Article Archive for March 2017
by Cleotha Robertson
Occurring against the backdrop of King Ahaz’s reign from 732 to 715 BCE, Isa. 11 is the hopeful prophecy of a Davidic Ruler who will arise from the lineage of Jesse. This Davidic ruler will fear the Lord, practice justice, establish peace, slay the wicked, and restore the oppressed remnant of Judah and Israel. For the Body of Christ, this prophecy is and will be fulfilled in our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus!
by John W. Herbst
We live in an age of distrust, far from Isaiah’s ideal. Individually and collectively, people seek security. The church needs to promote Isaiah’s solutions to local and global disharmony: concentration on God’s ways and values, and the promotion of justice for all people, everywhere. It is only in knowledge and justice that our society will experience true shalom.
by Moddie Breland
This article defines eschatological hope and then differentiates between the meaning of “hope in” and “hope for” the coming peaceable kingdom. Hope in the peaceable kingdom is the active practice of Christian discipleship while hope for the peaceable kingdom is the passive anticipation of Christ’s return. First Thessalonians 4-5 was used to illustrate what eschatological hope entails.
by Albrecht Classen
Both Christine and St. Francis are deeply insightful, timeless, spiritual, and illuminating philosophers on peace and its universal meaning. We need only little translation to make both their teachings relevant today. The goals and ideas have not changed, but only the material and political framework.
by Jonathan A. Seitz
This personal theological essay reflects on the centennial of World War 1, asking how we make sense of a century that was horrifically violent even as the world is perhaps becoming less violent. It uses Luke 21 (which is sometimes used by missionaries) to gain perspective on the terror and promise of our times.
by Amy K Bell Finiki
To create a peaceable kingdom in 2017, we need to hold one another accountable. We need to ask the hard questions and we need to keep being persistent. The only way to live peaceably is to begin to understand our discomforts, especially those with other people. We can heal one another through our stories and eventually, no one will think twice when a group of young people of all colors come together to learn from one another.
by Janet E. Blair
The foundation of the ESL ministry of the Morning Star Fellowship in the Korean immigrant community in northern New Jersey is not English language teaching with a lopsided power differential, but mutual teaching and learning, sharing of Biblical insights and cultural experience, and brotherly and sisterly love. This new faith community is living out the peaceable kingdom as the body of Christ now rather than passively awaiting the not yet.
by Jerry Reisig
As we are daily inundated with images of war, we begin to wonder what an image of peace would look like. George Fox, an early Friend (Quaker), spoke of the need to become “patterns and examples” which reflect the God within. Friends have long looked to the Epistle of James for guidance in becoming perfect in their walks, warning of false images and the desires. Friends are called to become images of peace from God within, so that others might come to see the God within themselves.
by Neal D. Presa
Although many subscribers to this journal belong to the various Protestant ecclesial traditions, it behooves us to read, reflect upon, and study Congar’s thoughts. His is another important lens into what it means to be the Church, how our life on this side of heaven is a relationship with and response to God and God’s revelation in Christ through the Spirit, and that the dividing wall of sacred and profane, as Congar puts it, is a permeable one because of the comprehensive nature of the Lord’s love and mercies for all of creation.
by Darla Turlington
Here are quotations from the Bible and from secular writings that pastors and others may find useful in sermons, essays, or other venues.
by Jin Hee Han
In our current issue, our authors underscore that a hope-filled vision of peace dots the pages of the Old and New Testaments and the history of the church. The believing communities have dreamed a dream of accord from early church people and medieval women and men to the immigrants in the modern metropolitan municipalities. With bountiful insights, our authors shield us from decadent despair and challenge us to build a new world actively.
As if it is our daily bread, we hear a common greeting that strikes up the yearning for peace. We hold dear the Hebrew greeting of shalom and the Arabic ’as-salam ‘alaykum that always finds its echo with wa-‘alaykum ’as-salam. We pray these prayers of peace bear their fruit every day, everywhere, and very soon.