Reinventing Peace

We live in a broken and hurting world. It cannot be ignored that division is the norm for Western society. The fractured nature of humanity is not new—it has been recorded throughout history for many millennia. The goal of peace theology is to bring reconciliation to a broken world—this is the message of the gospel….

A Harmonious Future

In his 1821 autobiography, Thomas Jefferson reflected upon one of the crowning achievements of his career, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: “Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word ‘Jesus Christ,’ so that it should…

Martyrdom & Non-Resistance

This article is adapted from an essay written for a course at Wesley Seminary. The Passion of Saints Perpetua & Felicity (hereafter The Passion) is a melancholy story of Christan martyrdom, allegedly written by the main character, Vibia Perpetua.[1] Perpetua is referred to as “a woman nobly born, educated in the liberal arts, and respectably married.”[2]…

Persecution & Hospitality

“When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, ‘Lord, should we strike with the sword?’ Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched his ear and healed him.’ — Luke 22:29-51, NRSV I have…

Contrary to Their Religious Persuasion

A few weeks ago, I was doing some research and became more aware of a unique part of American history. As a Pennsylvania native, I have always been intrigued by the microcosm of religious diversity that has been part of this state’s history. You might be aware that Pennsylvania was founded as a British province…

A Great Story without a Happy Ending

This post is an incredible story that ends with a less-than-happy ending. This is a story that many people do not know, but it truly worth retelling. This is the third post in a series looking at Christian leaders who did not give up in the midst of significant challenges. The person of interest in…

Glimpses of the Peaceful Kingdom

It has been awhile now since I have posted—it has been a busy season with work and seminary. During the Advent season, I have been reading through the book of Isaiah—section by section—looking for messianic prophecies in the text. Yesterday as I was reading and came across a passage that really resonated with me: Isaiah 11….

What About Pacifism Now?

In the conclusion of my last post I wrote: So what does all of this mean now? It means a lot of things. Primarily, it means that nonviolence is the minority view in the global Church. However, that does not mean it is irrelevant for today’s world. Modern generations are becoming more disillusioned with global…

Giving Up Pacifism

In a post I made a few months ago I mentioned that I would eventually be looking at: “Mainstream Christianity’s move away from pacifism.” Unfortunately, this was a poor choice of wording, because mainstream Christianity has never fully embraced pacifism since the apostolic period prior to Constantine’s acquisition of Christianity. In this post, I want to…

Were Anabaptists Always Pacifists?

In my last post, I explored my own journey towards peace theology. Over the years, I have processed through what I perceived to be the Anabaptist commitment to peace. It is true that most Anabaptists espouse the value of peace today, but I had to keep asking the question: “Has it always been this way?” In…

Pacifism & Passivity

I have been thinking about pacifism a lot recently. It is an interesting topic that I feel like the Church doesn’t talk about a lot (other than Anabaptist circles.) I am a pacifist, realizing that the term itself has a million different meanings. Let me unpack that statement for you with a quick look at…