Revisiting John Howard Yoder for Modern Contextual Political Theology

Abstract

The goal of this article is to examine the political theology of John Howard Yoder, who was one of the prominent theologians in the twentieth century, and also to discover what his political theology can provide for modern contextual political theology in the twenty-first century. In order to examine his political theology, firstly, this article finds that he adopts the biblical approach,,which focuses on the works of Jesus on earth, as his methodology, that his political stances are nonviolent pacifism with anti-Constantinianism and radical pacifism for the minority, and that the main themes of his political theology are the idea that “God will fight for us” and the notion of the cross as alternative. Based on this examination, secondly, this article seeks to discover the current meaning of Yoder’s political theology and make a challenge to modern political theology. Three points are discovered in this process: an awakening of his biblical approach, his pacifistic reinterpretation of violent history, and his pursuit of the cross as alternative. What this article ultimately anticipates is that these three points would become three contributions of Yoder’s nonviolent political theology to modern contextual political theology in the early twenty-first century during a time in which pacifism has been relatively weakened and the just war tradition has been pervasive via the Iraq War.