Violence: Is There a Civilizing Process? Does the Gospel Play any Part in it?

Summary The paper argues that violence has complex roots, and therefore demands complex responses. Amongst the causes of violence may be factors as various as structural injustice, mimesis, bad parenting or hormonal imbalance. Structural changes are needed to reduce violence, though it will never be completely eliminated. Jesus identified violence as a key aspect of the human problem and wanted his new society to address it. The church may thus be understood as the seed bed of a new order which looks for creative ways of dealing with conflict. That realisation demands both a new theology and a new church.