An introduction to the topic from Ian Milligan About Ian
One of the subjects which Jim taught about most frequently was the word shalom, often translated in the Bible as ‘peace’. It was one of the teachings for which he was most well-known and which many people picked up on, some reclaiming it as a way of signing off letters and exchanging greetings.
Jim saw shalom as a beautiful concept and he enthused about it, explaining and proclaiming it, helping his listeners to understand how central it was to the gospel and how it had a much bigger, wider meaning compared to the idea of ‘peace’ as lack of war or personal conflict. In these two pieces on the website we hear Jim speaking and can quickly grasp how this puts a very different slant on a gospel that some want to make narrowly about personal belief or conversion. When we realise the multiple dimensions of shalom then we are able to biblically challenge those who want to make the gospel somehow about ‘religion’, rather than the renewal of all people, relationships, societies and indeed the whole universe. Numerous biblical verses come alive in a new way when we see how often this concept of shalom is used to describe diverse, but related, aspects of the Kingdom of God.
Shalom is an exciting Hebrew word. ‘Peace’ no longer translates it. Shalom is wholeness, completeness, unbrokenness, full health, comprehensive well-being. For the individual Shalom is the soundness of being in every way, between persons it means relationships of trust, openness and caring ... in groups and societies it involves social justice ... for nature it means living responsibly without pollution or destruction.
(extract from The Lion Handbook of Christian Belief, published in 1982)
Links to some of Jim's shalom material on this site
The Community of Shalom, God's Radical Alternative read
Shalom through Jesus (Outreach, the magazine of Scripture Union, April/June 1976, p10) read
Shalom - An article in "The Lion Handbook of Christian Belief" read
The Messiah People, Hot Iron Press, Birmingham 1993 (first chapter) read
