“I was told recently it was Un Christian to “Not Bare Arms”
The "Violent" Man:
When Did Jesus carry a gun?
(1)
Anyone who has had to “Kill” somone,
no matter the reason knows,
that first kill changes you forever.
The first time you have the blood of another human being on yours hands, your heart, your mind, your soul. The first time a “living soul” is credited by God to you as shed blood, you are not same person anymore. If anyone asks, yes you have blood on your hands and it may wash off, but most will admit,
You never forget that first kill.
There is a reason God made it that way.
The “New Christianity” advocates violence as a means of change.
This “violent” behaviour portrays itself as protest, demonstration, rioting, killing, anger, wrath, malice, lying, covetousness, poltiking, manipulating, the list gets quite long but to put it this way, if it isn’t Love, Joy or Peace, it’s probably on the list.
And it is the “violent” means to an end.
Its basic premise is this:
Do Not Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart
Lean always on your own understanding
In all your ways do what you think is right
You direct your own path.
In Part One I want to know from anyone who will write.
When Did Christianity change?
Early Church
The Early Church position ruled out violence as an option, even in self-defense. The evidence for this includes the story of Stephen found in Acts 7:59-60. In the story Stephen is stoned to death for his faith, but even at the moment before death, he forgives his assailants for their crime. A similar story is found later in the book of Acts when Paul is also violently attacked for his beliefs, and yet does not seek revenge:
The crowd stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. -Acts 14:19-22 NIV
In Paul's first letter to the Corinthian Church, he writes of the importance of nonretaliation, even in the face of death:
It seems to me that God has put us on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. Yet when we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. -1 Corinthians 4:9-13 NIV
As demonstrated by the following quotes, no Early Church father interpreted Jesus' teachings as advocating anything but strict nonviolence:
The Lord, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier.
—Tertullian’s On Idolatry[1]
Christians could never slay their enemies. For the more that kings, rulers, and peoples have persecuted them everywhere, the more Christians have increased in number and grown in strength.
—Origen Contra Celsius Book VII[2]
Wherever arms have glittered, they must be banished and exterminated from thence.
—Lactantius’ Divine Institutes IV, 6[3]
As simple and quiet sisters, peace and love require no arms. For it is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained.
—Clement of Alexandria Chapter 12 of Book 1[4]
In their wars, therefore, the Etruscans use the trumpet, the Arcadians the pipe, the Sicilians the pectides, the Cretans the lyre, the Lacedaemonians the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyptians the drum, and the Arabians the cymbal. The one instrument of peace, the Word alone by which we honor God, is what we employ.
—Clement of Alexandria Chapter 4 of Book 2[5]
Above all, Christians are not allowed to correct with violence.
I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I decline military command... Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it.
—Tatian’s Address to the Greeks 11[7]
We who formerly used to murder one another now refrain from even making war upon our enemies.
—The First Apology of Justin Martyr 39[8]
Whatever Christians would not wish others to do to them, they do not to others. And they comfort their oppressors and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies…. Through love towards their oppressors, they persuade them to become Christians.
—The Apology of Aristides 15[9]
A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate must resign or be rejected. If a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God.
—Hippolytus of Rome[citation needed]
There is nothing better than peace, in which all warfare of things in heaven and things on earth is abolished.
—Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians 13[10]
The new covenant that brings back peace and the law that gives life have gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said: "For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and he will instruct many people; and they will break down their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and they will no longer learn to make war." These people formed their swords and war lances into plowshares,” that is, into instruments used for peaceful purposes. So now, they are unaccustomed to fighting, so when they are struck, they offer also the other cheek.
We would rather shed our own blood than stain our hands and our conscience with that of another. As a result, an ungrateful world is now enjoying–and for a long period has enjoyed–a benefit from Christ. For by his means, the rage of savage ferocity has been softened and has begun to withhold hostile hands from the blood of a fellow creature. In fact, if all men without exception…would lend an ear for a while to his salutary and peaceful rules,…the whole world would be living in the most peaceful tranquility. The world would have turned the use of steel into more peaceful uses and would unite together in blessed harmony.
Wars are scattered all over the earth with the bloody horror of camps. The whole world is wet with mutual blood. And murder–which is admitted to be a crime in the case of an individual–is called a virtue when it is committed wholesale. Impunity is claimed for the wicked deeds, not because they are guiltless, but because the cruelty is perpetrated on a grand scale!
—Cyprian of Carthage[citation needed]
Those soldiers were filled with wonder and admiration at the grandeur of the man’s piety and generosity and were struck with amazement. They felt the force of this example of pity. As a result, many of them were added to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and threw off the belt of military service.
—Disputation of Archelaus and Manes[12]
We have rejected such spectacles as the Coliseum. How then, when we do not even look on killing lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put people to death?
—Athenagoras of Athens’ A Plea for the Christians 35[13]
Christendom
After the Roman Emperor Constantine converted in A.D. 312 and began to conquer "in Christ's name," Christianity became entangled with the state, and warfare and violence were increasingly justified by influential Christians like Augustine of Hippo. Even still, the tradition of Christian pacifism was carried on by a few dedicated Christians throughout the ages as the story of Martin of Tours demonstrates.
Around A.D. 356, at a ceremony in which soldiers were given a donative or monetary gift, Martin explained to his commanding officer why he could no longer serve as a Roman soldier. “Up to the present I have served you as a soldier. Allow me now to become a soldier of God. Let the man who is to serve you receive your donative. I am a soldier of Christ. It is not lawful for me to fight.”[14] For his disobedience, he was executed.
Since then, many other Christians have made similar stands for pacifism as the following quotes show:
Therefore, no longer love this world or its military service, for Scripture’s authority declares that ‘whoever is a friend of this world is an enemy of God.’ Whoever serves as a soldier with the sword is the servant of death, and whenever he sheds his own blood or that of another, this will be his reward: he will be regarded as guilty either because he caused his own death or because of his sin (of killing his enemy in war.)
—Paulinus of Nola (A.D. 355-431), Letter 25, To Crispinianus[14]
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy.
—Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226)[14]
The Scriptures teach that there are two opposing princes and two opposing kingdoms: the one is the Prince of peace; the other is the prince of strife. Each of these princes has his particular kingdom, and as the prince is, so also is the kingdom. The Prince of peace is Christ Jesus. His kingdom is the kingdom of peace, which is his church. His messengers are the messengers of peace. His word is the word of Peace. His body is the body of peace.
—Menno Simons (1494-1561), Reply to False Accusations, III[14]
To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you.’.... Jesus is eternally right. History is replete with the bleached bones of nations that refused to listen to him. May we in the twentieth century hear and follow his words before it is too late. May we solemnly realize that we shall never be true sons of the heavenly Father until we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “Loving your Enemies” in Strength to Love[14]
Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But the one who has love, courage and wisdom moves the world.
—Ammon Hennacy (1893 - 1970) [15]
Michael James Stone
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