Roots of Violence

This posthumously published volume offers four interrelated talks on violence and religion given by theologian Krister Stendhal (1921–2008) at Dana College in Blair, Neb., during the 1980s . Stendhal, a Swedish-born Lutheran best known for his academic leadership at Harvard Divinity School and his tenure as Bishop of Stockholm (1984–1988), spent much of his career occupied with the question of “how to mend creation.” As a New Testament theologian, he turned to the Bible for insight into the origins of and solutions to violence. The four transcribed talks, presented here with explanatory matter and reflections by colleagues, offer a glimpse into Stendhal’s in-progress thoughts on the concepts of salvation as victory, mysticism and nirvana, shalom or salaam, and the way language shapes violence and peace. The interfaith orientation of the talks themselves is sustained in the response section, in which Stendhal’s colleagues Dr. Marc Brettler, Imam Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, and Dr. Rebecca Pugh reflect on the themes he raises. This work offers little systematized exegesis or social analysis; readers wishing for a blueprint for addressing violence behavior inspired by faith or drawing on faith to address violence will be disappointed. However, those wishing for as complete a record of Stendhal’s thought as history can provide will welcome this addition to his published works. Readers for whom this is an introduction to the scholar’s work may find themselves wanting more, and luckily a long bibliography is available for those interested . (Sept.)