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
Michael Kirwan has produced an eminently readable introduction to the thought
of Rene Girard. In this brief book, each of the major components of mimetic
theory, mimesis, rivalry and the scapegoat mechanism as well as the role of
the Bible in Girard’s thought, is elucidated. Kirwan leans heavily upon
Girard’s A Theater of Envy for his major examples and rightly so for
it is Girard’s work on Shakespeare that is his most illuminating when
it comes to appreciating the many faceted dynamic of mimesis.
Each of Kirwan’s chapters begins with a number of chapter summary statements, which indicate the direction the author will go in his discussion. Kirwan relies on a chronological/biographical approach to Girard as he details the way in which Girard developed mimetic theory. Kirwan’s useful comparison of mimesis in Girard and Hegel and his use of Girard’s important early articles is a feature not found in many introductions to Girard.
Kirwan tackles each of the important issues in their turn as he analyzes mimetic theory, and in the chapter on the scapegoat mechanism does a ‘walk through the Bible’ from the stories in Genesis to the Isaianic servant to Jesus as the prophetic agent whose ministry culminates with the recapitulation of all previous salvation history in the passion and resurrection. Kirwan then goes on to juxtapose Nietzsche and Girard or ‘Dionysius and the Crucified.’
In the final chapters Kirwan is perhaps
weakest where he discusses methods and objections to the mimetic theory, as
well its future. His handling of objections was admirable but Kirwan for some
reason chose to utilize the work of the Roman Catholic Girardians, virtually
ignoring the numerous contributions of non-Catholic scholarship. One always
expects references to Schwager, Alison, Bailie and Williams, who like Girard
are Catholic, and while Robert Hamerton-Kelly is mentioned there appears to
be a virtual lack of interest or knowledge of how Girard’s theory has
affected Protestant theology. Most notably absent were references to Tony
Bartlett’s Cross Purposes or the collection of essays edited by Willard
Swartley in Violence Renounced. Walter Wink’s pathbreaking use of Girard
in Engaging the Powers is only mentioned in the bibliography, not to mention
all of the work of Paul Neuchterlein and those of us here at PreachingPeace.org.
I would have liked to have seen a more ecumenical engagement of Girardian
scholarship, it would have made the book more useful; as it stands it is a
good introduction to Girard for Catholics but Protestants will be left wondering
if Girard has anything to say to them. While Kirwan acknowledges the important
role that the continuing research of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion
plays he seems oblivious to an awful lot of it. Nevertheless, these detractions
aside, I do recommend this book as long as it is supplemented by other analyses
of mimetic theory.
