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Here are two introductory essays on "Covenant Theology."
I think "covenant theology" is an empty, meaningless buzz-phrase which is designed to reinforce group-think and clique-ish denominationalism. It is a modern "I am of Apollos" (1 Corinthians 3:4-6,22).
The articles above claim that "covenant theology" is very, very different from "dispensational theology." The articles above stress that God made covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and a New Covenant with all Jews and Gentiles, and all those covenants are very, very important, and it is not possible to truly understand the Bible without understanding that God made different "covenants" with different people and their descendants.
Name one "dispensationalist" who denies that God made these covenants, and that these covenants are important in understanding the unfolding of the whole Bible?
"Dispensational theology" thinks these different covenants are so important that they create unique relationships between God and humanity, and these unique relationships between God and Man are called "dispensations."
The word "dispensation" occurs in the Bible, at least in the KJV. See this article for references:
But the "Covenant Theologian" says,
Oh no, I must object strenuously! The covenants God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and a New Covenant with all Jews and Gentiles are surely very important, as my Dispensationalist friend concedes, but they are not so important -- oh, no -- that we can call the period under which those covenants operated a 'dispensation!' No, never!"
This is just an argument over terms.
It would be impossible to tell whether a theologian is a "covenant theologian" or a "dispensational theologian" based only on the two articles above. Everybody acknowledges that God made different covenants.
Asking whether a writer is a "dispensational" or "covenant" theologian tells us nothing.
The "Theonomy" school of ethics ("Theonomy" comes from two Greek words, theos, "God," + nomos, "Law") markets itself as a clear contrast to "dispensational" ethics.
Here is the contrast:
There really is no practical difference between these two "hermeneutics" (rules for interpretation of the Bible). That is, practice cannot be predicted based on these labels.
The terms "dispensational" and "covenantal" make no accurate predictions. They are therefore useless. They just divide and give writers an excuse to champion their own "brand."
This article attempts to illustrate this claim by analyzing "pacifism" and "theonomic postmillennialism." We will conclude that Theonomic Anabaptists are more Biblical than "covenant theologians" who reject pacifism.
Here's the text for this morning's sermon:
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The refusal to be a pacifist is a mark of the false religions of premillennialism and statism.
"Pacifist" = works for disarmament
Pre-millennialism = saints wait for Jesus to create millennium in the future (at "the second coming")
Postmillennialism = saints work to create millennium in the present (before "the second coming")
"Millennium" = Age of Disarmament ("swords into plowshares," "learn war no more")
Postmillennialism = saints work to create disarmament in the present
Postmillennialism = saints must be pacifists
Stated a bit more prosaically:
It is God's will for human beings to live in "millennial" conditions.
One of the conditions of the "millennium" is disarmament or pacifism.
"Postmillennialists" believe it is our moral obligation to bring in the millennium.
Therefore postmillennialists should advocate complete disarmament right now.
But most postmils have a list of verses which they use to justify continued funding of "the Military-Industrial Complex."
They use these verses to criticize and postpone beating swords into plowshares.
These verses will be examined below.
First, the case for pacifism will be laid out.
Then common excuses for not being a pacifist will be debunked.
The question ("Pacifism" or "Defense?") will not be decided based on technical, seminary-level exegesis of obscure texts.
There are two groups of texts. One group of texts says "Don't kill your enemy; love your enemy." Nobody disputes the meaning of these verses.
The other texts -- entirely from the Old Testament -- are examples of people killing, or God "winking" at killing. Some of these people were commanded by God to kill. Nobody disputes that these people killed other people, and in some cases were commanded by God to kill.
As I said, nobody disputes the meaning of the first group of texts, like "love your enemy" and "do not kill," but non-pacifists claim that the second group of texts provides an exemption, excuse, or justification for not obeying the clear commands of the first group of texts.
The question is: Which group of texts govern believers today, under the New Covenant?
Does the first group of verses require you to love your enemy and beat swords into plowshares?
Or does the second group of verses excuse you from loving your enemy, and allow you to kill people?
I don't think anyone questions the meaning of verses like "Thou shalt not kill" and "Love your enemy" (the first group of verses), but most people interpret the verses in the second group in such a way that they cancel out the verses in the first group.
Some anti-pacifists will argue that the second group of texts don't just "excuse" killing; they actually command killing -- to "defend the innocent," "provide for my family," etc. A pacifist who won't kill is "idly standing by."
This is not as much a question of exegesis as it is a question of authority. It is a question of paradigms, not hermeneutics. Psychologists could spend decades asking questions using words like "archetypal," "gestalt," "depth," answering questions like:
I submit this is a deeply religious question.
America's Declaration of Independence (1776) claims that we can have "a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence," but nobody really believes that essentially-religious confession of faith.
Back in 1964, comedian Tom Lehrer sang a song called "Who's Next?" about the international quest for a nuclear "device"
Egypt's gonna get one, too
Just to use on you-know-who
So Israel's getting tense
Wants one in self defense
"The Lord's our shepherd", says the Psalm
But just in case, we better get a Bomb!
I maintain this isn't a question about military "policy." It's a question about your religion. What is your religion, really? They say there are no atheists in foxholes. Maybe so. Maybe all the atheists are in the Pentagon. And in the voting booth.
I'll put the question another way, after we review "A Prima Facie Case for Pacifism."
A Bible-Based Answer in the Affirmative
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Yes, we can.
Unfortunately, most people do not want world peace.
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You might be thinking, "Well who doesn't want world peace?"
I would say, "Just about everyone I know."
When I propose pursuing world peace, and taking obvious concrete steps in that direction, I'm often asked, "What are you, some kind of pacifist?" Or more likely "What are you, some kind of PACIFIST !?!?!
"
Like being a "pacifist" is a really silly -- or even dangerous and immoral -- thing. Something to be avoided at all costs. Like Covid. As if passively accepting perpetual war, with the loss of millions of lives and destruction of trillions of dollars in public and private property -- the destruction of civilization itself -- is better than getting too close to becoming a . . . a . . . a pacifist !
I'm an old geezer, born in the year of Sputnik, which inaugurated "The Space Race," which was part of "The Cold War." After that war became unjustifiable*, "my" government embarked on "The War on Terror." During my lifetime, thousands of people have served 28,275 terms in the House of Representatives, approximately. The House debates and approves all government spending bills. Have those legislative labors moved the world one inch closer to world peace? Or have we moved successively away from that goal? I would say peace has only been made more unlikely. During my lifetime, the U.S. government has killed, crippled, or made homeless TENS OF MILLIONS of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians around the world. The U.S. drops a bomb on someone's home or jobsite every 12 minutes on average. In the last year, "my" government has given Ukraine a hundred billion dollars to make killing and destruction easier, and peace less likely.
* By "unjustifiable," I mean "unmarketable." Americans were no longer "buying it." Does anyone still believe that the Vietnam War was justifiable? Does anyone still believe that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a good and Christian idea? Has any war in U.S. history been justifiable in retrospect? What would Jesus say? Looking forward, can a Christian have any rational basis for thinking that the next war will be morally justified on Christian grounds? Why don't we just stop "buying it?" Why don't we become the despised "pacifist?"
I'm not a prophet. I'm not "predicting" that we will have world peace in 2023.
I'm just saying that pursuing that goal in concrete ways (not just slogans and speeches and trendy avatars) is a moral obligation. If you don't take some concrete steps that increase the risk of your being called a pacifist -- or more likely, "You . . . you . . . PACIFIST you! " -- then you are less than a moral person.
And I would go even further and question whether you are actually a Christian.
My concrete plan of action is based on the Bible.
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What does it mean to beat "swords into plowshares?"
How about "Cut the Defense Budget by ten percent."
No, I don't mean "Increase the Defense Budget by ten percent less than the increase called for by the War Party."
I mean
"Actually spend fewer taxpayer dollars next year
on killing people, blowing stuff up, and making the lives of the living more harsh and traumatic
than we spent last year."
Well, of course, that's "unrealistic," "impractical," or even "utopian."
And cutting "defense" spending by 10% -- $900 Billion on killing people and blowing things up instead of $1,000 Billion (a "trillion") (which is about what we're spending this year, including "the Dept. of [Nuclear Bombs and] Energy" and the "intelligence community") -- isn't going to bring "world peace" anyway.
We are morally obligated to be "radical" in our pursuit of peace. That word "radical" comes from the same Latin word as "radish." Get to the ROOT. Don't just cover the cancer with cosmetics: dig it out completely. By the root.
I suggest that beating "swords into plowshares" means Congress defunds the military. Congress holds the purse strings. The next defense budget is ZERO.
We bring all U.S. troops home . . . but first, we send the troops door-to-door passing out a trillion Federal Reserve Notes ("dollars") to the poorest 50% of the Chinese population. I went to a "public" school (run by the government) so I can't do math, but I believe passing out next year's defense budget to the poor of China would double the annual income of 700 million human beings in China. Along with the cash, the Chinese are given a book explaining:
If American Christians simply gave a tithe rather than the current one-quarter of a tithe, there would be enough private Christian dollars to provide basic health care and education to all the poor of the earth. And we would still have an extra $60-70 billion left over for evangelism around the world.
Book Review: The Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience - Acton Institute PowerBlog
In the meantime, we'll give the Chinese poor all this valuable information on a portable MP3 player.
And why not help the poorest 50% of the people in North Korea while we're at it?
How about including the poorest 50% of the people in Muslim nations? Muslims are among the poorest of the poor in the world. Around 40% of the Muslim population languishes in abject poverty, with nearly 350 million living under $1.25 a day. [source]
Consider this letter, which the American people could have sent on September 10, 2001, the day before 9/11:
Sent to two billion Muslims one day before 9-11
| To: The Muslim World From: 290 Million Americans Re: "Terrorism" and "The War on Terror" Date: September 10, 2001 The Lord God Almighty, the God of the Bible, has given us a revelation of the future. Tomorrow, 9-11, the "Deep State" will allow a rag-tag band of "Islamic terrorists" -- who spent previous nights with prostitutes and cocaine -- to fly airplanes into the World Trade Center and other monuments of the U.S. corporate-state. The Deep State hopes that this can be used to avoid downsizing the military in light of the fall of the Soviet Union and end of the "Cold War." They hope this act of "terrorism" will be a shot-in-the-arm of the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex, by initiating a decades-long "war on terror" that will transfer trillions of dollars from the 290 million authors of this letter to the 40 million employees and contractors of the government. As followers of the executed Christ, we believe we are called to be servants, not "archists" (Mark 10:42-45). Slavery is an inescapable concept. As one of our philosophers put it, "You're gonna have to serve somebody." So we have decided to become your slaves, slaves of the Muslim world, rather than the slaves of the Deep State and Military-Industrial Complex. We are going to cut the Defense Budget to Zero. God has revealed to us that the total cost of the "War on Terror" will be $8 trillion. Since our "leaders" think we have $8 trillion lying around, we are going to send this money to every Muslim man, woman, and small child on planet earth -- approximately two billion human beings -- a check for three thousand dollars. Each. This check will be accompanied by an attractive Hallmark Card reminding you that your Islamic Caliphate has never given you a check for three thousand dollars for every person in your household. The check will also be accompanied by a small book or MP3 player which lays out the process for converting your family to Christianity, and your nation to a Christian/Capitalist economy, so that you too can be a blessing to others. Further, we, 290 million Americans, promise to get rid of government welfare and unemployment checks for Americans, and add this total to our gift to the Muslim world. We will then get this "Protestant Work Ethic" thing nailed, increase our creativity, inventiveness, job skills, and productivity by 2x or 3x, and begin exporting goods and services which will vastly increase your standard of living. (Which won't be that hard, seeing as how the standard of living in the Muslim world is so much lower than that of the Christian-Capitalist west. [Except for your Sheiks and Princes, who live in opulence while you eat dirt.]) These goods and services will be of the highest quality and lowest prices. You're going to love your new Made-in-America life. We are no longer going to be ersatz-Christian deists. We are going to put our faith in the "Invisible Hand" of "Divine Providence." We are no longer going to fall for the empty promises of "democratic socialism." We are embracing 100% pure Laissez-Faire Capitalism, or "anarcho-capitalism." The Bible says that if we become a Christian Theocracy, and obey God's commandments, God will protect and bless us:
We believe in the active God of the Bible, not the deist god of "civil religion." We are confident that God will change your hearts so you will not be motivated to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Sincerely, 290 million Hard-working Christian Americans. |
Some will say pacifism is reckless, dangerous, even un-Christian.
They would say that what I propose will lead to America being invaded, conquered, and enslaved.
Maybe that's because they don't believe what the Bible says:
When a man's ways please the LORD,
He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Proverbs 16:7
If transferring the Swords Budget into the Plowshares Budget for the poor
results in Americans being enslaved, then I would say we deserve it.
And the longer we put off repentance, the more problematic our inevitable enslavement-judgment will be.
We might as well get it over with. Then our children and grandchildren can enjoy world peace.
The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas:
And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And peace on earth
among men in whom He is well pleased.
Nobody really believes in Christmas.
I would like to address some of the objections to this plan.
I would also like to support my plan with the Biblical endorsement of pacifism.
This will take a while, obviously. I want you to read zillions of Bible verses on peace, and re-examine a tiny handful of verses which have been used to justify repudiating peace ("PACIFISM!!").
This means not only looking at the question of "National Defense," but also personal defense on an individual level.
And most of all, it means looking at a lot of Bible verses.
I believe you and I were both victims of educational malpractice, both in government-operated or approved schools, and even in our churches and Sunday schools. I'm going to need a few hours of your time in order to compete with 13 (K-12), 17 (college), or 20 or more (post-grad) years of secular pessimillennial indoctrination by church and state. I'm going to have to ask you to read hundreds of Bible verses in combinations you may have never encountered, and force you to ask some questions you've never asked. But that can't be a bad thing, can it?
Here are three verses to show that subjecting a new theory to Biblical analysis is a good thing:
First consider Acts 17:10-12
Now these [The Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind,
searching the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
The Bereans appeared to be like modern libertarians, with their bumper-sticker that says "QUESTION AUTHORITY." The Apostles gave them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but the Bereans didn't just take the Apostles' word for it. The Bereans checked what they were told against a higher authority, the Scripture. The Bereans are more dogmatic authoritarians than those who mindlessly accept the word of clergy or creeds.
Additionally, the Bereans studied the Bible "daily." The verses on that link show that daily engagement with the Bible is an imperative.
Next, Proverbs 18:17
The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him.
I think certain doctrines seem right to you, largely because you've been taught these doctrines your entire life. I want you to examine those doctrines. Similarly, I think I've got a case, and I would be grateful if you could expose the errors in my thinking.
This attitude makes one a better Christian, as seen in our third text:
Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
Proverbs 27:17
My goal in this article is to be your "friend." I hope you'll be my friend as well, and challenge my thinking in a loving way.
I think we can benefit from opinions which are contrary to our own. They force us to think.
I am not against "authorities" or "experts." I rely on them and quote them. An "expert" can be your friend and sharpen you, but you might have to pay the expert ("mentor," "professor" "seminary"). This article is free. May you be sharpened. May we be friends.
Reading God's Word is powerful for you, and is also the power to change the world, because it is more powerful than swords and guns. Everybody wants "the bad guys" -- "enemies" -- to change their behavior. The Statist trusts in the State to prevent immoral action by the enemy. Christian pacifists trust in the power of God's Word. Pacifism depends on God's Grace to regenerate billions of human beings. God's Word is "the Sword of the Lord" that accomplishes this task. It is what I'm relying on to change your mind as well:
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Ephesians 6:17
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
Isaiah 11:4
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Isaiah 49:2
2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.
