Warfare
Introduction
We decided a while ago that we wanted
to intersperse our series on the book of Acts with a number of what we call
“Big Issues” – things that are “hot potatoes” in the world we live in today –
things like relationships and sexuality, the use of social media, so-called
“green issues” – the environment, and so on.
It’s appropriate this morning – on
Remembrance Sunday – that I should be looking at the issue of warfare.
This is a subject that Christians have
disagreed on over the centuries –
·
Some
take the line of being Pacifists; they believe that Jesus put forward the way
of non-violence and that if we are to be true followers of Jesus then we too
must be non-violent in every circumstance; that all killing is wrong.
·
Others
look at the same Bible passages and arrive at the conviction that there are
circumstances when it is necessary for Christians to take up arms in order to
stand against evil – the so-called “just war” theory.
As I thought about it, I realised that
this is an example of what theologians sometimes call a secondary issue. It’s not a primary issue in the sense that what we
believe about warfare is not essential to salvation. It’s not a primary issue
in the sense that it should not be a barrier to Christian unity – we should not
stop our fellowship with someone because they have a different belief to us on
this issue.
The main reason why Christians
disagree over this issue is that the Bible nowhere gives clear and direct
teaching on what should be the Christian attitude to warfare. So we have to look
at a number of Bible passages that have some bearing on the subject and work
out what we should believe.
So this morning we are going to think
about how we understand the Bible and, in particular how to deal with issues
that are not directly addressed in the Bible.
This morning, I am not going to tell what to think, but I hope to be able to
tell how to think.
I will
be talking about warfare but I also want to look at the wider issues of how we
handle it when Christians disagree and how we go about understanding what God
wants us to do when there is no clear instruction in the Bible.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
 |
| Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) |
This dilemma is well illustrated by
one of my ‘heroes of the faith’. Sometimes in interviews people are asked who
they would like to meet – whether that person be dead or alive. After Nelson
Mandela, my next favourite choice would be Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an academic
theologian and an ordained minister in the German Lutheran church who was a
prominent critic of the Nazi regime and who went on to become part of a plot to
assassinate Hitler. He was hanged by the Nazis in April 1945, only a short time
before the end of the war.
Bonhoeffer had been a near pacifist –
his first imprisonment in 1943 had been because he had evaded military duty and
persuaded others to do the same – but he became convinced that Hitler must be
stopped even if it meant killing him. Bonhoeffer used a simple illustration to
make his point – if you were riding in a car with a driver who was about to run
over a crowd of people on the pavement, you would do all you could to stop the
driver, perhaps seizing the wheel of the car. He said that action is required -
it is not enough to simply pray for the victims and their loved ones.
How do we understand what the Bible
says?
You might say that we should simply
believe what the Bible says. The problem is that there are subjects that the
Bible doesn’t address directly and in those cases we have to work hard to work
out what God wants us to do. How do we do that? –
·
Look
at all the passages that deal with a
subject – don’t just take one passage.
·
Seek
to understand those passages in their context – don’t just take them in
isolation.
·
Look
at the passages in the light of what we learn from the whole Bible e.g. what do we know about the character of God, his
plan for salvation, etc.
·
Pay
particular heed to what Jesus had to say – he is the pinnacle of God’s
revelation to us; on occasions he modified and expanded the Law found in the
Old Testament – “You have heard that it
was said . . .But I tell you . .”
·
Be
aware of our prejudices and pre-conceptions – our temperament, our background,
our education, our political views, and our religious tradition.
So, by way of example, let’s look at
what the Bible says about warfare . .
What does the Bible say about warfare?
Although we read about a lot of wars
in the Old Testament, the New Testament doesn’t address the question of warfare
directly. So we have to look at various scriptures which may have a bearing on
the subject and work out what to believe.
For example, Matthew chapter 5:
38 ‘You
have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” 39 But
I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if
anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If
anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give
to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow
from you.
43 ‘You
have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your
enemy.” 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may
be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and
the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If
you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax
collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only
your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do
that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly
Father is perfect.
Some Christians say that this applies
to all Christians at all times. It is never
right for a Christian to use violence against another person. They point out
that Judea was under Roman occupation at the time that Jesus said this. The
‘enemies’ that the people were to love included the Roman army of occupation.
It was the Roman soldiers who had the legal right to make someone carry their
equipment for a mile: Jesus said, reach out to them in love – carry their pack
for two miles. So it is wrong for a Christian to take up arms and fight against
an enemy.
Other Christians will say, No – this
instruction of Jesus applies to personal morality only. In the realm of the
dealings of one nation against another, Christians are called to obey the
governing authorities. They will quote Romans 13:
1 Let
everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels
against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those
who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For
rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do
you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right
and you will be commended. 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. 5 Therefore,
it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible
punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This
is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give
their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone
what you owe them: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if
respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.
They will also point out that when
soldiers came to John the Baptist asking what they should do, he didn’t tell
them to lay down their arms:
Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And
what should we do?’ He replied, ‘Don’t
extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.’ Luke 3:14
The problem is that two Christians
looking at the same Bible passage can come up with two different understandings
of what it means for us. Part of the problem is that when we come to the Bible
we bring our temperament, our background, our education, our political views,
and our religious tradition. We can’t avoid that but we need to aware of it and
take it into consideration. We must not be so arrogant as to think that our own
interpretation is the only way of understanding the Bible.
Dietrich Bonfoeffer was the son of a
university professor. He was brought up in a liberal and tolerant household. He
would have hated the idea that any argument could be sorted out by physical
violence. So when he started to study theology it would have been natural to
him to adopt a near-pacifist position. Later when he saw the evil to people
being done by the Nazi regime, he modified his theology to allow him to take
action to stop the Nazis.
