It goes by many names–pacifism, nonresistance, nonviolent resistance, satyagraha, etc. But at root is the notion that the response to violence should be a committed and sacrificial non-violence which humanizes the enemy who seeks to dehumanize you. In the Christian tradition, this philosophy is rooted in the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.
Here are ten must-read books that explore what it means to follow Jesus into nonviolence.
1. De Corona – Tertullian
While many early church fathers wrote in favor of Christian pacifism, Tertullian treated the question in a more focused manner in his book De Corona, or The Chaplet–a reference to the garland that a Roman soldier wore in state ceremonies. While he spends an inordinate amount of time discussing crowns worn in pagan contexts, he also presents the common Christian viewpoint on violence at his time, arguing:
“Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? And shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law? And shall he apply the chain, and the prison, and the torture, and the punishment, who is not the avenger even of his own wrongs? . . . And shall he keep guard before the temples which he has renounced [and] shall he diligently protect by night those whom in the day-time he has put to flight by his exorcisms, leaning and resting on the spear the while with which Christ’s side was pierced? Shall he carry a flag, too, hostile to Christ?”
Get it here.
2. A Change of Allegiance – Dean Taylor
A Change of Allegiance is unique in this list because it presents a fascinating firsthand account of an American soldier’s journey to becoming a conscientious objector. It collects his arguments for Christian nonviolence as well as his own personal experience with coming to terms with it while in the military service.
Get it here.
3. Warlike Christians in an Age of Violence – Nick Megoran
Warlike Christians in an Age of Violence is written from a unique perspective. Megoran is not simply engaging this topic as a churchman applying the biblical witness, but as a lecturer in political geography at Newcastle University in Great Britain–a specialist in geopolitics, religion, and the war on terror. As such, he brings both practical expertise and faithfulness to the biblical data to bear in this engaging and readable book.
I also had the pleasure of interviewing Megoran on my podcast:
http://www.cantus-firmus.com/?p=1164
Get it here.
4. What About Hitler – Robert Brimlow
In a series of meditations on scripture which bring out his philosophical training, Robert Brimlow prepares us to address a common objection to Christian pacifism: What about Hitler? He doesn’t address this question in a vacuum but elaborates a coherent philosophy of following Christ’s example of non-violence so that the question can be confronted not in isolation from our commitment to Jesus, but from deep within it.
5. Jesus and Nonviolence – Walter Wink
A biblical scholar who was famous for his three volume work on the “powers and principalities” of the New Testament, Wink also wrote this engaging popular level book on Jesus’ third way of responding to evil–not with violence, not with passive acceptance, but with non-violent resistance. Wink gives thought-provoking treatments of Jesus’ guidance on how to deal with powerful oppressors in Matthew chapter 5 as well as memorable accounts of effective non-violent resistance.
6. Against War – Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch Christian philosopher and humanist (in the Renaissance sense) most famous for his publishing of the Textus Receptus–a bound volume of the New Testament in Greek–and his debate with Martin Luther about free will.
He also wrote a compelling treatise against war; both wars where Christian nations fight against each other as well as wars against non-Christian peoples. He asked rhetorically:
“[Is it] a good Christian man’s deed to slay a Turk? For be the Turks never so wicked, yet they are men, for whose salvation Christ suffered death. And killing Turks we offer to the devil most pleasant sacrifice, and with that one deed we please our enemy, the devil, twice: first because a man is slain, and again, because a Christian man slew him.”
7. Fight – Preston Sprinkle
In this very engaging book, biblical scholar Preston Sprinkle details his transformation from gun-toting evangelical to Christian pacifist as he carefully examines both the Bible and the early church witness on non-violence.
8. The Kingdom of God Is Within You – Leo Tolstoy
Though not without its problems, both theological and philosophical, the Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God Is Within You is a classic treatment on Jesus’ example of nonviolence which influenced Gandhi and the Christian anarchist movement, among countless others.
9. The God of War – Joseph Judson Taylor
Joseph Judson Taylor, a 19th-20th century American Baptist minister, stood almost alone in condemning his denomination’s affirmation of the United States’ entry into World War I. As a result, he was forced by his congregation to resign as their pastor.
After the end of a war which even many non-pacifists today would acknowledge was foolish, he published The God of War. In it, he chastises his fellow Christians for their war fervor which served a god not of Christ and exhorts the mothers of military age boys to not put their children through the fire as Canaanite pagan parents sacrificed their babies to Molech.
10. Strength to Love – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Though elements of his personal life have been, especially of late, brought out for rightful condemnation, the positive impact of King upon American society is also hard to deny. A minister who took Jesus’ commands to do no violence and followed in the footsteps of Mohandas Gandhi who likewise imitated Christ’s example of nonviolence, King lead the most effective and morally upright element of America’s civil rights movement.
Strength to Love collects his sermons on the subject of Christian love and non-violent resistance; sermons which continue to inspire Christians and non-violent activists today.
-Cody Cook
Cody Cook is the writer and podcaster behind Cantus Firmus and the author of Fight the Powers: What the Bible Says About the Relationship Between Spiritual Forces and Human Governments