neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism

The Death of Christian Pacifism

Mark Tooley on October 26, 2022

In 2015 we founded Providence: A Journal of Christianity & American Foreign Policy partly to rebut neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism, which seemed so prevalent. But now that form of Christian pacifism has nearly disappeared. We’d like to claim credit! And we will claim some by having presented historic Christian teaching about just war and about Christian Realism. But larger forces were at work.

Those larger forces were partly connected to the retirement of Stanley Hauerwas of Duke University, now age 82, who had made neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism popular and compelling for a subset of Protestant thinkers from the 1980s onward. He popularized the work of John Howard Yoder, the Mennonite thinker who died in 1997 and who wrote the very influential The Politics of Jesus in 1972.  That book insisted that Christian nonviolence was the Gospel’s central message, as Jesus on the Cross was supremely a rejection of all violence.

Hauerwas is a brilliant thinker and compelling teacher who won enthusiastic disciples with his rejection of all violence and “empire,” along with his self-professed contempt for the American project and “liberalism.” He was an early postliberal. His disciples were mostly young seminarians or graduate students, either young Baby Boomers or Generation X, who wanted some form of Christian orthodoxy without being “conservative” or “evangelical.” The Religious Right of the 1980s and 1990s was a useful foil to them as it evinced, in their eyes, that American Christianity was captive to cultural and political idolatry.

George W. Bush and the post-9-11 wars bestirred neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism maybe to the apex of its influence. Conservative Christian support for Bush and for the Iraq War fulfilled Christian pacifism’s worst fears and elevated it, in the minds of its votaries, to a nearly prophetic status. Opposing American Empire became a defining identity for neo-Anabaptist Christian Pacifism.

But their zeal began to dissipate perhaps in the 2010s. Maybe it was mostly a generational shift. The Yoder-Hauerwas message did not resonate with the new generation. Hauerwas was stepping back from his teaching responsibilities and publishing less. And in 2013 renewed attention focused on Yoder’s vast, decades-long sexual exploitation of students and church members.  His seminary employer and the Mennonite Church launched new investigations, exposing Yoder’s abuse of many scores of women.

Some revelations had surfaced before Yoder’s death, for which he faced church discipline, but later reporting revealed the epic scale of his misconduct. More disturbingly, he privately constructed theological justifications for his abuse, further discrediting his perspective. His friend and chief disciple, Hauerwas, had known about the misconduct, which he did not condone, but which, in the eyes of some, he minimized for the purpose of salvaging Yoder’s work.

In the era of “Me Too,” extolling or even citing Yoder became problematic for many. Yet no new major neo-Anabaptist thinkers have emerged on the scale of Yoder and Hauerwas. Exponents of their perspective are now mostly middle-aged activists, social media personalities, podcasters, and writers of middle-brow niche books. It’s hard to find disciples who are under age 40.

Oddly, the Trump alliance with the Religious Right did not resurrect neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism, maybe due to the lingering cloud from Yoder’s shattered reputation. Possibly national polarization also detracted from the appeal. The demographic most inclined to neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism largely abandoned claims to a third way and receded into the generic left. Even the current preoccupation with Christian Nationalism, the perfect foil for Yoderite Hauerwasians, has not provoked revival, which implies the movement is permanently deflated.

Another factor deflating neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism is receding of American “empire.” With U.S. troops gone from Afghanistan and Iraq, although still present elsewhere, there is less preoccupation with America as the supposed anti-Gospel new Roman-style imperium. And the effects of this withdrawal have not been positive. The alternative to American “empire” turns out to be chaos and greater repression.

Finally, there is Russia’s bellicose attempt to revive its real empire by invading Ukraine, which has made all forms of pacifism more unappealing. Who would dispute Ukraine’s right to resist aggression and destruction by a tyrant like Putin? The neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifist perspective would insist that Ukrainians simply surrender and be a witness for peace by accepting their plight and perhaps resisting through civil disobedience. Few if any are trying to argue so.

Putin and its flunkies, including the Russian Patriarch, embody the merger of church with violent imperialism that neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism long claimed to oppose. Yet its remaining exponents have been fairly subdued. Their previous ferocity was largely reserved for America alone, not other transgressors.

