Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness (Resources for Reconciliation) [Paperback]

Stanley Hauerwas (Author), Jean Vanier (Author)

Book Description

Series: Resources for Reconciliation | Publication Date: September 30, 2008

How are Christians to live in a violent and wounded world? Rather than contending for privilege by wielding power and authority, we can witness prophetically from a position of weakness. The church has much to learn from an often overlooked community--those with disabilities. In this fascinating book, theologian Stanley Hauerwas collaborates with Jean Vanier, founder of the worldwide L'Arche communities. For many years, Hauerwas has reflected on the lives of people with disability, the political significance of community, and how the experience of disability addresses the weaknesses and failures of liberal society. And L'Arche provides a unique model of inclusive community that is underpinned by a deep spirituality and theology. Together, Vanier and Hauerwas carefully explore the contours of a countercultural community that embodies a different way of being and witnesses to a new order--one marked by radical forms of gentleness, peacemaking and faithfulness. The authors' explorations shed light on what it means to be human and how we are to live. The robust voice of Hauerwas and the gentle words of Vanier offer a synergy of ideas that, if listened to carefully, will lead the church to a fresh practicing of peace, love and friendship. This invigorating conversation is for everyday Christians who desire to live faithfully in a world that is violent and broken.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hauerwas and Vanier insist on the holiness of people with disabilities. . . . the political implications of gentleness in the last chapter is worth the entire book." (Publishers Weekly starred review, October 13, 2008 )

"Church takes time, patience, gentleness, vulnerability, friendship, hospitality, mutuality and peaceableness. In other words, church takes practice--this is the prophetic witness of the L'Arche communities not to the world, but to the church! And this prophetic witness is carried in this book by the gentle voice of Jean Vanier, the polemical one of Stanley Hauerwas, and the wise introduction and conclusion from John Swinton. Here is the prophetic edge that is even at the vanguard of the emerging church!" (Amos Yong, professor of systematic theology, Regent University School of Divinity, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and author of Theology and Down Syndrome )

From the Publisher

For more information, visit Duke Divinity School's Center for Reconciliation.

To learn more about Jean Vanier's work with the disabled community, visit L'Arche.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 117 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830834524
• ISBN-13: 978-0830834525
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Theology that Reckons with Brokenness, December 15, 2008

By 

Eric N. Tonjes (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness (Resources for Reconciliation) (Paperback)

I was intrigued when I got a copy of Living Genly in a Violent World. I had heard of Jean Vanier's work in founding the L'Arche communities, in which individuals with mental disabilities live together in community with those who don't have such challenges. Stanley Hauerwas, meanwhile, has long been a literary and theological conversation partner for me, and while there are many areas about which I would disagree with him, he is reliable in his ability to challenge the way I think. This book, part of the Resources for Reconciliation series put out by InterVarsity Press and Duke Divinity School's Center for Reconciliation, was an intriguing read.

The book is formatted as a set of four essays, two by Jean Vanier and two by Stanley Hauerwas. In some ways, it almost feels like two books with a shared theme: Vanier spends his chapters reflecting upon life among the mentally disabled and how it should shape us, while Hauerwas uses the example of L'Arche as a launching pad for a larger argument about rest, servant-leadership, gentleness and peace theology.

The essays are all relatively short, with the book weighing in at around 100 pages. Those looking for a systematic argument for the views it espouses will be disappointed. Indeed, there were many times when I found both authors making side comments and following rabbit trails which seemed to have little bearing on the overall discussion. Add to this the fact that I'm sure many (including myself) will find ample cause for theological disagreement with some of the authors' underlying ideas, and many would probably dismiss the work as rubbish.

However, I cannot do so because of one simple fact: agree or disagree, almost every page of this little book is beautifully and thrillingly provocative. I found this especially true while reading Vanier. His theology leaves plenty to be desired, but his rich experience spending his life among those who are truly the "least of these" in a society which idolizes knowledge and productivity leave him with deep insights that are rare in many more theologically rigorous authors. His wisdom about rest, into what Christian love really looks like, and about how to really learn to celebrate life all set me back on my heels. Hauerwas as well supplies some challenging thoughts, especially when he discusses our modern understanding of time and how it is antithetical to true biblical rest.

