Performing the Faith: Bonhoeffer and the Practice of Nonviolence

by Stanley Hauerwas

September 11, Afghanistan, Iraq--more than ever, this is a time for the church to be taking up the question of what, as Christians, our response to violence should be. In Performing the Faith, Stanley Hauerwas revisits the familiar territory of political nonviolence through discussion of the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer-Christian ethicist, theologian, and by some definitions, martyr. This book is an intriguing commentary on Bonhoeffer's bold claim that if our common life rests on lies and injustice, we cannot be a community of peace. Pastors, seminarians, and those interested in Christian ethics are among the many who will be interested in this new word from an unwavering, faithful voice.

Genres: Theology, Politics, Religion, Christianity, Christian

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2004

About the author

Stanley Hauerwas (PhD, Yale University) is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of numerous books, including Cross-Shattered Christ, A Cross-Shattered Church, War and the American Difference, and Matthew in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible.

America's Best Theologian according to Time Magazine (2001), though he rejected the title saying, "Best is not a theological category."

Reviews

[Drick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is really not reflective of its title, which probably explains why I found it on the clearance table at a seminary bookstore. The subtitle (Bonhoeffer and the Practice of Nonviolence) would lead you to believe that the book looks at the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in light of Anabaptist writings on peace/nonviolence. In fact only the first two chapters deal with Bonhoeffer.

Actually this book seems to be a collection of essays in which Hauerwas is interacting with other theologians, ethicists and philosophers on issues too esoteric for the average reader. The title (Performing the Faith) comes from chapter 3 where Hauerwas interacts with literature on dramatic performance. particularly improvisation, and suggests that living the Christian faith is a form of ongoing improvisation, rather than a focus on dogma or scripted performance (as in regular drama). But that essay, like most of the book, was so chocked full of names and writings of other scholars, that unless you were familiar with those scholars, you were lost half the time. I spent much of my time reading the footnotes (which also were excessive) just trying to understand what position he was critiquing or affirming. Being footnotes they did not really illumine me, as much as reinforce how much I didn't know or understand.

In spite of these shortcomings, there were two gems in the book: his brief articles in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 bombings; the first was written shortly after the tragedy and the second a year later. There he makes the case (following John Howard Yoder) that pacifism is not simply a tactic or response to war, but a way of life to be made real in the life and relationships of Christians with one another. While not worth the price of the book (even on clearance), they are worth checking it out of the library.

Hauerwas characterizes himself as a theologian for the church. If that is the case, this is not the writing to show how that is true. It's too esoteric and academic to be comprehensible to even the most widely read non-theologian/layperson.

[Timothy Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to rate this a 4. I know this may sound pretentious but as I really enjoyed the nuggets of wisdom Stanley dropped throughout his writings here, it was not an easy read. That's one mark, that it leant heavily in the academics. I really felt like he expected his readers to know some of the names he wrote in response to like Milbank, Stout, and MacIntyre. I have read Yoder's Politics of Jesus which was fantastic so it felt good to know at least something that Stanley was bouncing off of. The 2nd mark comes from really the feeling of being misled when I bought this book. I was perusing the books at Half-Price Books when I found this and saw that it says Bonhoeffer and the practice of nonviolence. Thinking we getting deep into the mind of Bonhoeffer and his response to Hitler and the Nazis. Stanley barely gets into Bonhoeffer in the first couple chapters and then don't really get into nonviolence at the last few chapters. All that said, 3 stars for the gold nuggets ive picked up. I mean I highlighted the shit out of this book. One line floored me, "Christians are not called to win, they are called to endure."

[fleegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is not a lot about Bonhoeffer in this book, not enough to warrant his name in the title.
The essays are very thought provoking.
The essay and sermon on September 11 were absolutely worth the price of the book.

[Logan Quiring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong finish of essays on Christian nonviolence.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had the book just been titled, Performing the Faith, I would have given it three stars. I picked this book up because of the subtitle, Bonhoeffer and the Practice of Nonviolence, for a term paper on Bonhoeffer and his stance on nonviolence. Hauerwas only discussed Bonhoeffer in the first small section and nonviolence only in the last small section, never together.

His discussion on truth, performance, and pacifism/Christian nonviolence was enlightening. Altogether the content was good, but the subtitle was very misleading.