John Howard Yoder

Nonviolence: A Brief History that was authored by John Howard Yoder contains the lectures that he gave in 1983 in Communist Poland (Alexis-Baker, 2010). On the other hand, Just War Revisited was authored by Oliver O’Donovan whose was to address the Church of England after the Gulf War of 1991.

The book is dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Reverend Rowan Williams (O’Donovan, 2003). Similarities and Differences Yoder and O’Donovan works aim to censure the use of any violent act in the pursuit of justice. Yoder gives several examples of personalities wo employed a peaceful l approach in advocating against social ills while O’Donovan spoke strongly against the Just War theory which is characterized by specific checklists to justify reasons for engagement in war. Moreover, both writings have incorporated lectures given concerning the use of violence in addressing problems that may arise within a nation or between nations.On the flipside, these works are different in the way they address the nonviolence and participation in war.

For instance, O’Donovan says that the will of God for human kind is peace and based on one of the three propositions that flow from it, he says that we must reject the so culturall value of war while Yoder utilizes the “cosmological conversion” where reasons that the death and resurrection of Jesus disarmed and defeats the states which apart from creating order, oppresses people. In addition, O’Donovan uses contemporary issues like counterinsurgencies and sanctions to address the illegality of violence especially on Arab states by the Christian states. Yoder on the other hand.All in all, O’Donovan’s yardstick for rejecting war presents a strong case since he integrates his arguments with those set out in the Bible hence providing a strong scriptural background against Christian’s participation in war.