The fundamental question which these authors are wrestling with this: is there room in our Westernized Christian understanding of holiness and life for those who are mentally broken in ways the rest of us often discount? If there isn't, perhaps it's time to rethink just what it means to be a follower of Jesus in the first place. When the gospel is not for the least of these, it's probably just something we've concocted for our own comfort.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exemplifying True Love, January 9, 2009

By 

S. J. Young - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness (Resources for Reconciliation) (Paperback)

I originally bought this book thinking it would be simply a Hauerwas book. I was surprised to see that it was more of an exchange or conversation between Hauerwas and Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche Communities. The book is brief, easy to read, and compelling in multiple ways.

I actually found Vanier's sections more compelling and moving spiritually than Hauerwas' - though I appreciated what Hauerwas had to say. Vanier's communities emphasize great humility and gentleness of a sort that is unique in the world - a humility that comes from weakness. He seeks to treat those who we see as "handicapped" as equals. His is not a condescending love; but it is a love that says, "you are as important as I am and I have weaknesses just as you do." It is a radical departure from the conservative who tends to ignore the downtrodden and the liberal who tends to condescend toward others in telling them what's good for them.

This kind of love is actually very much in tune with the love of Christ and his disciples in the NT. Hauerwas sees lessons to be learned by "the church" from Vanier and vice-versa. Vanier's communities are a great model for the way churches should be - and this is a vital point. He gives great emphasis to weakness and humility as well as to the critical import of shared meals and laughter - without pretense (all central NT concepts that are often missing in churches). One gets a sense that though there are great struggles and often a lot of pain in his communities, there is also great love, family acceptance and joy - isn't that a great model for a congregation?

This book is a very worthwhile read, especially for those in Evangelical churches who tend to be condescending toward or simply ignore those who are downtrodden - whether from some physical handicap or from their sin. As the apostle Paul exemplified in his life, and as Christ exemplified in his life and death on the cross, the power of God is greatest in human weakness and humility. Vanier captures this well in his life.

Though one may disagree with some of his theological perspectives (Vanier seems to place no importance on conversion - and this de-emphasis on conversion to Christ is one of the central problems with many modern Christian writers and groups who have given an important voice to reaching out to the poor), Vanier is still an exceptional example to the typical American Evangelical who tends to follow the worldly path of personal exaltation, success-driven confidence and condescension - rather than the Christ-centered path of weakness and abject humility. In life and attitude, he models Christ better than almost all churchgoing evangelicals.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars upending the social pyramid, January 21, 2009

By 

Daniel B. Clendenin (www.journeywithjesus.net) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness (Resources for Reconciliation) (Paperback)

The four essays in this gem of a little book originated at a conference sponsored by the Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability at the University of Aberdeen in 2006. The book's publication represents a collaboration between InterVarsity Press and the Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School that pairs leading thinkers with practitioners to explore what hope means in a world of brokenness. Hauerwas (b. 1940) is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law. Vanier (b. 1928) is the founder of L'Arche, "an international network of communities where people with and without intellectual disabilities experience life together as fellow human beings who share a mutuality of care and need. Today over 130 L'Arche communities exist in 34 countries on six continents."

Vanier and Hauerwas take turns writing the alternate chapters of the book. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that "those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (1 Corinthians 12:22). That sort of thinking subverts what society considers "normal" and challenges the labels, stereotypes, caricatures and false assumptions that we make about people who are weak in body, mind, or spirit. Vanier's stories relate how L'Arche emphasizes "living with" instead of "doing for" or trying to "fix" the disabled. The goal is not a solution to a problem but a sign of hope, of the possibility to love each other. Care, not a cure, is the invitation that the weak offer us. To live and think this way signals the end of all social meritocracy, and the upending of the "pyramid of hierarchy" that so many of us seek to climb. And so, Vanier says, "I'm not interested in doing a good job. I am interested in an ecclesial vision for community. We are brothers and sisters, and Jesus is calling us from the pyramid to become a body."