Margot Kassmann
The pervasiveness of violence its many forms poses challenge the churches today at all levels from the local to the global. What can they undertake together in order effectively to overcome violence in the home, on the streets, in the media? In a world where conflicting national and ethnic aspirations seem more and more often to lead to the violence of repression or of armed revolution, can the churches live out the conviction they have expressed time and again that war is contrary to the will of God? What resources for nonviolent resolution of conflicts can they find in the Bible and their theological traditions?

In the light of the decision of the World Council of Churches to establish a Programme to Overcome Violence, the author examines these and other questions and points to the opportunities and difficulties linked with the vocation of nonviolence.