(a reposting of a piece I contributed to the Antipelagian blog in 2009)
The question of whether or not it is appropriate to use physical force as a means to restrain evil on this earth has long been a point of disagreement in the Church. In practicality, the answer to that question determines how we respond to a broad range of scenarios. Is it appropriate to defend oneself from an attacker? Are we permitted to use force for the protection of others? Can a Christian in good conscience serve in the armed forces? Should Christians in positions of political power advocate the use of capital punishment or is it even appropriate to erect prisons to hold criminals? The implications of this issue continue to mount.
In every era of Church history there have been those who would fall under the category of Christian Pacifists. They have, for the most part, remained a minority of the overall body of Christ, but their claims must be dealt with in every generation because of the broad consequences acceptance of their doctrine necessarily brings.
The ideology of Christian Pacifism seems to be mostly derived from a rigid interpretation of a handful of statements made by Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount. It clearly has no basis in the Old Testament, in the epistles of the New Testament, or even in many of the statements of Jesus. First, if you take the position that Christ encouraged pacifism in every respect, you will have great difficulty reconciling this with the portrayal of God in the Old Testament. Christ never distanced himself from the Hebrew Scriptures or their portrayal of God. In fact, He claimed to be the fulfillment of them and validated them in multiple ways. Christ is one with the Father, so for our faith to make sense we can’t resign ourselves to the view that Christ is in disagreement with the Father or that Christ is like a new version of God (new and upgraded version 2.0). It’s also untenable to suggest that somehow the Old Testament just got it all wrong on this issue and Jesus was simply too polite to mention it. I’m convinced that a careful and prayerful reading of the Bible makes it easier to reconcile any and all seeming contradictions.
Jesus said that we should love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. We should not resist an evil person seeking to do us harm and should instead turn the other cheek. If someone comes to steal my cloak, I am not to prevent them from taking my tunic as well. Certainly all Christians are called to follow the Lord’s instruction. However, it is a mistake to take these teachings as promoting a Pacifist ideology. The commonality in all of these scenarios described by Christ, in which an individual is told not to resist, is that the individual himself is the intended victim and the threat is non-fatal. In other words, if a Christian is being insulted, robbed, injured or persecuted in some way, he should not retaliate. What often happens is that a Pacifist will take these few statements from Christ in his Sermon on the Mount to mean that we should not use violence in any case, even in the protection of others when they are the intended victims of an attacker or in the just punishment of such attacks. However, we find in Luke 17:2 our Lord states that if someone offends a “little one” (or “leads a little one to sin” as it is stated in other gospels) it would be better for that person to have a millstone tied around their neck and to be cast into the sea. Despite these words of our Lord, some of the more extreme anarcho-pacifist Christians are even opposed to simply imprisoning criminals, let alone executing them.
C.S. Lewis pointed out that we must consider how those first century hearers of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount would have understood his words:
Does anyone suppose that Our Lord's hearers understood Him to mean that if a homicidal maniac, attempting to murder a third party, tried to knock me out of the way, I must stand aside and let him get his victim? I at any rate think it impossible they could have so understood Him. I think it equally impossible that they supposed Him to mean that the best way of bringing up a child was to let it hit its parents whenever it was in a temper, or, when it had grabbed at the jam, to give it the honey also. I think the meaning of the words was perfectly clear— “Insofar as you are simply an angry man who has been hurt, mortify your anger and do not hit back”—even, one would have assumed that insofar as you are a magistrate struck by a private Person, a parent struck by a child, a teacher by a scholar, a sane man by a lunatic, or a soldier by the public enemy, your duties may be very different, different because [there] may be then other motives than egoistic retaliation for hitting back.
—from “Why I Am Not a Pacifist” (The weight of Glory)
As is well known, Pacifists are also vehemently opposed to military service, claiming it to be contrary to Christian teaching. If serving in the military as one who occasionally must wield deadly force on behalf of the state were truly immoral, we must ask ourselves why John the Baptist didn’t say as much when he was asked by the Roman soldiers what they should do. Instead he tells them they should be content with their wages and deal honestly with others. If the Pacifist is correct, why did Christ speak so highly of the Centurion, saying, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”? If the very act of military service was a sin, would not Jesus have addressed that sin directly instead of presenting this soldier as an example of great faith?
