The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder

A Mennonite Theologian Presents an Uncompromising Pacifist Ethic

The Politics of Jesus sets out to reveal the social ethic of Jesus as contained in the Bible and specifically the Gospel of Luke. John Yoder is primarily concerned with the way in which mainstream Christian theology has set aside the social and specifically pacifist implications of the New Testament message. Yoder sets out to demonstrate that the biblical text reveals more to us about the mission of Jesus than the commonly understood moral and spiritual teachings. Yoder believes that the bible significantly and clearly illustrates that Jesus was a political agitator and a model of radical political action.

Yoder sets out in achieving his goals by criticizing the prevailing Christian views of biblical interpretation. For example, he criticizes the revolution created by Charles Sheldon’s book, In His Steps. He does this in order to make it clear that he is not simply saying that the true Jesus of the bible calls us to moral obedience, but he is going much further. A true interpretation of the Jesus of the New Testament reveals the need for us to emulate the more aggressive and socially significant actions of Jesus. Such a view pushes us far beyond the simple and comfortable, “what would Jesus do,” that appears on the wrists of Christians across the country. Yoder argues that Sheldon and others’ ethic does not come from the Bible itself, but from elsewhere. The bible reveals a stronger and more revolutionary ethic.