The following review of Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace Fr. John Dear’s new book, The Gospel of Peace, was written by Art Laffin and published in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR).
by Art Laffin
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace 2016
Born from a four-decade slong commitment to prayer, Eucharist, careful study of Scripture, Jesus, Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gospel-based action and writing and speaking about Gospel nonviolence, The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence is the culmination of the lifework of John Dear.
Dear’s new book is a landmark original commentary on the synoptic Gospels from the perspective of nonviolence. In this painstaking work, Dear reveals that nonviolence is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching and action, and a primary requirement of Christian discipleship.
Tragically, as Dear noted to me upon the book’s release, “We have so thoroughly rejected and buried this Gospel truth that it almost seems impossible to us, yet it’s right there in every line of the Gospels, if you read it from the perspective of nonviolence.” Throughout the book, he dispels the fallacy of redemptive violence, shows how all violence is antithetical to Jesus and highlights exemplary peacemakers and movements throughout history that have embodied Jesus’ nonviolence.
Dear presents Jesus as a disarming, healing presence toward those in need, a nonviolent revolutionary and organizer and a threat to ruling authorities who order his execution. On the cross, Jesus exemplifies the ultimate transforming power of nonviolence as he forgives those who are killing him. Through his miraculous resurrection, Jesus breaks through the imperial seal of the tomb, his supreme act of civil resistance. He forever overcomes the powers and forces of death, thereby inaugurating a new nonviolent era for humanity. …