Hosea 6:5
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And your judgments are like light that goes forth.
2 Thessalonians 2:8
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Revelation 1:16
16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
Revelation 2:16
16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Revelation 19:15
15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Revelation 19:21
21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Proverbs 16:7
When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
It is our duty to speak this Word:
- Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:- How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!
Some people, at some times, would rather pull a trigger than speak the Word.
Parenthetically, that word "preacher" above does not mean someone wearing a black robe standing behind a pulpit. It can mean someone like you or me. That same Greek word is found here:
Romans 2:21
you, then, who teach others, will you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
There is power when we speak the truth. That's what I'm getting at with all those verses above. And reading the truth is also powerful.
If you've ever been in the military or killed anyone, you might be offended at this defense of pacifism.
I'm not intending to offend you. I'm certainly not trying to offend you needlessly.
And ironically, you're not really my target. We all fall short. And you were "just following orders."
There are two groups of people who are more likely to be more offended than the soldier who was "just following orders."
My real target is the order-givers in the Pentagon and the order-justifiers in the pulpit.
There are many who were never soldiers, and were never preachers, who will be offended that I'm attacking these "revered institutions."
Defining Terms
Pacifism: "the belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances, and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means." Oxford Languages | Google"Pacifism" is usually thought of in two respects: personal disarmament (vs. "self-defense") and national pacifism (vs. "national defense").
WAR: "an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality.... Total war is warfare that is not restricted to purely legitimate military targets, and can result in massive civilian or other non-combatant suffering and casualties." Wikipedia
One objection to pacifism is that it logically leads to the abolition of "the State" entirely. Pacifists oppose violence, and every professor of Political Science in every university on planet earth will agree that "the State" is "a monopoly of violence." So the intellectually consistent pacifist is an "anarchist."
"Everybody knows" that Jesus commands Christians to be pacifists, but "everybody" also knows that "anarchy" is a bad thing, so "everybody" is stuck in a state of cognitive dissonance.
Conservative Bible-believing Christians think of an "anarchist" as a bomb-throwing assassin, who leads society into chaos and lawlessness. As a pacifist, I'm against bombs, assassinations, chaos and lawlessness. But I'm an "anarchist" in the technical, etymological, and Biblical sense of the word.
The word "anarchist" means "not an archist."
So what's an "archist?"
In Mark 10:42-45, we read this:
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But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." |
The Greek word translated "rulers" is the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist."
"Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists."
An "archist" is someone who believes he has the right to impose his own will on others by force or threats of violence. But more than mere belief, the "archist" has the power (or "authority," he claims) to make his wishes a reality, and actively uses violence to accomplish his goals. An "archist" rules rather than serves. An "archist" governs rather than serves.
The word for "Gentiles" is often translated "nations." When Jesus speaks of the "rulers [archists] over the Gentiles" He's speaking about "the kings of the nations" around Israel (see 1 Samuel 8:5,20), from Pharaoh to Moloch ("king") to Caesar.
Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." We are to be "servants" instead.
We are to be "pacifists." A pacifist is opposed to all violence, and therefore opposed to "the monopoly of violence" which is "the State." The consistent pacifist is therefore an "anarchist."
"Not" + "archist" = "anarchist."
Seems clear enough, but we've all been trained (in schools operated or accredited by archists) to believe there must be another side of the story. Christians can't be against "civil government."
Of course, archists want us to believe that without them, "society would collapse into anarchy!" i.e., chaos and lawlessness. But nobody creates more chaos and lawlessness than those who disregard the command of Jesus to be "servants." Nothing says "chaos and lawlessness" better than "war." War is the ultimate power of archists.
Anti-archists who are also anti-chaos and anti-lawlessness often call themselves "anarcho-capitalists."
Summary and Preview:
Rushdoony spoke of "the Law-Word" of God. Every verse in the Bible is Law, because every verse comes from the mouth of God, who is our Lord and Sovereign. Everything God says must be treated as authoritative and is to be reverenced in thought and action. The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 14, says of "Saving Faith,"
2. By this faith a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God himself speaking therein; and acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth; yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come.
Whether "obeying," "trembling," or "embracing," God's Word demands a response from us. Even poetry and boring historical accounts. It's all Law.
Here are examples from the Westminster Standards of how verses which do not have a strictly "imperative" form are nevertheless treated as Law:
So let's explore how prophecy can function as law.
If God appears to you and says "Here's a prophecy: Next year you will quit your job and become a missionary, and become immensely blessed," what are you going to do? Are you going to stay on your job and not become a missionary? Of course not. When God says something good will happen to you, you have a duty to pursue that good thing. Not just because you want the prophecy to come true and God's Word to be vindicated, but because God has told you what His will is, and you want to do His will -- if you have "saving faith."
If God predicts an age in which obedience will result in disarmament, then disarmament is a moral obligation.
God predicts abundant crops will be a blessing of obedience. Therefore intentionally destroying crops is a sin. (Confirmed: Proverbs 11:26; see Westminster Larger Catechism under Q142, sins forbidden in the eighth commandment, "ingrossing commodities to enhance the price"; although an advocate of the Dietary Laws might find some consolation in the destruction of 6 million pigs by FDR during the New Deal).
God predicts peace is a blessing of obedience. God predicts war is a curse of disobedience. Therefore war is a sin; peace is to be pursued.
Of course we should know this on other Biblical grounds, but we should know it solely by reading Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy and similar prophecies. Postmillennialists must be pacifists. We should be working aggressively for disarmament.
If not now, when? If not by fulfilling our Great Commission, how? By a spectacular "second coming" of Christ and earthly throne?
We teach the world that God demands immediate repentance and an instant end to theft, adultery, abortion and child molestation, without a "transition period." Why do we not teach the world that God demands an immediate end to war and the Military-Industrial Complex (even though we recognize that in history, repentance, reformation, and reconstruction will not likely be instantaneous)?
In past centuries, eschatology has traditionally discussed three outlooks:
The "pre" and "post" speak of the relationship between the time of maximum blessing ("millennium") and the "second coming" of Christ.
In considering the "Swords into Plowshares" disarmament prophecy, the first question is, "How does this prophecy get fulfilled?" Or phrased differently, "When will this prophecy be fulfilled?"
So Postmillennialists must be advocates of disarmament in our day, or "pacifists."
More discussion of eschatology is found below. You might find that discussion valuable if you are unfamiliar with the three eschatological outlooks.
So let's apply this concept of "Law-Word" to prophecy, and specifically to prophecies that might relate to "National Defense."
Isaiah and Micah both speak of a day when we beat our "swords into plowshares." Micah's prophecy (chapter 4) is slightly more elaborate than Isaiah's (chapter 2) by adding that everyone will dwell peacefully under his Vine & Fig Tree.
I believe we have a moral, Theonomic, Biblical Law-based obligation to bring this prophecy to fulfillment. What does that look like in history? How do we obey this prophecy? How do we obey this Law-Word?
I would like to argue that these verses command us to abolish "national defense." Today. All at once.
Not that this will actually happen as history unfolds, but that's our moral obligation, and that's the standard that we should hold forth to the nations. Every nation has a moral obligation to abolish their armed forces and reduce their defense budget to Zero. The most "Christian" of the nations should be the first to disarm, to set an example for the weaker, less-Christian nations.
But if it's God's will for the nations to beat their swords into plowshares, how does that happen if we do not agree that we have a Theonomic moral obligation to make it happen?
Most postmils are "masculine" and dislike pacifism. They kinda like war. They're very reluctant to "beat swords into plowshares." Their own government will certainly not be the first to do so. Postmils always vote for politicians who believe in "peace through strength"; never for anyone who would slash the defense budget.
So how is the millennium supposed to happen? Presently, under the influence of conservative Christians, the nations which are the most Christian -- like us, of course -- fearing an invasion by the least Christian nations -- the "bad guys," the Chinese, or the Rooskies -- refuse to bring the prophecy to fulfillment. The most Christian nations wait for the least obedient nations to take the lead, obey Micah, follow Christ, beat their swords into plowshares, and then, and only then, the "obedient," "more Christian" nations will follow the leaders. That's clearly nuts.
Postmillennialists have a "Great Commission" to "disciple the nations." Micah and Isaiah would say that means exhorting them to beat their "swords into plowshares." How can you disciple someone when you're not doing what you say they ought to do?
What disarmament policies are Christian Reconstructionist think-tanks drafting that can be voted into law by legislators? Where is a Christian Reconstructionist Disarmament movement? Who will beat the first sword into a plowshare? (Don't hold your breath.)
We haven't seen a disarmament movement since the 1960's, and they were just rebelling against "authority." "Anti-war" protesters were pawns of the Communist Party. Their children protest wars led by Republicans, but are silent when Democrats wage war. "The Anti-War Movement" is unprincipled.
When the State brings a case against a defendant, the State must present a "prima facie" case (from the Latin, "first face," or at first appearance). The State must present the essential elements required for a conviction. If a prima facie case is not presented, the defense does not even have to present any arguments; the defense simply moves for "summary judgment" and the trial is over. If a prima facie case is presented by the prosecution, the defense must rebut it, or the defendant is convicted.
I think I have already presented a "prima facie" case for pacifism: The prophets predict (1) Theonomic obedience and (2) disarmament. If disarmament were a violation of Biblical Law, the prophets would not predict disarmament as being a part of a Theonomic "millennium."
As I said above, "everybody knows" that Jesus commands pacifism:
It is impossible to love your enemy if you are intentionally killing your enemy or bombing "his" people "back to the stone age."
I don't think any fair judge would grant a motion for "summary judgment" in light of that case for pacifism. The proponent of war and national defense needs to produce a verse or series of verses to which any human being on planet earth in the 21st century can point to and say, "This verse gives me the right to become designated a 'civil magistrate,' levy taxes on people (confiscating their hard-earned wealth under threats of violence), buy weapons of mass destruction, and take lethal vengeance on my enemies, with assurance that God will not hold me guilty of any sin for doing so."
I haven't seen that case, although I used to believe it existed. All the best Bible teachers I grew up with paid lip-service to peace, but in the end, there were always excuses for not taking Jesus too seriously and embracing pacifism. "Thou shalt not kill" and "Love your enemy" are clear as day; other verses must be tortured to negate the pro-pacifist verses.
In a NutshellThere isn't a single human being on planet earth today that you have the duty or right to kill. You don't have the right to kill anyone. |
Being a pacifist is not easy. Loving an enemy is not easy. It's much easier to just kill your enemy. Thoughtlessly. Impersonally.
Pacifists believe "bringing in the Kingdom" will require an "agonizing" effort. Pacifists are willing to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Let's begin the case for pacifism with a short essay by R.J. Rushdoony:
Christianity: Religion of Peace
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Rushdoony does not advocate "pacifism" or "anarchism." Rushdoony was born in 1916, in the midst of World War I, the year "anarchist" (but non-pacifist) Emma Goldman was arrested, ahead of the "Espionage Act" that criminalized opposition to Woodrow Wilson's World War. Rushdoony always believed that "anarchists" were bomb-throwing assassins, and "pacifists" were socially-irrelevant pietists. He was a product of his times. Embracing the terms "anarchist" and "pacifist" was too great a "paradigm shift," even though his writings led strongly in that direction.
But Rushdoony is correct when he says "The Vine & Fig Tree imagery are thus essential to scripture." The imagery pervades Scripture, but few people are talking about it. One reason few people talk about the Vine & Fig Tree imagery is that eschatological: premillennarians don't know how to incorporate Micah's prophecy in their "prophecy charts." Are we morally obligated to beat our swords into plowshares today, or do we wait for the Second Coming? The other reason is political: don't we need "the sword" to ensure "national security?" "Pacifism" seems to undermine concerns for "national security." We've all been trained (in schools run by archists) to believe that without "the sword," that is, without The State, society would collapse into chaos and lawlessness -- the opposite of a peaceful society. Rushdoony too often halted between an anarcho-pacifist Bible and pro-State "conservatism."
If we are morally required to eradicate "the sword" from our lives, that would result in a Vine & Fig Tree society, which is a stateless economy based on cooperation, forgiveness, peace, and the absence of vengeance.
Peace is God's promise to make His people "lie down in safety." "Peace" in the Bible is not just some kind of "inner peace," but is most often a political promise of social peace. It is a promise to keep us free from socialism, fascism, and militarism of all stripes.
Too many people, however, long for socialism and fascism, believing the promises of socialist propaganda.
Rushdoony correctly warns against "statist peace." "Statism" is trusting in the armed power of Autonomous Man rather than God. The vast majority of today's postmillennialists are still infected with Greco-Roman statism (state-worship). As were the Reformers. This is why there is no strong "disarmament movement" among Christian Reconstructionists.
How do self-professed postmillennialists think we're going to get to the disarmed world of Vine & Fig Tree?"Peace through strength" = "Peace through Statism" = statist mythology
As we will see, "National Defense" is a false religion. It substitutes "Second Amendment Man" for God.
Complete freedom from statism is "anarcho-capitalism."
The case for "pacifism" is the case for "anarcho-capitalism." The intellectually-consistent pacifist believes in 100% pure laissez-faire capitalism and 0% socialism/fascism/Keynesianism. We've been trained by archists to be wary of both "pacifism" and "anarchism," but the Bible advocates both.
This is a long section. We are victims of educational malpractice. We need to read lots of Bible verses. Here are links to the case for pacifism on this page:
As you read through these Bible verses, please keep this question in mind:
| Why do some people place the priority on verses which seem to say we should disarm and love our enemies, and other people place the priority on verses which they say teach that we should kill our enemies? |
I think this is the BIG question. In some ways it's more a question about psychology (why people think the way they do) than exegesis (what the Bible says).
The question is not just for individuals, but for entire nations. Why would an entire society think it natural and appropriate to honor soldiers but scorn those who advocate disarmament?
Before you read (or survey) the hundreds of pro-pacifism verses which follow, consider again some reasons for challenging yourself to read all these verses. The power of this article is in the verses, not in fancy logic or appeals to emotion.
The word "pacifism" comes from the Latin word for "peace" -- pax (genitive pacis). It does not come from the word "passive." Indeed, Biblical pacifists are active in overcoming violence, but they overcome evil with good (Romans 12:14-21). The pacifist believes that killing is evil. The pacifist is active in preventing killing, but when push comes to shove, it is better to be killed than to kill. This was the example and teaching of Jesus.
Once again, "everybody knows" that Jesus commanded His disciples to be "pacifists." He commands us to
It is impossible to obey the command of Jesus to love your enemy if you are intentionally killing your enemy or bombing "his" people "back to the stone age."
People who want to be respected by Presidents, Generals, Political Science Professors, and Defense Industry CEOs don't want to take Jesus seriously. They claim Jesus was only talking about our "personal" or "spiritual" side, but His commandments are not to be followed by those who are in positions of public responsibility. As a result of mass indoctrination, millions of Americans have participated in actions by the government of the United States to kill, cripple, or make homeless TENS of MILLIONS of innocent non-combatant civilians around the world since I was born. Millions more before that. Jesus would not have approved. The prophets of the Old Testament would say that "The United States" is the modern parallel to Babylon or Assyria of old. Micah and Isaiah would say the U.S. is the enemy of God and humanity. I would not have said that when I was younger. Now it seems overwhelmingly true to me. I'm astonished I never saw it before. I can't believe I accepted so easily all the slogans and bumper-stickers that embraced violence as "practical" and "realistic" and cast Jesus into the socially-irrelevant "upper story."
Believing that "a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4), I don't care if I'm respected by the military-industrial-congressional complex (as Dwight Eisenhower at one point called it), I seek maximum conformity to God's Law.
What are the necessary conditions for us to beat "swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:1-5)?
