Discipleship as Political Responsibility

by John Howard Yoder

Publisher:

Herald Press

, 2003

Overview

John Howard Yoder went to Europe after World War II as a young volunteer. He worked as an aide in a children’s home in Alsace, France, and completed his doctorate under Karl Barth in Basel, Switzerland. Because of his incomparably clear and sharp thinking, he quickly became one of the most sought-after seminar speakers on pacifism as he worked toward an Anabaptist renewal of the church.

In this context, Yoder succeeded in reopening the theological debate on the political responsibility of Christians and of the church—a debate to which persecution had put an end 400 years earlier. Biblical scholar Timothy J. Geddert translated two of these lectures, originally given in Germany, to help seekers understand Yoder’s invitation to begin an exploratory journey that leads to Jesus Christ’s peace church.

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Key Features

• Contains two lectures, originally in German
• Discusses the political responsibility of Christians and the church
• Examines what the Bible says about church and state

Contents

• Part I: The State in the New Testament
  • The Mandate of the State
  • The Mandate of the Church
  • The Limits of the State
  • The State as a Pagan Institution
  • The Problem of Application
• Part II: Following Christ as a Form of Political Responsibility
  • The Problem
  • Jesus Christ as a Political Person
  • The Cross of Christians as Political Discipleship
  • The Separation of the Cross and Sword
  • Discipleship Today

Praise for the Print Edition

Those familiar with Yoder will know that his writing is quite remarkable, expressing complex ideas in an accessible and logically clear way. His arguments thoroughly engage with the biblical text, center on the cross, and make substantial claims concerning the Christian commitment to nonviolence that are anything but romantic. In addition, it is most refreshing to read, and perhaps most startling to grasp, Yoder’s outright claim that the Christian is a political person. Discipleship to Jesus requires participation in a community that presents a radical alternative to the world, most notably in its commitment to the way of Jesus’s cross.

—Benjamin A. Simpson, author, Commitment to Christ: 40 Devotions for a Generous Life

Product Details

• Title: Discipleship as Political Responsibility
• Author: John Howard Yoder
• Translator: Timothy J. Geddert
• Publisher: Herald Press
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 67

About John Howard Yoder

John Howard Yoder (1927–1997) taught ethics and theology at Notre Dame University and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. He received his doctorate from the University of Basel, Switzerland, and was a member of the Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana. Widely sought around the world as a theological educator, ethicist, and interpreter of biblical pacifism, he is best known for The Politics of Jesus, 2nd ed.. He is also the author of The Christian Witness to the State, The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiological and Ecumenical, and Nevertheless: The Varieties and Shortcomings of Religious Pacifism.