Christian pacifism

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Blessed are the Peacemakers (1917) by George Bellows

Christian pacifism is the theological and ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith.[1] Christian pacifists state that Jesus himself was a pacifist who taught and practiced pacifism and that his followers must do likewise. Notable Christian pacifists include Martin Luther King Jr., Leo Tolstoy,[2] Adin Ballou and Ammon Hennacy. Ballou and Hennacy believed that adherence to Christianity required not just pacifism but, because governments inevitably threatened or used force to resolve conflicts, anarchism. However, most Christian pacifists, including the peace churches, Christian Peacemaker Teams, and individuals such as John Howard Yoder, make no claim to be anarchists.

Origins[]

Old Testament[]

Roots of Christian pacifism can be found in the scriptures of the Old Testament according to Baylor University professor of religion, John A. Wood.[3] Millard C. Lind explains the theology of warfare in ancient Israel as God directing the people of Israel to trust in Him, not in the warring way of the nations, and to seek peace not coercive power. Stephen B. Chapman expresses the Old Testament describes God's divine intervention, not human power politics, or the warring king, as key to the preservation of Israel.[4] Lind asserts the Old Testament reflects that God occasionally sanctions, even commands wars to the point of God actually fighting utilizing the forces of nature, miraculous acts or other nations.[5] Lind further argues God fights so that Israel doesn't have to fight wars like other nations because God delivers them.[5] God promised to fight for Israel, to be an enemy to their enemies and oppose all that oppose them (Exodus 23:22). Pacifist, John Howard Yoder explains God sustained and directed his community not by power politics but by the creative power of God's word, of speaking through the law and the prophets.[6] The scriptures in the Old Testament provide background of God's great victory over evil, sin and death. Stephen Vantassel contends the Old Testament exists to put the issue of war and killing in historical and situational context.[7]

Throughout the Old Testament, there is a movement in the role of war. Stephen B. Chapman, associate professor of Old Testament at Duke University asserts God used war to conquer and provide the Promised Land to Israel, and then to defend that land. The Old Testament explains that Israel does not have to fight wars like other nations because God delivers them.[4] Starting with the Exodus out of Egypt, God fights for Israel as a warrior rescuing His people from the oppressive Egyptians (Exodus 15:3). In Exodus 14:13 Moses instructs the Israelites, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." The miraculous parting of the Red Sea is God being a warrior for Israel through acts of nature and not human armies.[5] God's promise to fight on behalf of His chosen people is affirmed in the scriptures of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 1:30).[8] According to Old Testament scholar, Peter C. Craige, during the military conquests of the Promised Land, the Israelites fought in real wars against real human enemies, however it was God who granted them victory in their battles.[8] Craige further contends God determined the outcome of human events with His participation through those humans and their activity; essentially God fought through the fighting of His people.[8] Once the Promised Land was secured, and the nation of Israel progressed, God used war to protect or punish the nation of Israel with His sovereign control of the nations to achieve His purposes (2 Kings 18:9–12, Jeremiah 25:8–9, Habakkuk 1:5–11). Yoder affirms as long as Israel trusted and followed God, God would work His power through Israel to drive occupants from lands God willed them to occupy (Exodus 23:27–33).[6] The future of Israel was dependent solely on its faith and obedience to God as mediated through the Law and prophets, and not on military strength.[3] Jacob Enz explains God made a covenant with His people of Israel, placing conditions on them that they were to worship only Him, and be obedient to the laws of life in the Ten Commandments.[9] When Israel trusts and obeys God, the nation prospered; when they rebelled, God spoke through prophets such as Ezekiel and Isaiah, telling Israel that God would wage war against Israel to punish her (Isaiah 59:15-19).[10] War was used in God's ultimate purpose of restoring peace and harmony for the whole earth with the intention towards salvation of all the nations with the coming of the Messiah and a new covenant. Jacob Enz describes God's plan was to use the nation of Israel for a higher purpose, and that purpose was to be the mediator between all the peoples and God.[9] The Old Testament reflects how God helped His people of Israel, even after Israel's repeated lapses of faith, demonstrating God's grace, not violence.[9]