Let’s look at some other examples . .
.
Hacksaw Ridge
 |
| Desmond Doss (1939-2006) |
Some of you may have seen a film called Hacksaw Ridge. It was released in 2016 and was nominated for six Oscars. It told the true-life story of Desmond Doss who was an American pacifist combat medic in the Second World War who refused to carry a weapon of any kind. He was the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Doss enlisted in the army as a combat medic. He was sent for basic training where he excelled physically, but he became an outcast among his fellow soldiers for refusing to handle a rifle and train on Saturdays. Despite being beaten one night by his fellow soldiers, he refused to identify his attackers and continued training. His refusal to carry a firearm led to an arrest for insubordination but Doss refused to compromise his beliefs. At his court-martial, Doss pleaded not guilty and a submission was made to the court that his pacifism was protected by the U.S. Constitution. The charges against Doss were dropped. Doss’ unit was posted to the Pacific and In the Battle of Okinawa he rescued 75 wounded soldiers under enemy fire. For this he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He showed that he was not a coward – which his commanding officer had previously accused him of – but a man of courage and conviction.
Desmond Doss was a Seventh-Day Adventist. He grew up in a religious tradition that took literally the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” and shunned warfare and encouraged its members to become conscientious objectors. This aversion to violence was reinforced when as a boy he nearly killed his younger brother in some horseplay.
A little aside: you might ask “Are
Seventh-Day Adventists real Christians?”
“They have strong views about how to
keep the Sabbath.” – well so do other Christians!
“They have some odd views about the
end times.” – well so do other Christians!
I can only say that 50 years ago I had
a Religious Education teacher called Miss Benwell who was a Seventh-Day
Adventist. She clearly loved Jesus and she read us extracts from Shadow of the Almighty and Through Gates of Splendour which told the story of Jim Elliot and his companions who lost their lives in
trying to reach the Auca people of Ecuador with the gospel in 1950’s.
Other Christian groups that have taken
a pacifist view over the centuries include the Anabaptists – Hutterites and
Mennonites and others – and the Quakers. In recent years a group has sprung up
in the States who call themselves “Red Letter Christians”. They take their name
from the practice in some Bibles of showing the words of Jesus in red. They
believe that the words of Jesus are more important than other parts of the
Bible and give great weight to Jesus’ command to “Love your enemies.”
By contrast . . .
General Richard Dannatt
 |
| General Richard Dannatt (1950-present) |
General Richard Dannatt is now retired
but previously he was Chief of the General Staff (or head) of the British Army.
Early in his career he was posted to Northern Ireland at the height of “the
Troubles”. In 1972, as a junior officer he was awarded the Military Cross for
gallantry in leading his platoon in an operation in East Belfast. In 1977, aged
26, he suffered a major stroke. After nearly two years of recovery and
recuperation, he re-joined his unit – the Green Howards. There followed further
postings to Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Bosnia and Kosovo. He was selected for
training at the staff college at Camberley and held a number of senior commands
before becoming Chief of the General Staff in 2006. In 2007 he was involved in
founding the charity ‘Help for Heroes’. He retired from active duty in 2009 but
since then has held various honorary positions including Constable of the Tower
of London.
Richard Dannatt is a born-again
Christian. As a Christian serving in the army, he sought to serve
whole-heartedly, to make sure the men under his command were well looked after,
and to point people to Jesus.
Richard Dannatt came from a middle
class family with a strong tradition of public service and it was natural for
him to follow a career in the army.
There’s a probably many here who don’t
like the thought of violence but who are uncomfortable with embracing the
pacifist position. Let me tell you about Pastor Saunders . .
Pastor Saunders
 |
| Street Baptist Church, Somerset |
In the early years of my Christian
life, nearly fifty years ago, the pastor of the Baptist church I was part of
was a godly man called Pastor Saunders. His first name was Bill but only a few
people called him that. He was the sort of quiet man who dealt gently with
people but who had strong convictions. Pastor Saunders preached at the morning
and evening services for nearly every Sunday in the year. I must have heard him
preach more than 200 sermons and I can’t remember a single one of them –
although I am sure that what he preached has added to my storehouse of Bible
knowledge. There is one thing that Pastor Saunders said, however, that I can
remember. From time to time Pastor Saunders came along to our youth fellowship
which met after the Sunday evening service. Sometimes he simply sat and watched
and listened; sometimes he spoke. On the occasion I remember he opened himself
up to answer our questions. Pastor Saunders was of the same generation as my
father – he had been a young man when the Second World War broke out, and one
young person asked Pastor Saunders if he had fought in the war. I have always
remembered his answer. He said that he thought that if he fought in the army,
he didn’t think he would be able to kill a man. So he prayed that if he needed
to kill someone that God would give him the grace to do so. As it happened he
never faced that situation – his unit was never in the front line and he was
never required to shoot at the enemy.
Where does that leave us?
We have looked at some principles for
understanding the Bible, especially when there is no clear Bible teaching about
the issue that concerns us.
I said before that it is important for
us to be aware of the prejudices and pre-conceptions that we bring with us when
we look at the Bible. We must avoid the arrogance of thinking that our position
is the only valid one. There is a whole raft of issues where Christians
disagree – baptism, the meaning of communion, freewill and election, spiritual
gifts, and so on. It’s important that we have a clear view of what we believe
while at the same time respecting and honouring other Christians who think
differently.
And in this matter of warfare, even if
we struggle with the idea of Christians being involved in violence, we should
honour the willingness to serve, the courage and the sacrifice of those who
fought and died for our freedom.
