On the Lived Theology Reading List: The Way of Peace


The Way of Peace: A. J. Muste's Writings for the ChurchA. J. Muste’s Writings for the Church

A Dutch-born American clergyman and leading social activist, A.J. Muste was known for his lifelong commitments to pacifism, civil rights, war resistance, and the labor movement. Edited by Jeffrey D. Meyers, the publication is a collection of his sermons and writings detailing the Christian theology that rooted Muste’s radicalism. Faith communities will be inspired to follow Muste into the way of peace.

In the following excerpt used with the permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers, Muste writes:

“…Jesus had a vision of God as Father, of love as the central and eternal and inescapable fact of the universe. He had a way of living—in absolute obedience to the demands of love. He had a conception of humanity organized into a divine society on the basis of brotherhood, of love, not of force. He had a method for bringing about this divine society, making love triumphant, the method of non-resistance, of not using violence against violence, on the negative side, and on the positive side the method of reason, of service, of self-sacrifice. This vision of God, this way of living, this conception of society, this method, all set forth not alone in words, but in a life of unutterable beauty and heroism and power; this is the contribution of Jesus to the race. This is Christianity. This is the hope of the world.”

To read more on this publication, click here.

Fellow travelers are scholars, activists, and practitioners that embody the ideals and commitments of the Project on Lived Theology. We admire their work and are grateful to be walking alongside them in the development and dissemination of Lived Theology.

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