The Old Testament explains God is the only giver of life and God is sovereign over human life. Man's role is to be a steward who should take care of all of God's creation, and that includes protecting human life. Peter Craige explains God's self-revelation through His participating in human history is referred to as "Salvation History."[8] The main objective of God's participation is man's salvation. God participates in human history by acting through people and in the world that is both in need of salvation, and is thus imperfect. God participates in the human activity of war through sinful human beings for His purpose of bringing salvation to the world.[8] Studies conducted by scholars Friedrich Schwally, Johannes Pedersen, Patrick D. Miller, Rudolf Smend and Gerhard von Rad maintain the wars of Israel in the Old Testament were by God's divine command.[5] This divine activity took place in a world of sinful men and activities, such as war. War is considered evil. God's participation through evil human activity such as war, was for the sole purposes of both redemption and judgment.[8] God's presence in these Old Testament wars does not justify or deem them holy, it serves to provide hope in a situation of hopelessness.[8] The sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13) and the fundamental principle it holds true is that reverence for human life must be given the highest importance. The Old Testament points to a time when weapons of war shall be transformed into the instruments of peace, and the hope for the consummation of the Kingdom of God when there will be no more war.[8] Wood points to the scriptures of Isaiah and Micah (Isaiah 2:2–4; 9:5; 11:1–9; and Micah 4:1–7) that express the pacifist view of God's plan to bring peace without violence.[3]

Ministry of Jesus[]

Jesus appeared to teach pacifism during his ministry when he told his disciples:[11]

You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matt. 5:38–39)

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Matt. 5:43–48, Luke 6:27–28)

Put your sword back in its place… for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. (Matt. 26:52)

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matt. 5:9)

Early Church[]

Several Church Fathers interpreted Jesus' teachings as advocating nonviolence.[12] For example:

For from Jerusalem there went out into the world, men, twelve in number, and these illiterate, of no ability in speaking: but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach to all the word of God; and we who formerly used to murder one another do not only now refrain from making war upon our enemies, but also, that we may not lie nor deceive our examiners, willingly die confessing Christ.

— Justin Martyr[13]

...shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians, who, having learned the true worship of God from the law, and the word which went forth from Jerusalem by means of the apostles of Jesus, have fled for safety to the God of Jacob and God of Israel; and we who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons,--our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage,--and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified; and sitting each under his vine.

— Justin Martyr[14]

I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I decline military command... Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it.

— Tatian's Address to the Greeks 11[15]

Whatever Christians would not wish others to do to them, they do not to others. And they comfort their oppressors and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies…. Through love towards their oppressors, they persuade them to become Christians.

— The Apology of Aristides 15[16]

A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate must resign or be rejected. If a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God.

— Hippolytus of Rome[17]

One soul cannot be due to two masters—God and Cæsar. And yet Moses carried a rod, and Aaron wore a buckle, and John (Baptist) is girt with leather and Joshua the son of Nun leads a line of march; and the People warred: if it pleases you to sport with the subject. But how will a Christian man war, nay, how will he serve even in peace, without a sword, which the Lord has taken away? For albeit soldiers had come unto John, and had received the formula of their rule; albeit, likewise, a centurion had believed; still the Lord afterward, in disarming Peter, unbelted every soldier. No dress is lawful among us, if assigned to any unlawful action.

— Tertullian, On Idolatry, Chapter 19: Concerning Military Service[18]

[N]either Celsus nor they who think with him are able to point out any act on the part of Christians which savours of rebellion. And yet, if a revolt had led to the formation of the Christian commonwealth, so that it derived its existence in this way from that of the Jews, who were permitted to take up arms in defence of the members of their families, and to slay their enemies, the Christian Lawgiver would not have altogether forbidden the putting of men to death; and yet He nowhere teaches that it is right for His own disciples to offer violence to any one, however wicked.

