Guy Hershberger’s War, Peace and Nonresistance (hereafter WPN) is one of the best treatments of a topic that has been largely abandoned in the church, namely non-resistance as a fundamental Christian virtue. Non-resistance is a deeply Biblical position, not merely some fringe belief held by a few small groups, rooted in command, in example and in the grand tapestry of God’s redemptive purpose. In WPN Guy Hershberger lays out the case for non-resistance as the non-negotiable norm for Christians through God’s fundamental commandment to not kill and the overarching theme in Scripture of loving God and loving others as the greatest commandments. It is difficult to find a better, more thorough treatment of this topic that is also eminently Biblical and conservative in interpretation. This is not a book aimed at hippies and flower children but rather at a people with a sober understanding of sin and the redemptive power of the cross.
WPN spends quite a few chapters setting up the case for non-resistance from the Scripture which is obviously the key, starting in the Old Testament and showing why the OT is less problematic than some think and then moving seamlessly into the New. His exegesis is excellent and virtually impossible to refute. After this treatment, Hershberger moves into the history of non-resistance among the Anabaptists and others and finally into what were contemporary issues in non-resistance, many of which are still applicable today.
In places WPN is somewhat dated, written originally some sixty years ago when the world and America were quite different places. Some of what Hershberger suggests seems wildly naïve in today’s more jaded setting. Much of the Mennonite community has become virtually indistinguishable from more mainsteam liberal denominations, losing their Anabaptist flavor almost entirely. Speaking of Mennonites, WPN is focused almost exclusively on the Mennonite perspective although there are other Christians with a similar non-resistant stance. That makes sense as Mennonites are numerically the largest peace group and Hershberger was a Mennonite. Still it would have been nice to see more about other groups and their non-resistant positions. WPN addresses some issues that normally don’t fall into the discussion of non-resistance, issues like labor relations/unions and race relations. WPN was written shortly before the civil rights movement and some of the language he uses seems a bit jarring to modern ears but that is a product of the times.
In places WPN started to drag a bit, such as when Hershberger dealt with the CPS and other civilian alternative services utilized by conscientious objectors in World War I and II but that may have more to do with the world we live in where we want our information in tweet sized bites rather than extensive and detailed descriptions. At some 400 pages this is a meaty book that requires serious study. It is not a book to breeze through in an afternoon!
I thought his treatment of unionism and the church was excellent and somewhat unexpected. We typically think of non-resistance in the church as an issue of support for war and violent self-defense but Hershberger goes far deeper into a lot of areas that one would not think of initially. Hershberger also spends quite a bit of time dealing with the difference between Biblical non-resistance and the philosophy of pacifism, addressing in particular Gandhi who, while holding some laudable views, was in no way an example of how Christians should respond to persecution and tyranny. Since many Christians like to hold Gandhi up as the epitome of Christian living, this chapter was quite useful as a repudiation of that notion. The chapter dealing with pacifism and other forms of what he described as non-violent coercion were overall nothing short of excellent and would be beneficial to the church today.
One of the best parts of the book is found in the appendix. WPN contains a pretty comprehensive list of Scriptures supporting the non-resistant position, broken out by topic, as well as historical Anabaptist confessions dealing with the civil government and the sword. The best section was where Hershberger addresses the “problem” Scriptures and hypothetical situations people often throw out to try to provide cover for advocacy of violence among Christians. While brief the answers are excellent and Biblically sound.
The witness of the church has suffered for centuries because we have lost the meek, peacemaking aspects of the faith and replaced them with patriotism, nationalism and militarism. That may serve to make the Christian faith more palatable to our countrymen and lead to a tolerance of the church in society but the impact it has on those we are called to minister to and evangelize is tragic. War, Peace and Nonresistance is a great place to turn for those who have begun to question the embrace and even celebration of violence among the followers of the Prince of Peace.
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