Covenant of Peace: The Missing Peace in New Testament Theology and Ethics [Paperback]

Willard M. Swartley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2006

One would think that peace, a term that occurs as many as one hundred times in the New Testament, would enjoy a prominent place in theology and ethics textbooks. Yet it is surprisingly absent. Willard Swartleys Covenant of Peace remedies this deficiency, restoring to New Testament theology and ethics the peace that many works have missed. In this comprehensive yet accessible book Swartley explicates virtually all of the New Testament, relating peace - and the associated emphases of love for enemies and reconciliation - to core theological themes such as salvation, christology, and the reign of God. No other work in English makes such a contribution. Swartley concludes by considering specific practices that lead to peacemaking and their place in our contemporary world. Retrieving a historically neglected element in the Christian message, Covenant of Peace confronts readers anew with the compelling New Testament witness to peace.

Product Details

• Paperback: 542 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (April 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802829376
• ISBN-13: 978-0802829375
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #752,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A watershed in NT Theology, July 26, 2007

By 

Adam P. Penner "Adam P." (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Covenant of Peace: The Missing Peace in New Testament Theology and Ethics (Paperback)

If it seems as though concepts of peace, peacemaking, non-violence and pacifism have been consistently distilleded from, yet strangely absent from New Testament Theologies, well... they have. One could either argue that this is because these concepts (at least as understood by ethicists) are indeed not theologically apparent in the New Testament, or one could dare challenge, document, and illustrate the willful neglect of such concepts. The former has been no doubt attempted, yet the latter is precisely what Swartley does in "Covenant of Peace".

Imbued with a lifetime of scholarship, Swartley prophetically challenges the western theological tradition (that which has enjoyed political power) with an honest and thorough look at the message of the New Testament. His treatment builds upon much existent scholarship but with new eyes open to the shalom-project of God. Finally, a NT Theology that boldly states what much of Biblical scholoarship (thank you, Yoder) has been implying for years.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent resource, April 19, 2009

By 

M. Newman (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Covenant of Peace: The Missing Peace in New Testament Theology and Ethics (Paperback)

This text was required reading for a class I took on The Bible and Peacemaking. It was my first exposure to Swartley's work, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He carefully traces peacemaking themes through each author in the New Testament. The chapters on 1 Peter, John 4, and Revelation stand out in my memory as being most insightful. If you've read J. H. Yoder, Walter Wink, or Stanley Hauwerwas, Swartley shares many of their views but approaches peacemaking themes in this work more from a biblical studies perspective than from an ethics perspective. It's a thick read, but well worth the investment, a unique contribution to New Testament scholarship in an area that has generally been neglected in biblical studies.