Peace Part I: Peace and the way of Jesus

Edge Kingsland

The early creation mythologies of ancient Israel spoke of a world shaped, not by conflict, hostility and violence, but by shalom - an intention for peace with God, with each other, with the self, and with all of creation. In the story of Jesus this takes shape in his view of the presence of the kingdom of God.

Peace, for Jesus, is not just about an interior kind of calm (although this may well be included), but it is about a wider posture of openness to one another... even going as far as to say we must love our enemies. He also challenges unjust and exclusionary systems because sees peace as something we need to experience together. This is an idea that comes to shape many of the early Christian writings and the nature of communities that form around the way of Jesus. They are not just about some kind of "vertical" relationship with God being put right... they are about how our relatedness to each other in community might be transformed.