The Pacifism of the Messianic Community: the Christological Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder by Craig A

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Pacifism of the Messianic Community: the Christological Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder by Craig A INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been repFoduced frwn the mkdih master. UMI films the text diredly hwn the original or copy -. Thus, son18 thesis and dissertation -pies are in typewriter face, while dhm may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this mproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submit&d. Brokem or indistinct print, co+omdor poor quality iUustrations and photographs, print blwdthwh, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reptoduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not senel UMI a complete manusaiqt and there are missing pages, these will be nabd. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6- x W black and white photographic prints are availah for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 4810&1346 USA 860-521-0800 TEE PACIFISM OF TEIE MESSIANIC COMMUNITY: THE CHRISTOLOGICAL SOCIAL ETHKCS OF JOHN HOWARD YODER Craig Alan Carter A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael's College and the Department of of the Toronto School of Theology in partial fulfil1ment of the requirements for the degree of l-hv - ~n. Theoloey awarded by the University of St. Michael's College Toronto 1999 Craig Alan Carter National Library Biblioth4que nationale 1S.I of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. me Wdlingtm OttawaON KlAON4 OItawaW KlAW Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde me licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pernettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prster, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othexwise de celle-ci ne doivent Etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT The Pacifism of the Messianic Community: The Christological Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder by Craig A. Carter The Department of Theology, Toronto School of Theology and the Faculty of Theology, University of Saint Michael's College 1999 This dissertation examines the theological foundations of the social ethics of John Howard Yoder. Yoder is interpreted as a postliberal who, despite his non-foundationalist epistemology, was an unambiguous advocate of theological realism in the tradition of Karl Barth. Yodefs thought is found to be very coherent and his social ethic is logically derived from his theological system. Chapter One places Yoder in his historical context by examining the two major influences on his thought: "the recovery of the Anabaptist vision" and the "Biblical Realism" of Karl Barth. Yoder is seen as creatively uniting Barth's theological method with themes from his Anabaptist-Mennonite theological heritage to create the most theologically sophisticated account of social ethics to emerge so far from postliberalism. Chapter Two examines Yoder's Christology as the source of his social ethics. His narrative Christology calls for a form of discipleship centered on community and pacifism. Yoder challenges mainstream Christian ethics by making a strong case for viewing pacifism as the ethical meaning of classical, Christological orthodoxy. Chapter Three examines Yoder's eschatology as the contexr of his social ethics. His "disavowal of Constantinen is rooted in his understanding of Constantinianism as the denial of New Testament eschatology and thus as a heresy with highly negative consequences for Christian ethics. Yoder argues that it is Constantinians, not pacifist dissenters, who are actually sectarian. Chapter Four examines Yodef s ecclesiology as the shop of his social ethics. He makes a clear distinction between the church and the world and views the church as a new society and a foretaste of the future Kingdom of God. The ad hoc witness of the church to the state is made possible because of the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the powers, including the state, in this present age. Yoder's believers' church ecciesiology, rather than promoting irrelevance and withdrawal, actually provides a solid basis for true cultural engagement and transformation, while avoiding the tendency toward accommodation to the world inherent in Constantinianism. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have incurred a number of significant debts over the past nine years of pursuing my goal of a doctorate in theology and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge them publicly. I want to thank the members of my committee: Dr. John Webster, Dr. A. James Reimer and Dr. George Schner for their patient guidance and genuine concern. I especially want to thank John for agreeing to continue to supervise my thesis from England after his move from Wycliffe College, University of Toronto to Oxford University. I have especially appreciated the prompt and encouraging feedback I have received from him all along the way. Most of all, however, I want to thank John for teaching me to appreciate the thought of Karl Barth by pointing out the most important thing about Barth's theology, namely, the utter and sustained seriousness with which he took the reality of God. I want to thank the staff of the George