Pacifism

Jesus Teaches us to love our neighbors, even going so far as for us to pray for the good of our enemies, to bless those who curse us, and to love them.

Paul says we should be in submission to government, even a pagan government which killed Christians arbitrarily (the government he was under).

Revelation teaches us that in the end, judgement belongs to the Lord (this command is repeated throughout scripture), and other NT verses tell us that revenge is not for us to take.

All of the weapons that Paul mentions in the 'armor of God' are defensive, even the sword, because it was a short sword and would've been used to deflect blows (a javelin or spear or pike would've been the main offensive weapon).

Jesus offered himself to be killed by his enemies, and if any cause was a worthy one of 'justified violence', it was defending Jesus from the ultimate injustice, an unworthy death to the only sinless man, and yet when one of the disciples did just that, Jesus rebuked him harshly. "those who live by the sword will die by the sword."

We are told that love conquers all things.

Jesus, and all of the New Testament (especially Paul in his "powers and principalities" language), dismisses the idea of the power of the world being of importance to God. The powers of this world use force and political leveraging, even if sometimes it is for an assumed or real good. Jesus directly dismisses using that kind of power when the devil offers it to him during his 40 days of temptation in the desert.

Also, throughout much of the NT (think the same examples as above), Satan is seen as in charge of the Powers of this world, the powers which use (and excuse) violence.

Ultimately, Jesus tells us to be peacemakers, to love our enemy, to pray for those who persecute us, to be meek, to be gentle, to be humble, to be forgiving to the nth degree, and to be compassionate. All of these attitudes go AGAINST violence.

Thoughts?

-The Serene Nazarene

contribution from a friend: ""Pacifist" implies action. The word comes from the Latin "pax" peace, and "facere" to make. So, if you are pacifist, you are committed to the action of making peace. That is a noble calling."

Anyone? Anyone?

There hasn't been much traffic on this site. Maybe it's because I haven't done a good job of publicizing it, maybe it's because I publicized it too early, maybe it's because my last post was really super long, or maybe it's because everyone is so busy that no one wants to contribute.

This isn't to complain about low readership, this is to invite any of you who may actually be reading to do one more thing: respond. Write back. Write up a blog on your ideas on religion, God, or denominational issues and present them to me.

Bueller? Bueller?

I just feel like the teacher in front of the classroom with students who are there...but not all there. I don't want these thoughts to go to waste.

-The Serene Nazarene