theology

This is a theology section, but more to the point, it is a section that displays some ways radical Christians have thought through their faith and what it means for their lives. For those who have come to this site with questions about Christian divisions over politics or sadness at Christian willingness to go to war, the pages on this site might serve as an aid to guide your reflection. The resources listed here have helped to revolutionize segments of Christianity. For example, the works of John Howard Yoder have sparked a resurgence of pacifism within many Christian denominations. His passionate and lucid works have found resonance amongst Christians of all stripes, from evangelicals to Catholics. The growing willingness amongst some Christians to question war can many times be traced back to Yoder. Or take Dorothy Day. Her work in the Catholic Worker sparked hundreds of hospitality houses across America, in which ordinary Catholics, and some Protestants vowed to live in poverty with forgotten and destitute persons in society, and to feed, clothe, advocate for and stand in solidarity with the poor. Peruse any of the theological resources here, and you will find that your misgivings about the church’s militant attitude and neglect of its calling have a cloud of witnesses that resonate with your suspicions.

For the theology student, some of these resources prove invaluable. The Jacques Ellul page contains the single most comprehensive collection of Ellul articles in English that are easily accessible, anywhere. Many of these articles are extremely hard to find, and would certainly not be available to the average reader who has no access to a research library. But Ellul was not an elitist, and would not have wanted his works to remain in obscurity, for only the pedantic to find. Similarly, many of the Yoder resources were originally published in obscure Mennonite journals, available only to those with access to a Mennonite library. Yet they speak to a popular audience about important matters of war and peace.

All of these resources challenge the easy assimilation of Christian life into the political, technological milieu of our day. These resources call us to faithfulness to Jesus life and example: to be radicals, Jesus radicals.