I am not convinced that it is possible for a Christian to fight a just war.
Aquinas’s conditions for a Just War – Jus Ad Bellum
The war must have a just cause – eg against invasion, or for self-defence – and not to acquire wealth or power.
The war must be declared and controlled by a proper authority, eg the state or ruler.
The war must be fought to promote good or avoid evil, with the aim of restoring peace and justice after the war is over.
Later conditions developed by other Christians – jus in bello
The war must be a last resort when all peaceful solutions have been tried and failed, eg negotiation.
The war should be fought with ‘proportionality’, with just enough force to achieve victory and only against legitimate targets, ie civilians should be protected.
The good which is achieved by the war must be greater than the evil which led to the war.
An altarpiece in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, by Carlo Crivelli (15th century) Thomas Aquinas, PD
Reasons I question the possibility of Just War.
I do not see anything in the teachings of Jesus that allow for Just War of violence by Christians.
I do not see anything in the teachings of the church prior to St. Ambrose that states Christians may be involved in violence.
The prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah began teaching a way foreshadowing non-violence.
How does a Christian soldier stop fighting if he finds out he in an unjust situation?
How does a Christian stop a war that does not meet the just war criteria of Aquinas?
If a countries foreign policy does not have a system to test each military endeavor to determine if it is a just war, can a Christian fight in such a military?
How is a war determined to be just by the US government?
Christians in Germany and Christians in Great Britain both thought they were fighting a just war in World War one. If both sides claim to have Just cause can both sides be following Jesus when they declare Just War?
Are we arrogant when we claim our side is right and God is protecting our country when we attack other Christian nations who think they are fighting a just war?
Osama Bin Laden in his letter to America after 9/11 talked about the decades of bombing of innocent people in the Middle East by the US and it’s allies. If he was fighting an invading enemy and thought God was on his side and would help him win, was he fighting a just war?
Some Christians claim that any war the United States fights is a just war. If we allow the government to make moral decisions for us, are we worshiping the government?
If we allow the government to protect us instead of trusting God for protection, are we worshiping the government?
If we support a government fighting an unjust war are we endangering our souls?
What do we do with the teachings of Jesus that contradict Aquinas’ just war theology?
When I was young I was tempted to join the military. I did not. When I start thinking about the answers to the above questions, I cannot come up with good reasons how a Christian could violently support any empire that has ever existed while following the teachings of Jesus.
Making arguments Taking Scripture Out of Context
Some Christians take Biblical passages out of context to justify violence. A few examples:
Romans 13.
Romans 13 says we are to be subject to the ruling authorities, however, Paul never gives permission to Christians to disobey God in order to be subject to the ruling authorities.
Paul says we cannot rebel against the authority: 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Romans 13:2.
Some Christians even use Romans 13 to justify wars such as the Revolutionary War. Paul was unjustly imprisoned by a repressive Roman government. The injustice of Great Britain against the American colonies was far less than the injustice St. Paul experienced from Rome. I believe the Revolutionary War was not just war in the eyes of St. Paul.
I am of the opinion we must read Romans 13 in the light of Romans 12. Is it possible to overcome evil with good when you are bombing innocent women and children?
Can a Christian fight in the military taking revenge for 9/11 and protecting America’s wealth and easy living and protecting oil wells owned by American companies?
I think we must also take these passages in context with Romans 8:28. God always brings about good for those who love him through the actions of evil men. We do not need to join in their evil activities.
For the first 3 centuries of Christianity, three times the Roman Empire tried to wipe out Christians like Hitler tried to wipe out Jews. These Christians remained faithful because God works for the good of those who love him through all things.
We can also compare the good that God brings when our enemies conquer us as compared to the good brought about through God using Babylon to bring about good for the Jews when they were taken captive and taken to Babylon.
God uses evil men to control the violence of evil men.
Matthew 8:5-13
Some Christians have mentioned to me that when Jesus healed the centurion’s servant, he was demonstrating that violence by Christians is acceptable. The centurion was an enemy soldier. It is possible the centurion was one of the soldiers involved in killing Jews on crosses, as was common at that time.
Rather than demonstrating that violence was acceptable, Jesus was showing us how to treat our enemy. Jesus healing the centurion’s servant is like an American Christian supplying Osama bin Laden with a dialysis machine in 2002. Or an American doctor helping a close adviser of Hitler during World War Two.
