War… what is it good for?
(This blog is continuing the conversation from Pete’s blog “Clarkson and the Soldier”.)
War… what is it good for? Absolutely nothing?
Well… what about defending the defenseless? Or crushing an evil tyrant? Or stopping an invasion? Was it wrong to fight against the war march of the Nazis in WWII?
The New Testament of the Bible is noticebly silent on the issue of national warfare… Jesus gives instruction on personal vandettas – “turn the other cheek” (Matt. 5:38-48); and Paul also gives instruction “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath…” (Romans 12:19). But on a national level… nothing is specified.
Overall I think the Bible teaches a non-violent approach to conflict whether on a personal or national level (In the OT Proverbs has much to say about a cool headed response to conflict [cf. Prov. 14:29; 19:11]; and in the NT “blessed are the peacemakers” [Matt. 5:9]; and there are more…)
However, the Bible doesn’t advocate pacifism either… There is no instruction that one shouldn’t go to war, or join the army. When Jesus meets the Roman Centurion in Luke 7 Jesus commends the faith of the Centurion “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel…”; and one might expect that Jesus would add the comment (as he did with the sinful woman in John 4) “your faith has healed your servant, go and leave the army and sin no more.” But there is no such comment. The Centurion is to continue in his post, and the silence of Jesus on the matter gives reason to believe that there is no conflict between his faith in Jesus and his military occupation. Perhaps this argument makes too much out of a silent issue, and certainly the story is not about whether Christians should be in the army, but at the very least it doesn’t condemn the military, and by implication, nor does it condemn their use.
I’ve more to add, but I need to take a break for now. Will post more in a day or so… Further ideas: The Bible condemns anything motivated by greed (including wars). The Bible endorses the defending of the defenseless through the upholding of the law (giving fair pay, generosity to the needy, and justice to victims etc).
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 am
I don’t think Paul has any qualms about the idea of a Christian serving as a soldier either. He mentions the profession a few times in illustrations (eg 1 Cor 9:7; 2 Tim 2:4 etc), but it is never used disparagingly.
Also Romans 12:19 talks about “leaving room for God’s wrath” instead of pursing revenge. This might be talking about waiting until the last day, when all sin will be punished, but it might be referring to some form of earthly judgement… possibly carried out by a person / nation acting within God’s will (whether they’re aware that’s what they’re doing is another matter – we know that sometimes He uses non-believers to carry out His plans, eg Pharoah / Moses).
Keen to read more…