The Pacifist's image of the meek and mild Christ is nothing more than a caricature based on elevating certain of His statements while ignoring many others. At the close of the Final Supper, Jesus has this exchange with his disciples:
And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?”
So they said, “Nothing.”
Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”
So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.”
And He said to them, “It is enough.” -Luke 22:35-38
Clearly there is a time to bear the sword and a time to put it away. There are other statements that I could mention that counter the view that Christ is purely a Pacifist, but I won’t belabor the point.
To be sure; Christ is the Prince of Peace. His ultimate mission is to bring about a Kingdom of Righteousness and Peace which will know no war and will be free of all conflict. However, this purpose is yet future, and was certainly not His intention for His First Coming. He even said as much:
“Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.” -Luke 12:51
For now, Christ makes it clear that we live in a fallen world in which war and violence is a part. Anytime Christians have to deal with such issues it must be done with sober consideration and prayer. Violent action should only be taken by a Christian insofar as Justice demands it and there is no better course available.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Christians denying Christ?
(a reposting of a piece I contributed to the Antipelagian blog in 2009)
An article published last December in USA Today entitled, “Many beliefs, many paths to heaven?” described the surprising results of a Pew Survey on Religion in America. The survey found that the majority of professed Christians in America do not believe in the exclusivity of salvation through Christ. A shocking 52% of the Christians surveyed answered that “eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior”.
Before we are quick to assume this must only affect the more liberal Christian denominations, the article breaks down the numbers even further, revealing that 34% of white evangelical Christians named at least one non-Christian faith that could lead to salvation. So, even if you attend a conservative, Bible-believing, evangelical church, you may be surprised to discover that potentially one out of every three of your fellow parishioners believes that Christ is only one way out of many.
When asked about the results of this Pew Survey, Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the findings “a theological crisis for American evangelicals.” According to Dr. Mohler, “They represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel.” This sobering assessment is in no way an understatement. If the Pew survey is to be believed, it raises serious questions about the faith of most American ‘Christians’. Can a person rightly even call themselves a Christian if they deny the explicit and transparent teachings of Jesus Christ?
Of course, Christ left little room for ambiguity in this matter:
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9a)
“He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
We also know that the doctrine of Solus Christus (by Christ Alone) was an essential element of the Gospel as preached by the apostles themselves. The Acts of the Apostles record Peter’s proclamation of this truth to the people of Jerusalem, saying, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
For one to believe that there can be salvation apart from Christ is to utterly divorce oneself from an essential teaching of the Faith. Even worse, it is to make a complete mockery of the atoning sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross and to inadvertently accuse the Lord Himself of being a common liar. There’s no doubt that many in America who call themselves ‘Christian’ really are not, and that the true and invisible Church is much smaller than the broad, but infinitely shallow, visible one. However, churches in America are also simply not doing a good enough job of discipling new converts or guiding their members into greater degrees of Christian maturity. We must remember Paul’s exhortation to “Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” (2 Timothy 2:4b)
If you know of someone in your congregation who believes that Christ is ‘option A’ for salvation, but that there is an equally effectual ‘option B’ for the man in the Temple or Mosque down the street, you should take some time and kindly show him the plain teachings of Christ on this subject. If he persists in his error, he should be made to explain how it is that he can openly deny the teachings of Christ and still rightly be called a Christian. No matter what, it is inexcusable for us to allow this problem to go unaddressed, because a Christ-denying ‘Christian’ is truly no Christian at all.
-CP
References
The Pew Survey
USA Today: Is heaven's gate wide or narrow?
USA Today: Many beliefs, many paths to heaven?
An article published last December in USA Today entitled, “Many beliefs, many paths to heaven?” described the surprising results of a Pew Survey on Religion in America. The survey found that the majority of professed Christians in America do not believe in the exclusivity of salvation through Christ. A shocking 52% of the Christians surveyed answered that “eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior”.
