Theology and witness: Religion of peace in time of war by Michael Saunders

17 Mar 2022 | by Michael Saunders

‘In a religion of peace, God is no longer a “supernatural means to our secular ends”, but is rather “the all-sufficient goal”.’

‘If in times of war we as Friends are to testify to the possibility of nonviolence, it is important that we take responsibility for our God.’ | Photo: Franz Jägerstätter, by Michael Connor

I have written before of the work of the Anglican Quaker Graham Shaw (‘Help in hand’, 17 December 2021). I have recently had cause to return to his work because of the careful attention he pays to the ways in which appeals to God can enable an evasion of responsibility. Shaw’s two books, The Cost of Authority (1983) and God in Our Hands (1987) seem to me to speak a prophetic word to our current moment, one in which religious authority and language has so often been employed in the service of military endeavors.

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