Christian Pacifism
by Donald E. Hester
on Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Ethics
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Donald E. Hester
Husband, father, and adventurer. A computer science instructor who dabbles in t
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I wrote this when I was younger and more idealistic. I am not sure where I am at this point in my life. Other than I am not as idealistic as I once was.
STATEMENT OF BELIEF OF PEACE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
PREAMBLE
I, Donald E. Hester, find it appropriate and necessary to state my convictions and moral objections to combat and physical violence. Further, I find it appropriate and necessary to state my motivation and where I base my beliefs. I do hereby announce my beliefs, for the glory of God.
ARTICLE I MOTIVATION
Section 1. My motivation, in stating my beliefs, are for the benefit of the military’s investigation.
Section 2. To state in an organized manner my beliefs on war, combat , military service, civil authority, peace, the sanctity of life, and my future action.
Section 3. As with all I do it is with the sincere intent to bring glory to Jesus Christ, and to further His Kingdom, while spreading the good news of the Gospel to all nations and people.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"
-Jesus Christ (Matt 28: 19-20 KJV)
Section 4. My pursuit of peace, which entails the sanctity of life, is compelled by God’s love for me. This love is what has prompted my love for others and prompts me to do what ever I can do, and what the Lord wills that I do to further peace. Not only to bring my walk with the Lord closer but also and foremost for my Lord. I feel the call on my life to express the love of God to all people.
“' You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
-Jesus Christ (Matt 22: 37-40 NAS)
ARTICLE II FOUNDATION
Section 1. I base my belief and practice not on Human tradition but on the living Christ and His example to us.
"For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
-1 Cor 3:11 (NAS)
Section 2. The example of Christ is found in the Bible the only plum line to truth. The Bible is God’s own words that show us Christ whom I have not physically seen, but have experienced spiritually.
"Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path."
-Psalm 119:105 (NAS)
Section 3. I also believe it is right to hear what other saints know concerning the Word of the Lord. While always testing them to the scriptures.
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
-Acts 17:11 (NIV)
ARTICLE III PEACE
Section 1. I not only feel that the pursuit of peace is a worthy cause but is also a command of God. Matt. 26:52-53, Mark 9:50. Ps. 34:14, 2 Cor 13:11, Zech. 8:16, 19; James 3:17-18. Rom. 14:19; 2 Tim 2:22; 1 Pet 3:11; 2 Cor 13:11; 1 Thes. 5:13-14; Heb 12:14; Rom. 12:18.
D"epart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it."
-David King of Israel (Ps 34:14 (KJV))
“Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. The beauty of nonviolence is that in its own way and in its own time it seeks to break the chain reaction of evil.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Section 2. I believe that those who seek Peace are blessed by the Lord Matt. 5:9. If God blesses an activity how can anyone say that we should not follow His advise to the fullest for the greatest reward. Not for the reward itself, but for the sake of the One who has called us, because He knows what is best for us.
Section 3. Nonviolence the way of a Christian. Matt. 5:5,39,44. With Jesus we will endure suffering for the Kingdom of God without violent resistance. As the Rev. Martian Luther King, Jr. once said, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline...Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
"No my friend, our principles are active obedience or passive suffering"
- William Rotch 1814
Section 4. Peace is the work of the righteous, Isa. 32:17-18. The Holy Spirit leads us into all righteousness. If we, who are called to be righteous, have no fruit, how can we say we are righteous or are lead by God?
Section 5. Peace is one of the fruits of the spirit. Gal. 5:22; No law against peace, Gal. 5:23. I believe God has no problem with anyone who seeks. God has no problem with peace because it is a part of His nature.
Section 6. Military solutions do not fundamentally bring peace.
"The Supreme Argument of unbelief: Do we really believe that Christianity will perish unless it be defended by war?"
- William Barclay
Section 7. Peace is a Divine command and a responsibility in our stewardship of what God has given us. We as stewards of this planet have not used the resources we have from the planet for the intended purpose. We have perverted the resources in order to make some rich and to neglect the needy. God gave us the ability to us the atom to further mankind and we have used it to destroy millions of noncombatant, women and children.
“The Choice today is no longer between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or non-existence.....If the church is to remain true to its mission, it must call for an end to the arms race.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Section 8. I know that peace on earth will never be achieved until the Lord returns and brings peace with Him. Even knowing this should we should never be swayed away from that holy goal.
"Only in a society in which men love each other because they love Jesus Christ can there ever be peace."
