Christianity is not some ideal toward which we ought always to strive even though the ideal is out of reach. Christianity is not a series of slogans that sum up our beliefs.
Stanley HauerwasRead
My way of putting it is that Christians are called to live nonviolently not because we believe nonviolence is a strategy to rid the world of war, but in a world of war as faithful followers of Christ, we cannot imagine being anything other than nonviolent.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Christians are called to practice nonviolence as a fundamental aspect of their faith, rather than as a mere strategy.
In this quote, Stanley Hauerwas emphasizes the intrinsic value of nonviolence in the Christian faith. He suggests that true followers of Christ are compelled to embrace nonviolence not simply as a tactical approach to conflict resolution, but as a core principle of their beliefs, particularly in a world rife with violence and war. This perspective challenges individuals to reflect on their moral and ethical responsibilities in the face of global turmoil.
Themes
NonviolenceFaithChristianityPeaceWar
In practice
Example use cases
During a peace rally, one might use this quote to inspire discussions on the importance of nonviolence in faith-based activism.
More from Stanley Hauerwas
All quotes βAdvent is patience it's how God has made us a people of promise, in a world of impatience.
Stanley HauerwasRead
War is America's central liturgical act necessary to renew our sense that we are a nation unlike other nations.
Stanley HauerwasRead
To kill, in war or in any circumstance, creates a silence. It is right that silence should surround the taking of life. After all, the life taken is not ours to take.
Stanley HauerwasRead
The most creative social strategy we have to offer is the church. Here we show the world a manner of life the world can never achieve through social coercion or governmental action. We serve the world by showing it something that it is not, namely, a place where God is forming a family out of strangers.
Stanley HauerwasRead
Saints cannot exist without a community, as they require, like all of us, nurturance by a people who, while often unfaithful, preserve the habits necessary to learn the story of God.
Stanley HauerwasRead
Similar quotes
Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?
William ShakespeareRead
Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself.
Charles BaudelaireRead
It's easier for the former masters to put aside the masks that hid their humanity than for the former slaves to recognise the faces underneath. Or to trust that this is not a new mask these are wearing.
Nadine GordimerRead
When a woman confuses what she is with what she wears, then something is wrong inside.
Sonia RykielRead
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George WashingtonRead
The universal and lasting establishment of peace constitutes not merely a part, but the whole final purpose and end of the science of right as viewed within the limits of reason.
Immanuel KantRead