The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer In Christian Ethics

Stanley Hauerwas is without a doubt one of the most influential theologians if not the most influential of the contemporary theological milieu. The Peaceable Kingdom, is an excellent starting point for those wanting to dive into Hauerwas. This is one of his earlier works and written at an accessible level. Much of what he says is restated in his immensely popular work co-authored with William Willimon in Resident Aliens, which is a must read as well. Hauerwas's engagement with such a variety of disciplines provides a profound work on what it means to be a Christian. His most noticeable influences being Karl Barth, John Howard Yoder, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Ludwig Wittgenstein among others (see xix). Whether or not you agree with Hauerwas you have to engage him. His writing is exceptionally readable and spiritually challenging. If you're not a Christian his work won't make sense, that's part of the point. If you are a Christian after reading this book you will pray.

Enjoyed the book. I went into with a hunch that I would already agree with most of it, but it did present some new and compelling ideas. I specifically enjoyed his critique of our culture's tendency to view independence, autonomy, and individual freedom as the ultimate goal of human life. Also in classic Hauerwas style, he was always sure to emphasize the importance of narrative for ethics.It was a good "warm-up"/introduction in the field of Christian ethics. I would also warn those conservative war supporting evangelicals out there to go into with an open mind as Hauerwas places non-violence as being central to Christian ethics.

This book gave me the nudge I needed to develop processes to exercise the power of conscious storytelling. I purchased this book in 2013 for a course I was taking and while I utilized the entire book as a major resource for my assignments, I became enthralled with the idea of God's cover story. This led to research into the idea of cover stories we as humans commonly apply in shaping our experiences. As I made my inquiries, I found ways to help individuals examine their stories to see how they were unwittingly impacting their neurobiology and devised a means by which to consciously rewire their brains. This feature of the cover story was so exciting and so expansive. One of my greatest finds.

I got the book in a very timely fashion but the book in general it was very hard to understand and he use so many big words to prove his point.Sometimes you don't have to use big words to prove a point or to get one across. All readers are not on the same level and I know myself a lot that he said I didn't understand it even when I look up the word he was using.

Jesus was a pacifist. This is an embarrassment to most Christians but is a beginning place for Christian theology in the thinking of Stanley Hauerwas. This Christian classic should jump off the shelf with relevance in a world that desperately needs local faith communities of peace and small groups of disciples that are magnets of hope in a culture of violence. -- George Thompson

it is well written and enables the reader to broaden the debate on ethics. Whilst I do not agree with all that Hauerwas says he does at least allow the reader the opportunity to think and question their own ethical stance.

Hauerwas is an expert in Christian Ethics and this book is one of the most influential books in that field. This is an accessible read that provides a great introduction to peaceableness and pacifism.

The author talks alot about ethics,But the author does not talk about Jesus.He does mention God,but He does not used the word of God,if he will use the scpritures with the text.I think the book will be alot more interesting.

Bought as a reference book for my daughter at 'vicar school' this was on her reading list and proved very useful.

Great thanks!

I found the book to be enlightening overall but did not find it to offer a definitively convincing argument for a theology of non-violence. It felt like steps were missing on the route to the conclusion.

Una visión nueva de qué es la moral/ética cristiana, que ningún teólogo -protestante o católico- debería ignorar. Aunque publicado en los ochenta, no ha perdido actualidad.