- William Barclay
ARTICLE IV THE SANCTITY OF LIFE
Section 1. I know that life is sacred and a gift of God, which no individual has the right to take away.
“One thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on the earth and goodwill toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God. And so when we say “Thou shalt not kill,” we’re really saying that human life is too sacred to be taken on the battlefields of the world.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Section 2. The Decalogue (Exodus 20), and the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5), are two of God’s specific command which encompass my view of life.
Section 3. Christ summed up the commands of the Old Testament in Matthew 22:37,39. We are command to Love our neighbors as ourselves. In 1 Cor. 13 defines Biblical love. With that definition it would be hard for someone to kill another Human or condone violence.
"Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails"
-1 Cor 13:4-8(NAS)
Section 4. We are all made by the Creator, and we are all His children. It would be morally wrong not to see the value that God has on all His creation. We are all precious in His sight. I want to see people as God sees them. This is one of the goals of the Christian life. The question then is, how does God see people? God sees everyone as worthy to die for, and He proved it.
Section 5. The ultimate value of something is the price that one is willing to pay for that object. The price that was paid for you and me was the death of God’s own Son. This is where the value of a human is, not only are we one of God’s greatest creation we were also bought at a price.
ARTICLE V WAR
Section 1. Considering the destructiveness of war and warfare and the reality that it does not and will not resolve conflict, without the shedding of blood or the loss of precious Human life, we as a humans must strive for peace. The problem lies in mans sinful nature, as long as we have it we will continue in war. The fact that we have a sinful nature and are prone to war does not mean that we should give up and support war.
“Do you know, Fontanes, what astonishes me most in this world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spirit.”
-Napoleon
Section 2. Avoidance of war best serves the interests of humanity on all levels. War only leads to more war and more death and more violence, a never ending circle of Satan’s games with us Humans.
“The present insanity of the global arms race, if continued, will lead inevitably to a conflagration so great that Auschwitz will seem like a minor rehearsal.”
-Billy Graham
Section 3. Christians hold to two views that condone war in limited fashion. One is the just war theory and the other is the Crusade. Neither of these views holds any water Biblically.
Part 1. Just War Theory: Advocates war but limits the Christian’s participation in war. One limit is that nonparticipants, of war, were not killed.
Part 2. Crusade: War with a holy cause, enforcement of peace, or the removal of other religions. One limit banned clerical participation in war.
(For more information on the positions see the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.)
"The Lord disarmed every soldier when He disarmed Peter."
- Teriullian
Section 4. Jesus seemed to accept that war was a part of the world’s system, Matt. 24:6. Christ also told us to be in the world but not to be a part of the world. No where in the Bible did Christ ever condone war or ask Christians to partake. If Christ would have condoned war He would have mentioned it. This leaves us with the only viable solution do as Christ plainly said ‘love your enemy.’
"The Paradoxical stance of the gospel is that the disciple of Jesus is called to live now by the values of a world that is yet to come."
-Pawlikowski & Senior
Section 5. I do not see war as a “Necessary Evil.” I feel that there can be no justification for evil.
"Whoever can reconcile this; resist evil, with resist evil by force; again, give also thy other cheek, with strike again; also love thine enemies, with spoil them, make pray of them, pursue them with fire and sword; or pray for those that persecute you’ with persecute them by fines, imprisonment and by death itself. Whoever can find means to reconcile those things, may be supposed to also have found a way to reconcile God with the devil, Christ, with the Anti-Christ, light with darkness, and good with evil."
-Robert Barclay 1676
Section 6. I feel so strongly against war and feel that God is just as strongly against war that I can be no part of it. If I did I would be doing something I felt was wrong.
"Christians would rather shed their own blood than stain their hands and their consciences with the blood of other people"
- Arnobius
Section 7. War is inconsistent with Biblical truth and the will of God. No where in the Bible will you find God command us to be at war with anyone other the Satan and his followers. On the other hand you will find commands of God to be at peace. We must let the Holy Spirit guide us, in order to be at peace.
"As Christians we believe that armaments and military force are inconsistent with the ways of Jesus Christ and the biblical hope of justice and peace."
