The Fragmentation of the Church and Its Unity in Peacemaking

Jeffrey Gros and John D. Rempel, Editors (2001)
NCR455, $14.95

Search for used copies at Alibris.

The Gospel places peacemaking at the center of Christian identity. Over the centuries, however, churches have divided over the role and place of the peacemaking imperative in their lives and teachings. This volume offers deep ecumenical discussion of the relationship of the church to its peacemaking mission from the standpoints of history and the contemporary context.

The Fragmentation of the Church and Its Unity in Peacemaking is an important contribution to the ecumenical discussion - important particularly for how it explores the inner connections between the search for church unity and the call to peacemaking. Grounding the ministry of reconciliation and peace in the church's confession of the apostolic faith and relating it to the church's very being are important theological contributions. This volume is a serious effort to review historically the position of the different Christian traditions on the question of peacemaking and pacifism. What has long been considered a fundamental divide regarding the ethics of war and peace has now been transformed into a dialogue of ecumenical questioning and mutual accountability.

Contributors representing ten major faith traditions - Lois Y. Barrett, Alexander Brunett, Murray W. Dempster, Donald F. Durnbaugh, John H. Erickson, Eric W. Gritsch, Jeffrey Gros, Paul Meyendorff, Lauree Hersch Meyer, Thomas H. Olbricht, Thomas D. Paxson Jr., James F. Puglisi, John D. Rempe, Alan P.E. Sell, and Glen H. Stassen - address this crucial topic from the perspective of their own churches and explore paths that could lead to the reconciliation of existing differences.