> Paul Alexander.  Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies
> of God.  Telford  Cascadia Publishing House, 2009.  429 pp.  $26.95
> (paper), ISBN 978-1-931038-58-4.
>
> Reviewed by Steven Studebaker (McMaster Divinity College)
> Published on H-Pentecostalism (October, 2009)
> Commissioned by Gene Mills
>
> Jesus vs. Mars: The Prince of Peace Takes on the God of War
>
> _Peace to War_ covers the Assemblies of God church's changing
> position on Christians and war. Founded April 2, 1914, in Hot
> Springs, Arkansas, the Assemblies of God now comprises about 7
> percent of global Pentecostalism (the church counts approximately
> forty-eight million globally, with about three million of that figure
> in the United States), which makes it the largest Pentecostal
> denomination. Paul Alexander develops a historical and a theological
> thesis. The historical argument is that between 1917 and 1967 the
> American Assemblies of God changed its official teaching on war from
> "absolute pacifism to authority of the individual conscience" (p.
> 30). Theologically, the book argues that pacifism is the appropriate
> Pentecostal response to war. Although Alexander commends pacifism as
> the proper Christian reaction to issues of force and violence, he is
> unenthusiastic about the word "pacifist" because it has become
> synonymous with passive and anemic. His preferred alternatives to
> pacifism are "crucifism" and "crucifist." These words connect more
> directly to Jesus's exhortation to bear the cross and thus inspire a
> more active and vigorous posture for peace proponents.
>
> Structurally, the book develops in three phases. The first chapter
> sets forth the key issues, questions, and synopsis of the history of
> pacifism in the Pentecostal movement. Chapters 2 through 7 comprise
> the second part and provide a detailed history of the Assemblies of
> God's relationship to pacifism. Chapter 2 draws out the broader
> historical context of the Assemblies of God--racism and segregation,
> social exploitation of the working classes and economic opportunism
> of the industrialists, and the imperial expansion of the state that
> characterized national life in the early twentieth century. Christian
> attitudes toward the changes during this period ranged from
> premillennial pessimism toward the government, efforts to weld
> traditional evangelical faith with social reform, to outright efforts
> to Christianize America through legislation (e.g., Prohibition). As
> the First World War commenced and the prospects for American
> involvement loomed larger, acrimonious diatribes were exchanged
> between conservatives who tended to be antiwar and liberal
> theologians who were more prone to a pro-war stance. Most of these
> groups, however, rallied behind the war effort once American troops
> were fully engaged in 1918. The exceptions were the political
> pacifists and the peace churches, which remained faithful to their
> pacifist perspective and opposed the war. Most Pentecostals were
> among the latter group.
>
> Chapter 3 identifies the theological antecedents and sources of early
> Pentecostal pacifism. The early Pentecostals were significantly
> influenced by the pacifistic perspectives of the Quaker and
> Wesleyan-Holiness movements. Sharing with their Quaker and
> Wesleyan-Holiness counterparts, the Pentecostals believed that the
> restoration of the church according to the New Testament vision of
> Christlike holiness and goal of worldwide evangelism was incompatible
> with war-making. Christ called his disciples to love their enemies
> and lay down their lives for others and not to slaughter them on the
> battlefield. Eschewing violence was the practical manifestation of
> Pentecostalism's Jesus-centered theology.
>
> Chapters 4 and 5 detail the Assemblies of God's position on war and
> posture toward the government from 1914 to 1940. During the First
> World War and through the interwar years, the Assemblies of God
> officially affirmed pacifism and its members practiced it, which is
> indicative in the disproportionate number of Pentecostals detained at
> Fort Leavenworth as conscientious objectors relative to their
> percentage of the population in the United States. At the same time,
> the Assemblies of God remained loyal to the government, embraced and
> ministered to military personnel, and granted conscientious combatant
> participation in war to its members.
>
> Chapters 6 and 7 chart the gradual erosion and eventual repudiation
> of pacifism by the Assemblies of God. During World War II, the
> Assemblies of God, both in its published opinions and member
> participation in military service, shifted from pacifism to support
> of the Allied war effort. This period also witnessed the emergence of
> a more strident patriotism in place of the more traditional stance of
> loyalty to the government that did not include support for its war
> efforts. Patriotism and recognition and promotion of combatant
> participation in war continued to gain prominence in the Assemblies
> of God churches over the course of the Korean War, Vietnam War, and
> Cold War. The 1967 General Council of the Assemblies of God formally
> ratified its move away from pacifism by altering its statement on
> military service. Essentially, it replaced the _institutional_
> affirmation of noncombatant and conscientious objector status with a
> statement that made participation in combat a matter of _individual_
> conscience. Alexander concludes that the authority of scripture and
> Jesus gave way to a "theology ... centered on national loyalties and
> the authority of individual conscience" (p. 238). According to
> Alexander, the reasons for the shift away from pacifism in the
> Assemblies of God lie in its increasing association with mainstream
> American culture and Evangelicalism. After the official change in
> 1967, the Assemblies of God increasingly adopted Americanism, which
> entailed a vigorous assimilation of American values, especially as
> represented by the Republican Party, and exuberant support of U.S.
