This book is an introduction to the movement of Christian nonviolence. It is not focused on arguing in favor of Christian nonviolence but focuses on eight broad streams of thought within the movement. The project was birthed out of two primary motivations. One is in regards to John Howard Yoder, one of the most prominent voices for Christian nonviolence who was himself a violent abuser of women. The book is an attempt to show that Christian nonviolence has much older and has more to offer than this one man. The second motivation is to show that Christian nonviolence is a broad movement. There are broad streams that interact, oppose, and diverge from each other in meaningful ways.

The book is a basic introduction to these eight broad streams. It introduces key thinkers and writers in each stream. They demonstrate the basic ideas of each stream, how they differ from other streams, and even from each other within that same stream. As someone largely unfamiliar with Christian nonviolence I deeply appreciated this introduction.

The book accomplishes its goal well. Each stream is presented in its best light and allowed to speak on its own. A diverse amount of voices are mentioned throughout. It is short but dense. I left the book wanting to study the movement more, which is the point. I think even those who are not convinced of the arguments of Christian nonviolence will find much to gain here. You will walk away from the book with a great list of authors and other works to dive further into.

If you are interested in an argument in favor of Christian nonviolence, then this might not be the ideal place to start. It is written for the person who wants to know about the broader movement and different options within Christian nonviolence. I found it a helpful starting place, but others may disagree if they have different expectations.

This was a good book, although I could have done without opinions about Mr. Yoder. Someone like him does not deserve the recognition.