Jesus forgave a solider. If Jesus forgave an alcoholic, does that mean it is acceptable for the alcoholic to continue breaking God’s laws and continue his alcoholic ways?
Ephesians 6
Amazingly some have suggested that because Paul compared Christian service to military service that this means it is acceptable for Christians to use violence. In verse 12 Paul clearly says that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. And in 2 Corinthians 10:4, Paul says the weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world.
Ephesians 6 is showing us that fighting evil like Jesus fights evil is dangerous and we will suffer losses. Fighting for Jesus is a real war. More real than any war fought by the Kingdoms of this world. But we have the resurrection on our side.
When we sign up to fight for Jesus, we experience true freedom. It is a freedom that does not need a government to pamper us in our faith. Perhaps a Christian can live under a government-run by Boka Horam and die by the sword a few days later and have greater freedom than a Christian living in the United States.
Some Christians claim that we as Christians have the responsibility to use violence if we are in government. Jesus passed the test of government of using government to further his Kingdom in Matthew 4. If Jesus did not use government, why should we? Why are we different than Jesus?
Exodus
God demonstrates in the crossing of the Red Sea that he will fight for his children.
Throughout history, many Christians have been miraculously delivered from evil men. More Christians died for their faith in the 20th century than throughout all history before that.
Living as a nonviolent Christian is not safe in this world. But I would like to suggest that it is safer to be killed by our enemies when we are loving them than it is to live in the temporary freedom and wealth earned by killing our enemies.
St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and C.S. Lewis wrote that Christian participation in violence is justifiable. They are all smarter than me and our friend has authored many books and also appears to be smarter than me.
I will disagree with all of them anyway. I have found that the more I try to put these issues in perspective to the teachings of Jesus, the greater my disagreement becomes.
POINTS OF THE VIDEOS
Our friend made several points while discussing pacifism. Here are his points about pacifism and the military as I think I heard them. I summarized his salient points in my own words.
Romans 13 demonstrates that Jesus would approve of the state using violence and would approve of the Christian killing enemies for the state.
Matthew 8 demonstrates that Jesus approves of Christians joining the United States Marines and killing enemies of the United States Government.
The sermon on the mount pertains only to our private lives or perhaps that of interactions between friends and neighbors of a village. The sermon on the mount does not pertain to our interactions with the military or the government of our empire whether it be Rome or the United States.
If someone is chasing a woman with a knife, we must do something about it. We must not be involved in feuds.
It is acceptable for a Christian to join the military and kill the enemy if the state is fighting a just war.
A Christian can join the US military and easily follow any commands given them to kill their enemies, because the US only fights just wars because the President and congress are doing their jobs. However we cannot do something unjust such as kill civilians or participate in sexual immorality.
ADDRESSING THE ABOVE STATEMENTS.
POINT ONE:
Romans 13 demonstrates that Jesus would approve of the state using violence and would approve of the Christian killing enemies for the state.
Does Romans 13 allow Christians to use violence? Romans was written in 57 or 58 AD. Paul was in prison. Nero, one of the bloodiest emperors of Rome and a great persecutor of Christians was emperor of Rome at the time. Jews considered Rome a deadly enemy. When I read Romans 13, I see no evidence that Paul thought it would be acceptable for a Christian to be a member of the Roman military. Why would Paul approve of Christians joining a military that is killing Jews and Christians? That would be like an American pastor telling his congregation to join ISIS or Boko Haram.
From the time of Alexander the Great, Jews had been rebelling against Greece and in the 30’s BC with the Romans in power, Jews rebelled against the Roman Empire. When I read Romans 13, I see Paul telling the Christians that they should not join the Jews in rebellion against the Roman Empire.
2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Romans 13:2. NIV
And Paul was correct. In 70 AD, as a result of the rebellion, a million Jews died at the hands of the Romans in Jerusalem. Most Christians avoided the slaughter because they fled to the mountains as Jesus commanded them in Matthew 24:16.
In Romans 13:1, Paul says Christians should be subject to the governing authorities. The governing authorities of Rome are the Christian’s enemy. This reminds me of Assyria capturing Israel or Babylon defeating Judah as God punished his people. God used Assyria and Babylon to bring about good. This does not mean that it would have been good for an Israelite or Jew to join the Assyrian or Babylonian Armies to fight Jews!
