Very timely selection.
I had a professor in university that persuaded me to give up pacifism and move on from the Mennonite girlfriend. He did it in three sentences. He said:
“I would like to be a pacifist because I like the sense of moral superiority it gives me. But, my sense of justice sees too many people that absolutely deserve to have the shit beat out of them. Pacifism demands setting aside justice.”
http://faimao.blogspot.com/2006/04/why-i-am-not-pacifist-part-2-edited.html
It's a bit of a trick question since the second and third option both involve the use of force, the difference being a prudential judgment of whether one could handle the situation oneself, or needed to summon help. And of course, the third option requires a willingness to put oneself on the line.
Pacifists do not like to answer this question.
Mic 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Sometimes "doing justice" means killing people through capital punishment or going to war. That's just the way it is.
Thank you. I’ve been looking for a book such as this.
The Catholic Bible has the Books 1 & 2 of Maccabees which concerns the Maccabean Revolt.
These books are not included in the King James version.
Maccabees 3 & 4 are considered apocryphal to both.
All are Old Testament books.
There are also a lot of wars in general in the Old Testament with the Church Fathers leading the way.
“Turning the other cheek” concerns your personal spiritual growth and is not intended to be a political policy statement for Kings to follow.
In fact, in the Book of Kings, God recommends against allowing men to rule other men but says they can have that if they want.
Life in the temporal world is not life in heaven and can be quite brutal. It’s up to God to judge and forgive.
Unlike the bill of rights, the commandments are not necessarily considered equal in strength. When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus said it was the first - not having other gods.
That doesn’t mean “Thou Shalt Not Kill” is simply a misdemeanor, it’s just not as offensive as apostasy.
Life on earth was not valued as highly as it is today, which is why many didn’t mind burnings at the stake. The soul was the priority.
Paradise is lost on earth. How people respond to horrors on earth reveal their true nature and character for judgement. Whether it’s a violent storm or the behaviors of a tyrannical regime, these events, while important to us, are not necessarily important to God.
God does not exist to prevent suffering on earth. That’s up to us.
Free *.pdf download, here:
Pacifist Christians should read it to find out why they're wrong, and the rest of us Christians should read it to put a crowbar in our our spines as a stiffener. Certainly covers the OT, but there is much more in the NT beyond the Luke passage to consider. Exegetically sound.