— Origen, Contra Celsum, Book 3, Chapter 7[19]

For since we, a numerous band of men as we are, have learned from His teaching and His laws that evil ought not to be requited with evil, that it is better to suffer wrong than to inflict it, that we should rather shed our own blood than stain our hands and our conscience with that of another, an ungrateful world is now for a long period enjoying a benefit from Christ, inasmuch as by His means the rage of savage ferocity has been softened, and has begun to withhold hostile hands from the blood of a fellow-creature.

— Arnobius, Adversus Gentes I:VI[20]

Consider the roads blocked up by robbers, the seas beset with pirates, wars scattered all over the earth with the bloody horror of camps. The whole world is wet with mutual blood; and murder, which in the case of an individual is admitted to be a crime, is called a virtue when it is committed wholesale.

— Cyprian of Carthage[21]

Those soldiers were filled with wonder and admiration at the grandeur of the man's piety and generosity and were struck with amazement. They felt the force of this example of pity. As a result, many of them were added to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and threw off the belt of military service.

— Disputation of Archelaus and Manes[22]

For when God forbids us to kill, He not only prohibits us from open violence, which is not even allowed by the public laws, but He warns us against the commission of those things which are esteemed lawful among men. Thus it will be neither lawful for a just man to engage in warfare.

— Lactantius.[23]

How can a man be master of another's life, if he is not even master of his own? Hence he ought to be poor in spirit, and look at Him who for our sake became poor of His own will; let him consider that we are all equal by nature, and not exalt himself impertinently against his own race[...]

— Gregory of Nyssa, Homilies on the Beatitudes[24]

However, many early Christians also served in the army,[25][26] and the presence of large numbers of Christians in his army may have been a factor in the conversion of Constantine to Christianity.[27] Marcus Aurelius allegedly reported to the Roman Senate that his Christian soldiers fought with prayers instead of conventional weapons,[28] which resulted in the Rain Miracle[29] of the Marcomannic Wars.

Conversion of the Roman Empire[]

See also: Constantine I and Christianity

After the Roman Emperor Constantine converted in AD 312 and began to conquer "in Christ's name", Christianity became entangled with the state, and warfare and violence were increasingly justified by influential Christians. Some scholars believe that "the accession of Constantine terminated the pacifist period in church history."[30] Nevertheless, the tradition of Christian pacifism was carried on by a few dedicated Christians throughout the ages, such as Martin of Tours, who converted during the early days of Christianity in Europe. Martin, who was then a young soldier, declared in AD 336 "I am a soldier of Christ. I cannot fight."[31] He was jailed for this action, but later released, eventually became just the third Bishop of Tours.[31]

Cathars[]

Catharism was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Followers were described as Cathars and referred to themselves as Good Christians, and are now mainly remembered for a prolonged period of persecution by the Catholic Church, which did not recognize their unorthodox Christianity. Catharism arrived in Western Europe in the Languedoc region of France in the 11th century.[32] They were strict pacifists and rigorous ascetics, abjuring war, killing, lying, swearing, and carnal relations in accordance with their understanding of the Gospel. Rejecting the Old Testament, Cathars despised dogmatic elements of Christianity, while their Priests (Perfects) subsisted on a diet of little more than vegetables cooked in oil, or fish not a product of sexual intercourse.[33][34]

Lollardy[]

The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards, a 1395 document of Lollardy, asserts that Christians should refrain from warfare, and in particular that wars given religious justifications, such as crusades, are blasphemous because Christ taught men to love and forgive their enemies.

