I think all Christians should be Peaceful people but capable of Implementing retributions and Justice as needed. {Note: Particular Scriptural verses or topics are not always balanced when they are written.} BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE God's actions, in relationship to killing humans. GOD= Father- {Son, Jesus} - Holy Spirit The Real God BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #1 Shows God directly and indirectly is not always passive in the shedding of human blood. From the beginning Genesis to the end Revelation. God drowns everything on earth, except Noahs ark. Gen 19:7:22 God Killed people and destroyed cities. Gen 19:12-26 God kills all the first-born of Egypt. EX 12:29 God drowned the entire Egyptian army. EX 14:27 God had 3000 religious men destroyed. EX 32:19-28 God consumed with fire an untold number of Israel. Num 16:31-32 God killed Korah and His family. Num 16:35 God killed 250 of the leading men of Israel. Num 16:35 God killed many Amorites. Josh 10:11 God killed directly killed 50,070. Men 1 Sam 6:19 God directly killed 70,000 Israelites. 2 Sam 24:15 God directly killed 185,000 Assyrians. 2 Kings19:35 God directly killed Ananias and Saphira. Acts 5:1-11 God directly killed king Herod Agrippa. Acts 12:21-23 God directly kills one-third of all mankind. Rev 9:15-17 God throws all whose names are not written in the Book of Life into the Lake of Fire. Rev 20:11-15 BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #2 Gods attitude on War and Killing revealed within the Scriptures. DR. A. E. WILDER-SMITH, Professor of medicine holding three doctorate degrees, and author or co-author of over fifty publications: ...we ought never dare to state that there is a different God in the Old Testament to the One revealed in the New, on the basis that the Old Testament reveals a God of judgment and the New Testament a God of love. Love and judgment are present in both Testaments. Man's Origin, Man's Destiny (1974), p. 179 Deut 7:2-3 2 and when the LORD your God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3 "Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. Deut 7:9-10 9 "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. Deut 7:24-26 24 "And He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you shall make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25 "The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26 "And you shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned. Deut 20:13 13 "When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. Deut 20:17 17 "But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you, Ps 5:5 5 The boastful shall not stand before Thine eyes; Thou dost hate all who do iniquity. Nahum 1:2 2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; the LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. Exod 15:3 3 "The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name. Rom 10:9 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 2 Cor 5:11 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point#3 What we have shown so far is, God is not a PACIFIST. We also see the Bible speaking using Warfare terminology. If Jesus was against Just Wars and was truly a Pacifist by Nature, I am sure He would not have used Warfare terms to express Biblical truths. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Luke 14:31 31 "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand {men} to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 1 Cor 14:8 8 For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? Luke 11:21-23 21 "When a strong {man,} fully armed, guards his own homestead, his possessions are undisturbed; 22 but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied, and distributes his plunder. 23 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters. Rom 13:12 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Eph 6:11 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. breastplate shield of faith helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit, 1 Cor 9:7 7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? Phil 2:25 25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 2 Tim 2:3 3 Suffer hardship with {me,} as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 2 Tim 2:3-4 3 Suffer hardship with {me,} as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Phile 1:2 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: 2 Cor 6:7 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, Matt 12:20 20 "A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory. 1 Cor 15:54 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory. 2 Cor 10:3 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, Rev 2:16 16 'Repent therefore; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. Rev 12:7 7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, Rev 19:10-16 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 11 And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it {is} called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 And His eyes {are} a flame of fire, and upon His head {are} many diadems; and He has a name written {upon Him} which no one knows except Himself. 13 And {He is} clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white {and} clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #4 War will not always be with us. But for now, to insure Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness, war at times is necessary. 