First is a realization: I must love my enemy. I cannot kill my enemy. I must leave vengeance to God. I cannot hire a Mafia "hit-man" to take vengeance for me. I cannot "vote" for a "candidate" who promises to kill all my enemies.
Second, others must join me. At least a plurality -- if not a majority -- of voters would have to become pacifist/anarchists to vote all the politicians and generals out of office. In short, abolish all socialism, fascism, and militarism. Even shorter, abolish the State. They would most likely come to this point as a result of conversion to Christian pacifism -- not by becoming atheists, criminals, and meth-heads. The typical cartoon "anarchist" character is a caped, bearded, bomb-throwing assassin. The Theonomic anarchist is a pacifist who takes personal responsibility to become the servant of others. In America, we would need 200 million church-going Christians to repudiate their support for the Military-Industrial Complex and stop their cheerleading for war.
"But if we beat swords into plowshares, evil will take over!" If we have a transformation of popular thinking sufficient to adopt "Theocracy" and vote out all the politicians and their generals, who is going to sign up to help "evil take over?" If Germans had been Christian pacifists, who would have gone door-to-door rounding up Jews? Who would have run the trains that took the Jews to the concentration camps? Who would have run the concentration camps? Hitler could not have done it all himself. He needed "sensible," "practical," "realistic" Lutherans who didn't buy into all this "Christian pacifist" nonsense. Hitler needed Christians who limited Jesus to the "upper story" -- their "personal," "non-public" lives. Without "government," war is impossible. If the people who work at Apple and WalMart vote to abolish Hitler, Apple and WalMart will not go to war. "Warlords" will not "take over."
When God says "Thou shalt not kill," it is clear that God abhors killing. Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Most Christians know the Biblical answer. Or think they do. Why did God destroy the world at the time of Noah? The Bible says it was because "great men" were committing "violence" (Genesis 6). Who does most of the killing in the world? "The State" -- rich and powerful people -- through war and capital punishment (or other "police actions," like those in Korea and Vietnam). Very few people are killed in "self-defense," and most of those killings are by non-pacifist private citizens who are imitators of state action. "If the government can do it, so can I." They graduated from government-run "public" schools.
I used to believe in "just wars," but I think my views are more Biblical now. Here is how I became a pacifist. The verses quoted in that deposition constitute a "prima facie case" for pacifism.
Let's begin our survey of Biblical pacifism verses with Micah's peaceful Vine & Fig Tree Imagery:
Our favorite Vine & Fig Tree passage:
| Micah 4:1-7
1 But it shall come to pass, |
This was the most popular Bible verse in America, back when Americans were raised in Bible-centered schools.
But America's Founders didn't get the vision 100% correct. They believed the could obtain the the Vine & Fig Tree society without beating swords into plowshares.
Page Smith was a historian, winner of the prestigious Bancroft Prize in history. In his book Religious Origins of the American Revolution (Scholars Press, 1976), Smith says the passage in the book of Micah about every man under his vine and under his fig tree was
the most potent expression of the colonists determination to be independent whatever the cost, having substantial control over his own affairs. No theme was more constantly reiterated by writers and speakers in the era of the Revolution.
The American Revolution might thus be said to have started, in a sense, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg. It received a substantial part of its theological and philosophical underpinnings from John Calvins Institutes Of The Christian Religion and much of its social history from the Puritan Revolution of 1640-1660, and, perhaps, less obviously, from the Glorious Revolution of 1689.
Put another way, the American Revolution is inconceivable in the absence of that context of ideas which have constituted radical Christianity. The leaders of the Revolution in every colony were imbued with the precepts of the Reformed faith.
The Westminster Standards are the highest expression of "the Reformed Faith." Indeed, Smith adds, in early America, the Reformation
left its mark on every aspect of the personal and social life of the faithful. In the family, in education, in business activity, in work, in community and, ultimately, in politics, the consequences of the Reformation were determinative for American history.
As remote or repugnant as Puritanism may be to some, Smith says it is essential that we understand that the Reformation in its full power was one of the great emancipations of history.
America became the most prosperous and admired nation in history because it was a Calvinist Theocracy. You were trained by your government-approved teachers to be offended and appalled at that claim. And it is unfortunate that Calvin and his progeny were not consistent Christian Theocrats. They tried to combine "Jerusalem and Athens." Instead of a pure "Theocracy," which literally means "God governs," they wanted clergymen -- or the clergy's choice -- to govern.
George Washington's diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. The LOC.GOV website introduces Washington's writings with these words:
No theme appears more frequently in the writings of Washington than his love for his land. The diaries are a monument to that concern. In his letters he referred often, as an expression of this devotion and its resulting contentment, to an Old Testament passage. After the Revolution, when he had returned to Mount Vernon, he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette on Feb. 1, 1784:
This phrase occurs at least 11 times in Washington's letters.
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| The phrase occurs a number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means |
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| When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation," they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife. |
The Bible is replete with this theme.
Notice in the following verses, social/political/military peace is promised. This is part of the Biblical doctrine of "salvation": freedom from archists. No fear of archists and the sword they bear. ("Archist" defined)
Micah 4:4
But they shall sit every man under
his vine and under his fig tree;
and none shall make them afraid:
for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
Notice that in some of the verses above, living "safely" but without true faith is a prelude to judgment. God executes His judgment through archists.
Rushdoony said
If you were to go through scripture and collect the passages that deal with peace, you would find it surprising how many such passages there are. Very clearly, peace is a central purpose of God's plan for man and the earth. Peace as scripture describes it is first and foremost peace with God. Then when man is at peace with God, there is peace between man and man, and man and nature.
Thus the doctrine of peace is a very important one in law, because it is first of all important in terms of the doctrine of salvation. The vine and the fig tree imagery are thus essential to scripture. They are God-centered doctrines, God-centered symbols, setting forth the peace, the salvation, the fulfillment of man in prosperity, in joy, and in well-being. In God through Christ.
More of those verses are found below.
What are the verses that justify "national defense?" Before you submit a verse, consider this question:
What are the verses to which any human being on planet earth in the 21st century can point to and say, "This verse gives me the right to become designated a 'civil magistrate,' levy taxes on people (confiscating their hard-earned wealth under threats of violence), buy weapons of mass destruction, and take lethal vengeance on my enemies, with assurance that God will not hold me guilty of any sin for doing so."
Micah 4:3
And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:4
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 11:6-9
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Psalms 46:9
He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Hosea 2:18
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
Zechariah 9:10
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 60:17-18
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
Psalms 72:3-7
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
Psalms 20:7
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
Psalms 33:16-17
There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
Psalm 68:17
The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.
Psalm 76:6
At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
Psalm 118:9
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
Psalm 146:3
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Isaiah 31:1
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and
trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
Isaiah 36:9
How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my masters servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Isaiah 37:24
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
Isaiah 43:17
which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
Isaiah
66:15
For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
The following verses are not as powerful and direct as the verses above. They are "reinforcing" verses. They are "reminders." When you read these verses, they "subliminally" affect your thinking.
Before reading the verses, please read these comments on Biblical "symbols" by David Chilton: Paradise: The Pattern for Prophecy. From the Book Paradise Restored. Table of Contents.
Numbers 20:5
And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
Deuteronomy 8:8
A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
Judges 9:12-13
{12} Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. {13} And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
1 Kings 4:25
And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
Nehemiah 9:25
And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
Psalm 105:33
He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.
Song of Solomon 2:13
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Isaiah 34:4
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
Isaiah 36:16
Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
Jeremiah 5:17
And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
Jeremiah 8:13
I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
Hosea 2:12
And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
Joel 1:7
He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
Joel 1:12
The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
Joel 2:22
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
Amos 4:9
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Micah 4:4
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
Habakkuk 3:17
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Haggai 2:19
Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
Zechariah 3:10
In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
Luke 13:6-7
He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. {7} Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
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The Bible is a pacifist manifesto. Those who defend war take a few verses out of their theological context and ignore the rest of the Bible.
Thou shalt not kill
The Hebrew word translated "Kill" is not limited to "murder" -- a very common mistake. See, e.g., Deuteronomy 4:42. Granted, God required Israel to kill Canaanites. Does God require anyone in our day to do the same?
Matthew 5
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
38 You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
43 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Luke 6
27 But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
37 Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
The Sovereignty of God - Providence
God orchestrates the actions of every human being on the planet.
Proverbs 16:7
Proverbs 21:1
When a man's ways please the LORD, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
The kings heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.Psalm 46:9
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.Psalm 76:6
At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.
Deuteronomy 20:1
When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. (See more on Deuteronomy 20.)Leviticus 26:6
I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid;Micah 4:3-4
3 they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,Jeremiah 30:10
10 Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.Hosea 2:18
18 And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.Zephaniah 3:13
13 those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice
and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.More verses: "none to make them afraid"
More verses: "dwell safely"
1 Samuel 8:11-13
11 And he said, This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.Isaiah 31:1 Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!
Matthew 10.28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Fathers will. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Romans 8.37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.Colossians 1.16 for in him [the son] all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powersall things have been created through him and for him.
Hebrews 1.2-3 In these last days [God] has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,Luke 12:22 And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on.
Too many people -- myself included -- imagine themselves changing the world with their blog posts or comments on Twitter and Facebook. We're happy to have thousands of Americans go to war and millions of people to be killed because we deserve low oil prices. It would never occur to us to give up our flat screen TV in order to disciple a home-invader. Our lives must not be disrupted. God is not calling us to poverty in the cause of the Gospel. We deserve "personal peace and affluence." We are not called to be pacifists. We are special. We're not like those pagan invaders.
Luke 6:37 "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
Luke 6:42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbors eye.
Overcoming Evil
1 Peter 3.8 Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind. :9 Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Romans 12.17-21 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 20 No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good .
1Thessalonians 5:15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
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THE ROOTS OF WAR
James 4
4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.Galatians 5.19-23 Now the works of the flesh are clear, which are these: evil desire, unclean things, wrong use of the senses, 20 Worship of images, use of strange powers, hates, fighting, desire for what another has, angry feelings, attempts to get the better of others, divisions, false teachings, 21 Envy, uncontrolled drinking and feasting, and such things: of which I give you word clearly, even as I did in the past, that they who do such things will have no part in the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, 23 Gentle behavior, control over desires: against such there is no law.
Matthew 6.24 You cannot serve God and mammon.
Luke 4.5 Then the devil led Jesus up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."
THE WAY OF PEACE
Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good-will.
John 14.27. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.
Matthew 5.9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.
James 3.18. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace.
Romans 10.15. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 6.14 f. Stand therefore . . . having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 4.1-3 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith you were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Hebrews 12.14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord.
Romans 16.20. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
2 Corinthians 13.11 Finally, brethren . . . be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Philippians 4.7 The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus..
THE VICTORY of SELFLESSNESS
Matthew 11:29. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Philippians 2:5 10. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
Matthew 5:3, 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:25-28. You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Matthew 23.12 Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
1 Peter 5:5 -6. God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
THE COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Galatians 5.14 The whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Romans 13.10, 8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments ... are summed up in this word, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Matthew 5.44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
John 13:34 f. A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples.
1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
I Corinthians 13.4 f. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ... bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
1 Thessalonians 3.12. The Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men.
1 Peter 1:22. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently.
1 Peter 4.8. Above all things be fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covers a multitude of sins.
THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS
Luke 23:34. Jesus said, 'Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.'
Mark 11.25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Luke 17.3 f. If your brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he sin against you seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to you saying, I repent; you shall forgive him.
Colossians 3.12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Ephesians 4:31f. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.
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CHRIST S WAY OF MEETING EVIL
1 Peter 2.21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly.
Matthew 26.47 And while [Jesus] was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a band armed with swords and sticks, from the chief priests and those in authority over the people. 48 Now the false one had given them a sign saying, The one to whom I give a kiss, that is he: take him. 49 And straight away he came to Jesus and said, Master! and gave him a kiss. 50 And Jesus said to him, Friend, do that for which you have come. Then they came and put hands on Jesus, and took him. 51 And one of those who were with Jesus put out his hand, and took out his sword and gave the servant of the high priest a blow, cutting off his ear. 52 Then says Jesus to him, Put up your sword again into its place: for all those who take the sword will come to death by the sword. 53 Does it not seem possible to you that if I make request to my Father he will even now send me an army of angels? (BBE)
John 18.36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (KJV)
John 12:47. I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
Luke 9:54 f. When his disciples saw this, they said, Lord, would you that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them? But He turned and rebuked them.
1 Corinthians 4:12. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we intreat.
James 4:12. One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who are you that judge your neighbor?
Matthew 7:12 In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.Luke 6:27 f. Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.
Matthew 5.39. Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smites you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
I Corinthians 6:7. Why not rather take wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?
2 Timothy 2:24. The Lord s servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all forbearing in meekness, correcting them that oppose themselves.
Romans 12:14 f. Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. . . . Render to no man evil for evil.... If you can, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with all the world... Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." But if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
1 Thessalonians 5.15 . See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all.
1 Peter 3:8 f. Finally, be you all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, : humble minded not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were you called, that you should inherit a blessing.
THE WAY OF THE CROSS
Romans 5:8. God commends his own love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Hebrews 12 :2. Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame.
1 Peter 4.1. Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm you yourselves also with the same mind.
2 Corinthians 4:8 10. We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
Matthew 16:24 If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me....
Hebrews 13.12f. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
Romans 5.8,10 8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.... 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life;
and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Colossians 1:19 f. It was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
Ephesians 2:14 17. He is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity . . . that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh.
2 Corinthians 5:18 f. All things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave .unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
THE FAMILY OF NATIONS
We're Americans.
Our nation deserves "national security."
Those other nations do not.Ephesians 3.15 I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
Ephesians 4:25. Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak you truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
1 Corinthians 12:13. In one spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Romans 10:12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him.
Galatians 3:28. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male or female: for you are all one man in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 3.11 There cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
THE MORAL EQUIVALENT OF WAR
1 Timothy 6.12. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on the life eternal.
1 John 5.4 This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strong holds ; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Ephesians 6.12f For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.
2 Timothy 2:3. Take your part in suffering hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 4:7 f. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day: and not only to me, but also to all them that have loved his appearing.
The Bible is a pacifist manifesto. From cover to cover it opposes the war we see in our day. People use the Bible to justify war based on Roman law and "natural law" assumptions about the validity of violence. The Bible is a pacifist manifesto, but it is also a chronicle of the failure of Israel to follow God's Law. The Bible records many wars, but the purpose of the narration of those wars serves a "meta-narrative" -- a larger story above the account of a specific battle or war. The postmil defender of war plucks those verses recording Israel's failures out of the larger context to justify war in our day. Those advocates of war are missing the Big Picture in the Bible. The Big Picture is a Vine & Fig Tree world. If you're a premil, you can sit around and wait until the second coming of Christ for the Vine & Fig Tree world to be given to you. If you're a postmil, it is your present duty to bring this world to life in our day, and not to wait passively and inactively for a second coming of Christ.
The Bible speaks of peace so often it sounds like a 1960's hippie. I might have thought that back in the '60's, but I hadn't really read the Bible back then.
Isaiah 9:6-7
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace. {7} Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Luke 2:8-14
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them ... and the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will toward men.
Luke 1:77-79
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, {78} Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, {79} To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Luke 6:27-28
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, {28} Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Hebrews 12:14
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Leviticus 26:6
I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of [tyrants and those who seek to impose their will on others by force] and keep your enemies out of your land.
Proverbs 16:7
When man's ways please the LORD, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
1 Peter 2:21-23
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: {22} Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: {23} Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously:
Romans 12:17-20
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. {18} If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. {19} Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. {20} Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink:
Hosea 2:18
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow and the sword and warfare out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
1 Peter 3:9
Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called--that you might inherit a blessing.
