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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Christ and war | Is 9:6 | proffitt_79 | 107090 | ||
In Isaiah's prophecy, Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. Christians refer to his as the Gospel of Peace, and indeed, Christ's sermon on the mount promotes meekness and patient suffering in the face of threats to one's own personal security. As followers of Jesus, I would think that we would find Christians more often than liberal ideologues protesting war in the streets. Why does it seem that Christians are the most supportive of the United States' preemptive war? |
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2 | Christ and war | Is 9:6 | JCrichton | 107301 | ||
Hi, proffitt 79! We must remember that Jesus is talking about a different peace (my peace I give you, not the peace of this world: John 14:27). Though He lived under Roman occupation, Jesus did not involved Himself in any power struggle (John 18:36). And He was very aware of the disciples and their environment (John 12:8 and John 17:9, 15). In Matthew 5:9 He talks about those who work for peace... how they will be called sons of God. But the closest Jesus got to speaking about war was during the night of His arrest when He told Peter to put the knife away--he who lives by the sword... (John 18:10). Jesus did concern Himself with justice: Matthew 5:20. As Christians we should seek to be at peace with the world (Romans 12:18). But we cannot just separate ourselves from the World. Remember the story about the Maccabees, how they had to take arms on the Sabbath because their enemies by mounting massive assaults on the day of rest were obliterating the people of God? I do not presume to know everything about the war against Iraq--but remember this: a) When Saddam destroyed whole towns (including animals) were there any protesters against genocide? Where were the "just" terrorist--why did they not attack his regime for the sake of their arab brothers and sisters? b) When the airbus was hit by ground-to-air by the militia, why did the reporters that got the instant shots did not reveal their possition to the world just like they do when the US Military is involved? c) Why were there poor (below poverty level) people in Iraq--women and children gathering wood to burn as cooking and heating fuel in one of the wealthiest oil-producing nations in the world? And why were the hospitals barren (medical supplies, equiptment, personnel) years before the US/Britan assault? d) What would have made this a "just war"? God Bless |
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3 | Christ, War, and Patriotism | Is 9:6 | proffitt_79 | 107364 | ||
Thank you for your reply. I too do not presume to be all knowing. In fact, at the risk of sounding ignorant, I don't think I've ever heard of Maccabees. I must say that I disagree with your statement that "Jesus is talking about a different peace". You point out that "Though He lived under Roman occupation, Jesus did not involved Himself in any power struggle (John 18:36). And He was very aware of the disciples and their environment (John 12:8 and John 17:9, 15)." You are right - Jesus did not involve himself in any power struggle, and he was aware of the Roman occupation. In fact, these were the very "enemies" that Jesus said the people were to love. (Matt 5:44) In His statement in John 14:27 "my peace I give you, not the peace of this world" Jesus is talking about peace of mind. NLT says "I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives." This is a comforting statement given to the disciples before Jesus ascention not directed at moral standards or any prohibition or justification for war and should not be used as such. I believe Jesus didn't say much about war specifically because if we, as Christians, are truly to assume the worldview of Jesus, we will not have much need to ask the question, what makes a just war? The gospel of Christ asks "that we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, chothe the naked, welcome the homeless, visit the prisoner, and perform works of mercy. War does all the opposite." - Dorothy Day We are not in Iraq "liberating" the Iraqi people. We are setting up a regime in Iraq, the second largest oil producing nation in the world, that will ultimately serve us, the largest oil consuming nation in the world. Cliche as it is, that is what is happening. This is not liberation, this is imperialism. And yet patriotism calls us to support this imperialistic endeavor while condemning those who question the motives of our nation's leaders. Many of my fellow Christians reference the Word of God in justifying their patriotism while condemning dissent. Somewhere, our ideas of national identity and patriotism have become sifted in with our Christian allegiance to Jesus Christ and His gospel. (The BIG question is "why?") But citizenship in God's kingdom is superior to the Christian's earthly national citizenship. Acts 5:29: "But Peter and the apostles replied, 'We must obey God rather than human authority'." It is true that "All authority has been placed in power by God." (Rom. 13), but do not forget that Jesus himself tells us to "...give to Cesar what is Cesar's. But everything that is God's must be given to God" (Mark 12). That includes our allegiance. I realize that this subject can go around and around, so I ask a new question: If our commitments to Christ do indeed ultimately trump the authority of the nation, then by what criteria would Christians know when the claims of the nation have intruded on the integrity of the Gospel? |
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4 | Christ, War, and Patriotism | Is 9:6 | kalos | 107365 | ||
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