1 Cor 13:8-10 8 Love never fails; but if {there are gifts of} prophecy, they will be done away; if {there are} tongues, they will cease; if {there is} knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. Isa 2:4 4 And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. Rev 21:1-5 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer {any} sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, 4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be {any} death; there shall no longer be {any} mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." (NAS) BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #5Yet, Jesus seems to accept war as a part of the world system {Matt 24:6}, and his followers who were soldiers were not condemned [Acts 10]. Soldiers were recognized as some of the heros of the faith {Heb :11:32} Heb 11:32-34 32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed {acts of} righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #6 Some say there is no evidence of a single Christian soldier in the Roman army from the NT times until A.D. 170. But this can easily be explained, by realizing in order to become a soldier you had to pledge allegiance to their gods. In addition, Christians were being killed for their faith, And had no Nation, of their own. By the third and forth century things changed as a result of Augustine's, Just War theory. Since then, War has been accepted by almost all Churches, till this very day. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE The book Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace, by Roland H. Bainton, pp. 95-98 spells out Augustine's theory of just war. 1. A just war must be just as to its intent, which is to restore peace. Augustine wrote the following to Boniface: "Peace should be the object of your desire. War should be waged only as a necessity and waged only that through it God may deliver men from that necessity and preserve them in peace. For peace is not to be sought in order to kindle war, but war is to be waged in order to obtain peace. Therefore even in the course of war you should cherish the spirit of a peace maker." --Augustine said every effort should be made to avoid war. 2. A just war must seek to vindicate justice. The following injustices would be motivation for war: --an attempt to destroy the state. --refusal to grant passage through the nation --failure to make amends for wrongs 3. A just war must be motivated by love. That is, the intent must be good. War is not waged because of hatred for the other side, but because love dictates that action be taken to stop evil. A just State is obligated to examine its motives. They must be pure. 4. A just war can only be waged by the duly constituted rulers. The scriptures do not allow the individual to take action, only the duly constituted authorities. 5. A just war must be conducted properly. There should be no wanton violence, profaning of temples, looting, massacres, or conflagrations. Vengeance, atrocities, and reprisals are excluded. 6. A just war must be conducted in a mournful mood. War is a serious thing, and it is undertaken with reluctance and sorrow, not glee, as if it were fun. War should not be entered with joy and singing and thanksgiving. Jer 48:10 10 "Cursed be the one who does the LORD'S work negligently, and cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #7 JESUS SAID: Matt 5:39 39 "But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matt 5:44 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE The context of these verses primarily, has to do with the attitude and actions of the Saints, towards the ones that are the enemies of God, that are Persecuting the Saints for their Faith. Theses verses are not dealing with National Security Issues, Police Actions, or National War. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point # 8 Deals with the responsibility of Christians to their Government, and the honoring of it, as a viable institution. Matt 22:21 21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." Rom 13:1-7 1 Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. 5 Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for {rulers} are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax {is due;} custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Acts 28:19 19 "But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar; not that I had any accusation against my nation. In Philippians 3:20 Paul says, "But our citizenship is in heaven." It appears Paul was aware that His citizenship was in heaven, yet He works within the Worldly system. Acts 27:23-24 23 "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24 saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.' Titus 3:1 1 Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, 1 Pet 2:13 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, Prov 8:13-15 13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate. 14 "Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. 15 "By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice. Dan 2:21 21 "And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding. John 19:11 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has {the} greater sin." Rev 1:5 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, 1 Tim 2:1-2 1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties {and} prayers, petitions {and} thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #9 Israel was to be an example of a Godly government. Old Covenant VS. New Covenant Question. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE The King James Version of the Bible erred greatly in translating this text by using the word "kill," for the Hebrew word translated "kill" in Ex. 20:13, ratsach, is translated "murder" 14 times (Nu. 35:16, 17,18,19,21,30,31; 1 Ki. 6:32; Job 24:14; Ps. 94:6; Is. 1:21; Je. 7:9; Ho. 6:9) and "slayer" 17 times. The text correctly reads "YOU SHALL NOT MURDER." Murder is a different word and meaning than to kill. