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John Howard Yoder and John D. Caputo: Love as the event of God's power
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- Author(s) / Creator(s)
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"If God is revealed in Jesus, how is God’s power to be understood? It is the argument of this thesis that the work of John Howard Yoder reveals God’s power as the simple event of love. A close reading of Yoder’s project locates a tension between his stated understanding of power and the implications of his broader project. The non-violence that characterizes his project operates according to a parallel “means to ends” logic to that which he critiques. While Yoder attempts to articulate a notion of power counter to a common paradigm—one that is non-violent and not governed by effectiveness—he ultimately frames his concept of power within a paradigm that seeks to control. Yet, his emphasis upon the agape love of God, revealed in Jesus Christ, insists that an alternative paradigm of power is at work. Utilizing the work of John D. Caputo, an alternative reading of Yoder’s notion of power is developed. Caputo’s concepts of hospitality, call, and event, are applied to Yoder’s project in order to reveal the “means as ends” (or, means without ends) logic operating within it. The result of such a discussion of Yoder’s project is the establishment of a paradigm of power that adheres to the broader argument of his project and redefines the notion of power itself. Through the work of Yoder and Caputo, the event of love is revealed as a paradigm of power understood by its occurrence and not its effect."
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- Date created
- 2015-04-01
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- Type of Item
- Research Material