Glossary
Clicking the words below(as will also happen when you click certain instances of them in other pages) will open a small window with a brief definition of the word or phrase. Where it seems helpful, we'll also refer you to other texts that discuss the term in greater detail.
Occasional Articles
As with the Introductory Articles, we will add other articles as time permits or as our readers request. If you have a suggestion for anything, please let us know.
Michael Hardin
Is the Apocalypse Inevitable?: Native American Prophecy and the Mimetic Theory presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
Michael's Essay for a Celebration Volume honoring Rene Girard
Does Peace Make A Difference? - Michael's essay in response to Rick Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan (which somehow never mentions peace).
An Analysis of Rick Warren - Michael's response to "The Purpose Driven Life."
"The God of Pat Robertson" - a response to Pat Robertson's words to the people of Dover, PA.
"A response to Charles Stanley's "A Nation at War"
"Must God be violent? A Diagnosis and Prescription for Modern Christianity"
The Scapegoat: Christologies in Conflict - A Study in Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Biblical Testaments as a Marriage of Convenience: Rene Girard and Biblical Interpretation
Finding Our Way Home: A Brief Note On The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture
"Does The Passion of the Christ Preach the Gospel?"
A sermon for the holiday devoted to Dr. Martin Luther King. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
GRASPING GOD: Philippians 2: 1-11 in the Light of Mimetic Theory
Rene Girard and the Recovery of Early Christian Perspectives (Brethren Life and Thought)
The Dynamics of Violence and the Imitation of Christ in Maximus Confessor (St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly)
"EcoSpirituality"
Or What Happens When You Sit Down With A French Literary Critic
Jeff Krantz
Mighty One or Crucified Messiah? Competing Christologies and the Chiastic Structure of Mark's Gospel
There's No Such Thing as the Rapture - A sermon preached at the Church of the Advent, Westbury (requires Acrobat Reader)
Holy Scripture and the Consecration of Gene Robinson - a response to the request of the Windsor Report for a Scriptural rationale. (requires Adobe's Acrobat Reader)
Worship - The Redemption of Desire by Jeff Krantz
Myth and Film - a piece written for the City of Angels Film Festival
The Stations of the Cross - Rewritten by Jeff Krantz
A Dramatic Presentation of the Stations of the Cross for Youth by Barb Fabijan-Waddell
Escaping the Power of "My" - A NonViolent Approach to Stewardship
Preaching Peace in Hollywood: The Theologies of Terminator, Lord of the Rings, and the Matrix
V for Vendetta - The Name Says It All A review of the movie.
Essays, Sermons and Liturgical Pieces by Friends of Preaching Peace
Mark Heim's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement
Kate Layzer's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement (and inspiration for Mark Heim's hymn!)
Alan Cork, "Transformation" in L'Arche: A Mimetic Account presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
"The Wisdom of God's Peace" a sermon by Jim Amstutz, co-pastor of Michael's church.
Girard's Christology - Per Bjornar Grande
Violence, Anarchy and Scripture: Jacques Ellul and Rene Girard - Matthew Patillo
Comparing Plato's Understanding of Mimesis to Girard's - Per Bjorner Grande
C. Frank Terhune, an Easter Sermon: "God's Big But" (no kidding!)
Gerald Biesecker-Mast's paper from Theologia Pacis on Pacifist Gospel Epstimology.
An essay by the Rev. John Hill on Mimetic Theory and Catechesis
The Scapegoat: Christologies in Conflict - A Study in Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Biblical Testaments as a Marriage of Convenience: Rene Girard and Biblical Interpretation
"A response to Charles Stanley's "A Nation at War"
"Must God be violent? A Diagnosis and Prescription for Modern Christianity"
Introductory Articles
We will add articles as we are able, or as users of the site request them, so if you have suggestions for additional pieces, please write to us!
"Introduction to Mimetic Theory"
"Jesus"
Finding Our Way Home: A Brief Note on the Authority and Interpretation of Scripture
It is well known that Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of the twentieth century’s most well known and beloved theologians. It is also well known that without his friend Eberhard Bethge, Bonhoeffer would have most likely remained an obscure footnote in theology. Bethge is well known to Bonhoeffer interpreters for his many essays and his exhaustive biography of Bonhoeffer. John de Gruchy, formerly professor of Christian Studies at the University of Cape Town has done Bonhoeffer fans a great service in tendering this biography of Bethge.
Bethge’s life before Bonhoeffer is touched on in a brief introductory chapter and from then the rest of the book runs full steam ahead beginning with Bethge’s acquaintance with Bonhoeffer during the Finkenwalde years (1935-37), interestingly enough through their shared love of music. The first half of the book will offer no new insights into Bonhoeffer, for those who have trodden this well worn path and de Gruchy admirably and succinctly contexts the relationship of Bethge and Bonhoeffer during the time of the German Church Conflict and the second world war.
The second half of the book is the key to this work: how Bethge began to pursue bringing Bonhoeffer’s legacy to the world. De Gruchy chronicles Bethge’s work in the post war reconstruction efforts as Bethge would travel to England and later join the Unterwegs movement seeking to help rebuild the church in Germany. It was in the Unterwegs journal that Bonhoeffer’s posthumous Ethics and letters and papers from prison were first excerpted. Of unusual interest to me was Bethge’s role in the trial(s) of Walter Huppenkothen, Bonhoeffer’s ‘executioner (he was tried three times and never convicted, Bonhoeffer’s death was ruled legal under Nazi law).
The ‘non-event’ of the first publication of Bonhoeffer’s Ethics in 1949 and the subsequent publication of some of the Letters and Papers from Prison in 1951 turned the tide. The Bonhoeffer of Discipleship and Life Together now became the radical theologian and numerous interpretations of the Bonhoeffer legacy began. De Gruchy explores the crucial task that fell to Bethge to make sense of this man who seemed to have so many sides. The years 1950-1990 saw Bethge traveling the world and completing his biography of Bonhoeffer (1967). Finally Bethge’s indispensable role to Bonhoeffer scholars and his work in the International Bonhoeffer Society are highlighted.
This book belongs on the shelf of works by and about Bonhoeffer, one can justly say that without Eberhard Bethge there might be no Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and de Gruchy is to be thanked for his marvelous portrait of a friendship that lasts beyond death.