A. Rawlyk Library at Atlantic Baptist University for eficient and helpful service in obtaining necessary materials for this project. Diane Trail, my Administrative Assistant, also has gone far above and beyond the call of duty to help in this project and I appreciate her assistance very much. I also want to thank the president, Dr. Ralph Richardson and the Board of Governors of Atlantic Baptist University for providing me with a leave of absence in the Fall of 1998, during which time I was able to complete the writing of the first draft of this thesis. Without that time to focus exclusively on this project, I would never have been able to finish it. I also want to thank Dr. Gary LeBlanc for filling in for me as Academic Dean during my leave and Dr. Seth Crowell and Diane Trail for taking on extra work during that time. I also want to thank the faculty of the university for supporting me in my pursuit of this goal and in my work as Academic Dean, in general. over the past four years. I want to thank Dr. Douglas Harink and Mark Thiessen Nation for reading parts of this dissertation while it was at the revision stage and Dr. Ronald Mercier and Dr. Gayle Gerber-Koontz for serving as examiners for my dissertation. They were most kind to share their expertise with me. Mark Thiessen Nation was also a help in obtaining certain unpublished materials by Yoder. They would not necessarily agree with all that I have written and the remaining imperfections are my responsibility alone. The biggest debt of gratitude i owe is to my family. My children, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Stephen have gone through two moves during their school years and have spent, quite literally, years waiting for Dad to finish his thesis so that our family could live without it hanging over every holiday and every vacation. My wife Bonnie, however, is the one who deserves the credit for making it all possible. Her unselfish willingness to see her calling as including the provision of support for my academic calling has taught me more about biblical servanthood than all the books I have ever read put together. Her confidence in my ability when I seriously doubted that I would ever finish was essential to my ever getting to this point. It is to Bonnie that this work is dedicated, with more thanks and love than I know how to express. CONTENTS .. Abstract ............................................................................................ 11 Acknowledgments ................................................................................ iv List of Abbreviations ............................................................................ ix INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ I A . The Purpose of This Essay .......................................................... 2 B. A Brief Overview of the Life and Writings of Yoder ........................... 7 C . The Central Thesis of This Essay ............................................ 9 D . An Overview of this Essay ......................................................... 14 CHAPTER I: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF YODER'S THOUGHT ........ 18 A . Yoder and the Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition ....................... ... .... 21 I . The Development of Anabaptist Historiography ....................... 22 2 . The "Anabaptist Vision" and Mennonite Identity ...................... 25 3 . The Concern Movement ..................................................
Recommended publications
  • The Christian Realist Perspective: the Political Theology of Augustine
    The Christian Realist Perspective: The Political Theology of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Reinhold Niebuhr Tsoncho Tsonchev A Thesis in The Department of Theological Studies Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts (Theological Studies) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 2015 © Tsoncho Tsonchev, 2015 ABSTRACT The Christian Realist Perspective: The Political Theology of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Reinhold Niebuhr Tsoncho Tsonchev Christian political theology deals with the problems of the ultimate questions: the existence of God and the application of His law in the realm of human relations. Through exploring the political theology of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Reinhold Niebuhr, this study discusses the great issues of war and peace, the character of human nature, the necessity of political responsibility, the importance of moral choices, the functions of authority, and the meaning of history and progress. It argues that Christian realism withstands the serious critiques leveled against it, provided that the complementary strengths and weaknesses of these three figures is taken into account. iii Acknowledgements I would not have been able to write this work, if I had not had the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and erudition of the scholars at Concordia University Department of Theological Studies. In the past three years, their open to discussion and debate seminars introduced me to the great works of religious thought and gave me the audacity to express my views. The people who helped me most in this rewarding intellectual journey are Dr Jean-Michel Roessli, Dr Christine Jamieson, Dr Marie-France Dion, Dr Paul Allen, and Dr Lucian Turcescu.
