It is unfortunate that, when Christian leaders discuss peacemaking versus warmaking at all, they often limit the discussion to comparing Just War doctrine with an ill defined Pacifism as if it were a simple choise between these two options. This is too simplistic by far. Consider these six alternatives for instance: Total War – War inContinue reading “War and Peace: Six Different Responses”
Tag Archives: peacemaking
Sydney Anabaptist Gathering
Here’s a photo from the Sydney Anabaptist gathering yesterday in Parramatta Park. Special guests were Michael and Lorri Harding from Preaching Peace.
Can you be Reformed and Pacifist?
Reformed teaching is not where I’d normally look for a defence of Christian pacifism. More often I tip toe through the TULIPs and listen for the voices of the more radically reformed. And yet, surprise, surprise, it would appear that some at least find ample justification for peacemaking in the teachings of Calvin, without recourse to the much maligned Anabaptists.Continue reading “Can you be Reformed and Pacifist?”
Ahimsa, Christian style
It surprises me sometimes, that people are quite happy to listen to Buddhists speak of ahimsa, but get quite agitated when Christians speak of nonviolence. I’m not sure what it is, whether it’s the exotic unfamiliarity of Buddhism in contrast to the assumed familiarity of Christianity, or the fact that Buddhists are less numerous andContinue reading “Ahimsa, Christian style”
Pacifist Boxer Refuses to Hit Opponents
I split my sides over this article from The Huffington Post: Lebanon, PA — Heavyweight boxer Jim Evans, 24, had an awe-inspiring record of 34 knockouts and just two losses in his first five years as a pro-fighter. He was known as the “Hammer Fist” for his ability to pound his opponents into submission. “AllContinue reading “Pacifist Boxer Refuses to Hit Opponents”
AAANZ Sydney Event – What Would Happen if We Really Tried Nonviolence?
What Would Happen if We Really Tried Nonviolence? Would it be a disaster? Would it be faithful? Would it open us some new possibilities? If it’s a question that intrigues you, or possibly even concerns you, you may want to come along to this event: AAANZ Sydney Event: “What Would Happen if We Really TriedContinue reading “AAANZ Sydney Event – What Would Happen if We Really Tried Nonviolence?”
Apocalypse of Peace
Two books I purchased recently, The War of the Lamb: The Ethics of Nonviolence and Peacemaking by John Howard Yoder and Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the book of Revelation by J. Nelson Kraybill, have two things in common: (1) they espouse countercultural pacifism, and (2) they draw deeply from the bookContinue reading “Apocalypse of Peace”
Social Justice on Australian Christian Radio
Jarrod McKenna writes: “How would America’s largest mainstream Christian radio stations respond to issues of social justice for the poorest of poor, climate change, and nonviolence? Hold that response in your mind as you listen to an Australian equivalent in this interview [about the upcoming Surrender Conference in Australia]. Click here to read the restContinue reading “Social Justice on Australian Christian Radio”
No longer love this world
Therefore, no longer love this world or its military service, for Scripture’s authority declares that ‘whoever is a friend of this world is an enemy of God.’ Whoever serves as a soldier with the sword is the servant of death, and whenever he sheds his own blood or that of another, this will be hisContinue reading “No longer love this world”
Can dispensationalism ever accommodate pacifism?
Had a matrix download this morning, while dressing for work and playing with the kids. I gather my subconscious has now had sufficient time to process the Bonhoeffer 4 conversation last week over at NeoBaptist, and now insights are bubbling to the surface. Phase change. Here are some of the threads: Suggestions that pacifists don’tContinue reading “Can dispensationalism ever accommodate pacifism?”
Curious Christian 