A Time for War?

In light of the horrifying Hamas attack on Israel, how should Christians think about the reality of war?

When the missile started searing the Israelite sky last Saturday, we watched in horror. We have learned since of the terrorizing atrocities of Hamas, who have beheaded babies and murdered grandmothers. In this moment Christians are lamenting, denouncing these horrors, and praying for peace. We know that Christians, more than geopolitical punditry, need to pray and offer whatever help we can, and this includes returning again (and again) to the Bible and the theological vision we’re given there. Specifically, how should we think about the reality of war?

A discussion about war conjoins numerous ethical and theological considerations and questions. Is war antithetical to the peace-making and cross-bearing nature of Jesus Christ’s teaching and example? Does war conflict intrinsically with the foundational Christian precepts of loving God and loving our neighbors? Is war-killing justified? How far does the God-imbued authority of government extend? Should we turn the other cheek or seek an eye for an eye?

We must explore such questions, and such questions (as the last two weeks have warned us) cannot stay stuck in an abstract theoretical framework. Humanity is fallen, and war emerges, as John Jefferson Davis says, “from within man himself.” War has been and is upon the world, and Christians must build out a proper perspective that stands on the promises and the Word of God.

Moral Considerations

War brings into view many moral, ethical considerations, which a Christian must consider biblically and theologically. The sanctity of human life, the nature of Christian discipleship, and the responsibility of human government head the list of questions raised by the issue of war.

First, Scripture unequivocally affirms human life as sacred, being God’s gift to those made in his image (Gen 1:26–27). As such, Scripture generally prohibits taking life, as seen in the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” (Ex 20:13; Deut 5:17). War intrinsically counters this notion of maintaining life, being a killing enterprise by definition. The question arises then, “Is killing ever justified?” Does Scripture unilaterally condemn the termination of human life?

Second, did Christ institute a principle of undisputed peace-making and suffering for those who would be his disciples? What do we do with the reality of war on the one hand and, on the other hand, verses such as Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” and John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” How do these verses relate to other verses and teachings in the New Testament?

Thirdly, does governmental authority to bear the sword “as a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil” (Rom 13:4) include the right (or obligation) to engage in warfare for the protection of the innocent against evil powers? Part of Christian discipleship is the command to subject ourselves to the human institution of earthly governance (1 Peter 2:13–14). Divine authority no doubt supercedes human authority, but do we break a supernatural directive when fighting in war under a national banner?

Two Perspectives

As we engage these kinds of questions in light of our theological and biblical convictions, we must remain faithful to Scripture and maintain preeminent allegiance to Christ and his foundational ethic of love for God and our neighbor. In seeking to maintain this allegiance, godly and faithful Christians have disagreed on the issue, with two primary responses resulting in what we can call the Pacifist perspective and the Just War perspective.

The Pacifist Perspective

The Pacifist tradition grew out of both a New Testament worldview and the specific teachings of Christ (such as quoted above: Matt 5:9; John 18:36, et al) which declare the advent of the peaceful kingdom of God. Several early church Fathers, such as Origen, Tertullian, and Lactantius, maintained a Pacifist position. Tertullian, for example, in denouncing Christian participation in war appealed to both Christ and Paul, saying, “Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword [Matt 26:52]? And shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law [1 Cor 6:1–8]?”

While Tertullian did not condemn war itself, but, rather, Christian participation in it, groups such as the Anabaptists, Mennonites, and Quakers have contended for a total renunciation of war. Pacifist theologians place the center of moral priority on the notion of the Kingdom of God, which is fundamentally a kingdom of peace. Stanley Hauerwas explains that “we are a people who have become part of a peaceable kingdom that has been made possible by the life and death of Jesus Christ.”

A Christian’s chief allegiance, therefore, must be to God’s kingdom in which Christ is king and others believers are fellow subjects. Engaging in war under an earthly banner will then impinge upon a Christian’s loyalty to the kingdom and other believers, against whom one might be fighting.

The Pacifist tradition holds that violent retaliation and killing are evil because the fundamental command of Christian faith is to love God and neighbor, including one’s enemies. Myron Augsburger explains, “The Christian must take seriously Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount that personality is more valuable than material goods and that we do not sacrifice life for the sake of goods.” Love of people must transcend other loyalties — “we cannot kill people for whom Christ died….Our task is instead to bring the meaning of Christian grace and brotherhood into all of life.”

Similarly, in a critique of the common conservative stance on the Iraq war, Charles Marsh, Professor of Religion at the University of Virginia says that American evangelicals “have increasingly isolated ourselves from the shared faith of the global church,” which has “undermined the credibility of our moral and evangelistic witness in the world.”

The Just War Perspective

The Just War tradition has been the majority opinion throughout much of church history. Just War proponents stand in the line of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, C.S. Lewis and the majority of Christian theologians.

A passage from Augustine (quoted by Aquinas, Calvin, and Lewis in their respective discussions of the issue) lays the issue out clearly: “For if the Christian religion condemned wars of every kind, the command given in the gospel to soldiers asking counsel as to salvation would rather be to cast away their arms, and withdraw themselves wholly from military service [Luke 3:14].”

Aquinas outlined principles that must govern a just war: a competent sovereign, a just cause, and right intention. Calvin likewise supported the Just War tradition, arguing that the government’s right to bear the sword to protect the innocent (Rom 13:4) includes the right to wage a just war. Furthermore, a Just War position does not necessarily imply a “lesser of two evils” approach, but rather that war is sometimes necessary and the morally right option. David Clyde Jones explains, “An act may have painful consequences but still be morally right, such as forcible restraint of evil by lawful authority.”

Consider again Romans 13:4: “For it [government] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” While the Pacifist position rightly declares that our allegiance is to be to God primarily, it seems to minimize the teaching of the New Testament that government has God-given authority to bear the sword against evil, or, to conduct violence against the wicked in a just cause.

John Jefferson Davis explains that “the pacifist tradition…overlooks the implications of the penal, substitutionary dimensions of the New Testament teachings.” God is a God of both love and peace, and justice and wrath. The New Testament wonderfully testifies that Christ taught and exemplified peace-making and suffering. But the same New Testament depicts the same Christ overturning tables in the temple (John 2:15) and just a few pages after “Blessed are the peacemakers,” also saying, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt 10:34).

I think that the classical Christian Just War position considers the full weight of the New Testament evidence more fully than the Pacifist perspective. It realizes that the infinitely wise God has installed secular, earthly powers to maintain justice in a fallen world. It acknowledges that wars being sometimes waged unjustly does not necessitate a Pacifist position any more than overeating (the abuse of food) makes eating itself immoral. In fact, just this kind of wicked warring aggression, as we see playing out against innocent and civilian Israelis on TikTok and Twitter, demonstrates that innocent life must be protected from wicked powers, and that retribution against such wicked powers is good and right. We also have credible reports about atrocious treatment of Palestinians by those who assaulting Israel. Hamas uses civilians as human shields, for example. Therefore, we also believe that defeating a wicked authority such as Hamas and terrorizing Islamic power is ultimately the best thing for both Palestinians and Israelis.

Conclusion

The Just War tradition maintains a more strong fidelity to the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:7), realizing that Christ taught and lived suffering and peace and justice and retribution. God has given earthly governments authority to bear the sword against injustice, and the New Testament instructs Christians to be subject to these government insofar as such subjection does not compromise loyalty to Christ (1 Pet 2:13f; Rom 13:1f). Ultimately, the Just War view conforms itself more to Christ’s ultimate standard of loving God and loving our neighbors. We should pray for peace, and ultimately, when required, fight for peace as well.