Exodus 20 The command is given thou shall not kill
and then moves on without any context of who or what you shall not kill. The pacifists
point out that it is to not kill people period. Without any extra input to this
verse to the sola scripturaist the conclusion should really include animals and
plants too. Is that really what the intention of the command was? No, but it
makes you think. If you need the entire scripture to show it isn’t talking
about plants and animals, then maybe you need the same criteria to see if it is
talking about people period or if certain circumstances are required. The 10
commandments are sins that are considered intrinsically evil meaning they are
wrong every time no matter what. Would God command you to sin? The obvious
answer is no. It is like having a square circle. It is a logical contradiction
that cannot exist. So what do we find the next chapter Ex 21? We see God
commanding them to put people to death 5 times and a total of 9 times in the
book. Let’s look at some of them. Ex 21:12 if a person strikes someone and they
die they shall be put to death however if it was an accident then God will
appoint a place for the person to flee to avoid being killed by the victim’s
family. We see in this example that the word translated kill in Ex20 should
really be murder for God just explained intentional killing is a crime
permitting death while an accident which is not murder, the person may be free
from punishment.
In Galatians 3:6 It talks about Abraham’s faith and
it was credited to him as righteousness. In Psalms 106:30-30 it recalls a story
about Phinehas that is back in Numbers 25:6-10. In this story Israelite men were
sleeping with worshipers of Baal. The command went out from God to kill these
people to prevent the worship of false Gods among the Israelites. Phinehas
stabs a man and women and stops the plague. God personally tell Moses that He
has given him His covenant of peace and will be with him and his descendants.
The verse in Psalms says that this act was credited to him as righteousness
using the same phrasing that Gal 3 uses concerning Abraham’s faith.
Numerous times in the Old Testament God fights with
the Israelites against their enemies in war. Again reiterating that God would
not sin nor tell you to sin.
Neh 4:17-18 Is an example of self-defense. It
describes how the people were building the wall around Jerusalem and how they
always had their sword on them even to say work with one hand and hold their
weapon in the other.
Even under Persian occupation in Esther 8:11 with
the help of Esther the king allowed the Jews to defend themselves against any
attacker.
In Lk 3:10-14 people
are asking what should they do to be saved. The tax collectors, John the Baptist
tells them to not take more than the prescribed amount. For the soldiers he
told them to not extort money and be happy with their wages. He does not tell
them that their job is intrinsically evil like that of a pirate or assassin
showing that legitimate civil defense is okay.
In Lk 7:1-10 Jesus encounters a centurion whose
servant is sick. Jesus wants to go with him to heal him but the centurion says
just say the word and he will be healed. Jesus then commends the servant for having
such a strong faith unseen in all of Israel. You can see that the Centurion in
his current profession had a strong faith. It was not after he met Jesus and
had a conversion and had to leave his job. Jesus says he had great faith while
in his job and did not say he needed to change it.
In Acts 10 is the story about Cornelius the
centurion. While he is a centurion he prays and gives alms. One day an angel
appears to him and has him send for Peter. Peter in a vision of his own at the
time Cornelius’ men arrive hears the Holy Spirit tell him to go with them. When
they get back to Cornelius he is baptized and the people who are with them are
amazed at the outpouring of the Spirit. Again it is important to note that
these events took place because Cornelius was a God fearing man while he was in
his profession as a centurion. There is not mention that he felt the need to
quit after receiving baptism.
What would Jesus do? Jesus himself is called Lord of
Hosts which means he is a commander of armies. In Jn 18:36 Jesus tells Pilot
that his kingship is not of this world, if it was his servants would fight to
stop Jesus being turned over to death.
This verse while may look like a verse showing no fighting in this world
what it actually shows is that fighting in a war is not intrinsically evil
otherwise Jesus would not say they would fight had circumstances be different.
Theologians J. P. Moreland and Norman Geisler
say that “to permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong.
To allow a rape when one could have hindered it is evil. To watch an act of
cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In
brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can
be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect his
wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.”
What about loving our enemies? Which is the more loving act? To defend one’s family (or any group of people) by killing a depraved person intent on killing the entire group? Or by “loving” the aggressor and allowing him to kill unchecked, thus taking the lives of many others? No, in these cases the most loving thing to do is to stop the attack by any means possible or necessary, even if that means taking the perpetrator’s life.
