As I mentioned a while ago, I plan on writing up some notes of books I am reading as a way of taking notes for myself, and hopefully as a way to get a discussion going around what I’m reading, even if you haven’t read the book. Right now I am reading What About Hitler? Wrestling with Jesus’ Call to Nonviolence in an Evil World. The author is Robert Brimlow, a philosophy professor at St. John Fischer College.

Preface
• In Brimlow’s philosophy classes, discussions about pacifism invariably end up on “the Hitler question”. The idea is that Hitler and the Nazis represented such a supreme evil, that the only plausible response in that situation is violence. Brimlow argues that Jesus calls us to nonviolence, but wrestles with this question, wondering if there is ever a situation when Christians may be called to fight (pg. 9).
• A major part of our call to follow Jesus is a call away from violence. We are not called to be pacifists, we are called to be Christians, and part of what it means to be Christian is to be a peacemaker (11).
• Brimlow addresses his remarks to the church as it is, not to some ideal, mental vision of the church. He reocgnizes the tension between where we are in reality and our call to discipleship which he calls “unrealistic, implausible, and absurd”. Yet even though Jesus’s call seems unnatural, or even impossible, we must resist the temptation to explain away “why Jesus could not have possibly meant what he most clearly said” (11).

One
• This chapter is a summary of the foundations of just war theory, and its historical development. Just war theory is the major philosophical alternative to Christian pacifism. Just War theory states that warfare may be acceptable for Christians, if certain criteria are met. These criteria deal with reasons for entering war, means of conducting war, and (more recently) methods of ending a war.
• NT Wright finds evidence of Jesus’ pacifism through his rejection of the zealots program of violent opposition to Rome (pg. 22).
• There is no record of a Christian writer approving of participation in warfare until 330 AD, and no record of Christians in the Roman army until 173 AD.
• Tertullian (204 AD) condemns voluntary enlistment by Christians in the Roman army/police force.
• Through Constantine (337 AD), Christianity moves from a persecuted minority to the official state religion of Rome, and essentially becomes assimilated into the Empire.
• Augustine (413 AD) creates a basic structure for Just War theory. He differentiates between between the violent actions of man and their spiritual feelings about violence. Essentially, violence and warmaking are acceptable as long as one’s motives are pure. For Augustine, the positve result of unity may make acts of violence worthwhile. The ends justify the means. Augustine endorses the expansion of the Roman Empire, but does view justified warfare as a last resort. (23-29)
• Brimlow concludes that Augustine is wrong to divorce wrong motivations from wrong actions. He prefers Tertullian’s description of our call to follow Christ including our hearts, souls, and bodies. Brimlow’s position is that if we are formed by Christ inwardly, both our desires and our actions will move away from violence. (30-32)

“Augustine is a saint, he is also wrong” – Brimlow, pg. 30

I have been wrestling with the question of Christian pacifism since college, and I have always been attracted to the idea, but have never quite gotten to the place where I call myself a pacifist. Maybe this book will push me over the edge. I am not coming to this book with a blank slate, rather Brimlow’s book will be another voice that has shaped my thinking on this issue following Bonhoeffer, Richard Hays, JH Yoder, Martin Luther King, and Stanley Hauerwas. Oh yeah, and the words of Jesus. That’s kind of an important source, too.

The explanation and critique of Just War theory in chapter one is well done. It seems he is more than competent academically, and not afraid to make bold statements and challenge the status quo (he flat out disagrees with Augustine, after all). I did find myself wondering though, after deconstructing Just War, if he would dedicate a similar amount of space in his book to the reasons for advocating pacifism, or some other alternative to Just War. Maybe that comes later, but as I am writing, I have read most of the book, and haven’t gotten that so far, nor has there been much discussion on what Jesus actually said on the subject. Maybe that is at the end?

My friend Tyler tagged me a while ago, which means, I think, that I’m supposed to write 5 things about myself that most people don’t know. I’ll put a little twist on mine. Are you familiar with the game Two Truths and a Lie? Well the following are four true statements, and one complete fabrication. A bit tardy, but here goes…

1. Three days a week I am a stay at home dad, and on two of those days I also watch a little girl from our church, Penny. She’s a funny kid, super smart, and Adam loves her. The one hour window (if I’m lucky) when they are both asleep is when I try to write.
2. I used up my fifteen minutes of fame by the time I was 8. After being spotted by some kind of talent scout during a kindergarten play, I spent the next couple of years shilling children’s clothing for a company in Boise, ID called The Red Balloon. My dad keeps the tapes of these old radio commercials handy and still plays them whenever he thinks I need to be taken down a peg.
3. I don’t sleep well. I am often up till three or four in the morning. You would think I would post on this blog more often with all that extra time, but I usually just lay there trying to turn my brain off.
4. I once spent the night in Omaha, Nebraska because of a snow storm in Chicago. The airline gave us a choice between a hotel voucher and a coupon for a free steak dinner. I took the steak.
5. I recently returned from several days in Nicaragua, planning out a mission trip for this summer. It was a great trip, and I think it is going to be a great experience for all of us this summer. We are partnering with another church from the Covenant denomination in Ameya, Nicaragua to help make a dream of theirs a reality. We will be helping them build an addition to their church building that will be a vocational school. The people in this area cannot afford to go to school beyond elementary school, so the dream is to give Jr. and Sr. High age children training in basic job skills so they can commute into Chinandega (a modern town about 3 miles away) and find work.

Greetings sports fans. In case you haven’t heard, the greatest college football game ever was played on Monday night. OK, maybe I’m a little biased because my home town team came out on top, but seriously, that was insane, and I’m not alone in my opinion. The Boise State Broncos beat the heavily favored Oklahoma Sooners 43-42 in overtime in the Fiesta Bowl.

After trailing by as many as 18, Oklahoma came all the way back to tie it up in the fourth quarter on a must-have-it two point conversion with only 1:26 left in the game. KAPOW! BSU got the ball back and promptly served up an interception that Oklahoma returned for what looked to be the game winning touchdown. GADZOOKS! Seconds later BSU quarterback Jared Zabransky went from goat to hero by converting a fourth-and-18 with a fifty yard hook-and-ladder play for a touchdown with seven seconds remaining on the clock. SHABAM! Overtime.

After Adrian Peterson scored immediately for Oklahoma, BSU found themselves facing another fourth down with the game on the line. What do you do in that situation? Have your backup tailback throw a touchdown pass, I guess. ZOWIE! The inevitable extra point would send the game to overtime number two, but Boise thought better of that. First year head coach Chris Petersen decided that would be way to bland, and decided the game would end on an all or nothing two point conversion attempt. Running back Ian Johnson scored on, what else, but the ol’ "Statue of Liberty" play, which I haven’t seen since I ran it in 8^th grade. KABLAMO! Ballgame.

And to top it all off, BSU’s star running back, Ian Johnson, proposed to his girlfriend, the head cheerleader, during the post game interviews. She said yes.

IN Sports