"Just Peacemaking is the product of 23 scholars across various denominations who have collaborated annually for six years to specify the 10 practical steps and develop the undergirding principles of this critical approach. Originally published in 1998 and revised in 2004, this new 2008 edition contains a new introduction and conclusion, as well as updated contents."--BOOK JACKET.

Believing Christians should direct their energies toward finding a set of criteria and a model for a "just peace" instead of "just war", Stassen bases his peace theory on the new reality of our world, recent Biblical interpretation, and on the experiences of people who lived in the face of oppression and nuclear threat.

"Just Peacemaking: The New Paradigm for the Ethics of Peace and War" is the product of twenty-three scholars across various denominations who have collaborated annually since 1992 to specify the ten practical steps and develop the undergirding principles of this critical approach: 1. Support nonviolent direct action 2. Take independent initiatives to reduce threat 3. Use cooperative conflict resolution 4. Acknowledge responsibility for conflict and injustice and seek repentance and forgiveness 5. Advanced democracy, human rights, and religious liberty 6. Foster just and sustainable economic development 7. Work with emerging cooperative forces in the international system 8. Strengthen the United Nations and international efforts for cooperation and human rights 9. Reduce offensive weapons and weapons trade 10. Encourage grassroots peacemaking groups and voluntary associations

In the wake of massive injustice, how can justice be achieved and peace restored? Is it possible to find a universal standard that will work for people of diverse and often conflicting religious, cultural, and philosophical backgrounds?

Despite their largely pacifist origins, Christianity and Christian traditions can claim only limited success in their efforts to conciliate conflict, avoid violence, and stop war. Perhaps it is time, say the eminent contributors to this deeply reflective volume, to look at Eastern and Oriental traditions to the very different perspectives of Orthodox Christian on issues of war, peace, and the justice that must undergird peace. Writing from Europe and Russia, as well as the Middle East and Asia, two dozen Orthodox theologians and church people cast the classic dilemmas of war and peace, military service, just war, and religious nationalism into a deeper theological framework. Contents include historical characterizations of Orthodox in a variety of settings and nations (Greece, Oriental Christianity, Bulgaria, Armenia, Western Europe, etc.), dilemmas of nationalism for the churches, the invasion of Iraq, globalization, fundamentalisms, interreligious tensions, the ecclesial vocation of peacemaking. PART ONE: Orthodox Peace Ethics in Eastern and Oriental Christianity PART TWO: Orthodox Contribution to a Theology of Just Peace: Developing the Principles of Just Peace Semegnish Asfaw is Research Associate in the World Council of Churches program The Decade to Overcome Violence. Alexios Chehadeh is Exarchos of the Antiochian Church and the Institute for Theology and Peace, Hamburg, Germany. Marian Gh. Simion is Associate Director of the Boston Theological Institute and founder of the Institute for Peace Studies in Eastern Christianity, Boston.

This book is a contribution to the Christian ethics of war and peace. It advances peacebuilding as a needed challenge to and expansion of the traditional framework of just war theory and pacifism. It builds on a critical reading of historical landmarks from the Bible through Augustine, Aquinas, the Reformers, Christian peace movements, and key modern figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, and recent popes. Similar to just-war theory, peacebuilding is committed to social change and social justice but includes some theorists and practitioners who accept the use of force in extreme cases of self-defense or humanitarian intervention. Unlike just-war theorists, they do not see the justification of war as part of the Christian mission. Unlike traditional pacifists, they do see social change as necessary and possible and, as such, requiring Christian participation in public efforts. Cahill argues that transformative Christian social participation is demanded by the gospel and the example of Jesus, and can produce the avoidance, resolution, or reduction of conflicts. And yet obstacles are significant, and expectations must be realistic. Decisions to use armed force against injustice, even when they meet the criteria of just war, will be ambiguous and tragic from a Christian perspective. Regarding war and peace, the focus of Christian theology, ethics, and practice should not be on justifying war but on practical and hopeful interreligious peacebuilding.

Seminaries generally are not very effective in equipping pastors to be ministers of reconciliation, says pastor and experienced mediator Alfred Poirier. The result is pastors trained in biblical exposition, well-ordered worship, and good theology, but with little practical know-how about one of the most important functions they will be expected to perform: conflict resolution. The Peacemaking Pastor provides a survey of the nature and kinds of conflict typical in the pastorate to bring to light the need to recover the ministry of reconciliation. Poirier, chairman of the board of Peacemaker Ministries, shows pastors the importance of a reconciliation ministry, gives them a theological framework for peacemaking, and provides practical tools for facilitating the peacemaking process. Written by a pastor for pastors, this insightful book will encourage and equip seminaries and ministry leaders in their original calling-promoting a culture of peacemaking in the church.