    [Show full text]
  • Curriculum Vitae: Jonathan Tran
    Curriculum Vitae: Jonathan Tran Contact Information & Personal Details Address Baylor University Department of Religion One Bear Place #97284 Waco, TX 76798-7284 Tel. (O) +1 254 710 6723 (C) +1 678 756 1073 E-mail [email protected] Education Education University of California at Riverside (grad. 1994) Qualification B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, Political Science Education Duke University, Divinity School (grad. 2002) Qualification M.Div., summa cum laude Education Duke University, Department of Religion (grad. 2006) Qualification Ph.D., Theology and Ethics (Director: Stanley Hauerwas) Academic Employment History Institution Baylor University Positions George W. Baines Professor of Religion (2018-Present) Associate Professor of Religion (2012-Present) Faculty Steward, Honors Residential College (2015-2018) Assistant Professor of Religion (2006-2012) Key activities Department of Religion Graduate Faculty (2009-Present) University Tenure Committee (2012-2015); Chair (2014-2015) Affiliate Faculty: Medical Humanities; Baylor Center for Christian Philosophy Significant & Endowed Lectures 2021 Fuller Theological Seminary AAPI Chapel Lecture 2017 Baylor University Fall Academic Convocation, “Finding Love in College” 2017 Baylor University Collins Outstanding Professor Award Address, “My Life with Students: Wittgensteinian Thoughts on Baylor Students” 2016 Fellowship for Protestant Ethics Inaugural Keynote Lectures, “The Case for and of Protestant Christian Ethics” 2015 Kendrick-Poerschke Memorial Lecture at Furman University, “Drone Dreaming Along the Border: Trump, Immigration, and Rhetorics of Nostalgia” 2015 Asian American Heritage Lectures at Seattle Pacific University • 1 2014 Leuschner Lectures, Seventh & James Baptist Church, “The End of Words: Bodies, Animals and Language” (October 22, October 29, November 5, and November 12) 2013 “The Difference Christ Makes: Celebrating the Life, Work, and Friendship of Stanley Hauerwas” Plenary Address at Duke Divinity School, Duke University, “Anne and the Difficulty of Hauerwas’ Church” 2012 The T.B.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics of the Cross: the Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder
    3377 Bayview Avenue TEL: Toronto, ON 416.226.6620 TYNDALE M2M 3S4 www.tyndale.ca UNIVERSITY Note: This Work has been made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws of Canada without the written authority from the copyright owner. Carter, Craig A. The Politics of the Cross: The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2001. The Politics of THE Cross The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder Craig A. Carter Brazos Press A Division of Baker Book House Co Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516 © 2001 by Craig A. Carter Published by Brazos Press a division of Baker Book House Company P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys­ tem, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copy­ right © 1973,1978,1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture marked as “Phillips” is taken from The New Testament in Modern English. Copy­ right © by J. B. Philips 1996. Used by permission of Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carter, Craig A.
    [Show full text]
  • A Believers Church Perspective. by John Howard Yoder. Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker, Eds
    BOOK REVIEWS Theology of Mission: A Believers Church Perspective. By John Howard Yoder. Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker, eds. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic. 2014. Pp. 432. $45. In his writings on the Psalms, Walter Brueggemann suggests that the psalmists lead us through a process of ‚orientation, disorientation and new orientation.‛1 I have found Brueggemann’s comments helpful in guiding me through the recent discussions surrounding John Howard Yoder’s sexual misconduct. Yoder has provided me—as he has with so many others—my plumb line ‚orientation‛ to the world. As Wilbert R. Shenk’s introduction point outs, Yoder’s vision and theological commitments were instrumental in shaping the work of Mennonite Board of Missions among African Independent Churches in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, where my parents served as missionaries and where I grew up. As a young adult, I attended and was baptized at Prairie St. Mennonite Church—the congregation Yoder called home for many years. And as a student at Fuller Seminary, Yoder’s writings have been, and continue to be, some of the most powerful and formative in shaping my missiological grid. Given Yoder’s influence in my own life, I now find myself experiencing a period of ‚disorientation.‛ I am baffled by Yoder’s destructive tendencies and wonder what should have been done in terms of accountability. Like the psalmists, I am trying to get to a place of ‚reorientation,‛ one that narrates how God rescues us from sin in a decisive way and that includes experiencing God’s grace, peace, and love, trusting that it will lead to reconciliation with Yoder’s legacy.2 While John Howard Yoder is best known for his work on issues of war and peace, the editors of this volume note that the theology of mission preoccupied him as a scholar, teacher, missionary, and ecumenical dialogue partner for most of his life.
