Book Reviews
“Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed.” Francis Bacon (d. 1626)
Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence
Terrence J. Rynne
New York: Orbis Books, 2008.
Reviewed by Heike Peckruhn
Iliff School of Theology.
Rynne’s book provides a study investigating the life of Jesus and Christian salvation theories through a lens informed by Gandhian non-violence. He provides an insightful summary and discussion of Gandhi’s life and the concept of satyagraha (firmness in the truth), and highlights influences thereof on the theology of four white, male Christian theologians (C.F. Andrews, J.H. Yoder, B. Haering, and W. Wink).
Traditional Christian theories of salvation, Rynne argues, have been based in violence as God’s means to bring about justice, and theorized Jesus’ death on the cross as a historical, metaphysical, and bloody event settling God’s desire for retribution-based justice. With the help of Gandhi and the selected theologians, Rynne reads the life of Jesus as essential component of God’s salvific action, and provides a reconceptualization of salvation as nonviolent resistance to violent systems by communities following Jesus’ example.
Rynne’s book is insightful and relevant as it provides the reader with careful summaries of the main thinkers discussed. However, it could be even more compelling had the author included other theologians proposing a non-violent Jesus, one obvious example being Martin Luther King, Jr., who had been influenced by Gandhi theologically and exemplified non-violent resistance in lived praxis. Yet, Rynne’s book is a good starting point for those interested in discovering the theological, philosophical, and practical merits of non-violence.