Psalm 34:14
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalm 35:20
For they do not speak peace, but they conceive deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
Psalm 37:11
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Psalm 37:37
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Psalm 72:7
In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
Psalm 85:10
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Psalm 119:165
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
Psalm 120:2-7
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.{5} Woe is me, {6} My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. {7} I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
Psalm 122:6-8
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. {7} peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. {8} For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, peace be within thee.
Proverbs 3:17
The ways of Wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Proverbs 12:20
Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy.
Isaiah 26:12
O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.
Isaiah 32:17-18
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. {18} And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
Isaiah 48:18
O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
Isaiah 48:22
There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Isaiah 54:13
And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
Isaiah 55:12
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Isaiah 57:19
I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
Ephesians 2:14-17
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; {15} Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; {16} And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: {17} And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Isaiah 59:8
The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Isaiah 60:17
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
Isaiah 66:12
For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
Ezekiel 34:25
And I will make with them a covenant of peace
Ezekiel 37:26
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
Daniel 4:1
Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; peace be multiplied unto you.
Daniel 6:25
Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; peace be multiplied unto you.
Nahum 1:15
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
Haggai 2:9
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah 6:13
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
Zechariah 8:16
These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
Zechariah 8:19
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.
Zechariah 9:10
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Malachi 2:5-6
My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. {6} The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Malachi 2:6
The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Romans 1:7
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 2:10
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Romans 3:10-18
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: {11} There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. {12} They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. {13} Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: {14} Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: {15} Their feet are swift to shed blood: {16} Destruction and misery are in their ways: {17} And the way of peace have they not known: {18} There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Romans 10:15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Romans 14:17-19
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. {18} For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. {19} Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Romans 15:33
Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Romans 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:3
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
2 Corinthians 1:2
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: {4} (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
{5} Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Galatians 1:3
Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 6:16
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
Ephesians 1:2
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:3
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 6:15
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Ephesians 6:23
peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:2
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:9
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
Colossians 1:2
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:20
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
1 Thessalonians 1:1
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:2
Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3:16
Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.
1 Timothy 1:2
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Timothy 2:2
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
2 Timothy 1:2
To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:22
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Titus 1:4
To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Philemon 1:3
Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
James 3:17-18
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. {18} And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Hebrews 13:20
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
1 Peter 1:2
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
1 Peter 3:11
Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
1 Peter 5:14
Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
2 Peter 1:2
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2 Peter 3:14
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2 John 1:3
Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
3 John 1:14
But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.
Jude 1:2
Mercy unto you, and peace and love, be multiplied.
Revelation 1:4
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Review: Take Jesus Seriously
If you take Jesus seriously ("Love your enemy," "resist not evil," "obey the invading slavers," "don't steal," "don't kill") the unbelieving world (and most church-goers) will say you're "unrealistic," "impractical," and "utopian." They will call you a "pacifist" and an "anarchist."
When God says "Thou shalt not kill," it is clear that God abhors killing. Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Most Christians know the Biblical answer. Or think they do. Why did God destroy the world at the time of Noah? The Bible says it was because "great men" were committing "violence" (Genesis 6). Who does most of the killing in the world? "The State" -- rich and powerful people -- through war and capital punishment (or other "police actions," like those in Korea and Vietnam). Very few people are killed in "self-defense," and most of those killings are by non-pacifist private citizens who are imitators of state action. "If the government can do it, so can I." They graduated from government-run "public" schools.
What is called "self-defense" is almost always pure vengeance after you failed to successfully defend yourself, and vengeance is prohibited by Scripture.
A logically consistent Christian pacifist is also an anarchist, for two reasons: first, a pacifist is against violence, and "the State" is institutionalized, systematic violence; second, Jesus prohibits His followers from being "archists" An "archist" is one who believes he has a right to impose his own will on others by force or threats of violence. Chiefly, the "archist" imposes his will on others through the machinery of "the State," which includes fines, prisons, torture, executions, armed invasions, and terrorism. The Christian, on the contrary, believes it is always sinful to impose your own will on others by initiating force or threatening violence. (We are to be servants, not "archists." Mark 10:42-45.) I know, that sounds "weird." "Anarchism?"
The Bible repeatedly promises us that if we obey His commandments, we will not be ruled by criminals.
In a nutshell, pacifism says you must love your enemy, not kill your enemy.
In a nutshell, anti-pacifism says there is at least one verse somewhere in Scripture which gives you the right (or imposes a duty) to kill your enemy.
The exposition of the 6th Commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") in the Westminster Larger Catechism is a veritable Pacifist Manifesto. It spells out a "prima facie" case for pacifism. Follow the Catechism carefully, and you will be a pacifist. But the Catechism has three exceptions to pacifism, and for most postmillennialists, these three exceptions cancel out the rest of the Catechism's answer. All the pacifist-sounding stuff is drowned out by repeated invocations of the exceptions:
Let's examine these three excuses for not being a pacifist. Starting first with "self-defense."
Everybody believes in "self-defense." I don't know of any "pacifist" who says that you can't defend yourself by locking a door or running away. But we're commanded to love the one inflicting violence upon us. If you have a shield, and some evil man is approaching you with a sword, no pacifist says you cannot use your shield to protect yourself against his sword. But if he gets tired of hitting his sword on your shield and says, "I need to take a break," you cannot crack his skull open with your shield while he sleeps, even though that would prevent him from resuming (you assume) his attack after his nap. You can defend yourself by running away. "Thou shalt not kill." "Love your enemy."
What is called "self-defense" is almost always pure vengeance, and vengeance is prohibited by Scripture. It doesn't mean preventing violence, it means committing retaliatory violence after failing to defend yourself against violence. It especially means killing the attacker after he successfully attacks you. Or even before he commences his anticipated (by you) attack.
The real dispute is over "pacifism" is
"Thou shalt not kill" and "Love your enemies" seems to preclude "national defense" and what most people refer to as "self-defense."
Yes, you have a duty to protect the innocent from "the enemy," but you have a moral obligation to devise protective strategies which do not violate God's Law. A protective strategy which protects the weak but intentionally takes the life of the enemy violates the 6th commandment, "thou shalt not kill," and Christ's command to "Love your enemy."
Yes, the enemy in some sense forfeits his "right to life" because of his crime, and God will take care of that (Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy 32:35-36; Psalm 94:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:6; Hebrews 10:30; Psalm 135:14); but you still have a duty to love the enemy and not kill the enemy. We must leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:19-21).
Christ commands us to "Love your enemies." If some guy who did not have a government-issued badge broke into your home and attempted to carry you off to his cult HQ for torture and perhaps death, every anti-pacifist in the world would say you are justified in killing him. But consider this verse:
Acts 20:37
Then they all wept freely, and fell on Pauls neck and kissed him,
At one time, Saul of Tarsus was the enemy of Christians. He "SWAT Teamed" his way into the homes of Christians and kidnapped them -- a capital crime (Exodus 21:16), worthy of death.
But suppose when Saul broke in the home of one of those Christians, that Christian had exercised his "Second Amendment remedies" and killed Saul.
Oops.
No Apostle Paul.
The man who breaks into your house is the next Paul. God has sent this man to you so you can preach the gospel to him, so he can experience the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit attending to the Word, and then you can disciple him. In the months to come, you will become best friends with this former intruder (and now brother in Christ). When the time comes for him to leave your mentorship and move forward in his new life, you will weep and fall on his neck and kiss him.
Unless you kill him first.
But nearly all post-mils defend the right to kill enemies rather than love them.
To de-personalize, de-humanize another human being and kill him. Thoughtlessly. Without hesitation.
To turn his wife into a widow (compare James 1:27).
My replies to some of their articles:
Most of the excuses for not being a pacifist use the "ats good'nuff fer me" hermeneutic. When a pro-pacifism verse is proffered, the hearer is confused: "If I take that verse seriously, I would have to change my life dramatically." Then the anti-pacifist "expert" counters with a verse which uses hyperbolic or military metaphors, or a verse from the Old Testament which records King So-and-So waging a war called a "sacrifice" (Isaiah 34:6), and the conclusion is offered: "so the Bible doesn't require us to love all our enemies, all the time," and the hearer, thankful for the assurances of the "expert" teacher, says, "ats good'nuff fer me." Slogans, sound-bites, and bumper-stickers are sometimes all it takes to comfort the congregation.
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"If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder.
But if it happens in daylight, the one who killed the thief is guilty of murder.
Matthew Henry
Yet, if it was in the day-time that the thief was killed, he that killed him must be accountable for it (Exod. 22:3), unless it was in the necessary defence of his own life. Note, We ought to be tender of the lives even of bad men;
Reformation Study Bible
The daytime thief was readily identifiable and killing was not justified.
Keil and Delitzsch | Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleIn the latter case the slayer contracted blood-guiltiness, because even the life of a thief was to be spared, as he could be punished for his crime, and what was stolen be restored according to the regulations laid down in Exodus 22:1 and Exodus 22:4.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleIf a thief be found - If a thief was found breaking into a house in the night season, he might be killed; but not if the sun had risen, for then he might be known and taken, and the restitution made which is mentioned in the succeeding verse
If a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in the night, was slain, the person who slew him did not incur the guilt of blood; but if the same occurred in daylight, the slayer was guilty in accordance with Exodus 21:12. The distinction may have been based on the fact that in the light of day there was a fair chance of identifying and apprehending the thief.
Suppose it's 3am and you hear your front door being opened. The intruder slips on toys your children left on the floor, causing a ruckus. You grab your Saturday Night Special out of your night table and head to the living room. The intruder is trying to rise to his feet from the floor. Do you shoot the intruder to protect your family? Many would say yes. Unfortunately, you just killed your good friend and next-door neighbor, who had come home intoxicated from a party and accidentally entered your house instead of his own. You have made his wife a widow (James 1:27). In retrospect, should you have inquired as to the intruder's intentions? If the answer was suspicious, do you have a moral obligation to negotiate (offer peace; Deuteronomy 20:10) rather than shoot to kill without giving the intruder an opportunity to leave your home? Do you have a moral obligation to preach the gospel? Do you have a moral obligation to set your Phaser to "stun" rather than "annihilate?"
If you come home intoxicated and accidentally enter your neighbor's home, and your neighbor kills you, should your widowed wife file criminal charges against your neighbor? Is your widowed wife entitled to damages from your neighbor? Re-read the paragraph above.
Far too many Christians will shoot to kill, no questions asked, to demonstrate their masculinity and avoid being a wimpy pacifist.
Suppose the intruder is a stranger: a dope-smoking loser, trying to steal something to make a few bucks to support his drug addiction. Should you impose capital punishment on the kid?
We are Now in the Daytime of the New Covenant. In fact, as James Jordan points out, the entire Old Covenant economy could be viewed biblically as being the night and the New Covenant as the day.
The moon, of course, governs the night (Psalm 136:9; Jeremiah 31:35), and in a sense the entire Old Covenant took place at night. With the rising of the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the day of the Lord is at hand (Malachi 4:1), and in a sense the New Covenant takes place in the daytime. As Genesis 1 says over and over, first evening and then morning. In the New Covenant we are no longer under lunar regulation for festival times (Colossians 2:1617). In that regard, Christ is our light.2
Following this same idea, Zacharias prophesies at the birth of John the Baptist that he would be the Sunrise from on high who shall shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:7879). The light of Christ creates the everlasting day, so that in the New Jerusalem,
the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it (Rev. 21:2324; compare Is. 60:1920).
The New Testament was written in the last days of the Old Covenant. The "night" of the Old Age was passing (Hebrews 8:13), and we are now to live in the Day (Romans 13:11-13; Luke 1:78; Malachi 4:2; Revelation 22:5; 1 John 2:8). Christians who live in the Day do not need to kill. God will hold us to the higher standard.
And [Jesus] came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both [Jews and Gentiles] have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Ephesians 2:17-18).
This is the truly good news of the Star of Jacob, the Star of Bethlehem, and the King which it announces.
The American Vision: Why a Star?
The next exception to the pacifist manifesto found in the exposition of the 6th Commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") in the Westminster Larger Catechism is "publick justice," or what we call "capital punishment."
There are three issues here:
Suppose in a fit of anger, I murder your son.
You cite Genesis 9:4-6 for the proposition that my blood should be shed:
Genesis 9:4-6 -- Blood must be shed
But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every mans brother I will require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
But suppose you don't know that I was the one who murdered your son. Nobody knows this. It's an "unsolved homicide." Should you urge your civil government -- and its Levitical priests -- to follow Deuteronomy 21:1-9?
Deuteronomy 21:1-9 -- Blood must be shed in the case of an Unsolved Homicide
5And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto Him, and to bless in the Name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: 4And the elders of that city shall bring down a heifer unto a rough valley, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley: 7Then they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. 8 Provide atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel. And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. 9 So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
To my knowledge, no Christian advocates the literal observance of this law. Here's why.
Suppose I confess to the murder, and can supply evidence to back up my confession.
Should Numbers 35:33 be followed?
Numbers 35:33 -- Blood must be shed in cases of a Solved Homicide
33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
Should my blood be shed?
Who should shed my blood?
You?
You and your neighbors?
People calling themselves "the civil government?"
People calling themselves "priests the sons of Levi?
Since I provided the evidence against myself, and testified against myself, should I shed my own blood?
What if people calling themselves "the civil government" refuse to prosecute me, or a jury of my peers refuses to convict me, but I believe my blood needs to be shed to cleanse the land (Hebrew, כָּפַר kaphar, make atonement, Strong's #3722) Should I shed my own blood? Should the victim's family shed my blood?
What if you believe that only the blood of Jesus can cleanse the land of the shedding of innocent blood (which I shed).
Suppose I murder your son and I am Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest man in the world, and I promise to become your slave for life, and pay you $100 million a year for the rest of my life out of the money I earn at Amazon.com. Suppose you want the proceeds of my forced labor more than my shed blood?
Should people calling themselves "the civil government" threaten to hurt you if you don't pay (be taxed) for "executioners" to shed my blood, even if you don't want my blood shed?
Suppose you want my blood shed, I agree that my blood should be shed, and our church agrees that my blood should be shed. Our church pastor announces that he will shed my blood this Sunday morning in the 11 am worship service, to be viewed over CCTV in our satellite campuses.
Does Smith have a right to say "I am the 'Civil Government'" and I alone can shed blood, and if our Pastor sheds my blood, Smith will shed the Pastor's blood.
What verse of Scripture can Smith rely on to prove he has a monopoly on blood-shedding?
These are the questions every society must answer:
In my opinion, the conventional answers to these questions are based on Roman Law, not Biblical Law. More on that here:
More on Capital Punishment here:
The third exception to the pacifist manifesto found in the exposition of the 6th Commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") in the Westminster Larger Catechism is "war."
I know of no postmillennialist in his right mind who advocates offensive war. Everyone limits his non-pacifism to "defensive" war. That doesn't mean that at any given moment an occupant of the White House does not believe in offensive war. Saddam Hussein was not invading America's shores. Nor Gaddafi. The U.S. is willing to initiate an offensive strike against any leader who threatens the dollar's status as an international reserve currency. But nobody can justify an offensive war on Biblical grounds, even though God clearly authorized Israel to engage in "offensive war" against the Canaanites.