    [Show full text]
  • Immortality of the Soul Or Resurrection of the Dead? by Oscar Cullmann
    Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead? return to religion-online 47 Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead? by Oscar Cullmann Oscar Cullmann, D.Th, D.D., was Professor of the Theological Faculty of the University of Basel and of the Sorbonne in Paris. The present work is the translation of a study already published in Switzerland, (Mélanges offerts à KARL BARTH à l’occasion de ses 70 ans [pubi. by Reinhardt, Bâle, 1956][Theologische Zeitschrift, N. 2, pp. 126ff]. See also Verbum Caro [1956], pp. 58ff.) of which a summary has appeared in various French periodicals. ENTIRE BOOK) Professor Cullmann compares the Greek conception of the immortality of the soul with the early Christian conception of the resurrection, and shows that they are so different in orgin and in translation into experience as to be mutually exclusive. To the Greek, death was a friend. To the Christian death was the last enemy, but the enemy conquered by Christ in His resurrection, and conquered by all who are His. Preface "No other publication of mine has provoked such enthusiasm or such violent hostility. Exegesis has been the basis of this study, and so far, no critic of a wide variety of kinds has attempted to refute me by exegesis." Introduction The widely accepted idea of ‘The immortality of the soul’ is one of the greatest misunderstandings of Christianity. The concept of death and resurrection is anchored in the Christ-event (as will be shown in the following pages), and hence is incompatible with the Greek belief in immortality.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward a Better World: LBJ, Niebuhr, and American Human Rights, 1964-1966
    Toward a Better World: LBJ, Niebuhr, and American Human Rights, 1964-1966 JARED MICHAEL PHILLIPS In the fall of 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson had his first op- portunity to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Among those he choose to recognize was the scholar, activist, and theologian Re- inhold Niebuhr. Although the gruff and profane Johnson would ap- pear to have little in common with the cerebral pastor turned theologian, the President employed the teachings of Niebuhr to for- mulate and articulate his attempts to remake both the nation—War on Poverty and Civil Rights legislation—and the world—making hu- man rights the cornerstone of American foreign policy. Niebuhr’s Christian realism influenced policy makers and presidents for nearly thirty years, but it found its most forceful practitioner in Johnson, who praised Niebuhr for invoking the “ancient insights of Christian- ity to illuminate the experience and fortify the will of the modern age.”1 By clasping to the pragmatic Christian realism articulated by Nie- buhr, Johnson set out to establish social justice for America and then the world. The President’s consistent call for the reformation of so- ciety helped refocus liberal America’s mindset toward the beginning of a credible human rights policy, both at home and abroad. Presi- dent Johnson had politically come of age as Niebuhr’s influence was 1 “Remarks at the Presentation of the 1964 Presidential Medal of Freedom Awards,” September 14, 1964, Public Papers of the Presidents: Lyndon B. Johnson [hereinafter cites as PPLBJ] (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1966), 2:1065. Jared Michael Phillips is a graduate student at the University of Arkansas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Article Title: This Is the Title of the Article)
    Princeton Theological Review Vol. 19, No. 1 | Spring 2016 Prolegomena 3 CHRIS WAKS The Violent Shadow 5 Considering John Howard Yoder’s Sexual Misconduct from a Jungian Psychological Perspective SARAH BIXLER Catholic Ecclesiology and Hans Urs von Balthasar 21 The Unity-in-Difference of the Marian and Petrine Principles of the Church MATTHEW KUHNER The Deceitful Savior and the Emasculated King 39 Heterosexist Violence in Judges 3:12–30 DAVID B. SMITH Book Reviews 51 About the Princeton Theological Review 59 Prolegomena CHRIS WAKS Executive Editor, Princeton Theological Review “Peace is a deeper reality than violence,” writes Stanley Hauerwas in his memoir Hannah’s Child, “but it takes some getting used to.”1 If peace does in fact take some getting used to, it is because of the countless acts of violence we hear about today. We hear about wars happening in neighboring parts of the world, and many feel warred upon in their own homes. Yet, violence does not always come on such a grand scale. As Christians we must also wrestle with the violence of the biblical text. Divine wrath, Israel’s conquests, and the Crucifixion are things that Christians must wrestle with. This issue of the Princeton Theological Review continues on its trajectory of offering a resource that intersects the practical and the theoretical, the Church and the academy. Scholars were challenged to think how their discipline speaks towards issues of violence for the Church proper. While one issue cannot, and does not, cover every facet of violence in this issue, these essays can serve as a contribution to the conversation imaginative look at what it means for the Church to think about and speak about violence.
