Christian Nonviolence and Negative Political Theology. By Johannes Aakjær Steenbuch. Cascade Books 2026.
In the New Testament, the kingdom of God is an order in which human violence and domination must give way to love, freedom, and reconciliation. In other words, the kingdom of God is “anarchy” in the positive sense of freedom from all forms of power and violence. Throughout Christian history there has been a tradition of radical critique of power from the early church to the present. With particular reference to early theology, the book explores what this tradition of theological critique of power means for our understanding of the gospel, political theology, Christian ethics, and the role of the church in society.
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“In Scripture, and in the life of Jesus, we see a revolutionary new vision for the world—where the last are first and the first are last, where the poor are blessed and the peacemakers are the children of God, where the mighty are cast down from their thrones and the lowly are lifted up. Over the centuries, theologians, activists, and saints have been radicalized by the subversive, counter-cultural, anti-imperial call at the heart of the Gospel. In this short but power-packed essay, Johannes makes the case that God is inviting us to reimagine the world, and to rethink where we put our hope. It’s nothing short of a call to live in prophetic, revolutionary ways that disrupt the powers and liberate those being crushed by them.”
—Shane Claiborne, Co-founder, Red Letter Christians
“This thought-provoking book reconfigures the notion of ‘anarchy’ into a valuable patristics-based concept of a critique of power, corruption, and violence. This is well grounded in the sources and highly inspiring for contemporary society and political theology and ethics.”
—Ilaria L. E. Ramelli, Professor, Stanford University, University of Cambridge
