John Howard Yoder – radikaler Pazifismus im Gespräch

The Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder (19271997) was the most rigorous and influential spokesman for Christian pacifism in North America. The foundations for Yoders position were however shaped by his activities in Europe after the Second World War. He studied with Karl Barth and Oscar Cullmann, and engaged in dialogue with German theologians in the tradition of the Bekennende Kirche, as well as representatives of the member churches in the World Council of Churches. He brought the historic peace churches into ecumenical discussions, and urged the churches to connect the pacifist message to the issue of the unity of the churches. In North America his theology, which is imbued with the spirit of a reanimated Anabaptism, has been subjected to thorough study. In Germany, however, he is hardly known; and up to now there has been no serious study which has undertaken a critical analysis of the theological challenges which emerge from his peace theology. Such a study is now available. Hans-Jurgen Goertz is well known in Europe and North America for his publications on Thomas Muntzer and the Anabaptists. German text.

English summary: The Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder (1927-1997) was the most rigorous and influential spokesman for Christian pacifism in North America. The foundations for Yoders position were however shaped by his activities in Europe after the Second World War. He studied with Karl Barth and Oscar Cullmann, and engaged in dialogue with German theologians in the tradition of the Bekennende Kirche, as well as representatives of the member churches in the World Council of Churches. He brought the historic peace churches into ecumenical discussions, and urged the churches to connect the pacifist message to the issue of the unity of the churches. In North America his theology, which is imbued with the spirit of a reanimated Anabaptism, has been subjected to thorough study. In Germany, however, he is hardly known; and up to now there has been no serious study which has undertaken a critical analysis of the theological challenges which emerge from his peace theology. Such a study is now available. Hans-Jurgen Goertz is well known in Europe and North America for his publications on Thomas Muntzer and the Anabaptists. German description: Die Anregung, eine Dekade der Gewaltlosigkeit auszurufen, ging auf die so genannten Historischen Friedenskirchen zuruck und ist vom Okumenischen Rat der Kirchen aufgenommen worden. Seither wird intensiver als zuvor, weltweit uber das Friedenszeugnis der christlichen Kirchen beraten und versucht, es mit dem Auftrag zu verbinden, Wege zur Einheit der Kirchen auf immer wieder neue und andere Weise gemeinsam zu gehen. In den letzten Jahrzehnten des vergangenen Jahrhunderts war das ein besonderes Anliegen des mennonitischen Theologen John Howard Yoder (1927-1997). Er zahlte in Nordamerika zu den fuhrenden Theologen, die sich bemuht haben, aus dem Geist des historischen Taufertums eine Friedenstheologie zu erarbeiten, die genau diese Verbindung mit neuen Argumenten durchdacht hat. Auf diese Weise hat er das friedenskirchliche Zeugnis so zu Gehor gebracht, dass es sich im Gesprach mit anderen Kirchen selbstkritisch neu zu begreifen lernte; und die Kirchen, die aus staatskirchlichen Traditionen hervorgegangen sind, hat er daran erinnert, dass sie die inzwischen erreichte Trennung von Kirche und Staat noch nicht konsequent genutzt haben, um vorbehaltlos fur den Frieden in der Welt einzutreten. Er fordert sie heraus, ihr friedenstheologisches Defizit in den Gesprachen um die Einheit der Kirchen auszugleichen.

• By (author) Hans-Jürgen Goertz

"Goertz's study presents a serviceable introduction to Yoders ecumenical peace theology... Ultimately this volume is more of interest for Goertz's own mature theological reflections developed with Yoder as an interlocutor than as a basic introduction to Yoder's thought." --Alain Epp Weaver, Mennonite Life
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