Our desire to kill our enemy rather than love and serve our enemy gets translated into "national defense." But as postmillennialists, we should know that God intends to govern entire nations, and not just your personal enemy. Here is an article written by "Covenanters" who are by no means pacifists. They write about God's sovereign control over the entire world:
Part of Christs execution of the office of king is His restraining and overcoming all [the Churchs] enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory and their good: and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel (WLC 45). Christ does not act as Mediator over His enemies (unless He choses [sic] to save them and bring them into His kingdom of grace), but He does exercise His kingly power over His enemies (Ps. 110:5-7). The nations are Christs inheritance and obligated to serve the Lord with fear and to kiss the Son lest He dash them in pieces like a potters vessel (Ps. 2). For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted (Is. 60:12). Natural disasters (Ps. 46:8), war (Is. 10:5-6), famine and pestilence (Jer. 14:11-2), giving a people over to their sin (Rom. 1:18-32), etc. Christ has control over all these things and uses them according to the council of His will and in His perfect timing to cause peoples to repent (2 Chron. 7:13-14) thus bringing them in to the kingdom of grace, or to remove the wicked off the face of the earth (Luke 17:26-37).This is a powerful paragraph. I rather like it, even though I disagree with the article overall. The premises are clear, and the conclusion inescapable:
Jesus is the Christ
Christ = Messiah
Messiah = King
Kingdom = Christocracy
If Jesus does all the things listed in this paragraph, why do we need "national defense?" Why do we choose kings to defend us?
1 Samuel 8 says the desire for creaturely kings is a rejection of God the Creator-King (Romans 1:25).
God is our King, our Lawgiver, and our Judge (Isaiah 33:22), so why do we need the three branches of government created by the U.S. Constitution?
What is it that Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Joe Biden, or anyone that YOU would vote for can do
that Jesus cannot do?
Why do we need any "civil magistrate" of any kind ("Democracy," "Republic," etc.), of any party? (Postmils are seeing red flags and alarms at this point.)
Do we have enemies? Earthly kings claim to protect us "from all enemies, foreign and domestic." But Jesus also claims the power "to remove the wicked off the face of the earth" (Luke 17:26-37), or to cause our enemies to repent.
If you believe that Jesus is the Christ today, and all power and authority have been given to Jesus, the Messiah-King, why do you need to give power and authority to some political candidate?
Support for "national defense" rather than "swords into plowshares" means you do not believe Jesus reigns as the Christ today, and this makes you premil in your thinking, rather than postmil. Or statist rather than Messianic.
The history of the world, as recorded in the Bible, is the history of fallen man's attempt to replace God as King with a king of their own making. Most of the pages of the Bible are "political" in this sense. See 1 Samuel 8. God alone is our King (Isaiah 33:22). There is only one legitimate King, and only one legitimate Kingdom. There is only one legitimate nation: the "holy nation" of 1 Peter 2:9. All other governments are idols. Earthly kings are false gods. "The State" is idolatry. This is why the Bible is an Anarchist Manifesto. Those links have the details. More on this theme below. (Postmils are now going to "Death-Con 3.")
Martin Selbrede says,
There is a popular tradition, developed from Augustine through Thomas Aquinas to the present, that attempts to set forth the parameters for a just war. Some of this reasoning holds Biblical water, and some of it does not. This paper affirms the Biblical parameters solely and owes nothing to the traditional construction, except where it intersects the Scriptures. Augustine was steeped in Aristotle and humanistic ethics and didnt entirely shake their influence, but we should be able to do better.
Yes, we can do better. Let's scrap "Just War Theory."
Theonomists justify war based largely on Old Testament accounts of "holy war." This justification is based on Roman Law (or "natural law") rather than Biblical Law. It's a huge problem in the thinking of the Protestant Reformers.
We need a more strictly Biblical/Theonomic analysis of "national defense" than offered by "just war" theory. That conversation begins below.
The refusal to obey the "swords into plowshares" prophecy (because prophecy is law) necessitates (or is based on) the violation of other provisions of Biblical Law.
I wish to single out three:
Taxation,
Love of Enemy (we talked about this above, under "self-defense") and
Subjection to Tyranny.
Let's start with Biblical laws on taxation.
In this paper I argued that Biblical laws on taxation limit government revenue to such an extent that our current levels of government are ruled out.
To summarize that paper, Rushdoony argued that the funding mechanism for civil government is the "head tax" of Exodus 30:11-16. Martin Selbrede has crunched the numbers and shown that the Bible does not allow enough taxation to run "government" as we know it. Anyone who proposes "slashing" the military budget by even 10% is accused of "gutting the armed forces." But Eugene McCarthy is a warmonger compared to Biblical Law, which would require cutting the military budget by at least 50%. And that assumes that all the rest of civil government, including courts and police, have been abolished. Selbrede calculates that the entire budget of government at all levels -- Federal, State, and Local -- cannot exceed $500 million, which is about half of the current military budget of $850 million -- which doesn't include the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy (home of nuclear weapons), or the "Intelligence Community" (e.g., the CIA).
Cutting the military budget by 50% is not "realistic" or "practical" in the eyes of neo-conservatives and conservative think-tanks like Heritage and Hoover. You will no longer have "a place at the table" if you seriously propose cutting the military budget by fifty percent. A cut that big would require completely rethinking our nation's foreign policy and military strategies. It would require a complete overhaul of all our thinking in a direction and to a degree that is completely unacceptable to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Completely
Un-
acceptable.
Oh, wait a minute. The current defense budget is more than $500 BILLION. With a "B." Selbrede says the entire Biblical budget for all levels of civil government in the U.S. is $500 million. $500 BILLION is one thousand times larger than the entire allowable revenue stream for all of civil government in the United States under Biblical Law. According to Biblical Law (as Rushdoony saw it), the defense budget must be cut down to 1/1000 its current size.
Nobody in Washington D.C. or in any university receiving research grants from the military-industrial complex would take that proposal seriously. Consistent Theonomy would be regarded as the lunatic ravings of a pacifist nut-job.
A few years ago, I would have said the same thing. Before I enlisted in the cause of Theonomy, I believed in "national defense."
Theonomy and "conservatism" do not occupy the same "universe of discourse." The Biblical worldview of "swords into plowshares" is completely different from the conservative/statist worldview of "peace through strength." People who think the Bible promotes a "conservative" worldview -- especially when it comes to the military and "national defense" -- have not studied the Bible carefully. They have simply baptized the recommendations of Heritage and Hoover with a few Bible verses.
Biblical taxation Law requires us to think like pacifists.
Gary North and Greg Bahnsen disagreed with Rushdoony, Selbrede, and David Chilton on this issue. Bahnsen criticized "David Chiltons treatment of the head tax as the province of the civil government." I agree with Bahnsen and North that the "head tax" was "ceremonial," not "judicial" or "civil." Neither Bahnsen nor North (so far as I know) pointed to a specific provision of Biblical law which would permit anyone today to levy a tax, or exactly how much that tax could be. North said it could be up to but not be more than 10% (because God Himself only requires a 10% tithe; greater taxation by the State would be a claim to be greater than God). Government today is taking 60% of everything you earn if you're in a taxable income bracket and pay more than one dime in federal personal income tax.
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So whether you go with Chalcedon or Tyler, government will be slashed. And the slashing is so severe that conservative think-tanks will scream that you are a pacifist nut-job when it comes to "national defense," and "some kind of anarchist" when it comes to all the other departments of government which must be abolished or privatized in order to come within the boundaries of Biblical Law.
That's the reaction you can expect from everyone if you advocate strict application of Biblical Law. "Everyone." Do I mean that literally? Just about.
Everyone in Washington D.C.
Every tenured professor in every university.
Everyone in the Republican Party.
Everyone in your church.
Seriously.
Do you know anyone who would not react harshly to a proposal to cut the defense budget by 50% -- and then cut the remaining 50% by 99%?
We're talking about completely different religions, not just a disagreement over policy.
There's a very bold claim in that sentence. Some would call it "reckless." Am I saying that if you're not a pacifist, you're not a real Christian?
Now that I'm a pacifist, I look back and wonder how I could have so boldly defended mass murder. How could I "support the troops" when other Christians did not, and even Muslims like Muhammad Ali denounced the killing and destruction of innocent people's homes.
Cornelius Van Til said, "There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy." Theonomy is the standard of perfect righteousness. Autonomy is perfect rebellion. Nobody I know is 100% consistent with either of these standards. Every day that I study Theonomy I learn more about the perfect standard of righteousness by which we will all be judged, and I ask, "How could I have missed that? How could I have been living so inconsistently? Was I even saved?" If not, then today is the day. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2
I don't want to walk into the thorns of theological dispute over "assurance of salvation" and "election" and doctrines like that. A member of a dangerous authoritarian cult can still be "elect," but someday he's going to repent and get out of the cult.
As I mentioned above, J. Gresham Machen, Founder of Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, said that mainline "liberal" Christianity -- Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians -- you know the crowd -- was not a species of Christianity, but was a completely different religion. Machen was excommunicated from the mainline Presbyterian church. May I suggest that affirming the Virgin Birth is just as much a different religion from liberalism as cutting the defense budget by 99% is from most conservative or postmil churches -- to say nothing of abolishing the armed forces entirely. Perhaps Augustine would join Machen in saying that these are the two competing religions in history
May I suggest that if you do not advocate disarmament of the City of Man, you are presently an adherent of a false religion, and not an adherent of Biblical, Theonomic Christianity?
Would you be willing to be examined (Proverbs 18:17), sharpened (Acts 17:10-12), and forced to search the Scriptures (Acts 17:11) to see if this is true?
Jesus said there would be many people surprised to find they didn't have the true religion:
Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? 23 And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!
What is the mark of the true religion?
James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (cf. also Matthew 25:31-46)James 4:4
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
The United States not only doesn't care for orphans and widows, it creates widows and orphans on a massive scale. By any Biblical measure, the U.S. is the enemy of God. But Christians are generally favorable toward this government, and completely closed-minded toward beating swords into plowshares.
I was born in the year of Sputnik, which inaugurated "the Space Race," which was part of "the Cold War." After the fall of the Soviet Union, the "Cold War" was replaced with "The War on Terror." During my lifetime, "my" government in Washington D.C. murdered, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians around the world, creating millions of widows and orphans by murdering their husbands and fathers, and further traumatizing them by bombing their homes, schools, factories, and roads. This is all so far over on the side of "Autonomy" and so far away from the side of "Theonomy" that you'll excuse me if I speak in very absolutist -- if not hysterical -- terms.
The Vietnam war exacted an enormous human cost: estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 966,000 to 3 million. The U.S. dropped more tons of bombs on Laos and Cambodia than it did on the entire world during World War II, killing approximately 800,000 people in each country, destabilizing Cambodia, which led to the rise of Pol Pot and the murder of 1/3 of the Cambodian population. Nobody today says the war in Southeast Asia served some long-lasting Christian purpose. It was evil. Horribly, shockingly evil. But as a conservative, I said those who opposed the war were "insane."
I was wrong. Ali was right. Why did Ali get it right and so many Christians got it wrong? I dismissed the anti-war protesters as "anti-American" and "buncha commies." Maybe they were, but shouldn't conservative Bible-believing Christians have been giving a truer alternate public witness in support of the millennial goal of "swords into plowshares?"
Christians in Iraq arguably had more religious freedom under Saddam Hussein than Christians in the U.S. do under Joe Biden. Saddam never sent his secret police to arrest Christians who sang hymns at abortion clinics, to be imprisoned for a decade or more. (Correct me if I'm wrong; I admit Saddam was a thug.) If you walked up to a Muslim in Saudi Arabia and said, "Hello Mr. Muslim, may I preach the Gospel and show you how to become a Christian?" you would have your head removed. Not in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. This is why Iraq boasted the largest community of Christians in the Arab world.
The U.S. military-industrial complex overthrew Saddam's government, murdering, crippling, and making homeless hundreds of thousands of Christians, replacing this secular, non-Muslim "Ba'athist" government with an Islamic Theocracy under Shariah law, where Christian churches are burned to the ground with impunity.
I would argue that this is not just sinful, but even abominable. It's horrible. The money spent, the lives lost; it should shock the conscience. But churches "support the troops." (Or at least they supported the troops back then. Today, most people quietly admit the invasion and destruction of Iraq was based on lies. Why weren't Bible-believing conservative Christians denouncing the lies and the murder and the destruction? Were they viewing the world through the lens of a false religion? I'm not saying I wasn't or they weren't Christians. But somehow they believed and advocated horribly unBiblical ideas. Jesus Christ would not have approved, no matter how merciful He is.
Conspiracy Theory: The atheistic, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual U.S. government is willing to risk killing millions of people in a nuclear war for the cause of "regime change" in Russia because Vladimir Putin publicly promotes Christianity and opposes the LGBT agenda. Change my mind.
Those are just a couple of wars the U.S. has waged. Don't forget Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria . . . the list goes on:
This evil is breath-taking, heart-stopping, jaw-dropping, mind-numbing . . . no. seriously. This is all really really evil. How could I have supported it? What causes this kind of blindness?
You will say I'm a heretic for being a pacifist. But if I'm right, what would the authors of Scripture say about you, who vote for politicians that drop bombs (weapons of mass destruction) all over the world? They would say you're the heretic, and you're a member of a cult.
The Apostle Paul admitted he was a "heretic":
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Acts 24:14 |
The word "heretic" comes from the Greek word for "choose." (Word Study)
Everybody is a "heretic" in someone else's eyes. Joshua said "Choose ye this day whom you will serve." Elijah told the people, "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him." Elijah was a heretic in the eyes of the prophets of Baal.
The Bible lays on us a moral obligation -- a duty -- to choose; to become a "heretic." Either a "heretic" like Paul, Joshua, and Elijah, or the kind of heretic that chooses Baal, the world (James 4:4), or the city of man rather than the City of God.
We must choose between the Word of God and the word of man.
There was a man named John Nelson Darby. He invented a doctrine called "dispensational premillennialism" in the early 1800's. As this doctrine spread, other doctrines, like Marxism, also spread. Other men have been saying similar things for centuries. They have not been saying what the Bible says. If you believe what these men say, then you're not believing what the Bible says.
I believe Darby's doctrine is a "heresy." The "institutional church" does not agree with me. The "institutional church" teaches many parts of Darby's heresy.
Andrew Torba, founder of a social media platform called "Gab," wrote a book called Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide to Taking Dominion and Discipling Nations. I agree with a lot in this book, but Torba would say I'm a heretic, and I guess I would have to say the same thing about him. In my view, Torba's "Nationalism" (which I regard as unBiblical) is related to his unBiblical eschatology.
Chapter 7 of Torba's book is called "The Time for Lukewarm Christianity is Over." Of course he is completely correct about this. Jesus says that being lukewarm makes Him want to vomit you out of His Mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). If lukewarm Christians aren't calling you an "extremist," you need to worry about what Jesus will call you. If the Pharisees aren't calling you a "heretic," then you need to check with Paul the Apostle and Heretic.
Torba writes:
| For many Americans, Christianity has become a rapidly deconstructed fragment of their actual identity. People refer to themselves as a "Christian" when asked about matters of faith, but you won't find them openly proclaiming Christ as their central identity. How many of us are living according to God's Word and how many are living according to the ways of the world? In my early twenties I was calling myself a Christian, but I was living a very worldly life. God came secondary to my career and worldly desires. I wasn't attending church. I wasn't reading my Bible. I wasn't praying. What part of me was living a Christian life that could justify calling myself a Christian? That all changed a few years ago when the Holy Spirit moved my heart closer to God. I started attending church, got married, became a father, and humbled myself as the worst of sinners before an Almighty God. |
I'll concede that Torba has accomplished more admirable things in his 33 years on earth than I have in my 66. I've never been married. Never had kids. What a loser.
But at least I have repented of "nationalism," which has resulted in the murder of millions of innocent people, and the destruction of homes, schools, and hospitals around the world.
And I would contend that the heresy of "nationalism" is related to the heresy of "Adventism."
James 1:27 says that "true religion" is protecting widows and the fatherless. Nationalism creates widows and fatherless children by killing their husbands and fathers.
