Speak Your Peace: What the Bible Says about Loving Our Enemies

by Ronald J. Sider

Publisher:

Herald Press

, 2020

Overview

Is nonviolence irresponsible? Is peacemaking naïve?
 
From one of the most respected and prophetic voices in Christianity today comes Speak Your Peace. Ronald J. Sider, author of the influential Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, plumbs Scripture, building a persuasive case that Jesus meant what he said when he commanded us to love our enemies.
 
With candor and logic, Sider takes on enduring questions about violence and nonviolence, showing how the contemporary church in a warring world has largely set aside Jesus’ call to love our enemies and traded its birthright in Christ for a stew of nationalism and militarism. But ignoring what Jesus said about killing is a huge theological mistake. Returning us to the inescapable call of the Son of God, Sider reminds the church of its true vocation in a world of hatred and war.
 

Contents

1. Table of Contents

 

•  

 
1 The Central Questions
2 The Setting for Jesus’ Radical Teaching
3 Living in Jesus’ Dawning Kingdom
4 Why Many Christians Set Aside Jesus
5 Does the Rest of the New Testament Reflect What Jesus Taught?
6 But What about . . . ?
7 Jesus and Killing in the Old Testament
8 Foundational Theological Issues
9 Problems with Pacifism
10 Problems with Just-War Thinking
11 What If Most (or All) Christians Became Pacifists?
12 Nonviolence and the Atonement
13 Christians and Killing in Church History
14 If Jesus Is Lord
 
Notes
The Author

 

Product Details

• Title : Speak Your Peace: What the Bible Says about Loving Our Enemies
• Author: Sider, Ronald J.
• Publisher: Herald Press
• Publication Date: 2020
• ISBN: 9781513806273

About Ronald J. Sider

Ron Sider is known worldwide for providing leadership to the movement of evangelicals who recognize not just the spiritual, but also the social and political implications of a high view of Scripture. His book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger was lauded by Christianity Today as being among the top 100 books in religion in the 20th century and the seventh most influential book in the evangelical world in the last 50 years. Dr. Sider has published 30 books in addition to Rich Christians, including Evangelism, Salvation and Social Justice; Christ and Violence; Cry Justice: The Bible on Hunger and Poverty; Completely Pro-Life; Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel; Living Like Jesus; Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America; The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?; The Scandal of Evangelical Politics: Why are Christians Missing the Chance to Really Change the World?; and I Am not a Social Activist: Making Jesus the Agenda. In the 1970s, Dr. Sider played a key role in the drafting of the historic Chicago Declaration, which helped set the direction for evangelicals concerned about the Bible’s social implications. He was the founder of Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA), which for more than three decades has provided an organizational outlet for Christians committed to holistic ministry. ESA is now a part of the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy at Palmer Seminary. An ordained minister in the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Churches, Ron lectured at numerous educational institutions, including Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Oxford.