Christian Attitudes to War, Peace and Revolution (review)

Christian Attitudes to War, Peace, and Revolution constitutes another portion of John Howard Yoder’s posthumously published scholarly legacy. The volume is based on transcripts of Yoder’s lectures from a course by the same name that he taught for nearly twenty-five years. As a genre, Christian Attitudes most closely resembles Yoder’s Preface to Theology (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2002), and it demonstrates Yoder’s intellectual posture in a more broadly sustained way than do his other books, which are either collections of essays or tightly focused monographs.

The general topic of Christian Attitudes is clearly communicated by its title. Yoder’s stated intent is to “provide the historical background students need before they [can] proceed to do original thinking on issues of war and peace” (15). Yoder sets up the survey by refining the traditional typology of Christian approaches to warfare: blank check, pacifism, holy war, and justifiable war. Yet the book is not just a survey; Yoder’s analysis is woven throughout. Methodologically, Yoder is consciously working in the field of the history of ideas, even though he consistently downplays individual genius and focuses more on political constraints and social factors. He attempts to limit the unfair effects of his own bias by testing his analysis with those who hold other views. This means, of course, that Yoder holds a specific view: he is a pacifist who, though he respects Niebuhr’s realism and the integrity of the just war tradition when consistently applied, finds that these positions fail to adequately take the political elements of the New Testament seriously. Yoder’s work is energized by his sense that his position is not merely right for members of traditional peace churches but that it also obliges them to commend it to others.

The book is structured more or less chronologically, tracing developments in the topic from early Christianity through ecumenical and post-Niebuhrian realities of the 1980s. Developed for predominantly American seminary and graduate students, it is not surprising that Christian Attitudes is focused geographically on movements affecting U.S. Christians. However, Yoder also examines Latin America liberation theology and various European ecumenical consultations (both contexts that Yoder had engaged firsthand). Those not familiar with the ecumenical nature of Yoder’s thought will be surprised at the scope of this Mennonite theologian’s study, which covers topics and movements as diverse as rabbinic Judaism, medieval Catholicism, the “first reformers” (Hus, Wycliffe, Chelčický, etc.), Enlightenment humanism, Quakerism, and twentieth-century Catholic pacifism.

Some readers will be surprised by the skeptical approach Yoder takes toward many of the political developments of the Protestant Reformation. He contrasts the moral influence of priests in the medieval Catholic courtroom with the Protestant chaplain whose public life clothed civil action with a religious mandate. Yoder writes, “Protestantism did away with penance, with auricular confession, with moral accountability to anybody except your parents or the prince” (120). In addition Protestantism did away with important public expressions of pacifism such as pilgrimages and the monastic life. The Protestant Reformation contained the seeds of modern nationalism and even creedalized the justifiable war doctrine. It severely limited the ability of the Church to stand apart from national governments and to provide a level of international accountability and critique.

As one might expect from a book that evolved from lecture transcriptions, the prose of Christian Attitudes is not always winsome. With some pleasing exceptions, this text generally bears the bullet-point rhythm of a lecture and conjures visions of an overhead transparency. In addition, the book is somewhat awkwardly located between the realm of historical theology and the history of ideas more broadly construed. With respect to the former it lacks reference to correlating doctrinal developments, and with respect to the latter its specific references to political philosophy are sparse. Its length, more than four hundred pages, and lack of thorough documentation will limit its use as...