{"id":27656,"date":"2026-09-24T10:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27656"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:28:07","slug":"nonviolence-a-christian-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27656","title":{"rendered":"Nonviolence: A Christian Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/richard-bell-QaE-cLEo08o-unsplash-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Nonviolence: A Christian Calling\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Beatles - Revolution 1 (lyrics) HD\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IJw29QWEYJY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Myth of Redemptive Violence<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday, September 24, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard Rohr explains that so-called \u201credemptive violence\u201d <strong>usually <\/strong>only perpetuates the cycles of violence Jesus came to stop:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jesus has no part in any \u201cmyth of redemptive violence,\u201d <\/strong>as some have called it, even though redemptive violence is the primary storyline of history, and even of much of the Bible (conquering the promised land, the wars of the kings of Israel, and the acts of Saul, David, Herod, and the like). <strong>Jesus\u2019s story, instead, becomes a pattern of redemptive forgiveness.\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jesus\u2019s life and teaching are starkly opposed to that perennial, universal mistake that is probably happening every three minutes in most human minds and hearts: the instinct to destroy what we perceive as the source of the problem.<\/strong> In that sense, he really is the \u201cSavior of the World\u201d (John 4:42), because that violence is the world\u2019s primary agenda, which he unmasks and then resolves with a quite different agenda. If we do not learn this, it is hard to believe there is much future for our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To oppose violence, he has to diminish the very things that people tend to absolutize, because our absolutes are normally what we use to justify our violence. This is especially true when it comes to group identity. <strong>Jesus speaks critically against his own group whenever they try to use his message for oppositional thinking or group arrogance, or to justify violence.<\/strong> How different Christian history would have been had we listened to him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is Jesus\u2019s simple message: Holiness is no longer to be found through separation or exclusion, but through the radical inclusion and forgiveness of the\u202fsupposedly contaminating element. Any exclusionary system only lays the solid foundation for violence in thought, word, and deed. So, he has to lead us on a new path of forgiveness, inclusion, and sacrifice of our self-identity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What <strong>Leviticus 16\u201327<\/strong> describes as the \u201claw of holiness\u201d\u2014<strong>separation from sinful people, the rejection of certain actions and things\u2014is turned around in Jesus so that the very acts of separation, superiority, and rejection are in fact the sins!\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I believe <strong>Jesus\u202fis teaching us that\u00a0<em>if we put our energy into choosing the good\u2014instead of the negative and\u202flargely illusionary energy of rejecting the bad\u2014we will overcome evil in a much better way and will not become evil ourselves<\/em>. This is exactly what he does on the cross, and I believe it is at the heart of his message. <\/strong>At our center in New Mexico, we have taken it as one of our central axioms that <strong>\u201cthe best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.\u201d\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than anything else, this is how Jesus reformed the laws of religion and undercut the basis for all violent, exclusionary, and punitive behavior. He became the forgiving victim so we would stop creating victims ourselves. He became the falsely accused one so we would be\u202fcareful\u202fwhom we accuse.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reference:<br><\/strong>Richard Rohr,&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/store.cac.org\/products\/things-hidden-scripture-as-spirituality-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality<\/strong><\/a><\/em>&nbsp;(Franciscan Media, 2022), 161, 162, 163\u2013164.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Image credit and inspiration<\/strong>: Richard Bell,\u00a0<em>untitled (detail)<\/em>, 2022, photo.\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/a-blue-and-yellow-painted-wall-with-a-yellow-and-white-balloon-QaE-cLEo08o\" target=\"_blank\">Unsplash<\/a>.\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/richard-bell-QaE-cLEo08o-unsplash-1-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to enlarge image<\/a>.\u00a0<strong><em>Like a wall bearing color instead of division, we practice a love that reaches toward the other, refusing to choose a single side.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>=============================================================================<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/author\/admin\/\">MAXELCAT<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Published:\u00a0FEBRUARY 5, 2015<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gregory on divine grace and the human response<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Burns, Gregory believed that salvation was universal because the entire human race was required to make up the divine image of God. If all people received the divine image, then if any are missing he thought that the whole image could not be \u2018re-presented.\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/augustine-and-gregory-of-nyssa\/#_ftn49\">[49]<\/a>\u00a0 In one of his commentaries Gregory underlines this by saying <strong>\u2018God will be all in all, and all persons will be untied together in fellowship of the Good, Christ Jesus our Lord.\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/augustine-and-gregory-of-nyssa\/#_ftn50\">[<\/a><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/augustine-and-gregory-of-nyssa\/#_ftn50\">50]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gregory, in his Great Catechism speaks of Christ identifying with fallen humans saying that he had \u2018in mind to share our human condition\u2019 which here refers to the boundaries of birth and death that all of us pass through.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/augustine-and-gregory-of-nyssa\/#_ftn51\">[51]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gregory saw the two processes of purification and growth within salvation. Purification of the body was only fully achieved at the resurrection and worked by the grace of God through Christ.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/augustine-and-gregory-of-nyssa\/#_ftn52\">[52]<\/a>\u00a0In baptism a person \u2018symbolically anticipates death and resurrection in Christ, and commits himself to free his soul from vice and passion.\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/augustine-and-gregory-of-nyssa\/#_ftn53\">[53]<\/a>\u00a0This implies that a person can indeed cleanse his soul from the effects of sin, and enable the \u2018soul\u2019s beauty [to] again appear.\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxelcat.co.uk\/augustine-and-gregory-of-nyssa\/#_ftn54\">[54]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> For Reflection:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>From Google AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>The Interconnected Divine Image:<\/strong>\u00a0Gregory argues that the &#8220;divine image&#8221; is only complete when\u00a0<em>every<\/em>\u00a0human being is included. If salvation requires the entire human race to &#8220;re-present&#8221; God&#8217;s image, how does this change how you view your personal connection to people outside your immediate community or faith tradition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/practice-with-us\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Myth of Redemptive Violence Thursday, September 24, 2026 Father Richard Rohr explains that so-called \u201credemptive violence\u201d usually only perpetuates the cycles of violence Jesus came to stop: Jesus has no part in any \u201cmyth of redemptive violence,\u201d as some have called it, even though redemptive violence is the primary storyline of history, and even [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27656"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27659,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27656\/revisions\/27659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}