Post-Reformation[]

As early as 1420, Petr Chelčický taught that violence should not be used in religious matters.[35] Chelčický used the parable of the wheat and the tares[36] (Matthew 13:24–30) to show that both the sinners and the saints should be allowed to live together until the harvest. He thought that it is wrong to kill even the sinful and that Christians should refuse military service. He argued that if the poor refused, the lords would have no one to go to war for them. Since then, many other Christians have made similar stands for pacifism as the following quotes show:

The Scriptures teach that there are two opposing princes and two opposing kingdoms : the one is the Prince of peace ; the other the prince of strife. Each of these princes has his particular kingdom and as the prince is so is also the kingdom. The Prince of peace is Christ Jesus ; His kingdom is the kingdom of peace, which is His church; His messengers are the messengers of peace; His Word is the word of peace; His body is the body of peace; His children are the seed of peace.

— Menno Simons (1494–1561), Reply to False Accusations, III[37]

To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you.’

— Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968), "Loving your Enemies" in Strength to Love[38]

Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. Therefore one who has love, courage, and wisdom is the one in a million who moves the world, as with Jesus, Buddha, and Gandhi.

— Ammon Hennacy (1893–1970)[39]

Charles Spurgeon did not explicitly identify as a pacifist but expressed very strongly worded anti-war sentiment.[40] Leo Tolstoy wrote extensively on Christian pacifism,[41] while Mohandas K. Gandhi considered Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You as the text to have the most influence in his life.[42]

Christian pacifist denominations[]

Main article: Peace churches

The first conscientious objector in the modern sense was a Quaker in 1815.[43] Some Quakers had originally served in Cromwell's New Model Army before the peace testimony of Friends was issued after the restoration of the British monarchy in 1660. A number of Christian denominations have taken pacifist positions institutionally, including the Quakers and Mennonites.[44]

Peace churches[]

The Deserter (1916) by Boardman Robinson

The term "historical peace churches" refers to three churches—the Church of the Brethren, the Mennonites and the Quakers—who took part in the first peace church conference, in Kansas in 1935, and who have worked together to represent the view of Christian pacifism.

Anabaptist churches[]

Traditionally, Anabaptists hold firmly to their beliefs in nonviolence. Many of these churches continue to advocate nonviolence, some of which are Mennonites, the Amish, the Hutterites,[45] Old Order River Brethren, Brethren in Christ and the Bruderhof Communities.[46]

Quakers and Shakers[]

Further information: Peace Testimony

Most Quakers, also known as Friends (members of the Religious Society of Friends), hold peace as a core value, including the refusal to participate in war[47] going as far as forming the Friends' Ambulance Unit with the aim of "co-operating with others to build up a new world rather than fighting to destroy the old", and the American Friends Service Committee during the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts.[48] Shakers, who emerged in part from Quakerism in 1747, do not believe that it is acceptable to kill or harm others, even in times of war.[49]

Christadelphians[]

Although the group had already separated from the Campbellites, a part of the Restoration Movement, after 1848 for theological reasons as the "Royal Assembly of Believers", among other names, the "Christadelphians" formed as a church formally in 1863 in response to conscription in the American Civil War. They are one of the few churches to have been legally formed over the issue of Christian pacifism.[50] The British and Canadian arms of the group adopted the name "Christadelphian" in the following year, 1864, and also maintained objection to military service during the First and Second World Wars. Unlike Quakers, Christadelphians generally refused all forms of military service, including stretcher bearers and medics, preferring non-uniformed civil hospital service.[51]

Churches of God (7th day)[]

The different groups evolving under the name Church of God (7th day) stand opposed to carnal warfare, based on Matthew 26:52; Revelation 13:10; Romans 12:19–21. They believe the weapons of their warfare to not be carnal but spiritual (II Corinthians 10:3–5; Ephesians 6:11–18).[52][53]

Holiness pacifists[]

The Wesleyan Methodist Church, one of the first Methodist denominations of the holiness movement, opposed war as documented in their 1844 Book of Discipline, that noted that the Gospel is in "every way opposed to the practice of War in all its forms; and those customs which tend to foster and perpetuate war spirit, [are] inconsistent with the benevolent designs of the Christian religion."[54]

