“In the foreword, Tobias Winright says this book is ‘comprehensive yet accessible’ and imbued with ‘the author’s passion for teaching undergraduates and providing them with the tools for thinking critically about this timely yet perennial issue.’ I could not agree more.

“I used Who Would Jesus Kill? as one of the texts in a Christian Peacemaking course, and my students agree that it is thorough, informative, and readable. It presents the Christian tradition on war and peace in a substantive and critical manner. This text helps the student to understand the wisdom of the past and to clarify his or her own position on the morality of war. The first words of the introduction are ‘War is about killing’—to shock us out of our complacency regarding this massive evil. The introduction seeks to define war and concludes with a chart that places the approaches to war and peace on a continuum. Later chapters refer to this chart in clarifying the reader’s position on the morality of war.

“The first chapter is a ‘Crash Course in Christian Ethics’ that surveys the four sources of Christian ethics—Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience—in a way worthy of a good course on moral theology. The next three chapters explore the major approaches to war and peace in the Christian tradition—pacifism, holy war, and just war. The basic pattern of these chapters is to begin with definitions and distinctions, examine the biblical basis for this model, trace it through history, and discuss the criticisms of this model regarding the morality of war. The fifth chapter investigates ‘challenges and adaptations’ to the just war theory, including criteria for post-war justice (jus post bellum) and the just peacemaking model. After a brief concluding chapter, there is a substantial appendix devoted to ‘Jewish and Muslim Perspectives on War and Peace.’

“There are numerous sidebars throughout the text that present related topics, such as conscientious objection in the chapter on pacifism. Each chapter includes provocative discussion questions and endnotes, which demonstrate extensive research and point to further reading.

“This is an accurate, insightful, and user-friendly introduction to the Christian tradition on war and peace. I think it is the best text available on the topic.

“From my perspective, its major weakness is that the presentation of the New Testament basis for nonviolence is not challenging enough. Gandhi quipped that the only ones who do not think that Jesus was nonviolent are the Christians. Allman might have drawn on Scripture scholar Walter Wink, who presents Jesus’ ‘third way,’ and/or James Douglass’ theology of the nonviolent cross (or many others) to buttress the Christian foundation for peacemaking. Instead, the chapter on pacifism devotes more pages to the challenge from realism than to the gospel basis of nonviolent discipleship.

“In the end, Allman’s answer to the provocative question in the book’s title is that Jesus would kill unjust aggressors and those who oppress others (or at least the followers of Jesus can be morally justified in killing them). Perhaps that is right, but the unsettling power of the title’s question should be more convincingly presented. While many of my students appreciated the thoroughness of the book, some thought it gave too much information. I understand their point; it is like wanting to edit a movie we think is too long. I also appreciate, however, the author’s desire to be comprehensive. An instructor can always highlight sections for student focus. Nevertheless, there may be places where judicious summary might have replaced more comprehensive exposition.

“The College Theology Society confirmed the excellence of Who Would Jesus Kill? by bestowing the Best Book Award to Mark Allman for this book at the 2009 Annual Meeting. It is well-deserved.”

Used by permission of Horizons.