Micah 4 and Isaiah 2 say that in the age some call the "millennium" we will beat our "swords into plowshares." Adventists believe that we cannot and must not fulfill this prophecy until after the Second Advent of Christ. Until then, we must continue creating widows and orphans. People who object to killing fathers and traumatizing their widows and fatherless children by dropping bombs on their homes and hospitals are called "pacifists" or "anarchists," and are often denounced by nationalists and adventists as "heretics."
I would say that anti-pacifists have a different religion than pacifists. It's a different religion. It's time to "choose" which religion you should follow.
Was Andrew Torba a genuine Christian in his twenties? Was his thinking poisoned by a false religion? Was he missing the "pure religion" of James 1:27? He admits he was "worldly." Was he therefore an enemy of Christ (James 4:4)? Is a lukewarm person a genuine Christian, if Jesus would "vomit" him out of His Mouth?
These are obviously very serious questions.
Torba, a Calvinist, would say that even though he was "lukewarm" and "worldly," and even an "enemy" of God in his twenties, he was still one of the "elect." But he needed to repent.
I think the U.S. war machine is more evil than Planned Parenthood and abortion. Without in any way minimizing the horror of 60 million murdered babies in the holocaust unleashed by Roe v. Wade, their pain and suffering has ended. But the U.S. has caused pain and suffering for at least as many millions of people whose lives were ended or continue to be disrupted. I agree that mothers who murder their children are traumatized even if they don't admit it. But mothers who lose their children involuntarily because the U.S. dropped a bomb on their home are perhaps more intensely traumatized. It's painful for teachers to lose students. Losing your home and the infrastructure you depend on for food and medicine for your children is also traumatic. Seeing the bombed out roads and buildings for years (because a devastated economy cannot repair them) perpetuates the pain. Conscious, visible, continuing pain.
Lamentations 4:9-10
Those slain by the sword are better off
Than those who die of hunger;
For these pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the compassionate women
Have cooked their own children;
They became food for them
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Psychologists rank traumatic events in a person's life:
Take 15 seconds and imagine a bomb being dropped on your neighbor's home. Imagine the fear of being under assault and not knowing whether your home was next. Imagine a bomb dropped on your place of employment and your losing your job. Imagine being evacuated from your home by soldiers, never to see your home again, and taken to a camp. These are the traumatic life-events inflicted on tens of millions of innocent non-combatant non-white civilians around the world by "my" government during my lifetime. If not dead, they are the living traumatized. I think more man-hours or years or decades of human suffering have been inflicted by the U.S. military than by abortion -- again, without in any way minimizing the evil of abortion.
But anti-abortion forces are seldom anti-war forces. They are, in fact, usually pro-military and anti-swords-into-plowshares. And, as if war were not enough, the U.S. government promotes abortion around the world using its military strength.
The United States is the most evil and dangerous criminal enterprise on planet earth. You might be thinking that North Korea is more evil, which is an arguable position, but the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" is not the most dangerous. Statistically speaking, for the last 44 years, the average human being on planet earth is more likely to be murdered, crippled, or made homeless by someone on the payroll of the "United States" or its contractors than any other "government," "terrorist group," drug cartel, or organized crime syndicate.
This is all morally horrifying, shocking, and outrageous. But postmil Christians are seldom horrified, shocked, or outraged. They often rationalize or justify it. How can this be?
I'd like to suggest we have been brainwashed. We're members of a pseudo-Christian cult. Christians a century from now will look back on us with embarrassment or contempt for us and our cult. Would they credit us with actually being true Christians? I wouldn't blame them if they didn't. After all, Isaiah and Micah predict that they -- a future generation of Christians -- are going to abolish the military-industrial complex. Because that's what postmillennialists do: they fulfill Biblical prophecies about the millennium, including beating "swords into plowshares." And they will only wonder why we didn't.
The United States is the enemy of the Son (Psalm 2) and the human race. It is more hostile to Christianity than all but a handful of governments, but Christians in the U.S. are passive and docile and "bought off" by covid checks and consumer gizmos (credit for which Obama says should not be given to "the private sector," but to the government), and so having been bought off, they seldom publicly confront the U.S. with its own evil, and American consumers are free to pursue their own "personal peace and affluence."
America was originally a Christian nation. Not so with Iran or North Korea. Jesus says,
But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
Luke 12:48
The killing of millions of people and destruction of their homes and infrastructure is horrifying. Truly staggering. But I confess, I still have a tendency -- inculcated during years of "public" schooling -- to regard the United States as "my" government, and somehow a friend of "freedom" and "democracy" around the world. It's a false religion. I'm a friend of the world of U.S. woke imperialism. Woe is me. I don't want to lose the respect of respectable people by championing Biblical Law and appearing to be some kind of fundamentalist Bible-thumping nut. Or worse, a "pacifist!"
I like to think I'm in the 99th percentile of Godly, sanctified, educated Christians, but future generations -- who take the the Vine & Fig Tree worldview seriously -- will look at me as a primitive, selfish, immature baby in the bottom percentile of Christians.
Do I really have the mind of Christ? Do I love my enemy? Or am I an adherent of a defiled, impure, false religion that justifies war and "national defense?" James 1:27; 4:4; Matthew 7:21; 25:44.
| Pacifism: "the belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances, and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means." Oxford Languages | Google
WAR: "an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality.... Total war is warfare that is not restricted to purely legitimate military targets, and can result in massive civilian or other non-combatant suffering and casualties." Wikipedia |
Here's another argument against pacifism and in favor of war. Are pacifists guilty of just "standing idly by" when violence occurs? I don't think so. I don't have to kill to register my lack of consent. Here's the argument in favor of war from a Reconstructionist Influencer (left column, KC on the right):
Self defense: |
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| Although some Christians decry all war, even defensive war within our nations boundaries after those boundaries have been violated, the failure of the civil magistrate (or in modern terms, the civil government) to defend its citizens from invading attackers is a transgression of Gods eternal Law. We are commanded, Thou shalt not stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor (Lev. 19:16). Psalm 50 further expands on the idea of standing idly by, indicating that it constitutes actual consent to the evil being perpetrated. And to consent to murder is regarded by God as being a party to that murder, based on (1) Psalm 50:18s elaboration of Lev. 19:16; (2) Saul of Tarsuss consent to Stephens stoning at Acts 8:1 and his later application of this law to himself at Acts 22:20 when he confessed that when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death (to stand by Stephens blood was to consent to his death); (3) Christs charge to the scribes that, you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed the prophets and you build their tombs (Luke 11:48 ESV), which is the ground upon which He added, the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world will be charged against you (Luke 11:50 ESV), proving that consent to murder is to be party to murder, for which reason Christ imposed the penalty for murder on the consenters in this passage. It further follows that to fail to defend oneself is to consent to and be a party to ones own suicide, for (1) we are not to stand idly by the blood of our neighbor, and (2) we are to love our neighbors as ourselves; therefore, (3) we are not to stand idly by our own blood. The only exception is when we lay our lives down to save another (evidencing the greatest love possible in so doing). |
"Boundaries" -- in my view there is only one legitimate "nation" -- the "holy nation" of 1 Peter 2:9. All the earth belongs to God. I believe in "private property," but not in "national property." "National property" is socialist "property." "Boundaries" are arbitrary; they merely define the limits of State confiscation of property.
"stand idly by" -- what action is required to avoid being guilty of "idly standing by?" Do I have to kill the attacker? Can I push the attacker away? Can I warn the attacker of the evil of his actions and urge him to repent? Can I preach the gospel to the attacker? Do I have to create (or consent to the creation of) a trillion-dollar military-industrial complex to kill millions of people over whom the attacker claims "jurisdiction?" If the U.S./NATO is placing missiles on the Russian border, with nuclear war being the likely result, what must I do to avoid being guilty of "standing idly by?" Is diplomacy a Biblical option, or must people be killed? It turns out that "not consenting" is very different from "defending." I can avoid "consenting" without "defending." The problem in this world today is not that too many people are "standing idly by" as pacifists when an attacker invades their home. Pure religion, says James (1:27), is caring for widows and the fatherless. Whose side are you on? What is your real religion? What would Micah say? What would Machen say? |
Jiu-jitsu: I would argue that anti-pacifists are not only guilty of "standing idly by" horrific acts of mega-violence, but even cheering them on. "Support the troops!" "U-S-A!"
When someone does evil to us, vengeance is prohibited. But that doesn't mean we have to condone or reward evil acts, or even "stand idly by." When Jesus said "turn the other cheek" when you get slapped, He was prohibiting us from returning evil for evil, slap for slap. But He wasn't prohibiting rebuke:
John 18:22-23
22 And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Do You answer the high priest like that?
23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?
We can rebuke cheek-slappers and erect incentives to repentance and restitution and disincentives to future criminal action. In Matthew 18, Jesus maps out a three-step process to respond to evil acts:
An "incentive" is not the same thing as retaliatory aggressive vengeance.
"Standing idly by" is a violation of the Great Commission, which says we are to preach the powerful Sword of the Lord and pray for and expect God's grace to regenerate the heart of the attacker, to be followed by repentance, restitution, reconciliation, and redemption. Thoughtless killing is a violation of Christ's command to teach the unbeliever. We must be motivated by Gospel Love.
Pacifists don't "stand idly by."
If you're going to accept violence, shouldn't you at least try to minimize the violence? But anti-pacifists don't do this, because the underlying problem is statism. We love the State because we love power more than service. And nothing displays power more than war.
In 1992, Scientific American published an article on "encrypted signatures." This got an MIT grad named Jim Bell to thinking, and he came up with an idea for "regime change," such as that currently being pursued by the U.S. government against Vladimir Putin, and such as previous U.S. regime changes against Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, and more than 50 other covert U.S. attempts at foreign regime change since the end of WWII."Regime change" means "get the current leader out of power" by civil wars, insurrections, coups d'etat, proxy wars (like funding Ukraine), and other means short of assassination, which President Ronald Reagan banned in 1981. Our leaders dislike assassination of their leaders, because their leaders might turn around and assassinate our leaders. So our leaders prefer to kill millions and millions of their leaders' constituents in order to destabilize "their" leader's regime. As Jim Bell wrote about this in 1995:
Consider how history might have changed if we'd been able to "bump off" Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Kim Il Sung, Ho Chi Minh, Ayatollah Khomeini, Saddam Hussein, Moammar Khadafi, and various others, along with all of their replacements if necessary, all for a measly few million dollars, rather than the billions of dollars and millions of lives that subsequent wars cost. But that raises an interesting question, with an even more interesting answer. "If all this is so easy, why hasn't this been done before?" I mean, wars are destructive, costly, and dangerous, so why hasn't some smart politician figured out that instead of fighting the entire country, we could just "zero" the few bad guys on the top? The answer is quite revealing, and strikingly "logical": If we can kill THEIR leaders, they can kill OUR leaders too. That would avoid the war, but the leadership on both sides would be dead, and guess who is making the decisions about what to do? That's right, the LEADERS! And the leaders (both theirs and ours!) would rather see 30,000,000 ordinary people die in WWII than lose their own lives, if they can get away with it. Same in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and numerous other disputes around the globe. You can see that as long as we continue to allow leaders, both "ours" and "theirs," to decide who should die, they will ALWAYS choose the ordinary people of each country.
So Jim Bell sketched out a system of anonymous crypto-assassination, in which the assassin and those who crowd-funded the hit would remain anonymous.
Assassination Politics by Jim Bell
[not actually "regime change," but "regime termination," because who would want to fill the shoes of a digitally crowd-assassinated leader, knowing that "the crowd" was still out there, and now feeling its power?]
[I'm against assassination, needless to say, but WHY do anti-pacifists cheer the killing of millions of conscripts but wince at assassinating their Conscriptor?]
If you are against pacifism, and "stand idly by" as governments kill millions of people and destroy or confiscate trillions of dollars of private property, you need to ask yourself this question: why is WAR (defined above) more "Christian" than assassination? Why do you favor making widows out of conscripted soldiers' wives rather than killing the one archist who's forcing all the conscripts to fight his wars? I suspect most people are state-worshipers, and prefer to protect the life of the false god of their government over the lives of millions of innocent people. "Civil Leaders" must be respected more than millions of families. State-worship will do that to you. It's a false religion (James 1:27).
"Not realistic." That's the conservative reaction to cutting the defense budget down to less than $500 million.
Trusting God to bless obedience is not "realistic."
The typical objection to cutting government is that without government protecting us, we will be conquered and enslaved.
Americans don't want to be slaves. "Land of the free . . . ."
"You pacifists would let us be invaded and enslaved!"
The Theonomic/Pacifist answers to this objection are mind-boggling.
In other words, the consistent Theonomist (pacifist) replies to the objection "Without the State and its military, we will become slaves!" with "Fine; let's be slaves." These answers force us to completely re-evaluate our beliefs about government and "salvation" -- which (in the Bible) usually refers not to an individual going to heaven when you die, but to being delivered from the sword of the State and from slavery to the State.
In other essays I have promoted "anarcho-capitalism" and "anarcho-pacifism." In this essay I promote
This command means "resist not slavery." Jesus goes on to apply the principle to the barbaric soldiers of a pagan empire invading your homeland. He says if the invading soldiers conscript you for slave labor, do not resist their enslavement, but give them twice the labor they demand (Matthew 5:41). This means the violent overthrow of the government by revolution is prohibited.
I think this is supremely ironic:
Romans 13 (and the totality of Scripture) says
1. We are commanded to be slaves of whichever government God "ordains." [details]
- No government ever bears the sword "in vain."
- God Ordains Evil
- The "powers" are demonic -- everywhere that word is used in Scripture.
- We are to bless persecutors (Romans 12:14) -- even the most systematic and evil persecutors: the "civil government" (Romans 13:1-7).
2. God "ordains" invading governments, and we are commanded to be subject to them. [details]
- We are to submit to "the powers that be" as well as "the powers that wanna-be."
3. God has had much practice in sending evil governments against people who forget Him. See the Old Testament. [details]
4. Rather than "importing" enslaving invaders, God sometimes "exports" the objects of His wrath to an evil government, taking them captive and shipping them off to a foreign land, rather than bringing an evil government to place over the objects of His wrath. [details]
5. Old Testament "Holy Wars" are not a valid basis for "National Defense" [details]
- "Holy Wars" were part of "the ceremonial law," not the "judicial law."
6. "National Defense" in in our day is Defense of Politicians, Not "The People." [details]
7. "Self-Defense and "National Defense" are both forbidden [details]
8. There is no such thing as a "nation" to "defend." [details]
Romans 13, "resist not evil," and "render unto Caesar" means the American Revolution or "War for Independence" was a clear violation of Romans 13 and/or Matthew 5:39-31. "Render unto Caesar" and "kill the RedCoats" cannot be harmonized.
Matthew 5:41 teaches that it is wrong to resist an armed attempt at invasion.
Romans 13 teaches that it is wrong to resist a successful invasion ("legitimate government").
You're not allowed to resist/kill "the powers that be" (Romans 13) and you're not allowed to resist the powers that wanna-be (Matthew 5:41), invading troops or occupation troops. Does anyone claim that Caesar's military invasion and occupation of Israel ever became "legitimate?" ΏIt was OK to resist Caesar's invasion, but once his invading/conquering forces became the "legitimate" government, it was no longer permitted to resist them? When did Caesar cross that line? How?).
Better to be a slave than a killer of the civil magistrate's soldiers:
Lethal force in "resistance" is the opposite of "love your enemy."