    [Show full text]
  • Oscar Cullmann, Baptism in the New Testament. Studies in Biblical Theology No
    Oscar Cullmann, Baptism in the New Testament. Studies in Biblical Theology No. 1. London: SCM Press, 1950. Pbk. pp.84. Baptism in the New Testament Oscar Cullmann Translated by J. K. S. Reid The English version of DIE TAUFLEHRE DES NEUEN TESTAMENTS (Zwingli-Verlag Zürich) [p.5] CONTENTS Page FOREWORD 7 I THE FOUNDATION OF BAPTISM IN THE DEATH AND 9 RESURRECTION OF CHRIST II BAPTISM AS ACCEPTANCE INTO THE BODY OF 23 CHRIST III BAPTISM AND FAITH 47 IV BAPTISM AND CIRCUMCISION 56 CONCLUSION 70 Appendix: TRACES OF AN ANCIENT BAPTISMAL 71 FORMULA IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Index of Biblical References 81 Index of Names 84 [p.7] FOREWORD I have intended for a long time to write something about the New Testament doctrine of Baptism. The general discussion of the justification of infant Baptism which has been provoked by Karl Barth’s booklet on The Teaching of the Church concerning Baptism forbids me to wait any longer. I hold it for an error to deal with the question of infant Baptism in isolation, as has too often happened in Church discussions. I can therefore only deal with this Oscar Cullmann, Baptism in the New Testament. Studies in Biblical Theology No. 1. London: SCM Press, 1950. Pbk. pp.84. live problem of the day (and not of the day only) according to my original plans, within the framework of a complete review of the matter. I have already developed the fundamental thought of chapter 1 in 1942 in the Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie (Lausanne) under the title ‘La Signification du baptême dans le Nouveau Testament’; while the appendix on the traces of an ancient baptismal formula in the New Testament has already appeared in the Revue d’Histoire et de Philosophie religieuses (Strasbourg), 1937, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural Law and Christian Realism Thomas C. Berg*
    Draft Sept. 8, 2005. © Thomas C. Berg John Courtney Murray and Reinhold Niebuhr: Natural Law and Christian Realism Thomas C. Berg* During the two decades after World War II, the cover of Time magazine twice featured Christian academic theologians. As you may know, framed prints of the Time cover paintings are now available for purchase online, and some are quite striking pieces of art. On the cover of the March 8, 1948 issue, Protestant ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr gazes sharply across a dark, cloudswept landscape with a small cross radiating light on a bleak hill in the background.1 The picture, captioned “Man’s story is not a success story,” dramatically captures Niebuhr’s “Christian realist” vision of human beings beckoned by the ideals of Christlike love, but beset by pride and a host of other sins in the very course of pursuing those ideals in society. Twelve years later, on Dec. 12, 1960, in the wake of the election of America’s first Catholic president, the cover on “U.S. Catholics and the State” portrayed John Courtney Murray, S.J., in front of the title page of a classic sixteenth-century theological treatise by Jesuit Cardinal Robert Bellarmine.2 The illustration no doubt aimed to reflect the claim in Murray’s newly-published collection of essays, We Hold These Truths, that America’s public philosophy necessarily rested on a set of natural-law principles nurtured and sustained to a large extent by the Catholic tradition – and that therefore Catholicism was not just compatible with the American project but essential to it.3 As their appearances on Time’s covers suggest, from World War II through the mid-1960s Murray and Niebuhr were America’s most prominent Christian theologians concerning the relation between religion and public life.
