The God of Peace: Toward A Theology of Nonviolence - Softcover

The God of peace is never glorified by human violence. Thomas Merton 'The God of Peace', John Dear's classic theology of nonviolence, broke new ground when it was first published as a breakthrough toward a new understanding of scripture, theology, social concerns and churches issues--from the perspective of Gospel nonviolence, in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dorothy Day. This ground-breaking study begins not just with the culture of violence, but the nonviolence of God, and the revolutionary nonviolence of Jesus. From the start, John Dear explores traditional areas of theology, such as Christology, Trinitarian Theology, anthropology, sin, redemption, theodicy, salvation, ecclesiology, eschatology, spirituality, liturgy, Catholic social teaching, the just war theory,, feminism, liberation theology and the consistent ethic of life. This text will help university and theology students pursuing the theology and spirituality of nonviolence, as well as ordinary Christians and activists interested in the crucial connection between war and violence, and God and nonviolence. John Dear has lived the 'Peace of God' for many years. This book offers the theological and spiritual foundation for such a life. It may be the book that will convince all believers that our God is a God of nonviolence and peace. In our violent world, there is no more important message. - Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Detroit, Michigan A pioneering effort to use nonviolence as a lens for bringing all the traditional topics of theology into a new focus in our age of global violence. - Bishop Walter Sullivan, Richmond, Virginia We have here a breakthrough of note: a modern version of an ancient summa, gathering between two covers the traditional subjects of theological inquiry: Trinity, Christology, Church and so on. John Dear's book will serve us greatly. - Daniel Barrigan John Dear is priest, pastor, and peacemaker. He has served as the director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, traveled the war zones of the world, and addressed tens of thousands of people in over a thousand lectures around the country. He has two masters in theology from the Graduate Theological Union in California. His many books include Living Peace, Jesus the Rebel, Disarming the Heart, and The Questions of Jesus. He lives in the desert of New Mexico.

The fruit of committed action as well as study, The God of Peace represents the first effort to outline a systematic theology beginning with the insight that God is nonviolent. This insight has been embodied in our time by figures like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dorothy Day. Dear shows what Christian faith looks like when nonviolence is treated not simply as a subtopic of ethics or a political tactic, but as a hermeneutic lens through which every aspect of traditional Christian theology may be viewed. After establishing his methodology, Dear explores every aspect of traditional theology: the identity of God, the person of Jesus (prophet of nonviolence), Christ (Incarnation of nonviolent love), the nature and meaning of the Trinity (the nonviolent community at the heart of reality), as well as doctrines of creation, sin and redemption, theodicy, salvation, the church, eschatology, spirituality, and liturgy. Finally, Dear addresses Catholic social teaching and the "just war" theology, feminist and liberation theologies, and the consistent ethic of life.