Christian Attitudes, Ch. 3

In this chapter, entitled “The Pacifism of Pre-Constantinian Christianity”, John Yoder examines the nature of the Church’s attitude toward war and the state up to the end of the second century. Yoder’s reasoning for giving a thorough account of the early church’s view on war is not, contrary to the usual assumption about the free church’s attention to the early church, that the early church is the ethical normative position from which to start. Instead, Yoder argues that the early church’s position and view of war and the state is important for us to understand because this community of faith read and interpreted scripture in the context in which it was written. This means that the ethical paradigms and moral norms that come out of this early Christian community arise out of a firsthand encounter with texts and traditions that were written at that same time.

Yoder identifies a three-fold dynamic to the early Christian rejection of warfare. The first part of this rejection stems from the early Christian rejection of idolatry. There were overt practices of pagan worship, within the Roman military institution; practices that the early Christian could not participate in on account of their allegiance to Christ’s Lordship. The second part of the early Christian rejection of war relates to the rejection of oaths, as commanded by Christ. Yoder helpfully notes that the swearing of oaths was part of a cultic practice, with the oath formula invoking pagan deities. Also, the Christian rejection of swearing oaths had everything to do with their new-found freedom in Christ, which they were not permitted to hand over to someone else in a binding oath. The oath, in this view, was seen as giving one’s allegiance to someone other than Jesus Christ. The final aspect of the early Christian rejection of war relates to their abhorrence of bloodshed. It is Caesar who sheds blood, but for Christians, as for Jews, blood includes the sacredness of life. Yoder is careful to note that the early Christian rejection of war does not stand or fall on any one of these reasons alone. In fact, the early Church did not develop a systematic moral theology regarding the ethics of war. Nevertheless, Yoder argues that these three parts formed a coherent position in the early Church.

Yoder spills most of his ink, in this third chapter, on the early Church understanding of and relation to the Roman government at the time. Yoder notes that the early church had no reason for rejecting the existence of a Roman state. In fact, the early Church held to the teaching of Jesus to ‘give to Caesar what is his’ and also to Paul’s teaching in Romans 13, in which the state is viewed as an instrument that God brings into order through providence. Yoder notes that some shifts begin to occur in the late second century. Second or third generation Christians, who never experienced persecution, began to understand their surrounding society as less hostile, and so they became less critical of the Roman authorities.

The fourth century brought with it what Yoder calls a ‘creeping empire loyalty’. Christians still refused to participate in violence and war, the swearing of oaths, etc, “but the church was moving in that direction.” (50) A key part, in my view, is that Yoder notes the early Church’s acceptance of the national boundaries of the Roman Empire as the ‘borders of the world’. Prior to this, the Church saw the entire known world as part of its mission field; yet with increasing loyalty to Rome, the early Church began to associate the borders of its mission field and its identity with the Roman borders. Yoder notes that a lot of this change in perspective connects with the increasing numbers of Christians that operated in the upper echelons of Roman culture and politics. This change in social location also affected the ‘insides’ of the Church, especially in terms of its willingness to discipline the body according to earlier moral guidelines. This chapter offers a more careful analysis of what really changed between the situation of the early pacifist church and the church that was willing to ‘grab the reigns of political history’ after Constantine.

Christian Attitudes; chapter 2

Refining Our Typology on the Ethics of War
"My concern is to increase the clarity and objectivity of the historian's analysis." Rejecting the notion of an un-biased objective approach; Yoder nevertheless is a hound for tight logic and objective criteria of judgment and analysis. Instead of poorly interpreting events in order to fit them cleanly into simple categories, Yoder chooses to clearly dilineate the typologies represented by varieties of groups of thought. In this chapter, Yoder examines the different types of thought regarding the ethics of war and peace. He names four basic types: 1) the blank check, 2) pacifism, 3)Holy War, and 4) the justifiable war. Yoder uses 'justifiable' as the title for the common Just War theory because it was never thought that war was just but only more or less justifiable given the other options. War was always a lamentable activity, but under certain circumstances it was thought, by some Christians, to be justifiable. Of course, the rest of the book complicates these four neat typologies. In his book Nevertheless, Yoder spends a lot of time looking at a whole variety of pacifisms based on a religious outlook. Nevertheless, these four major types appear throughout history, according to Yoder. He helpfully notes that the three non-pacifist streams of thought come from different socio-political and spiritual origins. The blank cheque approach coming from Aristotle who speaks about the state being its own master. The Holy War position stems from the OT figure Joshua; in this tradition, it is the Lord who is a warrior and calls his people to battle for the sake of his honor and glory. The justifiable war tradition stems, in Yoder's view, from Cicero and the Latin legal tradition in which justice is measured by certain objective criteria. These three origins have, in certain times, become blurred together in a kind of theological-political synthesis. Yoder places Augustine within this context in which blank cheque, just war and holy war language all find a suitable place. Beside this stream of non-pacifist thought runs a pacifist stream of Christian theological tradition with its roots in the teachings of Jesus and Martin (of Tours?) than Waldo through to the Anabaptists and Quakers. Although, for most of the book, Yoder looks most carefully at those who argue for a justifiable war tradition, the holy war and blank cheque models are always in the background - mostly because this is the usual default position of a society that doesn't carefully articulate its moral thought on the justice of warcraft.

