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| Writings Shared Book Reviews by EMCers The Fragmentation of the Church and Its Unity in Peacemaking. Jeffrey Gros and John D. Rempel, editors (Michigan: Eerdmans, 2001), 230 pp. $43. Reviewed by Dr. Arden Thiessen, senior pastor at Steinbach EMC. Recent essays in The Messenger have reminded us forcefully of the widely divergent views that Christians may have over the matter of participating in war. Historically we have held to a position of peace. We have agreed that the kingdom that Jesus came to establish is to be a community of peace. However we live in a world of violence, terrorism, and war. We remember the Kosovo situation—a defenseless people seemed to need some kind of protection from violent aggression. Many Christians agreed that military intervention was justified in that deplorable situation. The current war against terrorism, I understand, receives almost unanimous support from the American people. We wonder then, how can it be that the peace doctrine, which has seemed so central to our understanding of the Christian life, does not get more respect in other faith communities? This book helps us wrestle with this urgent question. The contributors come from ten major faith traditions. The essays are largely confessional and historical; they are not designed to persuade but to inform. Each gives an account of the contextual realities that have shaped their specific expression of Christ’s peace mandate. All the participants agree that peace is the will of God. Beyond that, however, there seems to be little evidence that the hope expressed in the title can be achieved. While the Just War Theory does not get much support as being currently relevant, many traditions simply cannot see how nonresistance can be practical in this world. The problem is identified by the Baptist writer who says that when he lectures on peace, he rarely gets any questions about his interpretation of the biblical material; the concerns always are about how his ideas will work in specific situations. Since most of the mass violence in the Western world in recent centuries has been the story of Christians killing Christians, any attempt to speak and listen to each other is laudable. There are memories of centuries-old offences and judgments that need to be dealt with before we can have a common Christian witness. As the Lutheran contributor says, "There must be peace among Christians before there can be peace in the world." One theme on which there seems to be agreement is that we are not dealing with a simple fight-or-flight issue. The book may serve to educate both sides on the possibility of another approach, that of creative confrontation. Instead of running for their lives or fighting for their rights, Christians should learn to take the more dangerous course—naming the evil, unmasking the sin, and exposing the injustice. For me, the most satisfying essay in the book is by the Mennonite writer, Lois Barrett. I’m glad the editors allowed her to go beyond the historical and descriptive and let her present a clear and gracious exposition of the biblical essentials for being a people of peace. Her central idea, that the peace position comes out of our conviction about the nature and purpose of Christ’s church, resonates well with my understanding of the biblical message. |
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