His work has challenged them to grapple in a most fundamental way with the relationship between violence, religion, the God of the Bible, and the death of his Christ. Readers newly acquainted with Girard an well as those long steeped in his thought will find much to ponder here. Beyond a significant contribution to Girardian studies of mimetic phenomena, it holds its own theologically and includes much to make the discerning reader a better person.
Many theses seek to explain societal rivalry, injustice, and scapegoating.
Perhaps none is more thorough or persuasive than Rene Girard's. These scholarly essays engage this question at multiple levels. Especially Girard's theories on sacrifice and imitation are critically examined in these significant contributions to Girardian scholarshipwhich culminate in a response by Girard himself. Addressed as well in Violence Renounced are kingship and sevanthood, the relation between the Testaments on sacrifice and atonement, and such basic themes as the human primal nature, the shape of new creation in Jewish and Christian reality, and feminist perspectives on Girardian theory. He earned his Ph.D. from Princeton Theoligcal Seminary.