Patrick Q. Mason - Proclaim Peace: The Restorations Answer to an Age of Conflict

Living Faith books are for readers who cherish the life of the mind and the things of the Spirit. Each title offers an example of faith in search of understanding, the unique voice of a practicing scholar who has cultivated a believing heart.

Other Living Faith books include:

Samuel M. Brown, First Principles and Ordinances: The Fourth Article of Faith in Light of the Temple

Samuel M. Brown, Where the Soul Hungers: One Doctors Journey from Atheism to Faith

James E. Faulconer, Thinking Otherwise

George B. Handley, The Hope of Nature

George B. Handley, If Truth Were a Child

Ashley Mae Hoiland, One Hundred Birds Taught Me to Fly: The Art of Seeking God

Patrick Q. Mason, Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt

Adam S. Miller, Letters to a Young Mormon (2nd ed.)

Steven L. Peck, Evolving Faith: Wanderings of a Mormon Biologist

Thomas F. Rogers, Let Your Hearts and Minds Expand: Reflections on Faith, Reason, Charity, and Beauty

Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye, Crossings: A Bald Asian American Latter-day Saint Woman Scholars Ventures through Life, Death, Cancer & Motherhood (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Charles Shir Inouye, Zion Earth Zen Sky

2021 by Patrick Q. Mason and J. David Pulsipher

This book is the result of a joint publishing effort by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and Deseret Book Company.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, at permissions@deseretbook.com. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company.

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ISBN: 978-1-9503-0416-5 | eISBN 978-1-64933-094-9 (eBook)

Cover design: Grace Pulsipher, Heather Ward
Interior artwork: Grace Pulsipher
Book design: Emily V. Rogers

Printed in the United States of America

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mason, Patrick Q., author. | Pulsipher, J. David (John David), 1967-author.

Title: Proclaim peace : the Restoration's answer to an age of conflict / Patrick Q. Mason & J. David Pulsipher.

Description: Provo, UT : Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, [2021] | Includes index. | Summary: "An extended meditation on what it means to follow Jesus Christ in a world of violence, this book invites readers, especially the rising generation, to reflect seriously on the interpersonal, ethical, and social dimensions of Christian discipleship. It is a spiritual journey by two Latter-day Saint scholars of peace--a journey of scriptural exegesis and hermeneutics that breathes new life into familiar and beloved texts from the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price" Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021027065 | ISBN 9781950304165 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Peace--Religious aspects--Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. | Peace--Religious aspects--Mormon Church. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. | Mormon ChurchDoctrines.

Classification: LCC BX8643.P43 M37 2021 | DDC 261.8/73dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021027065

for our children,
and the rest of the rising generation

Contents

Acknowledgments

P aths of peace often feel circuitous, and the path of this book is no different. It has taken more than a decade from conception to completion, with the help of many friends, colleagues, and supporters along the way.

The genesis for the project came in March 2011, during a conference on Latter-day Saint perspectives on war and peace cosponsored by the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate Universitythen occupied by Richard Bushmanand the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame. We are indebted to the scholars who gathered at Claremont to share their insights, and to Greg Kofford Books for publishing the resultant volume, War and Peace in Our Time: Mormon Perspectives . A deeply thoughtful review of that book by political theorist Benjamin R. Hertzberg encouraged us to think about the necessity of a more comprehensive, sustained treatment of the topic.

The project really got a kick start thanks to Andrew Bolton, whose commitment to nonviolence from his perspective as a member and leader in the Community of Christ is truly inspiring. The three of us met together for several intense and productive days, which resulted in creating the projects first working outline. While the book has evolved significantly since those initial efforts, we are indebted to Andrews friendship and expert midwifery. We hope he will be pleased at our modest effort to articulate a Latter-day Saint vision of Jesus Christs peaceable kingdom.

The manuscript developed in fits and starts over the subsequent years, but there were several key elements that moved it along. First, we were able to present our ideas and receive feedback at numerous conferences, symposia, and universities, including the American Academy of Religion, Sidney Sperry Symposium, Mormon History Association, J. Reuben Clark Society (Phoenix and Orange County chapters), National World War I Museum and Memorial, LDS National Security Professionals symposium, Miller-Eccles Study Group, Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, J. Reuben Clark Law School and Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Brigham Young University, University of Notre Dame, Claremont Graduate University, Utah Valley University, and Brigham Young UniversityIdaho. We are especially thankful to the Wheatley Institution at Brigham Young University, which sponsored a multiday seminar and subsequent conference on Latter-day Saint ethics of war and peace. Fred Axelgard spearheaded the effort and brought together a terrific group of Latter-day Saint and other scholars from around the world whose presentations significantly informed our thinking.