The Reformed Free Methodist Church, Emmanuel Association, the Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma) and Christ's Sanctified Holy Church are denominations in the holiness movement known for their opposition to war today; they are known as "holiness pacifists".[55][56][57][54] The Emmanuel Association teaches:[54][58]

We feel bound explicitly to avow our unshaken persuasion that War is utterly incompatible with the plain precepts of our divine Lord and Law-giver, and with the whole spirit of the Gospel; and that no plea of necessity or policy, however urgent or peculiar, can avail to release either individuals or nations for the paramount allegiance which they owe to Him who hath said, "Love your enemies." Therefore, we cannot participate in war (Rom. 12:19), war activities, or compulsory training.[54]

Moravian Church[]

The Moravian Church historically adheres to the position of Christian pacifism, evidenced in atrocities such as the Gnadenhutten massacre, where the Lenape Moravian martyrs practiced nonresistance with their murderers, singing hymns until their execution by American revolutionaries.[59][60][61][62]

Doukhobors[]

The Doukhobors are a Spiritual Christian denomination that advocate pacifism.[63] On June 29, 1895, the Doukhobors, in what is known as the "Burning of the Arms", "piled up their swords, guns, and other weapons and burned them in large bonfires while they sang psalms".[64]

Molokans[]

The Molokans are a Spiritual Christian denomination that advocate pacifism.[65] They have historically been persecuted for failing to bear arms.[66]

Seventh-day Adventists[]

During the American Civil War in 1864, shortly after the formation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Seventh-day Adventists declared, "The denomination of Christians calling themselves Seventh-day Adventists, taking the Bible as their rule of faith and practice, are unanimous in their views that its teaching are contrary to the spirit and practice of war; hence, they have ever been conscientiously opposed to bearing arms."[67]

The general Adventist movement from 1867 followed a policy of conscientious objection. This was confirmed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1914. The official policy allows for military service in non-combative roles such as medical corps[68] much like Seventh-day Adventist Desmond Doss who was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only three so honored, and other supportive roles which do not require to kill or carry a weapon.[69] In practice today, as a pastor from the Seventh-day Adventist church comments in an online magazine runs by members of the Seventh-day Adventist church: "Today in a volunteer army a lot of Adventist young men and women join the military in combat positions, and there are many Adventist pastors electing for military chaplaincy positions, supporting combatants and non-combatants alike. On Veteran’s Day, American churches across the country take time to give honor and respect to those who “served their country,” without any attempt to differentiate how they served, whether as bomber pilots, Navy Seals, or Operation Whitecoat guinea pigs. I have yet to see a service honoring those who ran away to Canada to avoid participation in the senseless carnage of Vietnam in their Biblical pacifism."[70]

Other denominations[]

Calvinism[]

Today, the orthodox position of conservative Calvinists is Christian pacifism.[71]

Many modern Calvinists, such as André Trocmé, have been pacifists.

Lutheranism[]

The Lutheran Church of Australia recognises conscientious objection to war as Biblically legitimate.[72]

Since the Second World War, many notable Lutherans have been pacifists.

Anglicanism[]

Lambeth Conference 1930 Resolution 25 declares that, "The Conference affirms that war as a method of settling international disputes is incompatible with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ."[73] The 1948, 1958 and 1968 conferences re-ratified this position.[74]

The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship lobbies the various dioceses of the church to uphold this resolution and work constructively for peace.