    [Show full text]
  • Participation, Perfection, and Political Discipleship: the Christological Bases of Mission
    Participation, Perfection, and Political Discipleship: The Christological Bases of Mission by Nate Kerr I I want to talk about some the theological problems associated with the idea of “Christian mission.” That is, I am going to talk about mission at, at least, one remove and this will inevitably be unsatisfactory. I have suggested in my subtitle that I will be doing this by questioning what precisely are the Christological “bases” of mission. But for the most part, I will be spending a good deal of time just talking about Jesus, and what it means to follow him. This, too, I’m guessing, will inevitably register a certain amount of dissatisfaction. Of course, I think this is as it should be. I am wholly in agreement in the end with the view that mission is the heart of the Christian life, that mission is the very matter of this thing we call “discipleship.” But what I want to say about this – and I’m not sure I will say it convincingly – is that if we are going to make serious sense of the idea that the Christian life is mission we are going to have to think more rigorously than ever mission as action rooted in and living from apocalyptic irruption of God’s reign in Jesus of Nazareth. All talk of “mission” is going to have to take its meaning and point from the “apocalyptic historicity” of Jesus Christ, the reality of which is the stark concreteness and visibility of that cruciform, suffering love which the Seer of Revelation refers us always back to in his talk of the resurrection of a slain lamb.
    [Show full text]
  • Publications by Dr. Michael Cartwright Books: (Single Author)
    Publications by Dr. Michael Cartwright Books: (Single Author) Practices, Politics, and Performance: Toward a Communal Hermeneutic for Christian Ethics. Princeton Theological Monographs Series No.57. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Books, 2006. Books: (Multiple Authors) Watching Over One Another in Love: Reclaiming the Wesleyan Rule of Life for the Church's Mission with Andrew D. Kinsey (Wipf & Stock Publishing Co., 2011). Profiles in Service: 1905-2005 with Rebecca Blair and James Fuller (U of Indianapolis, 2006). Books: (Edited/Co-edited) Called to Unite Knowledge & Vital Piety: Indiana's Wesleyan-Related Universities with Merle D. Strege (University of Indianapolis Press, 2012). Exploring Christian Mission Beyond Christendom: United Methodist Perspectives (University of Indianapolis Press, 2010). The Jewish-Christian Schism Revisited by John Howard Yoder, co-edited with Peter Ochs for the "Radical Traditions" series (London, SCM Publishing Company, 2003; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003; reprinted by Herald Press, 2009). The Hauerwas Reader, Co-editor with John Berkman, (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001). The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiological and Ecumenical by John Howard Yoder (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994; reprinted Herald Press, 1998). Articles: (juried journals) Scripture and Ethics Symposium: "Learning to 'Plunder the Egyptians' with Prophetic Urgency" The Covenant Quarterly February May 2011, Vol. 69, Nos. 1-2. "The Founding of Indiana Central University: Another Chapter in the History of United Brethren Higher Education" in Methodist History Vol. XLVI (July 2008) No. 4, 212-222. "Sharing the Table of Study: Jewish-Christian-Muslim Trialogue on Jonah Texts” in The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning Vol. 3, No. 1 (on-line journal of the Society of Scriptural Reasoning).
    [Show full text]
  • Yoder, Sex Abuse, &
    ESSAY Yoder, Sex Abuse, & War MarK Tooley Photograph of John Howard Yoder, by Carolyn Prieb. Source: Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen, IN, via Flickr. his journal was founded partly to counter the ongoing pacifist Tinfluence of John Howard Yoder (1927-97), the highly influential Mennonite theologian whose 1972 book The Politics of Jesus redefined Christ’s crucifixion as a rejection of all violence and “empire.” Still unfolding revelations about Yoder’s sexual exploitation of students and religious devotees, numbering at least 100 women, are compelling some of his admirers now to question his legacy. In unpublished responses, age. Of course, Yoder’s view pastor. His theological justifica- Yoder justifies these sexual en- contravenes historical Christian tions for these encounters are at counters theologically, citing teaching about the human body very least false teaching, if not touching between Jesus and and marriage. As a husband heretical. women in His day. He also ad- and father, his behavior across mits disdaining the “consen- decades was adulterous, among Reinterpreting the crucifix- sus of our respectable culture,” many other problems, and amid ion as primarily a rejection of and believes there is greater the #MeToo campaign would violence—rather than atone- latitude in sexual standards in today be called a gross abuse ment for sin, which Yoder calls the church’s new revolutionary of his authority as a teacher and “hocus-pocus”—is in my view 46 decidedly heretical. Traditional Warrior God: Volumes 1 & 2 sexual scandal, and he recently Anabaptist thought, whose un- (2017) is another leading ex- admits: derstanding of the cross is or- ponent.
    [Show full text]