Why is it we see a lot of examples in the Old Testament
about fighting in war and capital punishment but so little in the New
Testament? In the Old Testament they were a nation of people. God gave them a
code of conduct to run society similar to what we have today such as if there is
a crime there is a punishment. As a nation they had enemies that would like to
see them dead and they had to defend themselves. In the New Testament the
nation had long since been conquered and they were living under the
jurisdiction of the Romans. Under the Romans you had a different code of
conduct similar as today just being enforced by Romans instead of a Christian
one. Christian persecution started immediately and it was like that for 300
years until Christianity was legally allowed to be practiced. That is why you
don’t see a Christian society in the New testament with its own law enforcement
or means of self defense. If you were a Christian and a roman soldier hit you
what should you do? Defend yourself and have a dozen more soldiers come and
kill you or should you turn the other cheek? It turns out that the phrase is a
Hebrew idiom refereeing to an insult. It was an insult to be hit across the
face to the Jew so this teaching is not really about not defending yourself but
to not retaliate will insults back. There is a time for defending yourself but
under Roman occupation was not one of them. After the legalization of Christianity
they had to start thinking about what is our place with self defense and
military use. This is where the Just War doctrine was developed by St
Augustine.
These are the conditions that have to be met in
order for a war to be considered Just.
- the damage inflicted by the
aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave,
and certain;
- all other means of putting an
end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
- there must be serious prospects
of success;
- the use of arms must not
produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.
In addition to
the conditions before war there are conditions that need to be met during war:
The Church and human
reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed
conflict. "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean
that everything becomes licit between the warring parties."
- Non-combatants, wounded
soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely.
- Actions deliberately contrary
to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are
the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to
excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people,
nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is
morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.
- "Every act of war directed
to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their
inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and
unequivocal condemnation." A danger of modern warfare is that it
provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific
weapons—especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons—to commit such
crimes.
Just war doctrine is
like the doctrine of the Trinity. It was believed early on but for the Trinity
it was not formally defined until the Council of Nicea in 325ad. Why was it
defined so late? The reason was there was a heretic named Arius who believed
Jesus was a powerful creature but not God. His heresy was leading many astray
so they had to meet together in council to define what they believed. This is
following the example that we find in Acts 15. In this chapter people were saying
that new converts needed to follow the mosaic law. This caused much division so
they called the first ecumenical council, the Council of Jerusalem, to work out
this problem. Peter was given a
special office apart from the other apostles in Matt 16:18-19 "And I also
say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the
gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. "And I will give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." He was
given the keys to kingdom which is also explained in the Old Testament. Is
22:22 The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall
open, and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall open. Isaiah
9:6-7 and Lk 1:32 says that Jesus will sit on the throne of David and his reign
will be forever. So just like in David’s kingdom, Jesus has someone in charge
of the keys. Is 22:21 says that he will be a father to the nation. The term
pope comes from the word papa or father. In Acts 15 Peter makes the
declaration that they do not have to follow the mosaic law and then James the
bishop Jerusalem gives pastoral advice in addition to that. Then they send
legates out to the Church in whole world with the decree binding all the
faithful. This is the kind of authority Jesus gave to the apostles and their
successors the bishops who can trace their ordination back to the apostles. The
Scared scripture is just one leg of the 3 legged stool that Jesus gave us. He
also gave us sacred tradition. 2 Thess 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and
hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or
by letter.” We don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time something
comes up. We can look at scripture and we can look at what was practiced and
believed that was passed down through history and we have a Church authority
who can give certitude to the truth.
We
can see in Church history beyond the New Testament, the Church that Jesus
founded, The Catholic Church has been speaking about these issues from very early
on as seen in the following quotes from the Early Church Fathers below. It is
not until the founding Anabaptist religion did all out pacifism become a
mainstay.
Tertullian
to Scapula ch 4 (160-240 ad)
Marcus Aurelius also, in his expedition to Germany, by
the prayers his Christian soldiers offered to God, got rain in that well-known
thirst
Athanasius
Letter 48 (296-373 ad)
For in other
matters also which go to make up life, we shall find differences according to
circumstances. For example, it is not right to kill, yet in war it is lawful
and praiseworthy to destroy the enemy; accordingly, not only are they who have
distinguished themselves in the field held worthy of great honours, but
monuments are put up proclaiming their achievements. So that the same act is at
one time and under some circumstances unlawful, while under others,
and at the
right time, it is lawful and permissible.
Basil Letter 106 (329-379 ad)
Basil Letter 155 (329-379 ad)
To forget
you in my prayers is impossible, unless first I forget the work to which God
has called me, for assuredly, faithful as by God's grace you are, you remember
all the prayers of the Church; how we pray also for our brethren when on a
journey and offer prayer in the holy church for those who are in the army, and
for those who speak for the sake of the Lord's name, and for those who show the
fruits of the Spirit.
John Chrysostom Homily 5 on First
Thessalonians (347-407 ad)
Augustine Reply to Faustus the
Manichean Book 22 pa 74 (354-430 ad)
Sozomen Ecclesial History Book 6 Ch
3 (375-477 ad)
Leo the Great Letters 167 question 14 (395-461 ad)
Apostolic
Constitutions book 7 par 2 (400ad)
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