Jonah, Jesus and Other Good Coyotes

Summary

An original, powerful, and programmatic reading of the Bible that emphasizes the biblical call to peacemakingSmith-Christopher shows us that biblical peacemaking recognizes and then crosses'”or 'œruns''”borders. All too often, borders and other imaginary lines drawn between groups of people have a way of becoming the basis for conflict, bigotry, and ultimately, war. Danger signs are evident when people use 'œborders' to talk about the goodness of everyone within 'œour' border, and the evil of everyone 'œover there.' Modern social commentators use the phrase 'œthe other' to refer to the tendency of human groups to develop a positive image of themselves by contrasting it with negative images of others.Smith-Christopher states that when this happens, it is important for us to remind ourselves that it is a profoundly biblical lesson that making peace between groups of people often requires that somebody must be willing to intentionally cross the 'œborders' that separate groups. In this book, he argues that the Bible teaches Christians that they are this somebody. Crossing boundaries is a biblical mandate, and the foundation of peacemaking.About the title: 'œCoyote' in modern parlance refers to human traffickers of illegal aliens and immigrants. Coyote crossings commonly elicit the image of professional mercenary smugglers who prey upon the hopes and dreams of illegal aliens. However, among immigrants themselves, the overwhelming view of Coyotes is positive. Daniel Smith-Christopher uses this paradox, this provocative image, a very biblical paradox, he adds, as the central and effective metaphor in the book. Jonah and Jesus are reviled for the same reason, he says: they crossed boundaries, they met the 'œother,' and they brought them over. They thumbed their noses at man-made and fear-based boundaries that exclude rather than embrace.

Author Biography

Daniel L. Smith-Christopher is Professor of Theological Studies and Director of Peace Studies at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.

Hearing silenced voices of the Bible : the "other" ten commandments	p. 1
Violent times and courageous hopes : a history of two biblical wars, 587 B.C.E. and 70 C.E.	p. 27
"Second Isaiah" and Jonah : two Hebrew coyotes	p. 49
Crossing over for peace : two Hebrew "coyotes" swim the "Rio Jordan"	p. 69
The new "creationism" : pray globally - act nonviolently	p. 89
Jesus violates the borders	p. 117
Paul and crossing borders : the Christian mandate to the nations	p. 137
The harps of pacifism or the hammers of nonviolence?	p. 151
Unfinished conversations (while scaling this world's fences ...)	p. 177
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