- American Baptist Churches 1978
Section 8. Christ has called us to take up our cross and follow Him. Part of following is obedience to His commands. One of His most holy commands is for us to love our enemies. This command is against all we know, our flesh recoils from this command because it bids us to put away our selves and to consider the welfare of those whom have done us wrong. Only by Christ living in us will we ever be able to obey.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
-Jesus Christ (Matt 5:43-45a(NIV))
Section 9. There is an alternative to war. I believe that if someone does not have any ideas on how to better something, but only empty criticism very little will be accomplished. I know of a better way and that way is found in Christ. In 2 Chr 20:1 we see Jehoshaphat and our alternative to war. Prayer. That is where we see the power of God when we allow Him to fight our battles. If God is for us who can be against us?
ARTICLE VI MILITARY SERVICE
Section 1. The military’s goal is to make war. All levels of the military support the war making process, no level is exempt. Anyone who aids the military in any way aid in furthering it’s goal.
Section 2. I do feel that Military service and action in combat is permissible and not a sin or forbidden by the Lord, however...
Section 3. I do not feel that it is not a necessity or beneficial for Christians to partake in military service and combat situations. I feel the Lord prefers for Christians to seek peace and not take other human lives, in war or in any other situation. (From interpersonal to international).
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything."
-1 Cor 6:12 (NAS)
Section 4. God clearly states that we should not kill (Humans). Christ commands us to Love our enemies, and states that peacemakers are blessed. In many instances military necessitates the combatant to partake in actions that are against the aforementioned commands of God. In those situations, I cannot and will not partake! I accept the commands of God on the authority of the Bible.
"You shall not murder."
-Exodus 20:13(NAS)
Section 5. My goal is not to tell other Christians that they cannot partake in military actions, or that I feel the Lord commands us not to. My only goal is to encourage Christians to seek peace and strive for the glory of God. I acknowledge that other Christians feel that military service and action in combat are sanctioned in the Bible. I don’t feel that they are not Christians and I feel that this issue is in the realm of nonessentials and we have room for disagreement.
Section 6. As for the commitment that I made to the military and before God, both God and country provide a annulment to that agreement. God has provided for us an exception which is sometimes called civil disobedience. The concept is basically this: the final authority is God and if anyone asks or tells you to do something immoral you have the right to refuse and refusal would not be a sin. The United States government also has provided a means to object to military service and combat. It is called DoD directive 1300. By the rights I have from God and this country I have the right to break my oath.
"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him."
-Deut 13:4 (NAS)
Section 7. I cannot pass responsibility to anyone other than myself for my action. If it is wrong to seek peace than I stand before God and Him alone. In the same way if I follow the command of a superior officer to kill another Human and I know it is wrong and I do it anyway, I am responsible before God alone.
"According to the biblical narrative Adam sinned against God, and then said that his wife told him to eat the apple, while his wife said she was tempted by the devil. God exonerated neither Adam nor Eve, but told them that because Adam listened to the voice of his wife he would be punished, and that his wife would be punished for listening to the serpent. And neither was excused, but both were punished. Will not God say the same to you also when you kill a man and say that your captain ordered you to do it?"
- Leo Tolstoy
ARTICLE VII USE OF FORCE
Section 1. I would define force as, the measure of physical aggression taken to eliminate an enemy or actions taken to stop someone from performing an act.
Section 2. The force the police use is fundamentally different than that of the force used by the military. The motivation and goal are different. The police use force only as a last result and the main objective of police is the safety of the citizen to include the perpetrator. When police use force it is a remedial task, when the military use force it dose not correct the wrong it wrongs back until one side gives in.
"It would be quite wrong to say that force is forbidden to the Christian, but it must be used in order to cure and not to kill; it must be used personally and not indiscriminately; and it must be used in love that seeks, not obliteration of the other person, not even so much his punishment, but rather his highest good."
- William Barclay
Section 3. I refuse to use force to gain peace. I choose to trust in the power and sovereignty of God Almighty. I feel that He will cause all things to work out for good on the Eternal level.
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
-Romans 8:28(NAS)
Section 4. The New Testament witnesses to us that nonviolence and return evil with love, to return violence with nonviolence. We must follow the example of Jesus Christ, which is found in the Bible.
"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. "And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. "And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;"
-Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:39-45(NAS)
Section 5. Our whole entire goal in this life as Christians is to love others and further the Kingdom of Christ. We need to be available to God and bring the world the good news, not blow them off the face of the Earth before they can here it.
ARTICLE VIII CIVIL AUTHORITY
Section 1. As God has appointed the authorities, I believe that it is appropriate to respect and obey civil authority.
