Against the nations: War and survival in a liberal society

by Stanley Hauerwas

Book by Hauerwas, Stanley

Genres: Theology

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

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

[Samuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hauerwas is definitely a brilliant thinker, but his choice to continually employ strawman arguments truly hampers whatever positive contribution he might make to theology and theological ethics. I would go so far as to say he doesn't need to deploy these strawman arguments against liberalism as I think much of his constructive proposals do fit within a broader liberal society.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent set of essays discussing war and the church's duty vis-a-vis war. Hauerwas sets the stage with an essay that explains why theological ethics should be directed at the church instead of at the world at large, then discusses a variety of issues, including the Holocaust, Jonestown, and nuclear disarmament. The culminating essay is a thought experiment on whether war should be eliminated, and provides a good foundation for understanding Christian pacifism.

[John Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Hauerwas is an idiot, but here he got a lot of stuff right! Christian anarchy all the way!