> military personnel and interventions.
>
> The final two chapters provide critical interaction with and
> theological assessment of the Assemblies of God's relationship to
> pacifism. Chapter 8 chronicles the scholarly analysis of Pentecostal
> pacifism. Chapter 9 sets forth Alexander's theological appraisal of
> the Assemblies of God's disavowal of pacifism. Although the shortest
> chapter, it delivers the strongest punch. In brief, Alexander
> maintains that following Jesus means loving people not killing them.
> Moreover, though he has the early history of the Assemblies of God on
> his side, Alexander believes the theological argument for crucifism
> is paramount. The Assemblies of God's effort to achieve acceptance by
> mainstream American culture and Evangelicalism was ultimately a
> Faustian bargain that resulted in the loss of their "Spirit-empowered
> message of love for a more popular and less critical Americanized
> religion" (p. 330). Furthermore, the denomination exchanged the
> ethics of Jesus for the values of conservative politics and American
> nationalism. He ends the chapter with a call for the Assemblies of
> God to re-embrace not only its historic position on war, but more
> important, the Spirit empowered way of Jesus Christ as well.
>
> This book has several compelling features. Alexander meticulously
> builds his case on a thorough investigation and documentation of
> Pentecostal primary sources. He also brings to light an often
> neglected part of Pentecostalism, which, given the tendency of
> contemporary Pentecostal churches to align politically with
> Republican politicians and hawkish attitudes toward the deployment of
> military force, many Pentecostal church members will find surprising
> and maybe even disturbing. An additional appealing aspect of the book
> is that Alexander's telling of the history of the Assemblies of God
> and pacifism is also the story of a personal religious awakening. His
> research and writing on Pentecostal pacifism was a way of working out
> his faith. Thus, this book is about discipleship, the original and
> ultimate purpose of theology. Moreover, whether or not one finds his
> vision of crucifism convincing, his personal courage to remain
> faithful to what he believes is the way of Jesus should be commended
> (he lost a longtime faculty post at an Assemblies of God university
> for his advocacy of crucifism).
>
> In respect to the theological thesis of the book, I have two
> comments. First, what are people in general and Christians in
> particular supposed to do in a world in which others are more than
> willing to kill, torture, exploit, and enslave them? It seems
> mendacious to opt for the position that military action is legitimate
> for those who are not Christians, but unacceptable for Christians.
> Pacifism, at least in Western states, seems to entail the pacifist's
> luxury of protesting violence while conveniently standing behind
> those who bear arms in their defense. Moreover, if pacifism is
> primarily the posture of the community of Jesus, then the result is a
> two-tiered ethics system. Members of the Christian community should
> follow the Prince of Peace, but those who are not Christians are free
> to follow Mars, the god of war. I am not convinced that Alexander
> thinks this way, but the emphasis on the Christian community as a
> peace witness can give that impression.
>
> Second, Alexander's point seems unassailable that the example of
> Jesus, at least in the gospels, provides little basis for war. Yet,
> in the final biblical book of Revelation, the Prince of Peace returns
> as the Man of War to vanquish the forces of evil in ways that are
> less than pacific. The Old Testament also frequently portrays war as
> the mechanism through which God exercises providence in human
> history--the conquest of Canaan being both an illustrative and
> troubling case in point. Thus, the biblical canon as a whole seems to
> be more accepting of the use of force than if one focuses
> specifically on the gospels. In the end, both pacifists and
> conscientious combatants can perhaps find support for their position
> in the Bible.
>
> Overall, this is a fine example of historical scholarship and an
> inspiring theological case for pacifism both in terms of the
> theological argument and the personal story that undergirds it. This
> book would make an excellent text in classes on Christian ethics and
> treating the relationship between the church and culture and/or
> state. It is also written in way that it is accessible for
> nonacademics, yet is nonetheless a sophisticated historical argument.
>
> Citation: Steven Studebaker. Review of Alexander, Paul, _Peace to
> War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God_.
> H-Pentecostalism, H-Net Reviews. October, 2009.
> URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=24988
>
> This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
> Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
> License.

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