Before we are quick to assume this must only affect the more liberal Christian denominations, the article breaks down the numbers even further, revealing that 34% of white evangelical Christians named at least one non-Christian faith that could lead to salvation. So, even if you attend a conservative, Bible-believing, evangelical church, you may be surprised to discover that potentially one out of every three of your fellow parishioners believes that Christ is only one way out of many.
When asked about the results of this Pew Survey, Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the findings “a theological crisis for American evangelicals.” According to Dr. Mohler, “They represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel.” This sobering assessment is in no way an understatement. If the Pew survey is to be believed, it raises serious questions about the faith of most American ‘Christians’. Can a person rightly even call themselves a Christian if they deny the explicit and transparent teachings of Jesus Christ?
Of course, Christ left little room for ambiguity in this matter:
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9a)
“He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
We also know that the doctrine of Solus Christus (by Christ Alone) was an essential element of the Gospel as preached by the apostles themselves. The Acts of the Apostles record Peter’s proclamation of this truth to the people of Jerusalem, saying, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
For one to believe that there can be salvation apart from Christ is to utterly divorce oneself from an essential teaching of the Faith. Even worse, it is to make a complete mockery of the atoning sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross and to inadvertently accuse the Lord Himself of being a common liar. There’s no doubt that many in America who call themselves ‘Christian’ really are not, and that the true and invisible Church is much smaller than the broad, but infinitely shallow, visible one. However, churches in America are also simply not doing a good enough job of discipling new converts or guiding their members into greater degrees of Christian maturity. We must remember Paul’s exhortation to “Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” (2 Timothy 2:4b)
If you know of someone in your congregation who believes that Christ is ‘option A’ for salvation, but that there is an equally effectual ‘option B’ for the man in the Temple or Mosque down the street, you should take some time and kindly show him the plain teachings of Christ on this subject. If he persists in his error, he should be made to explain how it is that he can openly deny the teachings of Christ and still rightly be called a Christian. No matter what, it is inexcusable for us to allow this problem to go unaddressed, because a Christ-denying ‘Christian’ is truly no Christian at all.
-CP
References
The Pew Survey
USA Today: Is heaven's gate wide or narrow?
USA Today: Many beliefs, many paths to heaven?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Essential Viewing
To start things off I wanted to post a handful of important videos that I think everyone should see. Consider this a Christian Patriot trainer of sorts.
Let me know what you think!
5/5/20 -- Videos updated due to broken links
Let me know what you think!
5/5/20 -- Videos updated due to broken links
Friday, March 27, 2009
Introduction
First, let me thank you for taking a look at my blog. I was encouraged to create one by a friend of mine, JasonReclaimed. He's also contributing to a blog called AntiPelagian. It has some great content, so please check it out!
http://www.antipelagian.com/
My intention for this blog is to help inspire Christians in America to no longer check their faith at the Church-house doors as they leave Sunday morning service. Christ isn't some accessory to your life... He is your life.
In Matthew 5:14, the Lord calls us the "light of the world". How brightly are we shining? Our response when the world becomes darker should not be to cover our light and retreat. No, we should shine all the brighter. There is no realm of influence on this earth that should just be relinquished to Evil. This includes our government, the entertainment media, our education system, the news media (both print and television), and all other institutions of importance in our nation. Christians should work to advance Christ's Kingdom in all of these arenas, and I hope this blog can play some small role in encouraging them in doing so.
God Bless!
-CP
http://www.antipelagian.com/
My intention for this blog is to help inspire Christians in America to no longer check their faith at the Church-house doors as they leave Sunday morning service. Christ isn't some accessory to your life... He is your life.
In Matthew 5:14, the Lord calls us the "light of the world". How brightly are we shining? Our response when the world becomes darker should not be to cover our light and retreat. No, we should shine all the brighter. There is no realm of influence on this earth that should just be relinquished to Evil. This includes our government, the entertainment media, our education system, the news media (both print and television), and all other institutions of importance in our nation. Christians should work to advance Christ's Kingdom in all of these arenas, and I hope this blog can play some small role in encouraging them in doing so.
God Bless!
-CP
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