Romans 13 also brings to mind Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” NIV. Jesus would want everyone to follow him and live nonviolently. But evil men do evil things, including men in the military. God turns that evil to good just as he turned the evil of Assyria and Babylon to good. Just because God turns the works of evil men into good does not mean that we as Christians are to participate in that evil. Christians live in every country around the world and are members of the Kingdom of God. When we kill Christians in foreign lands, we are killing our brothers and sisters. We are fighting against our own true King.
The Jewish Christians of Rome to whom Paul was writing this letter, certainly would not have seen the Roman army as instruments of God nor would they have seen them as agents that God uses to work for the good of those who love God.
Verse 8 says we must love our neighbor as ourselves. Even if that neighbor is a member of the evil Roman military.
When Nero drug Christians off to be burned as lights for the games the Christians did not die because they ran out of swords. They died because Jesus asked them to Love their enemy and turn the other cheek.
Nero hated God and Christian and yet God made Nero his servant.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4. NIV
If we read Romans 13 in context of history and the teaching of Jesus, we actually find that Paul is saying we need to lay down our lives out of love for our enemies. We must follow the example of Jesus dying on the cross.
POINT TWO:
Matthew 8 demonstrates that Jesus approves of Christians joining the United States Marines and killing enemies of the United States Government.
Our friend tells us that in Matthew 8 when Jesus healed the centurion’s servant and marveled at his faith, Jesus was telling us that it is a noble career to be a Marine in the United States Marine Corp.
Let’s think about this logically. As I said above Rome and Roman soldiers were enemies of the Jews. Rebellious Jews on crosses were common sight at the time of Jesus. The centurion and his troops had probably helped put a few of these people on the cross. Simon the zealot and Simon Peter wanted Jesus to defeat Rome militarily. Jesus was not yet ready to preach to the gentiles.
When Jesus was healing the centurion’s servant, he was demonstrating that he loved his own enemies. Jesus was showing us how we should love our enemies. Jesus loved his enemy even before everything was in place for him to love his enemies.
I find it difficult to understand how Jesus showing love for an enemy can be construed as support for joining the Marines and killing enemies of US politicians and the state, including Christians living in foreign lands.
POINT THREE
The sermon on the mount pertains only to our private lives or perhaps that of interactions between friends and neighbors of a village. The sermon on the mount does not pertain to our interactions with the military or the government of our empire whether it be Rome or the United States.
I am not sure how our friend can read the Sermon on the Mount and find it applies only to private matters?
In the sermon, Jesus speaks a great deal about the Kingdom of God. It is clear that we are to pray for that Kingdom and do the will of God. Our final allegiance must be to the Kingdom of God and not some temporal short-lived Empire such as Rome or the United States. Citizens of the Kingdom of God live in every country.
Matthew 5:38-48 clearly references the military. Roman soldiers had the legal right to ask anyone to carry their bag for a mile. Jesus says to carry the bag of the enemy soldier for 2 miles. Clearly if you are helping out your enemy, it is difficult to kill him. Maybe your enemy will be so grateful that he will become your friend. Perhaps because of your witness he will become a follower of Jesus.
Verse 44 says to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. Who persecuted the Christians? The entity who persecuted the Christians and the Jews the most in the first 3 centuries of the church was the Roman empire. Jews would have considered other Jews their neighbors and would have quickly settled differences to deal with their enemy the Roman Empire.
This is another case where our friend has not taken into account the history and cultural context in which this story occurred.
POINT FOUR
If someone is chasing a woman with a knife, we must do something about it. We must not be involved in feuds.
What about protecting a woman? Our friend seems to have the mistaken impression that the use of violence is the only option when people are committing unjust and evil acts.
One day I was walking home from work. About ½ a block away I noticed a man beating a much weaker man. I began staring at them and walking more quickly straight towards them. The man beating the other turned and quickly walked away.
I could see that the man was far quicker and a better fighter than I could be. Yet he went away. Sometimes men doing evil are cowards.
If we are not afraid to be hurt or die, usually many other opportunities present themselves to nonviolently intervene in violent situations.
Jesus died to save us and did not promise safety for us or our families if we follow him. In fact, he said we are to take up our cross and follow him. Following Jesus might mean we tackle a man with a deadly weapon and using no deadly violence risk our own lives to protect a woman. We might be successful, but we might not be successful. Sometimes the man who shoots first and asks questions later is successful for the short run. Sometimes violence escalates into more violence and failure in the future.