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Exo 22:2 "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed;" Moreover, (3) God gave mankind permission as a lawful society, to "kill," or destroy those guilty of capital offenses. We call this today "capital punishment." We read in, Gen 9:6 (NIV) ""Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." The divinely sanction war is important to understand. For later on, God organized and engaged the entire nation of Israel into His army to kill all God's enemies that He had labeled for destruction. Make no mistake God sanctioned the killing of human life by warfare. Again we read, Josh 10:40 (NIV) "So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded." BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #10 We are all children of God, therefore Killing a fellow child of God has to be wrong. Wrong, We are not all children of God, you are eather a child of God or a child of the devil. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE I Jn 3:10 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. Rom 9:20-23 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And {He did so} in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, Acts 13:10 10 and said, "You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? John 8:44 44 "You are of {your} father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own {nature;} for he is a liar, and the father of lies. Matt 13:38 38 and the field is the world; and {as for} the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil {one;} Gal 6:3 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point #11 Jesus would never Go to War! .. Wrong! John 2:15, So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. Matthew 10:34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. If war is inherently evil, why are soldiers not told so in the NT? · He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:10 NIV) "What should we do then?" the crowd asked. (Luke 3:14 NIV) 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." · In Matthew 8 why did Christ commend the faith of a Centurion but did not call on him to abandon his profession? He told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. · Why did Paul avail himself of military protection if it is always wrong to kill? Wasn't the protection predicated upon the fact that the soldiers would kill those who might try to kill Paul? · Why is nothing said about Cornelius leaving his profession as Centurion in Acts 10? BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE Point 12 Patriotism In discussing Patriotism it is difficult because there are a multitude of possible application, so I will not deal with the obvious mis applications. Any time We place something above God it is wrong whether Patriotism, Golf, TV, Money and so on. Rom 14:1-23 1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, {but} not for {the purpose of} passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One man has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables {only.} If you eat Vegetable only you are the weaker Brother. If you eat Vegetable and Meat you are the Stronger Brother. If you worship God on one day a week you are the weaker Brother. If you worship God everyday you are the Stronger Brother. You see the ones that are limited in their Freedom are consider the weaker Brothers, and the ones that are able to live in Freedom are the Stronger Brothers. The person that can't be Patriotic is the weaker Brother where as the one that is able to be a good Christian and be Patriotic is the Stronger Brother. If in fact you see God first and Country second Rom 13, and you attempt to Honor Romans 13 as directed, and Serve your Country, that position is completely in line with our Freedom and the Scriptural examples. Some say, look at the evils in your Country, how can you Serve a country like that, and be Patriotic to it? God looks at His Church and see Evil, and still Loves and Serves it, and is faithful to it. A married Man may see evils within His wife, yet He is still commanded to Love Her. Most Parents Love their Children even when they do Evil. When People pledge allegiance to the flag, that dose not mean they do not have built in restrictions within that allegiance. Even in a Church, when one pledges allegiance to it, by way of membership, that does not mean, the commitment does not have limits. BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE BIBLE IN CONCLUSION: In Point #1, Jesus is No Pacifist, to the point He will not kill humans or direct other humans to kill humans, In War and otherwise. In Point #2, We see that The Lord Jesus has always been a warrior throughout history. In Point #3, We see God uses the opposite of Pacifistic terminology within the Scriptures. In Point #4, We see Peace will come, just not yet. In Pont #5, Jesus seems to accept war as a part of the world system. In Point #6, We see most Christians from all faiths have almost always seen War as a tragic necessity at times. In Point #7, We see, as Christians in rightly dividing the Word of God, We need to make a distinction between individual responsibility's before God and National responsibility's before God. In Point #8, Christian are responsible to their Government. In Point #9, Israel a Godly example of a Government. In Point #10, We are not all Children of God. In Point #11, Jesus came with a sword. In Point #12, Christian Patriotism can be an indication of one that is stronger in the faith. True Pacifism, is Anti Self-protection, Anti Self-defense, and Anti John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. Rom 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.