Christian pacifism in action[]

19th-century Christian abolitionists and anarchists Adin Ballou and William Lloyd Garrison were critical of the violent and coercive nature of all human governments. Ballou and Garrison advocated for nonresistance against the institution of slavery and imperialism, as they saw the Bible as the embodiment of “passive nonresistance” and the only way to achieve the new millennium on Earth. Instead of violence, they advocated for moral suasion or consistent rebukes against the institution of slavery so to persuade racist southerns and indifferent northerners to the abolitionist's cause. Garrison and Ballou, along with Amos Bronson Alcott, Maria Weston Chapman, Stephen Symonds Foster, Abby Kelley, Samuel May, and Henry C. Wright,[75] founded the New England Non-Resistance Society in 1838 in Boston. The society condemned the use of force in resisting evil, in war, for the death penalty, or in self-defense, renounced allegiance to human government, and called for the immediate abolition of slavery without compensation. Garrison's weekly abolitionist newspaper The Liberator (1831–1865) and Ballou's Christian utopian commune the Hopedale Community (established in 1843 in Milford, Massachusetts) were also some of their key efforts in propagating Christian pacifism in the United States. Their writings on Christian nonresistance also influenced Leo Tolstoy's theo-political ideology and his non-fiction texts like The Kingdom of God is Within You.

From the beginning of the First World War, Christian pacifist organizations emerged to support Christians in denominations other than the historic peace churches. The first was the interdenominational Fellowship of Reconciliation ("FoR"), founded in Britain in 1915 but soon joined by sister organizations in the U.S. and other countries. Today pacifist organizations serving specific denominations are more or less closely allied with the FoR: they include the Methodist Peace Fellowship (established in 1933), the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (established in 1937), Pax Christi (Roman Catholic, established in 1945), and so forth. The Network of Christian Peace Organisations (NCPO) is a UK-based ecumenical peace network of 28 organizations.[76] Some of these organizations do not take strictly pacifist positions, describing themselves instead as advocating nonviolence, and some either have members who would not consider themselves Christians or are explicitly interfaith. However, they share historical and philosophical roots in Christian pacifism.

In some cases Christian churches, even if not necessarily committed to Christian pacifism, have supported particular campaigns of nonviolent resistance, also often called civil resistance. Examples include the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (a grouping of churches in the southern United States) in supporting the Civil Rights Movement; the Chilean Catholic Church's support for the civic action against authoritarian rule in Pinochet's Chile in the 1980s; and the Polish Catholic Church's support for the Solidarity movement in Poland in the 1980s.[77]

Walter Wink writes that "There are three general responses to evil: (1) passivity, (2) violent opposition, and (3) the third way of militant nonviolence articulated by Jesus. Human evolution has conditioned us for only the first two of these responses: fight or flight."[78] This understanding typifies Walter Wink's book, Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way.[79]

First World War[]

Ben Salmon was an American Catholic pacifist and outspoken critic of just war theory, as he believed all war to be unjust.[80] During the First World War, Salmon was arrested for refusing to complete a Selective Service and report for induction. He was court-martialed at Camp Dodge, Iowa on July 24, 1918, and sentenced to death. This was later revised to 25 years hard labor.[81] Salmon's steadfast pacifism has since been cited as an inspiration for other Catholics, such as Fathers Daniel Berrigan and John Dear.[82][83]

The Episcopal bishop Paul Jones, who had associated himself with the Fellowship of Reconciliation and had been quite outspoken in his opposition to the war, was forced to resign his Utah see in April 1918.

In 1918, four Hutterite brothers from South Dakota, Jacob Wipf and David, Joseph and Michael Hofer were imprisoned at Alcatraz for refusing to fight in military or put on a military uniform; Joseph and Michael Hofer died in late 1918 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, due to the harsh conditions of the imprisonment.[84] In the Remembering Muted Voices symposium in October 2017, the lives and witness of World War I peace activists, including the four Hutterite brothers, were remembered. The symposium was sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, Peace History Society, Plough Publishing House, and the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust.[85]

Second World War[]

The French Christian pacifists André and Magda Trocmé helped conceal hundreds of Jews fleeing the Nazis in the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.[86][87] After the war, the Trocmés were declared Righteous Among the Nations.[86]

The radical Christian pacifist[88] John Middleton Murry, changed his opinions on Christian pacifism in light of the Holocaust. In his early years as a writer of The Necessity of Pacifism (1937) and as editor of the weekly London newspaper, Peace News, he argued that Nazi Germany, should be allowed retain control of mainland Europe, arguing Nazism was a lesser evil compared to the horrors of a total war.[89][90] Later, he recanted his pacifism in 1948 and promoted a preventative war against the Soviet Union.[91]

"Live by the bomb die by the bomb" at the White House Peace Vigil.

