Violence and Government, War and Peace

            As I write in August, terrorists are being fought in Lebanon, Israel, England, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the U.S. Christians sit on both sides of several important questions: What is the biblical theology of war and of violence, and what are our responsibilities to earthly government? I’d like to show you some scriptures that challenge our answers to these difficult questions.

The Old Testament

            In the Old Testament, God enacts just wars, sometimes fighting them Himself (Exodus 14:13-14) and sometimes empowering His people to do so (2 Samuel 22:33-43). God will even use wicked nations to accomplish His just cause through war (see Habakkuk 1:5-17).The people of Israel enact just wars usually when God sends them into battle (Judges 7:9-14). They also refrain from war through diplomacy (Joshua 22:11-34) or when God tells them not to fight (2 Chronicles 11:1-4). Conversely, nations pay the consequences for unjust wars when God does not support them (Judges 2:14-15).

            While finding just purpose in war, God prefers peace. He doesn’t allow David to build His temple in Jerusalem because David is a warrior with much blood on his hands though the wars David fought were approved of God. Instead God will have Solomon, a “man of peace” build it (1 Chronicles 22:7-10). In Psalm 120:6-7, David is weary of war and prays for peace (see also 2 Samuel 2:26), and God ultimately promises an end to war through the kingdom of Christ, the “prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:4-7). The paradoxical stance on war and violence in the Old Testament is best summarized in the prophets: In Isaiah, they “beat their swords into plowshares…” (2:4), but in Joel they “beat your plowshares into swords…” (3:10).

The New Testament

            The New Testament, is equally complicated. In Luke 6:27-31 Jesus says, “do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you,” and He follows with the well known command that we should ‘turn the other cheek’ to anyone who strikes us and allow anyone who takes a coat from us to take the shirt as well (see also Matthew 5:43-44).

            All these statements are echoed in the epistles. Paul tells us to bless those who persecute and curse us, to avoid paying evil for evil, and to allow God to take vengeance on evil men. Quoting Proverbs 25:21, he says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Paul concludes, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:14, 17-21). The primary commandment to Christians is the commandment to love (Romans 13:10) with gentleness (Ephesians 4:2) and the willingness to die for others (1 John 3:16). 1 Timothy 3:3 says we should not be “violent but gentle.”

            Nevertheless, several New Testament passages suggest a place for just violence and war: governments are established by God and exist to “bear the sword” in order to reward good and punish evil (Romans 13:1-4 and 1 Peter 2:14). John the Baptist instructs some Roman soldiers not to give up their jobs but to act honestly (Luke 3:14), and Jesus finds a non-Jewish soldier to have more faith than any Jew! (Luke 7:8-9).

            We know that anger is not necessarily wrong (Ephesians 4:26, James 1:19) but that it is dangerous (Matthew 5:22). We also know that Jesus made a whip and used force to overturn tables and drive con artists out of the temple (John 2:13-17).

The Gethsemane Puzzle

            One of the most difficult paradoxes in scripture regarding violence is one that I’ve never heard anyone talk about. You’ll recognize part of the story of Gethsemane immediately: when Peter cuts off the priest’s ear, Jesus says, “Put up your sword. Do you not know that he who lives by the sword will die by it?” (Matthew 26:52). Sounds pretty straight forward. But let’s back up a few hours and look at that same night again in Luke where Jesus says,

“But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me….”

The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That is enough,” he replied. (Luke 22:35-38)

On the same night Jesus tells Peter that those who live by the sword will die by it, He tells the disciples to buy swords! Why?

            Mark doesn’t mention Christ’s response to Peter, Luke notes that Jesus said, “No more of this” (22:51), and John that He said, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (John 18:11). Taken together the Gethsemane accounts make me wonder whether Christ’s rebuke to Peter was against violence or was an object lesson about His ability to defend Himself while choosing not to. Was Jesus saying that violence is not the answer or that violence has purpose but limitations?

One More Mystery

            Scripture tells us not to respond to evil with evil but also that God has established human governments to bear swords and punish evil (as well as reward good). What happens, then, when God raises up a government the majority of which are Christians? There are no democracies in the Bible to provide examples. What is the Christian responsibility for making peace and/or war when Christians are part of a sword bearing government? How long did Cornelius keep his job as a soldier after becoming a Christian? (Acts 10). How long did the jailer from Philippi? (Acts 16). Did they find holy calling in their work, or did they walk away, taking the admonition to turn the other cheek as seriously as did Gandhi and Martin Luther King?

            Many questions. I hope I’ve given you enough material to start pursuing answers to them on your own.