If we assume the only way to protect this woman is to kill the attacking man, we may risk starting a family feud. Then each side of feud will feel justified in killing people they are feuding with.
Perhaps we don’t know the whole story. Maybe the woman is a murderer. Perhaps the man is chasing with a knife the murderer of his wife and 3 small children. When we shoot him, perhaps we are cutting his name off the face of the earth forever.
I agree with our friend that we must not be involved in feuds, but I think he is contradictory because the very action he is proposing could lead to a feud. This is also the type of behavior that causes feuds leading to war between countries.
If we use violence, we continue the cycle of violence. Jesus broke the cycle of violence when he died. The only way wars and feuds can end is if Christians nonviolently break the cycle of violence.
If we use violence we die by violence. If we live by the sword we die by the sword.
Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down our lives for our friends. By friends he meant brothers and sisters in Christ.
POINT FIVE
It is acceptable for a Christian to join the military and kill the enemy if the state is fighting a just war.
Our friend is discussing Romans 13 again. As I mention in Point One, our friend has taken Romans 13 out of context.
POINT SIX
A Christian can join the US military and easily follow any commands given them to kill their enemies, because the US only fights just wars because the President and congress are doing their jobs.However we cannot do something unjust such as kill civilians or participate in sexual immorality.
Our friend’s sixth point has so many errors I hardly know where to begin. Many in government are seeking power and money. Their goal is re-election and they are willing to make oil companies and weapon manufacturers happy in order to achieve this goal.
Many of those in power have no interest in following the teachings of Jesus or even ensuring that the United States holds to just war principals. I am sure a majority of politicians do a good job holding to their own principals and are very good at keeping their donors happy.
Andrew Jackson knew in advance of plans to drive out the Indians from their homes to steal their land. He bought up the rights to many acres of land before the wars and sold for exorbitant prices to settlers after the wars.
The US government has used the military to fight the Banana Wars to protect American Banana companies and keep low-paid banana workers in line.
The United States used drones to kill “terrorists” in Pakistan from 2004 to 2018. Pakistan is considered our friend. Often these drone bombings did not kill anyone who was a military threat to the US, but sometimes the bombs slaughtered innocent men, women, and children.
Who is the terrorist here? How does the US have the right to kill people without trial or without properly identifying who they are? Would Jesus approve? I would argue that the US President and Congress willingly fight illegal and unjust wars.
In 1918 after the peace treaty to end World War I, Congress refused to allow the United States to sell wheat to starving Germany. Nearly a million Germans died of starvation, leading to the election of Hitler and World War II. Obviously Congress doesn’t always do the right thing.
They did not know it then, but if in 1918 Congress had followed Just War principals they could have prevented World War II. If they had followed the teachings of Jesus to feed the hungry, they could have prevented the death of 800,000 plus Germans and prevented World War II.
If a person believes that the United States follows Just War principals and that Christians can join the military because the Congress and President are doing their jobs to ensure Just War, they have not been reading their American History.
I could give many, many more examples.
If we use the Just War definition of Thomas Aquinas or the Catholic Catechism to define just war, I think it can be easily argued that the United States has never fought a just war.
And not only in the United States has the church caused war by refusing to follow the teaching of Jesus.
Christian Tutsis fought Christian Hutus and 800,000 were slaughtered in Rwanda. What if the church had taught them the reconciliation and the nonviolence of Jesus instead of Just War theology?
Our friend says we cannot kill civilians. If you think some acts of killing are just and others are not, I’m not sure how you know the difference in the foxhole? Or what if that civilian walking towards you might have a bomb tied to her chest or maybe not? Would Jesus approve of you killing her before she maybe kills you?
Romans 10:9,10 says: “9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” NIV
If Jesus is Lord – that is President, King, Prime minister and we declare that our earthly leader can command us to do something that is contrary to the teaching of Jesus, who is really our Lord?
WHO HAS THE AUTHORITY TO LEAD US?
I would argue that if we claim to be Christians, our final authority should be Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to voluntarily follow his teaching.
Some argue that St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Thomas Aquinas, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, Martin Luther, C.S. Lewis and other theologians and writers can change the teaching of Jesus to meet the needs of our culture. These people would argue for a Just War theology.
Others feel that just war theology is too restrictive and that a person’s country can fight whenever the countries leadership feels it is necessary. It is possible that these Christians may say we must obey to the leaders of our country to the point of killing our brothers and sisters in Christ even if our leaders are not Christian and do not follow a just war politics or the follow the teachings of Jesus.
