Anarchy and Apocalypse - Ron Osborn's New Book Now Available!

"It was the Adventists, in their early formations, who reminded us that a commitment to peace cannot avoid challenging orders based on violence; that peace requires a different kind of order altogether. This is a call to the church to be that community based on the order of Christ's peace."

That's just part of what Stanley Hauerwas has to say about Ronald E. Osborn's first book, Anarchy and Apocalypse: Essays on Faith, Violence and Theodicy, newly published by Cascade Books.

From the publisher's description:

Essays engage texts and thinkers from Homer's Iliad, the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament to portraits of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Noam Chomsky, and Elie Wiesel. This book also analyzes the Allied bombing of civilians in World War II, the peculiar contribution of the Seventh-day Adventist apocalyptic imagination to Christian social ethics, and the role of deceptive language in the Vietnam War. From these and other diverse angles, Osborn builds the case for a more prophetic witness in the face of the violence of the "principalities and powers" in the modern world.

"Anyone interested in living creatively in a destructive world will benefit from this book," says William T. Cavanaugh. "It is the kind of book that has the power to transform lives."

And this from Greg Boyd: "How desperately American Christians need the keen insights regarding the demonic dynamics of power and violence that Ronald Osborn reflects in these essays!"

No doubt we'll have much more to note and say here about the book as time goes on.  But its safe to say that this is a landmark achievement, bringing an eloquent Adventist voice into broader circles of learned discussion on issues of utmost importance.

Anarchy and Apocalypse is now available online at a 20% discount from Wipf and Stock.

Ron currently is Bannerman Fellow in the Program in Politics and International Relations at the University of Southern California, where he is completing his PhD.  He is a co-founder of Adventist Peace Fellowship.

Comments

[Chris Blake]

Thanks. I just ordered a copy. Looking forward to reading it.

[Adam Clark]

This BBC blog also gives a good introduction to Christian anarchism:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2011/05/was_jesus_an_anarchist.html