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Note: This course will be being offered for the first time during the spring 2025 semester. It is one of the two classes that can fulfil a high-level Conflict Transformation program requirement for MA and GC students.
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The Bible has often been used to justify war and other forms of violence. The biblical story has also been read and interpreted as pertaining to only personal beliefs and behavior rather than communal concerns or social issues. The intent of this course is to explore the biblical story and what it says about issues of violence, justice, and peace. How are people who embrace the biblical story called to apply these understandings to their lives, personally and collectively? How have Christian communities around the world made use of the biblical story as a core component of their efforts to work for safety, emancipation, self-determination, and healing? How can we use biblical narratives in our work to build peace and justice within communities? As we examine these questions, we will center perspectives and traditions of reading the Bible birthed by people experiencing direct violence and oppression.This course meets a core requirement for the Seminary’s faith-based peacebuilding certificate. It is also an elective option for CJP’s MACT, MARJ, MATL, GCCT and GCRJ programs. It is cross listed with Eastern Mennonite Seminary and will be offered on a semi-regular basis.
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Creativity and the arts have historically been connected to peace and conflict. Human communities have used creative and artistic techniques to harmonize self, community and nature, to witness and make sense of the world, process and express feelings and emotions, to enact power and agency, to signify the past, reflect on the present and imagine the future. Creativity and arts have also been used to promote violent conflict, and as vehicles of colonization and imperialism. Amidst these multiple roles, peacebuilding practitioners and artists have continuously engaged with creative and artistic creation seeking to foster peace, resist oppression, denounce violence and promote healing, with different levels of impact. The challenges posed by current interconnected crises such as increasing inequality, climate crisis, discrimination, oppressive power dynamics and shrinking social spaces demand creative innovations to respond to violence, ignite justice and cultivate peace.
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