Preaching Peace

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

Michael's Response to Willard Swartley's Covenent of Peace at the November Colloquium and Violence Meeting

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

Ruth

Andre LaCocque (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004),
+ bibliography and indices

At last, a commentary that is as satisfying as it is useful! Had LaCocque applied his acumen to the Epistle to the Romans, one might have said that his commentary would do for the 21st century what Barth’s did for his generation. The Introduction (32 pages) is worth the price by itself, LaCocque’s commentary and Conclusion make this an indispensable tool for any pastoral library. Published as part of the Continental Commenary series, LaCocque has produced a commentary that will remain the standard on the interpretation of Ruth for a long time to come.

What makes this a real commentary is that the author recognizes the real to bring together the two horizons, those of the text and that of the reader(s). Historical-critical research is placed into a cauldron with post modern studies, feminist readings and a dose of deconstruction, the end result is that this ancient Hebrew text speaks with authority today. For LaCocque “Ruth is a subversive document” as well “as a feminine book from beginning to end.” While Ruth may be classified as a ‘novella’, it is more than novelistic, it is a book which demonstrates the value of reinterpreting Torah in the light of ‘hesed.’ Ruth speaks to the problems of ‘foreigners’ (at a time when a recent CNN.com poll showed a majority of church going Americans desiring to limit the rights of American Muslims). Ruth “consists in rediscovering that the essence of Torah is love.” “Ruth the Moabite, the deviant par excellence, reverses the norm. She turns things on their head: uth becomes the prototype of the Hasid (this is an Israelite moved by hesed). Suddenly, Deut. 23:3 is rewritten while neutralizing its dimension of self-sufficient exclusivism. The most important aspect of the First Testament is its constant rewriting.”

While LaCocque only hints at the similiarities between Jesus’ reading of Torah and that found in the book of Ruth, readers of preachingpeace.org will recognize this rewriting of Torah from Dr. Bartlett’s studies on Second Isaiah. It is precisely this rewriting of Torah under the continuing inspiration of Wisdom that effects so much of what is positive in the message of Torah. LaCocque’s Ruth is to be commended.