#61 Part 2 of 2: John Dear on "Universal Love, Surrendering to the God of Peace": "You want me to get rid of my guns?"

#61 Part 2 of 2: John Dear on "Universal Love, Surrendering to the God of Peace": "You want me to get rid of my guns?"

From The Nonviolent Jesus by Fr. John Dear

March 2, 2026 · 49 min · Season 2 · Episode 61

About this episode

Fr. John Dear reflects on universal love and the connection between nonviolence and surrendering to God in the context of current global issues.

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I offer part 2 of my reflection on my new book, Universal Love: Surrendering to the God of Peace . If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, it will be helpful to listen to last week's podcast first. There I tell how the book came about, and why I wrote it. I conclude the first episode with the story of my visit with Archbishop Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa, where he confided with me his thoughts on free will as the basis of understanding God and our work for peace, justice and nonviolence, In this 2nd episode, I’ll reflect on the connection between nonviolence and surrendering our will to God, and the political consequences of doing God’s will of peace in a world of war, I also recount many of my experiences with some of the greatest peace activists and peacemakers in the world and how surrender is vital to becoming an extension of Universal Love. In this concluding part, I explore the connection between surrendering our will to the God of universal love and living nonviolence in our daily lives. Then, I try to unpack the shocking political implications of universal love, peace and nonviolence--if we surrender our lives…

People in this episode

Host: Fr. John Dear

Topics covered

  • universal love
  • nonviolence
  • surrender to God
  • peace
  • political implications
  • spirituality

Keywords

  • universal love
  • nonviolence
  • surrender
  • peace
  • Archbishop Tutu
  • spiritual classics
  • political consequences
  • climate change

More episodes of The Nonviolent Jesus

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Nonviolent Jesus podcast page.