Christian Attitudes; chapter 1

Introduction
Yoder begins his book by reminding us, his readers, that this book comes out of his work in teaching a course on the subject at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries. The lectures were delivered mostly to Mennonites studying for ministry. This book aims to be a work of historical theology - that is, a history of ideas. Yoder, right from the get-go, is honest about his bias as a pacifist Mennonite. But instead of seeking a way beyond to some cleaner objectivity, and also avoiding the pluralists acceptance of complete incommensurate diversity, Yoder seeks to deeply engage the history of ideas of those he happens to disagree with. Yoder's reading of the history of ideas regarding war, peace and revolution is an attempt to read, as charitably as possible, those accounts of Christian moral thought; for Yoder, "the corrective for bias is to engage in a process of testing by conversing with people who hold another view." (22) As it becomes clear in the final chapter, Yoder is attempting to do something that most theologians and ethicists refuse to do nowadays; and that is to take one's interlocuter's theological position seriously in their linguistic world and moral consciousness.

New book!!

I just bought the newly re-edited book Christian Attitudes to War, Peace and Revolution by Yoder. It was just published by Brazos Press. I plan on journaling my thoughts and responses while reading it this summer. I'm so excited, like a kid with a new toy.

a precarious peace...

In this book Chris has offered a truly 'final' reading of Yoder. Huebner concludes that Yoder's theological (non)methodologism is best described as patience and embodied as non-violent witness. Also, in observing Yoder's non-sectarian "ad-hoc" dialogical engagements, Huebner has "ensured" that the actual particular context and content of Yoder's work is somehow secondary to the style with which Yoder approaches theological engagement. Huebner has offered us Yoderology when Yoder himself was concerned with theology, Jesus, the Church, etc...

Perhaps, in the future, Huebner will explore theology in the "clearly" framed Yoderian (non) methodology "secured" in his book. To a book that foundationalizes Yoder's non-foundationalism, I express gratitude for the conversation, even as I regret the sense of closure on Yoder's work... a kind of closure that is elsewhere expressly rejected by Huebner himself.

Polyglossia

Herald Press have just begun a new series of books with the called Polyglossia: Radical Reformation Theologies.

Here is what they say about the series:

A series intended for conversation among academics, ministers and laypersons regarding knowledge, beliefs and the practices of the Christian faith. Polyglossia grows out of John Howard Yoder's call to see radical reformation as a tone, style, or a stance, a way of thinking theologically that requires precarious attempts to speak the gospel in new idioms. It is a from of theological reflection that blends patient vulnerability and hermeneutical charity with considered judgment and informed criticism. The books in this series will emerge out of conversations with contemporary movements in theology, as well as philosophy, political theory, literature, and cultural studies.

The first book in the series is Chris K Huebner, A Precarious Peace: Yoderian Explorations on Theology, Knowledge, and Identity. Here is the blurb:

A Precarious Peace poses a formidable challenge to mainstream accounts of Christian pacifism. In place of an approach which seeks effectively to implement and distribute a peace whose content is known in advance, Chris K. Huebner develops a radical understanding of peace that interrupts and puts into question many of our most deeply held convictions, including much of what is offered in the name of peace.

John Howard Yoder developed an understanding of "non-constantinianism" and a vision of Christian discipleship as involving a cultivation of a "readiness for radical reformation." This book explores the possibility of a specifically Mennonite theology, problems of knowledge, and questions of identity from a peaceable perspective of unpredictable gracious gifts given and received rather than a violent longing for possessions owned or territories protected.

This book presents an interpretation of Christian pacifism that turns upon the call to live out of control. Key conversation partners include Rowan Williams, John Milbank, Karl Barth, two Mennonite grandmothers, Canadian cinematographers, radical reformation, and most of all, John Howard Yoder.

I received my copy of the book today and will be sure to post a review when I have worked my way through it, at first glance it definitely looks like a book worth reading carefully.

Discipleship and Political Responsibility

Shawn over at Lo-Fi Tribe has a post on Yoder's Discipleship as Political Responsibility here. It is worth checking out.

Body Politics

Over on the Perth Anabaptists website they have posted a full synopsis of Yoder's Body Politics. You can find this here (pdf file).