Video from The Table/Biola CCT
Learning to Love the Enemy - Stanley Hauerwas
"Jesus' teaching in Matthew 18 is central for Christians coming to love the enemy. Particularly important is that we never forget that God is the enemy we most fear. To be confronted and to confront those that we have wronged and have wronged us is one of the central practices for Christians to practice neighbor love." the video introduction.
Today in our time as Christians you and I have a problem with loving the enemy as Christ asked us to do. The other problem is the enemy NOW seems to be anyone who we disagree with especially "politically".
Our sin is central to this as we are someone else's enemy as well and we desire acceptance and forgiveness. So where will the two meet?
In this video, Stanley Hauerwas prompts us to be obedient to our Lord and love our enemies.
"Professor Hauerwas has sought to recover the significance of the virtues for understanding the nature of the Christian life. This search has led him to emphasize the importance of the church, as well as narrative for understanding Christian existence. His work cuts across disciplinary lines as he is in conversation with systematic theology, philosophical theology, ethics, political theory, as well as the philosophy of social science and medical ethics. He was named "America’s Best Theologian" by Time magazine in 2001. Dr. Hauerwas, who holds a joint appointment in Duke Law School, delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectureship at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland in 2001.
His book, A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic, was selected as one of the 100 most important books on religion of the 20th century. Dr. Hauerwas recently authored The Work of Theology (Eerdmans, 2015), Hannah’s Child: A Theological Memoir, 2nd Ed. (Eerdmans, 2012), and War and the American Difference: Theological Reflections on Violence and National Identity ( Baker Academic Press, 2011)."
from his blog: Stanleyhauerwasblogspot