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Baylor University
Institute for Faith and Learning
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
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      • 2019 The Character of the University
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      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
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      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
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      • Starting Points
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    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
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      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
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      • Peace and War
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Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Peace and War
  • Faith Animating Online Education
  • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
  • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
  • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
  • Recommended Reading
  • External Resources
  • The Christian Reflection Project
    • Acedia
    • Advent Ethics
    • Aging
    • Anger
    • Apocalyptic Vision
    • Attentive Patience
    • The Book of Acts
    • Caring for Creation
    • Catechism
    • Chastity
    • Children
    • Christianity and Islam
    • Christmas and Epiphany
    • Cities and Towns
    • Cloning
    • Consumerism
    • Death
    • Disability
    • Easter
    • Food and Hunger
    • Forgiveness
    • Freedom
    • Friendship
    • Gambling Culture
    • Generosity
    • Global Wealth
    • Health
    • Heaven and Hell
    • Hospitality
    • Immigration
    • Inklings of Glory
    • Lent
    • The Letter of James
    • Marriage
    • Membership
    • Monasticism Old and New
    • Moral Landscape of Creation
    • Mysticism
    • Parables
    • Patterns of Violence
    • Peace and War
    • Pentecost
    • Pornographic Culture
    • Prayer
    • Prison
    • Prophetic Ethics
    • Racism
    • Sabbath
    • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
    • Scripture
    • Sermon on the Mount
    • Singing Our Lives
    • Sports
    • Suffering
    • Traveling Well
    • Virtual Lives
    • Vocation
    • Where Wisdom Is Found
    • Women and the Church
    • Women in the Bible
    • Work

Peace and War

How should we negotiate our dual identities, as followers of Christ and citizens of a democratic state, when the state goes to war? Contributors engage the Bible's alarming images of war, the teachings of Christ, and the long and difficult debates on peace and war in Christian history.

The ancient Israelites reached no consensus about holy war, just war, and pacifism. Yet Revelation cross-examines the claims of divine blessing upon the civil order, especially when it is violent and economically exploitative. The War of the Lamb, notes Harry Maier, "transforms holy war in a way that finally renounces violence as the means by which God's purposes are achieved."

Does just-war thinking apply to terrorists who don't play by its rules? Can practices of just peacemaking guide us to proactive actions that dry up the sources for terrorist anger and recruitment?

Violent crime wounds our society, with over two million citizens incarcerated. "Restorative justice helps us think about harm in a holistic way," Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz writes, and so it responds better to the needs of victims, offenders, and the community.

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to help us explore Christian attitudes on peace and war. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Peace and War issue and the set of six Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

  • "War in the Old Testament," by John A. Wood
  • "The War of the Lamb," by Harry O. Maier
  • "Terrorist Enemies and Just War," by William T. Cavanaugh
  • "Just Peacemaking in an Age of Terrorism," by Glen H. Stassen
  • "Moral Equality among Soldiers," by Scott A. Sterling
  • "Restorative Justice," by Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz

Art

  • "A Gentle Embrace," on William Blake's Mercy and Truth are Met Together
  • "Kingdom Come," on Edward Hicks' Peaceable Kingdom

Hymn and Worship Service

  • "Let Us Sing a Song of Peace," by Terry W. York and C. David Bolin
  • Worship Service by David M. Bridges

Inspirational Pieces

  • "The Armor of God," by Bob Fox
  • "Making Peace with Our Enemies," by George A. Mason

Book Reviews

  • "Peace and the Divine Warrior," by Scott W. Bullard
    • Walter Brueggemann, Peace
    • Tremper Longman III and Daniel Reid, God is a Warrior
  • "Pacifism and Just War: Beyond the Stereotypes," by Erin Dufault-Hunter
    • Lisa Sowle Cahill, Love Your Enemies: Discipleship, Pacifism, and Just War Theory
    • Terry Nardin (ed.), The Ethics of War and Peace: Secular and Religious Perspectives

Study Guides and Lesson Plans (Download the set of six Study Guides)

  • "War in the Old Testament"
  • "The War of the Lamb"
  • "Terrorist Enemies and Just War"
  • "Just Peacemaking"
  • "Peace with Our Enemies"
  • "Restorative Justice"

Further Reading

  • "Is Apocalyptic Imagination Killing Us?" by Scott M. Lewis, S. J. (Apocalyptic Vision)
  • "Matthew's Nonviolent Jesus and Violent Parables," by Barbara E. Reid, O. P. (Parables)
  • "The End of It All," by Brett Younger (Apocalyptic Vision)
Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Peace and War
  • About
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    • Staff
  • Conferences and Symposiums
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      Back
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
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        • Key Information and Frequently Asked Questions
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
      • 2021 Living Accountably
        Back
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2019 The Character of the University
        Back
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2018 Stewardship of Creation
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        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2017 The Bible and the Reformation
        Back
        • Co-Sponsors
        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2016 Higher Learning
        Back
        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2014 Faith and Film
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      Back
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
    • Other Conferences and Events
      Back
      • IFL@25
        Back
        • Select Pictures from IFL@25
      • 2019 LFP National Conference
        Back
        • Presenters
      • Art & Soul
      • Pruit Memorial Symposium
        Back
        • 2001 Celebrating Augustine's Confessions
        • 2002 Christianity and Economics
        • 2003 The Schooled Heart
        • 2004 Slavery, Oppression, and Prejudice
        • 2005 Global Christianity
      • Baylor University Medical Ethics Seminar
        Back
        • 2016 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2017 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2018 Medical Ethics Seminar
      • One-Time Conferences
  • Programs
    Back
    • Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators
    • William Carey Crane Scholars Program
      Back
      • Additional Information
    • Missio
    • Forming Character in the Classroom
      Back
      • About the Program: Called to Character
      • Past Workshops
    • Reading Groups and Guest Speakers
    • Soundings Project
  • Media and Resources
    Back
    • Faith Animating Online Education
      Back
      • Starting Points
      • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
      • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
      • Additional Resources
    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      Back
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
      • Christmas and Epiphany
      • Cities and Towns
      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
      • Death
      • Disability
      • Easter
      • Food and Hunger
      • Forgiveness
      • Freedom
      • Friendship
      • Gambling Culture
      • Generosity
      • Global Wealth
      • Health
      • Heaven and Hell
      • Hospitality
      • Immigration
      • Inklings of Glory
      • Lent
      • The Letter of James
      • Marriage
      • Membership
      • Monasticism Old and New
      • Moral Landscape of Creation
      • Mysticism
      • Parables
      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
      • Pentecost
      • Pornographic Culture
      • Prayer
      • Prison
      • Prophetic Ethics
      • Racism
      • Sabbath
      • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
      • Scripture
      • Sermon on the Mount
      • Singing Our Lives
      • Sports
      • Suffering
      • Traveling Well
      • Virtual Lives
      • Vocation
      • Where Wisdom Is Found
      • Women and the Church
      • Women in the Bible
      • Work
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