- refers to acts of service for others that go beyond what is required or expected. The expression probably comes from the Bible, when Jesus declares in his Sermon on the Mount, "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." (Matthew 5:41, (NASB))
But then Wikipedia accurately notes that:
The verse is a reference to the practice of "impressment" which, among other things, allowed a Roman soldier to conscript a Jewish native to carry his equipment for one Roman mile (milion = 1,000 paces, about 1,611 yards or 1,473 metres) -- no easy task considering a Roman soldier's backpack could weigh upwards of 100 pounds (45.4 kg).
"Going the extra mile" is thus not a feel-good Hallmark Card. As Wikipedia used to note:
Jesus' point was that his followers must relinquish their individual "rights" in order to advance God's kingdom through self-sacrifice.
We as Americans don't want to hear that last point. We don't want to "relinquish our rights." We don't like to hear anything about "self-sacrifice."
If you want an example of "oppression," imagine Jews in first-century Israel being subjected to military occupation by unclean pagans from Rome. Then imagine Americans having their one-party government of Democrats and Republicans replaced by members of ISIS.
Are you ready for that?
Do you think the government will protect you from ISIS? Mitch McConnell is not going to grab a gun and personally protect your neighborhood from ISIS. He might conscript you to grab a gun and go protect his wealthy neighborhood from ISIS. Will you obey the government and go fight ISIS? Will you be like the "zealots" and attempt to overthrow the military occupation of your "homeland?"
Or will you obey Jesus?
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Matthew 5:41 |
Summary of this section:
Romans 13:1-7
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Titus 3
3 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
1 Peter 2:13-17
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
- Anarcho-Pacifist Apologetics in Peter's First Epistle
- Listen to Audio
Being "subject" is not something Americans are very good at.
Matthew 26:52
King James Version (KJV)52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Matthew 22:15-22
New King James Version (NKJV)15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.
So they brought Him a denarius.
20 And He said to them, Whose image and inscription is this?
21 They said to Him, Caesars.
And He said to them, Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods. 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Render Unto Caesar - R.J. Rushdoony
Jesus on Paying Taxes to Caesar
During this time many Jews were locked in conflict with Roman authorities. Many wanted to establish a theocracy as an ideal Jewish state and for them any Gentile ruler over Israel was an abomination before God. Paying taxes to such a ruler effectively denied Gods sovereignty over the nation. Jesus couldnt afford to reject this position.
On the other hand, the Roman leaders were very touchy about anything that looked like resistance to their rule. They could be very tolerant of various religions and cultures, but only so long as they accepted Roman authority. If Jesus denied the validity of paying taxes, then he could be turned over to the Romans as someone encouraging rebellion (the Herodians were servants of Rome).
The Bible prohibits violent revolution against "the powers that be." (The prohibition is not based on the goodness of the powers, but the ordination of God.) "National Defense" is violent revolution against "the powers that wanna be."
Update September, 2013
Syria is in the news.
Suppose I am the "anarchist" you learned about in government school. Suppose I am outraged that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against "its own" people. I want to overthrow the government of Syria by detonating a bomb in the Syrian capitol, killing off members of the government, so they can be replaced by my friends.
The traditional interpretation of Romans 13 prohibits the violent overthrow of the government, such as I've described.
Suppose, then, that I renounce my Syrian citizenship and become an American citizen and vote for Barack Obama and the United States Congress to drop lots of bombs on Syria in retaliation for the Syrian government crossing "the red line." Is this prohibited by Romans 13? Why not?
Why is it that if I'm a Syrian citizen I am not allowed to overthrow my government by force and violence, but if I'm an American citizen I can overthrow the government of Syria, Iraq, Guatemala, Iran, or any government I want? Isn't it the case that in a "Representative Republic" such as the United States, that the actions of Congress and President Obama reflect the will of "the People?" If "We the People" are Christian, doesn't Romans 13 prohibit the United States government from representing "the will of the People" and therefore from overthrowing governments, fomenting civil wars, prosecuting military invasions or "police actions" around the world?
Obviously very few people in Washington D.C. have read Romans 13 in the last 50 years.
Paul told the Romans that Caesar did not bear the sword in vain.
No empire ever bears the sword in vain. No matter how pagan or how lawless the State is, God is controlling it for His purposes. Saddam Hussein did not bear weapons of mass destruction in vain.
God sends the sword against His enemies. Even against His own people, when His people become His enemies by their idolatrous lust or trust for the pagan empires.
Conversely, God promises not to send the sword against the Godly. Then they will "dwell in their land safely," with no archists "to make them afraid." Romans 13 speaks of "fear" as a central aspect of archist domination.
Leviticus 26
- 3 If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,
- 4 then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
- 5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing;
- you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
- 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid;
- I will rid the land of evil beasts,
- and the sword will not go through your land.
- 7 You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.
- 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight;
- your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
- 9 For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
- 10 You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.
- 11 I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.
- 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
- 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves;
- I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
- 14 But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
- 15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
- 16 I also will do this to you:
- I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart.
- And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
- 17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies.
- Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
- 18 And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
- 19 I will break the pride of your power;
- I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
- 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain;
- for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
- 21 Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.
- 22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number;
- and your highways shall be desolate.
- 23 And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me,
- 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
- 25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant;
- when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you;
- and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
- 26 When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
- 27 And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,
- 28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury;
- and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
- 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.
- 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols;
- and My soul shall abhor you.
- 31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.
- 32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.
- 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;
- your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
- 34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies land;
- then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
- 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest
- for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.
- 36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies;
- the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee;
- they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.
- 37 They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues;
- and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
- 38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
- 39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies lands;
- also in their fathers iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
- 40 But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,
- 41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies;
- if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt
- 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;
- I will remember the land.
- 43 The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them;
- they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.
- 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them;
- for I am the LORD their God.
- 45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God:
- I am the LORD.
- 46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the LORD made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
All governments -- even the most lawless and tyrannical -- are "ordained" by God. No government ever "bears the sword in vain."
Rome invaded and conquered Israel a few years before Christ was born, slaughtering thousands of Jews, and setting up a tyrannical military occupation government, putting the Jews under tribute, enslaving and plundering them at will. Taxation without representation. Far more tyrannical than the government King George III installed over the colonies, against which America's Founding Fathers staged a violent revolution.
Matthew 5:41
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)41 And if anyone forces[a] you to go one mile, go with him two.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 5:41 Roman soldiers could require people to carry loads for them.
Reformation Study Bible
5:41 if anyone forces you. The possibility of a Roman soldier coercing a person to serve as a guide or burden carrier was real. Even if compelled by force to do something for someone, one can demonstrate freedom by volunteering more than was demanded rather than begrudging the service.
Generously provided by Ligonier Ministries
Matthew Henry:
Some give this sense of it: The Jews taught that the disciples of the wise, and the students of the law, were not to be pressed, as others might, by the kings officers, to travel upon the public service; but Christ will not have his disciples to insist upon this privilege, but to comply rather than offend the government.
The IVP New Testament Commentary Series
Love Even Your Oppressors (5:41)
Here Matthew probably means submission to a Roman soldier's demands. Because tax revenues did not cover all the Roman army's needs, soldiers could requisition what they required (N. Lewis 1983:172-73; Rapske 1994:14). Romans could legally demand local inhabitants to provide forced labor if they wanted (as in Mt 27:32) and were known to abuse this privilege (for example, Apul. Metam.9.39). Yet "going the extra mile" represents not only submitting to unjust demands but actually exceeding themshowing our oppressors that we love them and take no offense, although our associates may wrongly view this love as collaboration with an enemy occupation. The truth of this passage is a life-and-death matter for many believers.
Such courageous love is not easy to come by and is easily stifled by patriotism. To take but one example that challenges my own culture, many white U.S. citizens may wish to rethink the patriotic lens through which they view the American colonies' revolt against Britain in the 1770s-did they really have grounds for secession of which Jesus would have approved if they had been his disciples? Past oppression is also easily recalled. British Christians might consider their feelings for Germans; Korean and Chinese Christians, for the Japanese. In some form the principle can apply to most national, racial and cultural groups. While early Christians responded to their persecutors with defiant love (a humility the persecutors often viewed as arrogance), many politically zealous Christians in the United States guard their rights so fiercely that they are easily given to anger (which opponents also view as arrogance).
Rather, Jesus' teaching does mean that we depend on God rather than on human weapons, although God may sovereignly raise up human weapons to fight the oppressors. If we value justice and compassion for persons rather than merely utopian idealism, we must also calculate the human cost of opposing various degrees of injustice. In first-century Palestine, few "safe" vehicles existed for nonviolent social protest against the Romans; Romans viewed most public protest as linked with revolution, and punished it accordingly. In a society like ours where Christian egalitarianism has helped shape conceptions of justice, nonviolent protest stands a much better chance of working. Neither violent revolutionaries (whose cause may be more just than their methods) nor the well-fed who complacently ignore the rest of the world's pain (and whose cause is merely personal advancement) may embrace Jesus without either distorting him or transforming themselves in the process.
Yet Jesus' own life explains the meekness he prescribes. When the time appointed by his Father arrived, Jesus allowed people to crucify him, trusting his Father's coming vindication to raise him from the dead (Mt 17:11; 20:18-19). He was too meek to cry out or bruise a reed until the time would come to bring "justice to victory" (12:19-20). Yet he proclaimed justice (12:18), openly denounced the unjust (23:13-36) and actively, even somewhat "violently," protested unrighteousness although he knew what it would cost him (21:12-13). Jesus was meek (11:29), but he was not a wimp. He called his disciples to be both harmless as doves and wise as serpents (10:16)-in short, to be ruled by the law of love (22:39). Love of neighbor not only does no harm to a neighbor but bids us place ourselves in harm's way to protect our neighbor.
IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press.
Zealots and Sicarii - The "Second Amendment" crowd of first century Israel.
- I Repudiate the Second Amendment
- The 2nd Amendment vs. Family Values
- Why I Would Give Obama My Guns If He Asks
- Pink Pistols Survey
- Immigration and Gun Control
- Guns in Churches
- A New Civil War?
- What Does the Bible Say About Gun Control
If the Bible prohibits violence against those who are in authority over you (Romans 13; 1 Peter 2; Titus 3:1), how can you justify using violence against these very same people when they are in the process of putting themselves in authority over you -- by invading your nation and conquering it?
If Christian ethics prohibits you from "standing up for your rights" against "the powers that be" (using violence), why do you think you would be permitted to "stand up for your rights" against "the powers that wanna be?" Against those same powers when they are becoming "the powers that be?"
Answer: you are not permitted to use violence against invading powers.
God sent the invaders.
God "Ordains" Evil: A collection of dozens of Biblical references to God sending "the sword" as a judgment against evil nations. This is the Old Testament background of Romans 13.
Governments are evil (sinful; violations of God's Commandments against theft, murder, enslavement, vengeance).
God "ordains" evil, sinful governments, commissioning them to violate His Commandments as a judgment against evil doers, stealing from those evil doers, depriving them of life and liberty, "serving" God as an instrument of God's vengeance.
It's not your business who the "powers" are. God puts them in place, and changes them whenever He wants.
Of course, if "the powers that be" invite your opinion of them ("voting," "referendum," "town hall," etc.) take advantage of the opportunity to speak the truth, and invite them to repent of their confiscation of property, murder, deprivation of liberty, and vengeance.
And of course, if "the powers that be" order you to sin against God, "We must obey God rather than man." (Acts 5:29). In other words, it's a sin to disobey a direct command from God, but it's not a sin to be a victim of governments that disobey direct commands of God (by stealing, murdering, kidnapping, taking vengeance, and everything else the State does routinely). Most Christian teachers fail to make this elementary distinction.
Hebrews 10:32-34
English Standard Version (ESV)32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Matthew Henry
They were afflicted in their estates, by the spoiling of their goods, by fines and forfeitures.
Every government that has ever existed has been "ordained" by God. Romans 13 is clearly describing "all governments." Paul is talking about the powers that presently existed in Paul's day. Paul isn't saying his readers should pay taxes to some "ideal state" that would someday exist. He was telling his readers to be subject to the government under which they then lived. There was nothing "ideal" about the Roman Empire. Modern translations are almost unanimous in clarifying the older "powers that be" in the KJV with language which stresses that Paul is talking about the emperors and conquerors that existed in Paul's day and currently ruled over Paul's readers.
AMP
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God [granted by His permission and sanction], and those which exist have been put in place by God.CSB
Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.CEB
Every person should place themselves under the authority of the government. There isnt any authority unless it comes from God, and the authorities that are there have been put in place by God.CJB
Everyone is to obey the governing authorities. For there is no authority that is not from God, and the existing authorities have been placed where they are by God.DLNT
Let every soul be subject to superior authorities. For there is no authority except by God. And the existing ones are established by God.ERV
All of you must obey the government rulers. Everyone who rules was given the power to rule by God. And all those who rule now were given that power by God.EHV
Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God.ESV
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.EXB
All of you must ·yield [obey; submit; be subject] to the government ·rulers [authorities]. [L Because; For] ·No one rules [L There is no authority] ·unless God has given him the power to rule [L except by/through God], and ·no one rules now without that power from God [L those that exist are appointed/established by God].GW
Every person should obey the government in power. No government would exist if it hadnt been established by God. The governments which exist have been put in place by God.GNT
Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God's permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.HCSB
Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God.ICB
All of you must obey the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule. And no one rules now without that power from God.ISV
Every person must be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by Gods permission. The existing authorities have been established by God,PHILLIPS
Every Christian ought to obey the civil authorities, for all legitimate authority is derived from Gods authority, and the existing authority is appointed under God.TLB
Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power.MEV
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are appointed by God.MOUNCE
Every person must be subject to the governing authorities because there is no authority except by Gods appointment, and those that presently exist have been instituted by God.NOG
Every person should obey the government in power. No government would exist if it hadnt been established by God. The governments which exist have been put in place by God.NABRE
Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.NASB
Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.NCB
Let everyone submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which derives from God, and whatever authorities exist have been instituted by God.NCV
All of you must yield to the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule, and no one rules now without that power from God.NET
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by Gods appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.NIRV
All of you must obey those who rule over you. There are no authorities except the ones God has chosen. Those who now rule have been chosen by God.IV
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.NKJV
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.NRSV
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.NTE
Every person must be subject to the ruling authorities. There is no authority, you see, except from God, and those that exist have been put in place by God.TPT
Every person must submit to and support the authorities over him. For there can be no authority in the universe except by Gods appointment, which means that every authority that exists has been instituted by God.RGT
Let every soul be subject to the superior authorities. For there is no authority except from God. And the existing authority is ordained by God.RSV
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.TLV
Let every person submit himself to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are put in place by God.WEB
Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.YLT
Let every soul to the higher authorities be subject, for there is no authority except from God, and the existing authorities are appointed by God,Paul is saying the same thing Peter says in 1 Peter 2. If you are a criminal, you will suffer. If you do well, you have less to fear from the Empire. It's a generalization, of course. Sometimes criminals get away. Sometimes the innocent are falsely charged. Sometimes Christians who obey all laws are persecuted because they won't confess that Caesar is Lord and Pontifex Maximus. But generally, the exhortation of Peter and Paul is the same: be subject to the empire, don't resist with violence, let your good works show before men.
Jeremiah 29:7
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
1 Timothy 2:1-2
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Jeremiah 27
27 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
"National Defense" is the attempt to avoid "bringing your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon." Or ISIS. Or China.
"National Defense" is a very expensive lie.
