Chapter 9: The Heart of God
The Peacemakers
“Shalom is a sign of God’s reign both now and in the new age, as in Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom, where the wolf lives with the lamb and nobody hurts or destroys anybody else (Isa 11:6–9). To be peacemakers, then, means to actively participate in ushering in the world of shalom, making whole whatever is broken.”
Vertical dimension: peace with God
“Peacemaking is God’s work, achieved through Christ. The first task of the (human) peacemaker, then, is to reconcile with God, to receive God’s gift of peace herself.”
Horizontal dimension: peace with others
Peace with self. Many thought that you can’t make peace with others unless you are at peace with yourself.
Peace with those near: family and friends. Much of the focus in this area is on peace making, not the nature of peace itself. This leads to lots of practical advice. “The minister Robert Henley used the analogy of the “peace” created when a section of wood is placed between two pieces of metal to prevent heat from traveling between them; peacemakers are “‘non-conductors’ of bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, and all malice.”
Peace among Christians. Christians are often in conflict with other on the local level, or the denomination level.
Peace among nations: politics and war. Using the beatitude in this sense is a fairly modern interpretation.
Can soldiers be peacemakers? In early Christianity, the answer was generally no. But after Constantine converted opinions begin to chance, especially in the west.Augustine laid the foundation for the just war theory and that largely was accepted until the 20th century. Today Christians are divided on this topic.
Justice and Peace.
The will be called sons of God.
Conclusion.
Quotes from: Rebekah Eklund. “The Beatitudes through the Ages.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-beatitudes-through-the-ages/id1551836162