Too many theological accounts of peace treat violence as a contaminant to be held off — by walls, by just war doctrine, or by empires that promise safety in exchange for loyalty. Paul and Billie turn that logic inside out. Drawing on their concept of eucontamination, they argue that shalom itself functions as a contaminant: it does not stay comfortably separate from violence, but infects the systems, loyalties, and comforts built to manage it.

Real peace, on this account, is not mere conflict avoidance or the preservation of order; it is the condition in which all is finally made right—a shalom inseparable from justice, and secured only through a love that refuses to exempt either enemy or neighbor. That is what makes it dangerous rather than comforting: it cannot be achieved by distance, defense, or the selective mercies empire is willing to grant.

True Peace is messy and requires contact, a willingness to let go of the securities violence and empire promise. It unsettles precisely because it will not settle for anything less than everything set right. Paul and Billie trace what this means for how Christians imagine their relationship to power, protection, and the violence so often required to preserve both.

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