ABSTRACT
This chapter links John Amos Comenius' vision of peace and links his eschatological evolutionary perspective to modern research on natural and cultural evolution. Historical efforts 'to overcome violence' have to be self-critically complemented by empirical research on human nature. Therefore, the theological focus on God and the biblical vision of peace is interrelated in the chapter to evolutionary anthropology, social psychology and global ethics. The chapter then discusses the background factors from the perspective of the sociobiology of aggression, violence and warfare. It also discusses the causes of aggression and violence by illustrating a few stories. Further, the chapter argues that some of the formerly adaptive predispositions and attuned cultural responses, such as solving problems of competition by war, are maladaptive today. The human mind has coped with its own propensity for aggression and violence with a remarkable degree of success. But at the same time it has become perfectionist in devising ever more effective means of mutual destruction.
