UNITED STATES
Winnipeg Free Press

By: John Longhurst

Four years ago, while visiting Elkhart, Ind., on business, my hosts decided to take me on a tour. We saw historic downtown buildings, the river walk, gardens and magnificent old houses. The tour concluded with a visit to the grave of Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder.

It wasn’t surprising that they wanted to take me there; Yoder, who died in 1997, was possibly the most prominent North American Mennonite theologian of the 20th century. He was best known for his book The Politics of Jesus, for decades a standard text in many seminaries and Christian universities.
Through that book, and his many other works, Yoder influenced millions with his thoughtful and energetic promotion of Christian pacifism and non-violence — including me. He changed the way I viewed how Christians should interact with the world.

So it came as a shock…