commanding people to mercilessly slaughter infants (and a number of other horrendous things attributed to God) is always wrong. Moreover, a wealth of research demonstrates that violent depictions of God in literature that people considered sacred is a powerful force in justifying and inciting religious violence,…
A Dialogue with Derek Flood: Is the Bible Infallible?
Category: General
Tags: Bible, Biblical Authority, Book Reviews, Cruciform Theology, Derek Flood, Disarming Scripture, Infallibility, Inspiration, Non-Violence
Topics: Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
…conviction regarding the centrality of enemy-loving non-violence in Jesus’ revelation of God and our shared kingdom ethic is far more significant than any of our disagreements. At the same time, while I don’t want my critique to overshadow the many insights I find in Derek’s book, I must be forthright…
The “Christus Victor” View of the Atonement
Category: Essays
Tags: Atonement, Church, Essay, Jesus, Spiritual Warfare
Topics: Christus Victor view of Atonement, Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
…W. Wink, Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992; J. D. Weaver, The Nonviolent Atonement (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001 and J. H. Yoder, The Politics of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, rpt.2o02 [1972]). (15) As Wink notes, “Jesus…abhors both passivity and violence.”…
Was Jesus Violent in the Temple?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Jesus, Mennonerds, Non-Violence, Violence
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Many adopt the attitude depicted in the picture above, saying that Jesus used violence when he cleansed the temple. But Jesus’ stance on nonviolence is clear not only from how he responded to threatening enemies at the end of his life; it’s also strongly emphasized his teachings. We need to…
Jesus Came to Bring a Sword?
Category: General
Tags: Conflict, Jesus, Non-Violence, Peace
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Verse: Matthew 10
…not altogether non-violent. When we place Matthew 10:34 in its broader context, it becomes clear that Jesus’ teaching not only does not condone violence on the part of his disciples, it actually rules out all violence. As Jesus is preparing his disciples to proclaim the Good News of the arrival…
God’s Way of War
Category: General
Tags: God, Non-Violence, Old Testament, War
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
…it has in mind. While non-followers of Jesus may consider the use of violence in certain “justified” circumstances to be necessary, if not praiseworthy, the royal priesthood of Jesus followers are called and empowered to bear witness to God’s non-violent ideal by altogether abstaining from it. Image by Mayur Gala….
The Distinguishing Mark of a Child of God
Category: General
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
…(Jn 18:36). Actually, one of his misguided followers had earlier tried to use “justified” violence to defend Jesus, but Jesus sternly rebuked him, reminding him of that the assumption that violence is ever justified lies behind the cyclical violence that characterizes all of human history: “all who draw the sword…
7 Ways to Join the Kingdom Revolution
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, Kingdom Revolution
Topics: Following Jesus
…to use violence when it’s in their self-interest, or their nation’s self-interest, to do so. By how he lived and taught, Jesus manifested God’s dream of a non-violent humanity and revolted against the powers that fuel all violence. All who have pledged their life to Christ are called and empowered…
Part 8 (of 15): Race and Social Hierarchies
Category: General
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Jordan Peterson
…the last thirty years. If your hope is anchored in Jesus Christ alone, as it should be, this grim forecast won’t undermine the peace and optimism that is part of your inheritance as a citizen of God’s Kingdom. The rise and fall of empires founded on violence – and they…