PDF Ebook What about Hitler? (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life): Wrestling with Jesus's Call to Nonviolence in an Evil World, by Robert W. Br
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Must Christians always turn the other cheek and resist violence? Is it ever justifiable for Christians to retaliate in the face of evil? Philosopher Robert Brimlow struggles with these questions in What about Hitler? The author skillfully integrates meditations on scriptural passages, personal reflections on his own challenges to live nonviolently, and a hard-hitting philosophical examination of pacifism and just-war doctrine.
Both Christian pacifists and defenders of just-war theory will appreciate this book. In addition, What about Hitler? will appeal to those interested in Christian ethics and discipleship, including students, pastors, and laity.
- Sales Rank: #1382750 in eBooks
- Published on: 2006-10-01
- Released on: 2006-10-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly
Those who critique pacifism usually ask one simple question: what about Hitler? Brimlow, an associate professor of philosophy at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., grapples with that question as he reviews the philosophy and implementation of just war theories. The major difficulty, he argues, is that just war theory can be used to justify any war, including the ones against Hitler and Osama bin Laden. To those who argue that pacifism isn't effective in combating evil, Brimlow counters that by secular definitions, Jesus' nonviolence wasn't successful either. Brimlow argues that the Gospels are very clear: what Christians are called to do is to repay evil with good, even when doing so leads to death. A life of prayer and attention to God's presence in everyday life, as well as practicing peacemaking daily, are the spiritual practices that prepare Christians to turn the other cheek, and even die, when the time comes. Brimlow's treatise is carefully argued in academic fashion, even as he admits to personal difficulties living out the gospel as he understands it. The result is a lucid and thoughtful analysis that doesn't gloss over or minimize the outrageous demands of the Gospels. (Oct.)
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From the Back Cover
What about Hitler? is part of the The Christian Practice of Everyday Life series, dedicated to theological consideration of the concerns for everyday life. Series editors are David S. Cunningham and William T. Cavanaugh.
"With clarity and respect for the best arguments justifying violence, from Augustine and Bonhoeffer to Michael Walzer and Jean Bethke Elshtain, Robert Brimlow responds to the challenges of radical evil. Brimlow provocatively engages the reader on three levels: a philosophical analysis and critique of just war reasoning; meditations on the gospel and Jesus that support willingness to die rather than participating in violence as the 'answer' to Hitler; and the spiritual practices of prayer and daily acts of mercy that habituate persons to being the people of God."--Duane K. Friesen, coeditor of At Peace and Unafraid
"A searching examination of just war and pacifist approaches to war and violence that leads to advice on discipleship. It is a book I would make required reading for a course on the morality of war, even though I don't always agree."--Arthur F. Holmes, editor of War and Christian Ethics
"This is not an easy book to read, which is why Brimlow's book is so important. The hard clarity of his prose witnesses his refusal to report any easy answer to the question posed in the title. As a result, however, he has answered that question in the only honest way it can be answered."--Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School
"This book is an honest examination of the most important challenge to pacifism: Would it not be right to use violence to stop great evil, such as that unleashed on the world by Hitler? Brimlow's honesty in dealing with the commands of Jesus is refreshing, and he does not shrink from confronting the dilemma of being a pacifist in a 'supreme emergency' of demonic evil unleashed on society. His answers are profound in their simplicity and honesty."--Craig A. Carter, author of The Politics of the Cross
"I expected, in this book, to see challenges issued to the just war theory. I was also not surprised to see probing questions--drawn creatively from Bonhoeffer and Orwell--posed to pacifists. However, I was not prepared to be so powerfully challenged by the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a wonderfully challenging book!"--Mark Thiessen Nation, author of John Howard Yoder: Mennonite Patience, Evangelical Witness, Catholic Convictions
About the Author
Robert W. Brimlow (Ph.D., University of Rochester) is associate professor of philosophy at St. John Fischer College in Rochester, New York.
Most helpful customer reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Brave Work
By Marty McCarthy
When one reads "What About Hitler?: Jesus's Call to Nonviolence in an Evil World" one is immediately struck by the amount of things going on at one time in this short book. The first thing that is important to note is the sheer honesty of this work. Not a conventional "academic" book, "What About Hitler" is revelatory in nature and takes the form of several "meditations" which usually contain a quotation of a Bible passage, Brimlow's prayer on that Bible verse and an anecdote from Brimlow's life (which are not usually flattering to him). All of this reveals Brimlow's inner struggle with the broader question posed by the book's title, "What About Hitler?"