There’s one final factor in the decline of neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism, which is the decline of Dispensationalist Christian Zionism. In the minds of the former, the latter embodied Christian entanglement with empire by sacralizing modern Israel. Neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism was already pseudo-Marcionite because of its discomfort with ancient biblical Israel, with its God-ordained nation state, kings, armies, battles, and warrior-heroes. Dispensationalism, by making modern Israel the focus of the End Times, and politically insisting on American support for Israel, was another favorite foil. But Dispensationalism is receding in influence. And Israeli-Arab peace has made the region less a focus, although the Iranian threat endures.

Doubtless there are other reasons for neo-Anabaptist Christian pacifism’s retreat. Our Providence journal played a role amid wider cultural trends. That movement’s diminishment opens an opportunity for more serious political theology and Christian reflection on statecraft against the utopianisms, idealisms, and dogmatisms of left and right. How can we glean the wisdom of historic Christianity in current statecraft? That task always requires the careful and narrower path, choosing prudence over zealotry. Who will be the laborers?

  1. Comment by Dan W on October 26, 2022 at 9:23 pm

    I consider them phony pacifists. They oppose the citizen police officer, the citizen soldier and the law abiding, armed citizen. They never seem to oppose real bullies and tyrants. They don’t stand against the violence in big cities or at the Southern U.S. border. They support violence if it is directed at certain Supreme Court justices, police officers, and small business owners. They haven’t disappeared, they are just keeping a low profile. Some will tip their hands around Veterans Day in a few weeks (11 November.) They will not recognize the veterans who fought for this country. They are against displaying flags in their sanctuaries, except for the Pride flag(s) and maybe the Ukraine flag. The Amish are true pacifists. These phony pacifists aren’t brave, and actually work against peace.

  2. Comment by David Mu on October 26, 2022 at 10:57 pm

    My own experience with this has led me to understand these types are political first, and remain leftist to the core. Chief among these types is an firm devotion to the notion that America is an evil in the world, and that it has been since its beginnings.

    It’s an truly strange thing to see 1960’s Quakers now very pro-Ukraine to the point of being quite firmly pro-war. But – the thing is, these types were always anti-America. And still are, despite the US government being so supporting of Ukraine’s war. They give no evidence of them going to that front, but these types rarely ever. But – they are quite comfortable with others.

    By and large, Christian pacifism since at least WW II, was and is fueled by leftist political theory and has nothing in common with the times before them. And yes, these types have nothing with earlier religious thought spoke of in your article. They don’t need it as their other material completely moves them around it to the various sexual, goddess ‘stuff’ just isn’t touching on the question of war and peace.

  3. Comment by David on October 27, 2022 at 7:31 am

    I was more persuaded by Yoder and company when I was much younger. But that was during the waning days of Vietnam when the failures of American policy were becoming increasingly evident. I eagerly read Sojourners, The Other Side, and similar literature. But as a student of politics, I quickly ran into a dead end and had to look elsewhere for spiritual and intellectual sustenance. The problem is found in the anabaptist Schleitheim Confession:

    “The sword is ordained of God outside the perfection of Christ. It punishes and puts to death the wicked, and guards and protects the good. In the Law the sword was ordained for the punishment of the wicked and for their death, and the same [sword] is [now] ordained to be used by the worldly magistrates. In the perfection of Christ, however, only the ban is used for a warning and for the excommunication of the one who has sinned, without putting the flesh to death, — simply the warning and the command to sin no more.”

    The clear implication is that the converted magistrate must cease to be a magistrate because he has passed from outside to inside the perfection of Christ. But the late 20th century neo-anabaptists were quite ready to hold magistrates accountable to their understanding of the perfection of Christ without demanding that they relinquish their offices. I can understand their wishing to break through the obvious dualism of Schleitheim, but they did so in a way that appeared to me to be incoherent. If you persist in believing that the church is not obligated to “do ethics for caesar” (Hauerwas) yet take an ostensibly prophetic stance by calling to state to do this, that, and the other thing, you will tie yourself in knots.

    The Other Side is long gone. Sojourners has become one more voice for secular progressivism wrapped in a Christian veneer. Perhaps it needn’t have gone in this direction, but more than 40 years after my affinity for the periodical/community wore off, I now wonder whether the incoherence of their position made it inherently unstable. They simply couldn’t remain where they were and had to move in another direction. Sad to say, they have strayed further and further from orthodoxy.

