Peaceful at Heart: Anabaptist Reflections on Healthy Masculinity

While there are plenty of books by men for men on the topic of Christian masculinity these books generally fail to address mens propensities for violence and the traditional inequity between men and women often endorsing inequity and sanctioning aggressive behavior as an appropriate manly response to conflict. Peaceful at Heart cuts through this conversation by offering a uniquely Anabaptist Christian perspective on masculinity. The vision of masculinity presented in this book is more peaceful just caring life-giving for men and more sensitive to women and children than both traditional images of masculinity and the hypermasculine images promoted by contemporary popular culture and wider evangelical Christianity. Peaceful at Heart addresses men and masculinity using Anabaptist theological themes of discipleship community and peace. As a collaborative project by men for men this book demonstrates through personal narratives theological reflection and practical guidance the importance of collective discernment accountability and mutual encouragement regarding how to live as a peaceful man in a violent world. Much of the literature written in mens psychology/spirituality is ensnared in wild/aggressive/warrior/conquer language. Like a beacon of light this book reveals a vision of peace for men and shows how to embrace a peacefulness within male humanity. . . . Most certainly this book will be one that I loan to men who are not satisfied with what our cultures are asking of them. --Doug Klassen Executive Minister Mennonite Church Canada By bravely intelligently and compassionately wrestling with what it means to be a man who loves Jesus this book invites men to invert their ideas of strength and power living into deeper connection sacrifice and dependence on God. This book is a sorely needed gift for the contemporary church. --Kristyn Komarnicki Director of Oriented to Love Evangelicals for Social Action I am grateful for Mennonite Men and their willingness to take on this project. I am also grateful for their commitment to give voice to a diverse group of men and their experienced masculinity from outside the typical white heterosexual narrative of North American society. --Glen Guyton Executive Director Mennonite Church USA My hope for this project is that it will not only get men talking but also get women and men talking together. . . . Together we can overcome this toxic reality of masculinity and create healthy norms of masculinity and femininity. -- from the Afterword by Cyneatha Millsaps Executive Director Mennonite Women USA This book is for men who want to explore alternatives to the dominant but tired and harmful mythological types of men as warriors kings or wild ones. Teenage through senior males will be challenged by stories and models of masculinity marked by honesty interdependence and faith. Maleness in the twenty-first century is complex but as this book demonstrates it is both possible and life-giving to reconcile with ourselves and with all humanity. --Andy Brubacher Kaethler Associate Professor Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary Don Neufeld is the Canadian Coordinator for Mennonite Men and is a clinical social worker in private practice in the Niagara Region in Ontario. Steve Thomas is the US Coordinator for Mennonite Men and is a pastor and arborist in Goshen Indiana.