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Following Jesus in nonviolent struggle for justice and peace, we love our neighbors and enemies as God loves us all, becoming a peace church to share in Gods work to save the world.

Greater Works Than These Shall You Do

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Greater Works Than These Shall You Do

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, [they] that believeth on me, the works that I do shall [they] do also; and greater works than these shall [they] do; because I go unto my Father.” John14:12

The twentieth century was filled with great scientific discoveries and cataclysmic historical upheavals. Just as great upheavals in our understanding of the universe, like the discovery of the quanta yielded new sciences and technological advances, historical upheavals led to some discoveries about humanity and our depths. These areas of discovery shaded over into each other at points. Of course all scientific discoveries are in some way the story of humanity and its potential; but beyond this basic insight we discovered the wonders of depth psychology through thinkers like Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and their coterie of intellectual offspring. These men did not so much invent these fields but organized knowledge and insights in ways that advanced our understanding, hence yielding new tools for even deeper exploration. We are the better for it. The historical upheavals and the historic discoveries are fundamentally tied to each other, for new and pressing demands and unique moments called forth advances to cope with the peculiar and particular challenges.

The affirmation of core humanitarian values through organized nonviolent struggle also emerged during this period. It was one of the greatest breakthroughs of the twentieth century; perhaps even the greatest moral advance. Not that there haven’t been nonviolent approaches in the past, the greatest of which I believe we witness in the life of Jesus the Christ; but the deployment of this spiritual power against the pretenses and oppressive excesses of empire through mass organization was a quantum leap forward in the moral and spiritual universe of humankind. Our work has only begun. The efforts of Gandhi and King were breakthroughs. The rise and success of these movements were only intimations of what is possible. It is up to us to work out the implications and drive this work forward. They were hopeful suggestions of what remains of the powerful possibilities in our nature and in our world, indeed our universe. Press on!

A Friend of the Crucified,

Rev. Matthew V. Johnson, Ph. D.

National Director, ECAPC

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