Jesus taught us to be peacemakers, to love and serve our enemies, and to never resort to violence, even in self-defense. One might have thought this would incline Christians to have a rather unfavorable view of torture. It doesn’t, at least not in America. A study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life actually found that Christians tend to have a significantly more favorable view of torture than others.

Tragically, this research is hardly surprising. Throughout history the church has more often than not allowed itself to be co-opted by nationalistic agendas and has given its support to “justified” violence. Indeed, in the name of the one who laid down his life for his enemies, the church has often led the battle cry to torture and kill them.

At the same time, one thankfully finds throughout history individuals and movements who remained faithful to Christ by choosing the way of the cross over the way of the sword. In the modern period, the clearest expression of this resistance to the violent-prone “church militant and triumphant” has been the Anabaptist movement. As Weaver and Mast show in this historically insightful and theologically relevant book, the Anabaptist movement was centered on the New Testament’s call to follow Jesus’ loving example of remaining defenseless rather than resorting to violence.

While the call to love enemies and refuse violence looks foolish to people whose minds have been conditioned by violence, it is for just this reason the clearest witness to the beauty of a kingdom that is “not of this world.” One need not agree with each specific proposal Weaver and Mast make in this book regarding various ways of engaging government on issues of violence to appreciate the beauty and importance of the defenseless, Christlike lifestyle itself.

As the Pew poll revealed, the church today continues to significantly conform to the common sense of our violent-prone world. Sadly, even some within the Anabaptist tradition are backing away from the scandalous beauty of a commitment to nonviolence. At the same time, there are multitudes of individuals and movements scattered throughout the world who are discovering the centrality of this beautiful foolishness and who are looking for an ecclesial tradition to call home. In this light, the historical exposition of the theme of nonviolence found in Defenseless Christianity could not be more timely.

My hope is that God uses this book to call Anabaptists along with other Jesus-followers back to the beautifully foolish, enemy-loving, cross-bearing center of our faith.

—Greg Boyd, St. Paul, Minnesota; Author, The Myth of a Christian Nation; Pastor, Woodland Hills Church; and Adjunct Professor Bethel College (St. Paul)