A Just Peace Church

The classical just war criteria were helpful in a world of soldiers in uniforms with negotiated holidays. But just war no longer proves helpful in a world where small bands of terrorists with modest bundles of cash can do unspeakable terror to unarmed civilians. In this new world, war itself has become dysfunctional. What are the theological, political, and programmatic bases needed to become a peacemaking church? A Just Peace Church seeks to locate a position between pacifism and just war.

Despite their largely pacifist origins, Christianity and Christian traditions can claim only limited success in their efforts to conciliate conflict, avoid violence, and stop war. The eminent contributors to this deeply reflective book believe it is time to look to the East, to the very different perspectives among Orthodox Christians, on issues of war and the justice that must undergird peace. From Europe and Russia, as well as the Middle East and Asia, two dozen Orthodox theologians and church people cast the classic dilemmas of war and peace, military service, just war, and religious nationalism into a deeper theological framework. The book examines: the historical characterizations of Orthodoxy in a variety of settings and nations (Greece, Oriental Christianity, Bulgaria, Armenia, Western Europe, etc.) * dilemmas of nationalism for the churches * the Russian Orthodox Church and the military * the invasion of Iraq * globalization * fundamentalism * interreligious tensions * the ecclesial vocation of peacemaking.

Believing Christians should direct their energies toward finding a set of criteria and a model for a "just peace" instead of "just war", Stassen bases his peace theory on the new reality of our world, recent Biblical interpretation, and on the experiences of people who lived in the face of oppression and nuclear threat.

Contributions by leading peacemakers such as Lisa Sowle Cahill, Terrence J. Rynne, John Dear and Ken Utican, Rose Marie Berger, and Maria J. Stephan advance the conversation about the practice of nonviolence in a violent world, Jesus and nonviolence, traditional Catholic teaching on nonviolence, and reflections on the future of Catholic teaching. The book concludes with Pope Francis's historic Message for World Peace Day in 2017.

The just peace movement offers a critical shift in focus and imagination. Recognizing that all life is sacred and seeking peace through violence is unsustainable, the just peace approach turns our attention to rehumanization, participatory processes, nonviolent resistance, restorative justice, reconciliation, racial justice, and creative strategies of active nonviolence to build sustainable peace, transform conflict, and end cycles of violence. A Just Peace Ethic Primer illuminates a moral framework behind this praxis and proves its versatility in global contexts. With essays by a diverse group of scholars, A Just Peace Ethic Primer outlines the ethical, theological, and activist underpinnings of a just peace ethic.These essays also demonstrate and revise the norms of a just peace ethic through conflict cases involving US immigration, racial and environmental justice, and the death penalty, as well as gang violence in El Salvador, civil war in South Sudan, ISIS in Iraq, gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, women-led activism in the Philippines, and ethnic violence in Kenya. A Just Peace Ethic Primer exemplifies the ecumenical, interfaith, and multicultural aspects of a nonviolent approach to preventing and transforming violent conflict. Scholars, advocates, and activists working in politics, history, international law, philosophy, theology, and conflict resolution will find this resource vital for providing a fruitful framework and implementing a creative vision of sustainable peace.

The Just Peace Companion is a guide for individuals and groups to come together around the notion and practice of 'Just Peace,' a holistic approach to peacemaking and social justice. Adopting a fully global perspective, the book elaborates on the insights and convictions of An Ecumenical Call to Just Peace (text also included), which is the culminating statement of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) decade-long effort to understand and address conflict, violence, and injustice. This second edition expands on the key biblical, theological, and ethical considerations of Just Peace. The book invites further exploration and critique, and it offers examples of best practices for building peace with justice. Like the Call itself, the Just Peace Companion centers on four crucial venues of Just Peace, focusing on peace in the community, in the marketplace, with the Earth, and among peoples. The project - and this new edition, which includes learnings from the landmark "International Ecumenical Peace Convocation" in Jamaica in May 2011 - was coordinated by former WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser. The book is divided into five sections, and includes the following: Vision for Just Peace * Signposts for Just Peace * Contexts of Just Peace * Just Peace Challenges * Just Peace Practices

Despite their largely pacifist origins, Christianity and Christian traditions can claim only limited success in their efforts to conciliate conflict, avoid violence, and stop war. Perhaps it is time, say the eminent contributors to this deeply reflective volume, to look at Eastern and Oriental traditions to the very different perspectives of Orthodox Christian on issues of war, peace, and the justice that must undergird peace. Writing from Europe and Russia, as well as the Middle East and Asia, two dozen Orthodox theologians and church people cast the classic dilemmas of war and peace, military service, just war, and religious nationalism into a deeper theological framework. Contents include historical characterizations of Orthodox in a variety of settings and nations (Greece, Oriental Christianity, Bulgaria, Armenia, Western Europe, etc.), dilemmas of nationalism for the churches, the invasion of Iraq, globalization, fundamentalisms, interreligious tensions, the ecclesial vocation of peacemaking. PART ONE: Orthodox Peace Ethics in Eastern and Oriental Christianity PART TWO: Orthodox Contribution to a Theology of Just Peace: Developing the Principles of Just Peace Semegnish Asfaw is Research Associate in the World Council of Churches program The Decade to Overcome Violence. Alexios Chehadeh is Exarchos of the Antiochian Church and the Institute for Theology and Peace, Hamburg, Germany. Marian Gh. Simion is Associate Director of the Boston Theological Institute and founder of the Institute for Peace Studies in Eastern Christianity, Boston.

In the wake of political evil on a large scale, what does justice consist of? Daniel Philpott takes up this question in Just and Unjust Peace. While scholars have written about many aspects of dealing with past injustice, no general ethic has emerged. Philpott seeks to provide a holistic model that delivers concrete ethical guidelines for societies striving to build peace.

The just peace movement offers a critical shift in focus and imagination. Recognizing that all life is sacred and seeking peace through violence is unsustainable, the just peace approach turns our attention to rehumanization, participatory processes, nonviolent resistance, restorative justice, reconciliation, racial justice, and creative strategies of active nonviolence to build sustainable peace, transform conflict, and end cycles of violence. A Just Peace Ethic Primer illuminates a moral framework behind this praxis and proves its versatility in global contexts. With essays by a diverse group of scholars, A Just Peace Ethic Primer outlines the ethical, theological, and activist underpinnings of a just peace ethic.These essays also demonstrate and revise the norms of a just peace ethic through conflict cases involving US immigration, racial and environmental justice, and the death penalty, as well as gang violence in El Salvador, civil war in South Sudan, ISIS in Iraq, gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, women-led activism in the Philippines, and ethnic violence in Kenya. A Just Peace Ethic Primer exemplifies the ecumenical, interfaith, and multicultural aspects of a nonviolent approach to preventing and transforming violent conflict. Scholars, advocates, and activists working in politics, history, international law, philosophy, theology, and conflict resolution will find this resource vital for providing a fruitful framework and implementing a creative vision of sustainable peace.

This book on faith-based peacebuilding is a practical resource for peacebuilding practitioners and all others who are grappling with injustice and conflict. Seven case studies describe concrete initiatives within highly diverse contexts. Three case studies focus on strengthening internal church peacebuilding capacity through peace education, one looks at the role of alliances and networks in advocacy for addressing gender-based violence and three focus on ecumenical and inter-religious collaboration. An introductory essay provides a general overview and literature review for faith-based peacebuilding, discusses processes and describes key roles that faith-based actors can play.