The growth of terrorism since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the multiple wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the religious-ethnic-nationalist conflicts in the Middle East, in Africa and elsewhere, led many scholars to believe that religion is the main cause of conflicts today. If it is true that religion has evidently been a cause of many conflicts, it is also true it cannot be considered as the main cause of conflicts. As a matter of fact, religion also played important roles in peace making process in time of war or conflicts between nations, ethnic groups, politicians, and communities. Many Christian leaders and denominations, in South Africa with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in Mozambique with Sant’Egidio, in the U.S. with Pastor Martin Luther King’s contribution to non-violence and peacebuilding are illustrative. This article examines the relationship between Christian faith and peace building with the specific case of David Wilkerson’s The Cross and the Switchblade. Based on a true story the author himself experienced, the work relates the history of groups of gangs which were fighting each other for decades under the powerless eyes of the New York police. After learning from a magazine the pitiful murder of a young boy by seven gang boys, the author realizes he must go to help these two communities in conflict and living under the power of drugs, with all kinds of violence. At the end, he has not only been able to bring peace between them, but has also brought many of them, including Nicky, to a new life, a life of faith, forgiveness, love, reconciliation, and peace. Where Nicky threatened him with a Switchblade, Wilkerson loves him with the cross. Using a case study approach and biographical criticism, this study shows how religion can be a great factor of peace building.

Wilkerson; justice; faith; love; reconciliation; peace