Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Jesus's Gospel -- Jesus's actions -- Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount -- Other teachings of Jesus -- Peace in the rest of the New Testament -- But what about ... ? -- Foundational theological issues -- Problems with pacifism -- Problems with just war thinking -- Jesus and killing in the Old Testament -- What if most (or all) Christians became pacifists? -- Nonviolence and the atonement -- Christians and killing in church history -- If Jesus is Lord.

What does Jesus have to say about violence, just war, and killing? Does Jesus ever want his disciples to kill in order to resist evil and promote peace and justice? This book by noted theologian and bestselling author Ronald J. Sider provides a career capstone statement on biblical peacemaking. Sider makes a strong case for the view that Jesus calls his disciples to love, and never kill, their enemies. He explains that there are never only two options: to kill or to do nothing in the face of tyranny and brutality. There is always a third possibility: vigorous, nonviolent resistance. If we believe that Jesus is Lord, then we disobey him when we set aside what he taught about killing and ignore his command to love our enemies. This thorough, comprehensive treatment of a topic of perennial concern vigorously engages with the just war tradition and issues a challenge to all Christians, especially evangelicals, to engage in biblical peacemaking. The book includes a foreword by Stanley Hauerwas.