  4. Comment by Phil on October 27, 2022 at 1:39 pm

    I think the Just War theorist needs the Christian pacifist as a guard of his own conscience. We’ve had Just War Theory for nearly 1,600 years. Yet we’ve still had shortage of wars at that time and those wars have been full of atrocities that would shock even the most hawkish modern Christian. Often wars end only when one or both sides lose the will to fight and many times that loose of will begins with a small, but vocal few who challenge every piece of patriot propaganda they hear. Yes, these pacifists will oppose any conflict, but they will also be the first to challenge the dominant narrative of the state and ask the questions that need to be asked. Eventually they’re joined by others: Journalists or soldiers appalled by atrocities in the field, wounded or traumatized veterans and their families deploring the human cost, factions and statesmen willing to call out the leading party. The problem with Just War Theory alone is that the theorists are never objective analysts studying the conflict from some safe distance. They’re patriots and insiders whose need to justify their own country’s actions as moral will likely trump their better angels. They need the pacifist to guard their conscience, just as the pacifist needs them to check their fanatism.

  5. Comment by Angelo Bonilla on October 27, 2022 at 8:11 pm

    Our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, was and is a pacifist. Pacifism is Orthodoxy.

  6. Comment by Rolf Östlund - Sweden on October 28, 2022 at 3:03 am

    An incredibly interesting “report”, well written and informative. Was (..myself) in my so-called previous life a left-wing guy. You are spot on and describe – the problem – with pacifism “enlightening”

    Rolf Östlund – Sweden

  7. Comment by David on October 28, 2022 at 8:20 am

    Angelo: You are spoiling it for those who like to pick and choose which parts of the Gospels to believe. They reject some of the teachings of Jesus, but cannot bring themselves to admit it.

  8. Comment by Michael on October 29, 2022 at 8:29 am

    I find this fascinating. Theologically speaking, when Jesus said, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Put your sword back in its place… for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Also, turn the other cheek and blessed are the peacemakers…what do you think he meant?

    Hard to tell, right? Very unclear teachings.

    He did wither a fig tree. And: he said buy an extra sword! Flipped over some tables in the temple.

    So…hmmm.

  9. Comment by Amber on October 30, 2022 at 12:41 am

    Are we to love our enemies, or bomb them into submission? Are we to pray for those who persecute us, or put them to the sword? Who has proper authority to take the life of another human being who bears the image of God? Whose interests are being advanced by those who do battle for the state? Which King do we serve? Whose will is it that women and children be slaughtered in the name of the empire?

  10. Comment by Dan W on October 30, 2022 at 10:00 am

    It is naive of us in our safe homes, our safe neighborhoods, and our safe churches, to deny that there are homes, neighborhoods and churches where armed thugs threaten, assault and kill innocent people. Our safety relies heavily on brave men and women who are armed, and are willing to use those arms to defend the innocent. It is not yet time to beat our swords into plowshares (Isaiah 2:2-4.) If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one (Luke 22:36.) 2022’s version of a sword is an AR-15.

  11. Comment by Scott Carter on October 30, 2022 at 10:29 pm

    The death of pacifism is something I had not considered so this article really helps. Pacifism is a first world luxury. We have armies and police we pay to kill for us while we preen about how we are like Jesus . Jesus is God incarnate and not even a degree different than Yahweh of the Bible who was far from a pacifist. The return of King Jesus in Rev 19 is no pacifist. He smites and rules. What would Jesus do when Hitler filled trains with Jews and gassed them, he went to rescue them dressed in US Army uniforms and carrying m-16’s. There are NO actual pacifist, just virtue signaling liberals who call 9-11 and pray the cops get there before they are killed. And if you won’t raise a fist or an ax or a gun to save a child from a rapist you are NO Christian. Period

  12. Comment by Christine Schwarz on October 31, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    I have wondered on and off in recent years what happened to dispensational eschatology. It was very popular in the 1970s and 1980s; now, very few churches espouse it. Thanks for an informative article and for your efforts that have borne fruit, Mark!

  13. Comment by George on October 31, 2022 at 8:16 pm

    If all Christians were truly pacifists, this discussion would never have taken place. There would not be a Christian left on this earth. For a pacifist to survive, a non-pacifist must die.
    Conundrum or enigma ? Take your pick.

The work of IRD is made possible by your generous contributions.

Receive expert analysis in your inbox.