If anyone claims that someone other than Jesus has the final authority as a guide for Christian living, I must agree to disagree.
CAN A MAN OF VIOLENCE BE SAVED?
If a Christian is a man of violence, does that mean he cannot be saved? Certainly he can be saved. King David was a very violent man. He killed many enemies. Before King Saul, Israel depended on God for defense and did not possess great military knowledge or a standing army.
King David hired mercenaries for foreign lands to defeat his enemies and train his troops. It was easy for David to kill. He killed Bathsheba’s husband. But David and Israel suffered greatly because of the consequences of David’s violence. David could not build the temple. Absalom was killed.
And yet David was called a man after God’s own heart.
VIOLENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
When I read the New Testament, I find zero statements positively allowing military service by a Christian. I find many statements suggesting we must love our enemies. When I read writings of the early Christians for the first 300 years, I find zero quotes demonstrating that Christian leaders approved of violence. I find many quotes where Christians speak against violence and service in the military.
Over the years when I have asked many people why they think violence by Christians is acceptable, often they say the proper translation for Exodus 20:13 is “Thou shalt not murder.”
Murder is a legal term. People who use this argument are implying that killing is wrong only if the earthly government ruling the area where they live makes that form of killing wrong. If the government tells us killing is OK at certain times, then it is OK at those times.
Translating Exodus 20:13
The plaque of the 10 Commandments on my wall says “Thou shalt not kill”. Some versions translate the verse as “Thou shalt not murder.” I do not know which is correct.
If “murder” is the correct translation, whose law has the authority to justify violence.
Jesus
Jesus changed Moses’ law of “an eye for an eye” to “turn the other check.” Jesus demonstrated nonviolence. I find nothing in the teaching of Jesus to justify violence. It appears the teaching and commands of Jesus would require that we do not kill anyone.
Christians who approve of Violence
If we look at the actions of Christians who approve of violence, we see that they demonstrate by their actions their belief that the law of the country in which they live is the final determining factor on when we can accept violence by Christians.
For example, in World War I, many British and American Christians believed it was acceptable to kill German Christian soldiers and civilians. German Christians thought it was acceptable to kill British and American soldiers. These Christians felt violence was right because their respective government said it was right.
After a peace agreement between World War participants had been signed in 1918, Christians in the United States congress thought it was acceptable to kill Germans by starvation by refusing to sell them wheat. Because the US Congress refused to sell wheat to Germany, nearly a million Germans starved to death. The resulting animosity towards foreign powers opened the way for Hitler’s election.
In World War II many British and American Christians believed it was acceptable to kill German Christian soldiers and civilians. German Christians thought it was acceptable to kill British and American soldiers. Many German Christians also thought that it was acceptable to kill Jewish Civilians who were citizens of Germany. These Christians justified their violence because their countries had commanded them to kill.
During the Reformation in Europe, cities and states made laws outlawing certain theological stances and mandating the death penalty if someone believed in that theological stance. Many Christians felt it was acceptable to kill Christians who disagreed with them on theology because their cities or other legal jurisdictions had outlawed the disputed theological stance. The result was the bloody 30 years war. Many Christians killed Christians because their country told them to do so.
Who Is Our Authority?
The question is who has the authority to overturn the commands of Jesus? Did Hitler have the authority to command his troops to kill Americans in opposition the teaching and commands of Jesus? Did Congress have authority to command the US military to kill Germans in opposition to the teaching of Jesus? Do Church leaders have the authority to overturn the teachings of Jesus?
Some Catholics claim the Magisterium has that authority. Protestants often defer to theologians such as Augustine of Milan, Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther. These people are human agents. Church leaders do not have the authority to change the teaching of Jesus.
Thomas Aquinas Holding a Book, 1454, PD
Jesus is building his Kingdom on earth. We are members of that Kingdom and that Kingdom is a higher authority than earthly empires such as Rome, Great Britain and the United States.
If it were possible for the earthly kingdom to legitimately exercise the final authority, then military action, abortion and euthanasia would be OK if the government says it is OK.
I believe that man does not have authority to change the teaching and commands of Jesus. Jesus is our King, Our President, Our Prime Minister. Only Jesus has the authority to change the Law of Moses.
NONVIOLENT CHRISTIANS 