by Norman D. Fox -
Jesus said that when we hear of “wars and
rumors of wars,” (Matt. 24:6) it
would not necessarily signify the end of the world. Indeed, warfare has been the nearly constant
condition of human affairs, and well-meaning efforts to eliminate war have
always led to disappointment. President
Woodrow Wilson’s, most enduring quote may be his reference to World War I as
“the war to end all wars.”
War has been called “the sum of all human
evils,” yet the same war serves in many minds to refute the slogan “War never
solved anything.” Prisoners freed at the
eleventh hour from Hitler’s concentration camps might argue that war solved
something for them
Historically, Christians have taken
sincere positions ranging from total pacifism to the “just war” theory and
beyond, some of which are summarized below:
BIBLICAL ARGUMENTS
AGAINST WARFARE
Certainly the Bible says much against violence,
leading some to conclude that they are forbidden to engage in war (or even in
forceful personal defense) and/or that a Christian nation should never resort
to warfare. Other Christians read those
scriptures as warnings to avoid warfare if possible, but resort to it under
high ethical standards when necessary.
These arguments from scripture are often
made against Christian participation in warfare:
- Jesus teaches “turning the other cheek” and love of enemies in Matt. 5:38-45.
- Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate example of not resisting violence (Isa 53:7, Mark 15:5) teaching us to give up our lives if necessary, and trust God for final victory.
- Paul in II Cor. 10:3-5 says that Christians do not make war with fleshly weapons, but with spiritual weapons which are more powerful from an eternal perspective.
- Old Testament physical warfare was conducted by the physical nation of Israel under the direct generalship of God to defend their proper claim to their physical land. Christians belong to a spiritual kingdom under an entirely different dispensation today. Indeed, Jesus said “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight…” (John 18:46).
THE “JUST WAR” THEORY
While the term “Christian warfare” may strike
us as an oxymoron, many Christians have believed that war is not always
avoidable, and should be pursued when necessary on the highest moral grounds by
Christian individuals or nations. This
view has developed over the centuries, formalized by theologians such as St.
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
Some of the requirements usually cited as
making up the “just war” theory are:
- Just cause. This includes at least self-defense or protection of innocents.
- Right intention. This means an absence of selfish ulterior motives.
- Proper authority and public declaration. Only legitimate governments may wage war, and must not initiate it by surprise attack.
- Last resort. All plausible peaceful alternatives must first be exhausted.
- Proportionality. The magnitude of the just cause must be weighed against the likelihood of casualties and other evils of warfare.
A frequent argument against the “just war”
theory is that humans are too self-serving to be capable of making the
objective judgments necessary to ensure that a war is “just.”
WAR AND AMERICA’S
FOUNDING FATHERS
The Americans were already fighting what they
considered a justifiable defensive war when they signed the Declaration of
Independence. That document confidently
invoked God’s approval, “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the
rectitude of our intentions…” Clearly,
they subscribed to some form of a “just war” theory, and felt they had searched
their own souls sufficiently during decades of respectful appeals to the
British King.
The Articles of Confederation, predecessor
to our Constitution, had defined appropriate limits and incorporated rules for
warfare, and the Constitution itself substantially preserved this language. John Jay in the pivotal series of Federalist
Papers actually used the term “just causes of war” and its converse, “wars not
sanctified by justice” in laying out a moral basis for the Constitution. Inspired by teachings of great colonial
pastors (see Essay #59, part 1 of The
Church’s Legacy of Political Influence) and other scholars, they had
rejected the “Divine Right of Kings” doctrine which had grown from a distorted
reading of scripture (see Essay #54, Unalienable
Divine Rights.) They ultimately
denied the legitimacy of King George III to rule America.
Americans were determined to pursue the
oxymoron “Christian warfare,” as nearly as possible. This produced a remarkably humane war in some
respects, which is one aspect of our history that few students are taught
today. (See Essay #13, Psalm 78 and America’s Lost History, p.
2) There were notable examples of
civility, especially on the American side.
For instance, after the miraculous American victory at Saratoga, three
United States officers took the pledge of 5000 British prisoners that they
would no longer fight, escorted them without assistance from New York to
Boston, and put them on ships for home.
The rarity of American atrocities in the War for Independence has generally
been matched by the U.S. military ever since.
The Continental Congress often asked the
nation to pray, not only for the outgunned American army, but more often for
national cleansing from spiritual faults.
A wartime resolution in 1776 called for prayer that the nation might “by
a sincere repentance and amendment of life appease His righteous displeasure
and, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain pardon and
forgiveness.” Commander Washington often
charged his men “to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier.” Congress had warned the famous Minutemen that
the eyes of the whole world were upon them, so they must be sure that “no
disorderly behavior, nothing unbecoming our characters as Americans, as
citizens and Christians, be justly chargeable to us.”
Now, complicated by rule-defying
terrorism, as America occupies an
often-controversial role in world affairs, we can pray that if warfare is
necessary, American leaders and military forces will live up to the same
standards for which the first generation of Americans strove.
For further study:
David
Barton, The Spirit of the American
Revolution videotape (1994), WallBuilder Press, PO Box 397,
Aledo, TX 76008, (817) 441-6044 www.wallbuilders.com. Also “The American Revolution: Was
it an Act of Biblical Rebellion?” www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissues
William
Paul, A Christian View of Armed Warfare,
1969, Scripture Supply, PO Box 16337, Portland,
OR 97216
First written May 2011 and revised February 2019.
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