Apocalypse of Peace

This phrase reflects my approach to the biblical story, specifically Christ the non-retaliating victim ("slain lamb," Rev 5:6) conquering the powers of evil and the secret power of redemptive non-violence that has been in the cosmos from the beginning.

"Apocalypse" signifies an unveiling, the disclosure of what has formerly been hidden. The power of the cross has been hidden from the first, as Paul hints at in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8: "we speak of a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. The rulers of this age did not understand this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." His phrase "for [eis] our glory" means that this hidden wisdom is also the telos (or, end for which God has ordered the human person) of those who share in Christ's passion: "sumpaschomen hina kai sundoxasthōmen" (Romans 8:17) -- suffer with and then hope to be "lit up" (glorified) with. The glorification of those in Christ signifies they have "put on" the Lord of Glory.

Peace is the truth, then, but it has been been hidden in the cosmos until the Christ event revealed it ca. 30 AD. What has not been hidden is the Darwinian principle, "survival of the fittest." Although this principle seems to reflect the natural world, it obscures the "truth about us," the human person's telos, which is glorification in the slain lamb. Moreover, the violence by which the strong survive is, in a sense, a lie -- as JP2 noted: "violence is a lie."

The slogan "myth of redemptive violence" is widely used among peaceniks to reflect the belief that violence begets violence, not peace. Our culture accepts redemptive violence as a truth, however unfortunate; but redemptive violence is not consistent with Christ's law of non-retaliation, his Beatitudes ("the meek shall inherit the earth"), or his kenotic (self-emptying) example. If Christ reveals the truth, then the success through violence is ultimately a lie.

According to the biblical story as the Ancients read it, God created the world in a state of shalom, but creation was "flushed" when the human person allowed violence to overwhelm the created good (Gen 6:13). God has ordered the world to shalom; thus violence is a dis-ordering, and cannot be the truth about us.

The apocalypse of peace reflects the Endzeit/Urzeit typology of the Ancients: the apocalyptic end will reveal the reshith (beginning) shalom of the biblical God's order, but until then, the people of the Lamb can tap this hidden power by living non-violently on behalf of the Good and the True. [4.27.08; rev. 5.2.08]