Preface & Introduction, pages 9-16

Summary of the Preface

The preface of Volf's book is a powerful setting of the stage for the work to follow. His recounting of his own internal struggle when asked if he could embrace those responsible for the widespread devastation of his homeland is honest and clear. This is the question that he wrestled with, and that we will begin to wrestle with: "How does one remain loyal both to the demand of the oppressed for justice and to the gift of forgiveness that the Crucified offered to the perpetrators... The tension between the message of the cross and the world of violence presented itself to me as a conflict between the desire to follow the Crucified and the disinclination either simply to watch others be crucified or let myself be nailed to the cross."

Introduction: Images of Three Cities

The three cities Volf is referring to are Sarajevo, Berlin, and Los Angeles, which Volf says are "connected by a history of vicious cultural, ethnic, and racial strife." Of course, these cities are not alone in their strife, and these cities are not only centers of violence. But for Volf, they signify the widespread conflicts that arise around the world, and throughout time. These conflicts, taken at their most basic level, all come down to the fact that one person is different from another person, and that difference cannot or will not be tolerated. As Volf says at the end of this section, "the problem of ethnic and cultural conflicts is part of a larger problem of identity and otherness."

In theology, the term "other" is used to help us be aware of the fact that we are all different from each other, while all created in the Divine image. Even the person I know better than anyone else in the world is "other" than myself; I cannot know every thought in that person's head, every feeling in that person's heart, or every experience that person has ever had. If I cannot know these things about the person I am closest to, then it is clear I cannot know these things for any other person on the face of the earth.

As human beings, we tend to think that the people around us feel the same way we do about everything. Just think of a time when you have been surprised by someone else's opinion on a current event, or when you've seen a bumper sticked that shocked you and you wondered how someone could think that way. This tendency can become a serious problem if we do not constantly remind ourselves that each person on this earth is different, intentionally created that way by God. Using the term "other" is a very helpful way to keep that fact in our minds, especially as we consider what it means to "love our neighbor as ourselves."