The question posed by the title is meant to confront the Christian with the ultimate test of the call to nonviolence, namely, nonviolence in the face of ultimate evil - Hitler. On his way to answering to answering this question, Brimlow tackles the doctrine of "just war." In his analysis, Brimlow finds the criteria set forth to justify a "just war" to be too flaccid and easily malleable to justify even the most immoral "unjust" war. Brimlow also finds the theologicial justifications set forth by Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and other theologians as consequentialist which do nothing more than weigh the costs and benefits and advocate an "ends over means" mentality.
Brimlow also addresses Michael Walzer's contribution of the supreme emergency" as a refinement of the "just war" theory. According to Walzer, "supreme emergency" is defined by two criteria: "the imminence of the danger and the second with its nature." For a "supreme emergency" to arise, the danger of the threat must be imminent and the nature of the threat must be "immeasurably awful." If such a supreme emergency arises, moral and philosophical concerns are trumped and man must do whatever is necessary to confront this ultimate evil and the rights of neutrals, innocents and noncombatants can under the right circumstances be overridden. However, in overriding the rights of innocents in the supreme emergency, Walzer asserts, "when we override them we make no claim that they have been diminished, weakened or lost."
Brimlow finds incoherent Walzer's assertion that it can be both right and wrong to kill innocents in the case of a supreme emergency. Brimlow does not do much to rehabilitate Walzer's construction of a "supreme emergency" though one gets the impression by reading the text that Brimlow could easily do so. Indeed, one need only to analogize the "supreme emergency" as a wildfire in order to better understand Walzer's meaning. A wildfire begins in the forest consuming the trees. In order to save the rest of the forest (humanity, civilization, etc.), the firefighters (those responding to the "supreme emergency") create "firebreaks" which consist of chopping down trees to cut the fire off from the rest of the forest. By cutting down the trees (the innocents), the firefighters save the forest.
Brimlow chooses not to rehabilitate Walzer in the way I did above because doing so is inconsequential to his ultimate thesis which is, "we must live faithfully; we must be humble in our faith and truthful in what we say and do; we must repay evil with good; and we must be peacemakers. This may also mean as a result that the evildoers will kill us. Then, we shall also die" (151). Moreover, if a "supreme emergency" arises it is the result of our failure to heed the call to nonviolence; in short (and to modify a line from Billy Joel), we DID start the fire.
There is much that is troubling in this trying work not the least of which begins with the title. If, as the title suggests, we live in an evil world, one is confronted by the probability that evil will continue to triumph over good and one's efforts at living in a way that Brimlow is advocating will likely not have a positive outcome. Brimlow shows that our focus on outcomes is misplaced but in so doing also shows that the call to nonviolence is as much an article of faith as it is an intellectual belief.
Brimlow's work is searching and insightful and is relevant to the events of today. Though it seems like a bitter pill to swallow, there is also a glimmer of hope in what Brimlow has to say. Though I may not necessarily agree with everything that Brimlow writes in "What About Hitler", I hope I am the better for having read it.
4 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Disappointing
By Andrew Chandler
I purchased this book along with 3 other books on the biblical view on war in an attempt to gain understanding on this difficult subject. I selected this book particularly because I had asked the "what about hitler" question in my small group.
The book is very uneven- it shuffles between short meditations on scripture and longer academic chapters that test and break down others thoughts on just war. The meditations did not strengthen the academic chapters as much as I had hoped. Also, much of the book focuses on secular perspectives on war, with very little direct interpretation of scripture.
My biggest issue with the book is that the author seems to start the book with a pacifism perspective and proceeds to defend it by finding the flaws of a just war perspective, instead of starting on neutral ground. By doing this, Brimlow ignores the violence found in the old testament and focuses only on new testament scripture. Though the viewpoint of violence/war cannot be directly carried over into present times, ignoring it can alter your understanding. If Jesus saw the OT as sacred text, then can we ignore OT text on war and still understand Jesus? I think you need to wrestle OT vs NT war before you can wrestle with nonviolence vs just war.
Having said that, all of Brimlow's wrestling ends in an answer that isnt satisfying. This might not be a negative, it could be that the answer to this question just isn't going to be satisfying. The book didn't convince me of that however.
All in all, it was a noble attempt that did not leave any more confident in my understanding of the "hitler dilemna."
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
A Challenging Call to Non-Violence
By JR. Forasteros
Brimlow offers an honest, insightful and challenging look at Jesus' call to Christian pacifism. He begins each chapter with a prayerful reflection on a difficult passage of scripture, and then with a personal story that highlights a specific theme he then develops in the chapter. Brimlow writes with a transparency and honesty uncommon for many writers handling this topic.
I don't want to ruin too much of this book, but allow me to say that Brimlow tackles Just War theory before moving to terrorism and, of course, World War II and "the Hitler Question". Brimlow challenges our assumptions of what counts as successful and the ways in which we're called to holiness.
All in all, this is a fantastic book. I *highly* recommend it.
See all 12 customer reviews...
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