Section 2. Exception to obeying civil authority: Where as I am asked take others lives or act in a violent matter against others. I feel that when a civil power asks of it citizens, something that is against God or His commands we have the right to decline to be involved. Knowing that declining may end in death or imprisonment or ostracization. I must obey God rather than man. When we disobey man to obey God this has been termed Civil Disobedience.
Section 3. The Bible calls us to be obedient to civil authority. God uses the civil government at times for His will, and He appoints them according to His will. Rom 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13-17.
Section 4. The Bible calls us to absolute submission to God, over all. Deut. 13:4; Jer. 7:23; John 14:15.
Section 5. When these two commands come to an in pass the later must be followed for we answer to God in the final court. Examples of this in the Bible are found when Daniel prayer to God illegally. (Daniel 6). Peter preaching illegally. (Acts 5: 27-32). Paul refusing to leave His prison cell when ordered to. (Acts 16:35-40).
ARTICLE IX FUTURE ACTION
Section 1. I feel compelled to do more than just stand for peace, I feel I must actively pursue truth and peace.
"Christian tolerance does not extend to the actionless acceptance of that which is vicious and poisonous."
- William Barclay
“What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest person. That they should get away from abstraction and confront the blood-stained face history has taken on today.”
-Albert Camus
Section 2. I will do what I feel lead to by the Holy Spirit to promote peace and the sanctity of life.
"For us as children of a common Father it is time to follow His lead."
- Yearly Meeting 1942, Society of Friends
Section 3. I will refrain from actions and organizations that do not promote peace or the sanctity of life. I will do what I can to promote unity in the Body of Christ and educate those in the Body on the issues.
Section 4. This belief encompasses more than military service but to all related issues, such as abortion, capitol punishment, and euthanasia. Just as Telemachus stood against violence and the taking of human life I too shall stand for truth. Telemachus died for what he believed in, one in a long list of martyrs for peace and the value of life, though Jesus Christ.
Section 5. In the interest of maintaining unity in the body of Christ I do not force my views upon any other saint. Nor do I dispute that others in the body of Christ have a biblical view. If at such a time others in the body show me in scripture that I am wrong I reserve the right to recant this statement.
Section 6. I intend to take what may seem to be a negative refusal to partake in war into a positive witness for Christ. Showing the world there is a better way and the Love of God.
"We find security in God, not in weapons, and would point those around us to that security."
- Church of the Brethren 1980
Section 7. The Church must follow Christ in these critical times and be a light unto all nations. We must be the standard to which the rest of the world will be conformed to. If we are to remain true to Christ we must be obedient to Christ.
"There is nothing the world would like so much as a silent church."
- William Barclay
Section 8. I know that as a human I may at time not live up to the standards that I know that God has. At times I may stumble when I am filled with emotion and I pray that the Lord will strengthen me in those times that I may stand strong.
ARTICLE X CONCLUSION
Section 1. I know that we as humans will never reach peace. Not by war, not by protest, not by our human endeavor. It is by Christ that peace will be attained and life will be respected as it should be.
Section 2. I know that following Christ means that we will endure suffering for the kingdom of God and I will not resist with violence but accept the hardship. “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” Job 2:10
Section 3. I do not seek peace or to raise the value of human life by my own efforts. I do seek peace and the increasing in the value of human life by faith in Christ. Faith which says “ I cannot but He can.”
Section 4. I cannot in good conscious ask God to show me how to love and value people, and then actively engage in violence against other people or take the life of another human, or even aid in someone else’s taking of a life. A human is precious in the eyes of God. God has given me a new heart through the renewing of my mind by the Holy Spirit. A heart the wants to love, and not a heart that wants to kill, for this I am not ashamed.
Section 5. Again I want to stress that this is done because I feel moved by God and I do this to bring glory to Jesus Christ,
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
-1 Cor 10:31(NIV)
His name be praised forever more.
Signed in love,
Donald E. Hester
Written: March 1995.
Revised: September 26, 1995.
Second Revision: June 2, 1996.
I was in the car driving near Washington DC when on heard a statement on the radio that got me thinking. The statement was, 'You won't be at Peace if you are in rebellion against God.' That statement is one thing but it got me thinking does it also mean that if you don't have peace you are in rebellion against God and if you have peace you are not in rebellion against God? 
Why can't Muslims, Jews and Christians get along? For thousands of years there has been the unresolved conflict between the Arabs and the Jews. The Arab Israeli conflict defies a simple solution. Come to think of it; it defies a complex solution. The problem seems to be the control of the holy land. Now to look at this we need to get some context.