Offering Hospitality – Questioning Christian Approaches to War

"This is a bold and brave book that tackles weighty matters pertaining to violence and community with a deft touch. Caron Gentry’s perspective, which marries contemporary feminist and critical thought to Christian realist, just war, and pacifist concerns, is fresh and insightful. She succeeds wonderfully in carving out a space that relates the literature on hospitality to the contemporary ethics of war. This book will be of major interest to scholars working in theology, international relations, political theory, and religious ethics." —Cian O'Driscoll, University of Glasgow

"Caron Gentry offers a daring constructive moral proposal here calling for a reconstruction of the just war ethic’s criterion of last resort as a platform for embodying a deep form of Christian hospitality in international affairs. Along the way she analyzes the work of Reinhold Niebuhr, Stanley Hauerwas, and Jean Bethke Elshtain. A must read for students of political theology, international relations, and feminist theory." —Shaun Casey, Wesley Theological Seminary

"Gentry challenges modern just-war theologians to move beyond abstract notions of the state to embrace both the new realities of global warfare and the eternal reality of agape love. . . . Gentry's book contributes an informed feminist and postmodern critique to the just-war conversation. She does a fine job of outlining gaps in current just-war theorizing and begins to scratch the surface of envisioning new answers." —Publishers Weekly

"Gentry (Mothers, Monsters, and Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics, with Laura Sjoberg) challenges modern just-war theologians to move beyond abstract notions of the state to embrace both the new realities of global warfare and the eternal reality of agape love. According to the author, in working from a WWII/Cold War paradigm that understands most warfare as between states rather than—as is now the case—within failed states, theologians such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Stanley Hauerwas miss the crucial importance of concrete, preventive interventions that value people more than abstract ideas. Further, she argues, such theologians have insufficiently critiqued their own privilege in the face of violence. Only out of a deep willingness to become vulnerable, to listen, and to offer disinterested, nonimperialistic aid—i.e., hospitality—can the world's more powerful nations hope to prevent war. Gentry's book contributes an informed feminist and postmodern critique to the just-war conversation. She does a fine job of outlining gaps in current just-war theorizing and begins to scratch the surface of envisioning new answers." —Publishers Weekly

“This is a work that adds another voice to the chorus calling for Christians not just to avoid war or practice it with restraint, but to build peace. May the numbers increase.” —America
 

“Caron [E. Gentry] brings a lens of feminism and a theology of the marginalized to bear against popular political theologies that rely on a state-centric view of the world. A dense and interesting read.” —Prism

“Gentry . . . presents an alternative approach to building and sustaining international political life through the Christian ethic of hospitality. . . . She argues that a Christian approach of hospitality offers a morally preferable approach to coping with failed states and international political conflicts because it can bypass hegemonic power and is better able to incorporate the needs and wants of the weak, the vulnerable, and the poor.” —Choice

“By applying the concept of ‘hospitality’ in both the Christian notion of agape and in post-modern thought, [Gentry] seeks to transform each of these approaches to war in order to pave the way for a ‘better peace’ . . . Offering Hospitality is a provocative and compelling book that makes a vital contribution to Christian thinking about war.” —Political Studies Review

“Gentry brings together theory, data, and practice in a stark analysis of conflict and puts forth a robust Christian approach to war. . . Though Gentry writes with an American Christian audience in mind, the principles embodied in this work find support in a plurality of religious and political traditions and extend beyond the purview of American politics, even to include a variety of inter-communal as well as inter-personal relationships. This work contributes a fresh and overdue perspective to the conversation.” —Journal for Peace and Justice Studies

"Gentry challenges modern just-war theologians to move beyond abstract notions of the state to embrace both the new realities of global warfare and the eternal reality of agape love. . . . Gentry's book contributes an informed feminist and postmodern critique to the just-war conversation. She does a fine job of outlining gaps in current just-war theorizing and begins to scratch the surface of envisioning new answers." —Publishers Weekly (August 12, 2013)

“This is a work that adds another voice to the chorus calling for Christians not just to avoid war or practice it with restraint, but to build peace. May the numbers increase.” —America, Dec. 30, 2013

“Gentry . . . presents an alternative approach to building and sustaining international political life through the Christian ethic of hospitality. . . . She argues that a Christian approach of hospitality offers a morally preferable approach to coping with failed states and international political conflicts because it can bypass hegemonic power and is better able to incorporate the needs and wants of the weak, the vulnerable, and the poor.” —Choice, August 2014

“Caron [E. Gentry] brings a lens of feminism and a theology of the marginalized to bear against popular political theologies that rely on a state-centric view of the world. A dense and interesting read.” —Prism, Jan. 1, 2014