Vera Brittain was another British Christian pacifist. She worked as a fire warden and by travelling around the country raising funds for the Peace Pledge Union's food relief campaign. She was vilified for speaking out against the saturation bombing of German cities through her 1944 booklet Massacre by Bombing. Her principled pacifist position was vindicated somewhat when, in 1945, the Nazi's Black Book of 2000 people to be immediately arrested in Britain after a German invasion was shown to include her name.[92] After the war, Brittain worked for Peace News magazine, "writing articles against apartheid and colonialism and in favour of nuclear disarmament" from a Christian perspective.[93]

Post-Second World War[]

Having been inspired by the Sermon on the Mount, Thomas launched the White House Peace Vigil in 1981; the longest running peace vigil in US history.[94] Over the years, he was joined by numerous anti-war activists including those from the Catholic Worker Movement and Plowshares Movement.[95]

In 2017, the Methodist minister Dan Woodhouse and the Quaker Sam Walton entered the British Aerospace Warton Aerodrome site to try to disarm Typhoon fighter jets bound for Saudi Arabia. They targeted these jets because they would be used in Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign of Yemen. They were arrested before they were able to do any damage.[96] This was the same BAE systems site in which the Seeds of Hope group of the Plowshares movement damaged a Hawk fighter jet in 1996.[96] They appeared in court facing charges of criminal damage in October 2017 and were both found not guilty.[97][98]

War tax resistance[]

Opposition to war has led some, like Ammon Hennacy, to a form of tax resistance in which they reduce their income below the tax threshold by taking up a simple living lifestyle.[99][100] These individuals believe that their government is engaged in immoral, unethical or destructive activities such as war, and paying taxes inevitably funds these activities.[101]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2018). "Christian Pacifism". In Fiala, Andrew (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Pacifism and Nonviolence. London: Routledge. pp. 43–53. doi:10.4324/9781315638751-5. ISBN 9781138194663.
  2. ^ Colm McKeogh, Tolstoy's Pacifism, Cambria Press, 2009, ISBN 1-60497-634-9.
  3. ^ a b c Wood, John A. (1998). Perspectives on War in the Bible. Mercer University Press. pp. 13, 15. ISBN 978-0865545649.
  4. ^ a b Thomas, Heath A.; Evans, Jeremy; Copan, Paul (2013). Holy War in the Bible: Christian Morality and an Old Testament Problem. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8308-3995-7.
  5. ^ a b c d Lind, Millard C. (1980). Yahweh is a Warrior. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press. pp. 25–27. ISBN 978-0836112337.
  6. ^ a b Yoder, John Howard (1972). The Politics of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Erdmans Publishing. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-0802807342.
  7. ^ Vantassel, Stephen. "Pacifism and the Bible". Evangelical Review of Society and Politics. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Craige, Peter C. (2002). The Problem of War in the Old Testament. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock. p. 63. ISBN 1-57910-883-0.
  9. ^ a b c Enz, Jacob (2001). The Christian and Warfare: The Roots of Pacifism in the Old Testament. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 46. ISBN 1-57910-706-0.
  10. ^ Lind, Millard C. (2015). Monotheism, Power, Justice: Collected Old Testament Essays. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 143. ISBN 978-1498232654.
  11. ^ Orr, Edgar W. (1958). Christian pacifism. C.W. Daniel Co. p. 33.
  12. ^ Justo L. González, Essential Theological Terms, Westminster John Knox Press, 2005, ISBN 0-664-22810-0, p. 125: "There is no doubt that the early church was pacifist, teaching that Christians could not be soldiers."
  13. ^ First Apology, Chapter 39.
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