Customer Reviews

Politics of the Cross, The: The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder

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Pacifism is the heart of the Christian gospel, not an add-on by a strange fringe sect of believers. John Howard Yoder spent his entire life patiently and excellently explaining that essential truth to the entire Christian church. Craig Carter does an admirable job setting Yoder's thought in an easily readable context, seeing the strains of Yoder's argument both in his Anabaptist Mennonite roots and in his theological training with Karl Barth. Carter especially takes great pains to establish that Yoder's vision of a concrete call to radical political discipleship is both fundamentally biblical and more Nicene and Chalcedonian than the Constantinian establishment government church ever was - or is.

The primary problem with systematically presenting Yoder's thought is that Yoder rejected systematization itself as Constantinian. Carter remarks on page 18, "Yoder wrote no major systematic treatise in which the comprehensiveness, logical rigor, and originality of his theology could be readily ascertained," and later on the same page says, "Although Yoder considered the possibility of writing a basic introduction to ethics or to his thought as a whole, he rejected the idea as being inconsistent with his firm rejection of foundationalism or methodologism." So why write a methodical/systematic treatise of his thought? I am reminded of the conversation I had a young Mennonite student a few years ago where he said he was interested in writing a systematic theology of Mennonites so that they could be more effective in ecumenical dialogue. I think the primary gift that Mennonites - and Yoder - provide to ecumenical dialogue is the refusal to write systematic theologies. Yoder wrote specific essays to specific people for specific purposes, as Carter notes, in full line with the Anabaptist commitment to Christ that he admired. Why don't we keep doing the same thing today? Carter presents a helpful guide to begin to read Yoder - but its main draw is not to summarize Yoder so one can stop there, but to entice all Christians into reading Yoder himself - and to entering into a life of true discipleship.

This is the best place to begin if you are not familiar with Yoder. My only gripe with the book is that it is bit too technical for anyone not trained in theology. But again, definitely easier to read than "Politics of Jesus."

Higly recommended!