Matthew Henry
Nebuchadnezzar was very unjust and barbarous in invading the rights and liberties of his neighbours thus, and forcing them into a subjection to him; yet God had just and holy ends in permitting him to do so, to punish these nations for their idolatry and gross immoralities. Those that would not serve the God that made them were justly made to serve their enemies that sought to ruin them. [Jeremiah] shows them the vanity of all the hopes they fed themselves with, that they should preserve their liberties,
Those that will bend shall not break. Perhaps the dominion of the king of Babylon may bear no harder upon them than that of their own kings had done. It is often more a point of honour than true wisdom to prefer liberty before life
"Better Dead than Red!"
Old Testament "Holy Wars" are not a valid basis for "National Defense" in New Testament times. They were offensive, not defensive, and "ceremonial," not "civil." After Christ's work on the Cross, it is never necessary to offer up a city as a whole burnt offering, as in the case of Jericho and other geo-political entities which were "dedicated" to destruction.
- No "Holy Wars" in Our Day
- Holy War: Ceremonial Atonement by Destruction
- Humanist Holy War
- Holy War: National Capital Punishment
- Capital Punishment: A Ceremonial Shedding of Blood
"National Defense" really means "Government Defense," that is, not the defense and protection of the American People, but the perpetuation of the power of Washington D.C. insiders. Google "Continuity of Government"
The U.S. Defense budget is a trillion dollars. That's three thousand dollars for every man, woman, and small child in America. Suppose the government gave every American a voucher for $3,000.00 good at any gun merchant: $2,000 for weapons and ammo and $1,000 for gun training. Perhaps the training course must be passed before the weapons voucher can be redeemed. Three hundred million people have three thousand dollars worth of guns, ammo, and maybe grenades and rocket launchers each. Do you seriously think North Korea is going to invade America with three hundred million opponents? China's defense budget is only one-third the size of America's, but their population is four times larger. Will the Chinese army invade the U.S. when all Americans are armed to the teeth?
But the U.S. government would never allow Americans to be so well-armed. The U.S. government would consider well-armed Americans to be a greater threat to the U.S. government than any foreign government."National" Defense is actually Government Defense, not defense of Americans.
The United States is not the Christian's Nation.
Our real citizenship is not in this nation-state.
Our allegiance is not to this government.
The State recognizes the conflict, even if most "Christians" do not:
- A Christian cannot hold public office under the Bush-Obama regime.
- A Christian cannot even become a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Why should any Christian kill or die for an atheistic tyranny like that in Washington D.C.? Why would any educated Christian participate in "National Defense?"
Pure "Patriotism" is un-Christian
National Security, Swiss-Style by Nick Bradley
Libertarian thinkers have done a great deal to show how the Free Market could handle defense, without a "civil government." See examples here. But these suggestions involve "defense," that is, killing, and are not Christian-pacifist proposals. But even though these proposals cannot be rejected by the Deep State for being "unrealistic," "utopian" "pacifist" proposals, they are still rejected because they blaspheme the deity of the omnipotent State.
For years I opposed pacifism as "unrealistic" and "impractical."
I claimed that God imposed a moral requirement on me to "defend my family" in the event of a home invasion, and that pacifism in the face of such an attack was immoral, not just cowardly.
To discharge my moral responsibility, I voted for a system of self-defense called "The State." This was the only "realistic" view. I was "practical." Not like those crazy pacifists.
Now, as I begin my second half-century of life, I look back on a bad decision. Since I was born, the machinery of self-defense called "The United States Federal Government" has murdered, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent non-combatant non-white civilians around the world. Children, grandmothers, and breadwinners.
It started with my fear of an attack on my family by a random, anonymous home invader.
- Statistically, this event is wildly improbable. Millions of American homes have never been invaded.
- "The State" doesn't even promise to prevent such an event. Some police departments have the slogan "To Protect and to Serve." They have been sued in court for failing to protect after victims called 911. Courts have always thrown these cases out. The State has no duty to protect, and citizens have no legal expectation to be protected. So much for "defense."
- The State only claims to "deter" such an event to some extent by taking vengeance on the attacker -- after the invasion has taken place and my family is dead.
- But my family was never really in danger. Most attackers attack their own families or friends.
- All such violent criminals are then warehoused by the State in atheistic penitentiaries (where no one is helped to become "penitent") so that their dysfunctional character and bad morals can spread and multiply among the prison population.
- If my home was ever actually invaded, I would probably not be in the same room as my gun, and I would have no idea how to respond to the invader. I would never have imagined myself preaching the gospel to him, engaging him in a way that psychologically disarmed his anger or fear, and praying at the same time. I have been trained by media and academia to be a "tough guy" and blow the attacker's brains out, and this leaves me silent and dependent.
- Every year hundreds of unarmed Christians pray and preach their way out of violent attacks.
- I have never been systematically trained by church or state to know the commands and example of Christ and to "follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21) in case of a violent confrontation. I just keep voting for "the State."
From this crippled, unrealistic, skewed vision of "self-defense" comes the global disaster known as "national defense."
- There is no danger of America being invaded. No totalitarian foreign government would ever let a million of its soldiers step foot on American soil, and witness our high standard of living. The entire army would immediately defect.
- As we spend more money on defense, our standard of living goes down, and tyranny increases, thus increasing the likelihood of invasion by a regime which is not noticeably poorer than ours, but also increasing the likelihood that we wouldn't even notice if the machinery of U.S. government were taken over by China, North Korea, or the World Economic Forum. How can you prove that this transfer of power has not already quietly occurred? How do you know we haven't already been conquered by China and Joe Biden is doing their bidding?
- We spend a trillion dollars a year, but have no realistic defense against incoming nuclear-armed missiles.
- What "the State" defends is not the "homeland," but the assets of multinational corporations abroad and the jobs they create for foreigners.
- "The State" also uses the armed services to advance the agenda of atheistic Communism and Secular Humanism by imposing pro-abortion and pro-LGBT policies on weaker, indebted nations.
- Churches are often ground-zero for military attacks by the U.S. armed services. A prominent church steeple was the target in Nagasaki, which had the largest Christian population in Japan. Iraq also had the largest Christian population of any Arab nation.
- Christians in America have trillions of dollars of disposable income. "Obamacare" is God's judgment on Christians, who have failed to carry out the "works of mercy" which are supposed to characterize Christians. Christians have given liberals an excuse to step in and give glory to the State. Christians alone could eliminate all health and welfare problems -- not only for other Americans, but for the world's poor.
We could bribe half the world into abandoning Jihadism and becoming Christian. But American Christians prefer the delusion of "national defense" and comfortable entertainment in their mega-churches.
American Christians have the economic muscle to bring in "the millennium." But we waste it on "defense."
- The tentacles of "the State" -- the institution of "defense" -- now choke Christianity around the world.
- Home invasions occur ten thousand times a year. Governments kill ten thousand people every single DAY, on average.
- In order to protect myself from a statistically improbable act of violence, which could probably be defused by a courageous and prayerful Christian witness, and vainly gambling on the State to give me an extra 20 years of life, I'm willing to create an institution of "defense" to protect me from an equally improbable foreign invasion, and this institution is responsible for killing tens of millions of human beings around the world since I was born. [body count] This is so radically self-centered and barbaric that it staggers the imagination of a Christian worldview.
Conclusion: "Self-defense" is irresponsible and unChristlike. "National Defense" is unmitigated evil.
The Greek word translated "nation" is ἔθνος (ethnos), from which we get the English word "ethnic." There's nothing wrong with various "ethnic" groups, or "races," but there's nothing sacrosanct about them either. No reason why mankind can't intermarry until all races or ethnicities have been obliterated.
Is "Ethno-Nationalism" Biblical?
There's no reason why a mulatto human race can't enjoy Greek food on Monday, Mexican food on Tuesday, Chinese food on Wednesday, or whatever "cultural" cuisine might emerge in the next few centuries. "Culture" doesn't depend on melanin.
"Nation," however, is a completely different concept from "ethnicity." "Nation" is defined by a "government," or "monopoly of violence." There is only one legitimate "nation": the "holy nation" of 1 Peter 2:9. That's because there is only one legitimate Governor.
It is a SIN to Form a "Nation"Is There Such a Thing as a "Christian Nation?"
The Myth of "National Borders" - Response to Gentry
Conclusion: "Self-defense" is irresponsible and unChristlike. "National Defense" is unmitigated evil.
The more you know about war, and even (especially?) U.S. wars, the more astonishing it is that so many Christians (postmil or premil) "support the troops" and defend the wars -- and denounce pacifists. It should be the other way around. Overwhelmingly. Where is Christian scholarship? Where is Christian conscience?
What would happen if you reviewed every U.S. war and asked the following questions about each one...
We have done that work for you, in the following articles by Perry Willis...
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More review of U.S. Wars: www.WouldJesusCelebrateVeteransDay.com
One of the biggest -- yet unspoken -- arguments against pacifism is that it leads to anarchism. It's not usually a formally argued objection, but more a gut instinct. To refute this objection, we proudly say yes, pacifism leads to anarchism, and anarchism is a requirement of Biblical Law.
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If you're a pacifist who rejects violence, you must reject "civil government," because "government" is a "monopoly of violence." The foundation -- the heart and soul -- of "civil government" is hurting people and taking their stuff -- by definition. The consistent pacifist is therefore an "anarchist." This is why archists oppose pacifism.
This is one of the great ironies of human existence:
So said Randolph Bourne during World War I. We strengthen the State in order to wage war, which is waged to weaken the health of the enemy State, who we fear is strengthening itself to wage war against our State, because they see us strengthening our ability to wage war. North Korea is strengthening its ability to fire a nuke on Los Angeles because North Korea has seen what the U.S. does to nations like Iraq and Libya.
But what if the people of "our" State and the people of "their" State are converted to Christian pacifists, and both people/nations recognized their moral obligation to beat their swords into plowshares and turn all government over to Christ? Would they be wrong to do so? Is this not the goal of the "Great Commission?
Which nation is the godliest nation in the world, which will be first to "kiss the Son" (Psalm 2) and beat swords into plowshares?
According to the great philosophers and political scientists the primary function of "government" -- from John Locke (1632-1704) and James Madison (1751-1836) to today -- is to wage war, or as the Constitution puts it, "provide for the common defense." If you believe Jesus commands us to oppose war, then we are prohibited from forming "governments" to "provide for the common defense," that is, to wage war.
Without "government," Locke said we live in a "state of nature." For Hobbes, that was an insult. Not necessarily so for Locke.
Although some humanists have recognized that Locke was writing a commentary on the Bible, and the "state of nature" is the Garden of Eden, they haven't recognized that Locke was a Christian theocrat, whose constitution for Carolina excluded atheists from public office. For Locke, "consent" and "government" are near-opposites. If I am "governing" you, it's because you did not consent to enter into a voluntary contract with me. If we have a contract, we do not have "civil government." As one political writer noted, "consent" puts Locke "On The Edge of Anarchy."
Is it possible for human beings to create a "society" without "government?" Is it possible for human beings to enter into voluntary contractual arrangements for security? Aren't we in fact forced to answer this question in the affirmative if we are not permitted by Biblical Law to raise defense funds through taxation? A social arrangement without taxation is, by definition, not a "civil government."
Jesus Christ, the "Last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45), restores the redeemed to the original position the first Adam had in the garden. It was rebellious men like Cain, Lamech and Nimrod who first formed "governments," not Godly men like Seth, Noah, and Abraham. The question before us is whether we will follow the path of Cain and Nimrod, or that of Isaiah and Micah. If we follow Locke and the Bible, and beat swords into plowshares, then there is no justification for "government." Just as there is no justification for government to run grocery stores and computer assembly, so there is no justification for "national defense" funded by taxation and false weights and measures. If you personally believe in killing Muslims and commies, you have no right under Biblical Law to fund your defense systems by committing extortion and fraud against others.
In a sentence, pacifism and "consent" lead logically to "anarchy," that is, a peaceful and prosperous Christian society without politicians, bureaucrats, IRS agents, SWAT Teams, "shock and awe," and nuclear weapons.
How would society work without the coercive innovations of Cain and Nimrod? Martin Selbrede correctly notes that anarcho-capitalist libertarians have been doing their homework, and have outlined contractual arrangements for all social challenges, including security:
When we're challenged with questions like "how will you handle roads and freeways under Biblical law?" we find libertarian authors way out in front of us on these issues. Those authors thought it worth their while to work out the implications of their philosophy of limited government and start to develop compelling answers.
Reinventing Leadership
We don't need "civil government" to provide computers, tractors, eggs and milk, houses, charities, businesses which build roads, resolve disputes, or provide security. If consumers want these goods and services, capitalists rise to the challenge to provide these things at the lowest possible prices. Examples:
Domestic (Police, Courts):
Domestic infrastructure
But the service which is hardest for most people to imagine being provided by capitalists is "national defense." But capitalists have already given much thought to how they could make a profit by doing just that:
Overview:
Note: a "libertarian" society which provides for "common defense" without taxation or a statist monopoly is an "anarcho-capitalist" society, but not a Christian society. It is a matter of economic science that a free market could provide services to kill enemies, but Christ commands pacifism and love of enemy, not just anarcho-capitalism, which in the case of "privatized defense" is organized disobedience to the commands of Christ.
Jesus Christ commanded His followers to be "anarchists."
The word "anarchist" literally means "not an archist."
But what's an archist?
An "archist" is someone
who believes he has a right to
impose his will on others by force.
Jesus told His disciples not to be "archists." Christians are not to impose Christianity on the world by government force ("the sword")
In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of God.
They didn't understand that Jesus' Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world.
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But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." |
The Greek word translated "rulers" is the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist."
"Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists."
Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." They are to be "servants" instead.
The same Greek word for "servant" in Mark 10 occurs in these passages:
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Matthew 22 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and
sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding. 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own
farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then
he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. 10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. John 2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And
when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. |
As "servants," Christians are to do whatever the boss says to do (unless the boss orders the servant to disobey God [Acts 5:29]).
It is often objected that if Christian pacifists had enough votes to abolish "national defense," that America would be invaded and taken over by the Communists, the Jihadists, or the enemy-du-jour, and we would all be enslaved.
There are three problems with this objection:
That question will strike many as "whack-a-doodle." The idea that we can abolish all "government" strikes most people as crazy.
Rushdoony makes the important point that there are many forms of "government," and "civil" government is just one form.
But what if "civil" government is not a Biblical form of government? What if the Bible requires social order to be provided by other sources of government -- like family, church, charity, business, etc. -- and prohibits the formation of what we call "civil government?"
Virtually all Theonomists will agree that there is no earthly "priesthood" in our day, as there was under the Old Covenant. If the priesthood has been abolished, then the "ceremonial" laws related to the priesthood cannot be in force today. What if there are no "civil priests" in our day -- what if there are no laws which must be and can only be administered by a civil monopoly?
The Reformers believed that there was "civil government" in Israel under the Old Covenant, and that there must be "civil government" today. The Puritans quoted Greco-Roman philosophers, and read the Bible through a Greco-Roman lens. But what if kings and other "civil" offices or laws were as temporary as Levitical priests? Clearly, as Bahnsen says, some "civil laws" were not "standing laws," but were "particular directions for an individual (e.g., the order for Samuel to anoint David at a particular time and place) or positive commands for distinct incidents (e.g., God's order for Israel to exterminate certain Canaanite tribes at a certain point in history)." What if all laws which are considered "civil laws" were never "standing laws," but were all laws for particular times or short-term situations? What if laws which are considered "civil laws" were required to be administered by Levitical priests? What if "civil government" under Moses and the generation that was destroyed by God in the wilderness was a kind of "training wheels" for an emerging civilization?
What if there are no laws that a Godly society must follow that can only be administered by a "civil" monopoly, but could also be administered by any other institution: church, family, business, etc.?
This effort is a wholesale revision of Reformed Social Theory. This webpage is just a conversation-starter in that effort.
Romans 13:1 famously says, "The powers that be are ordained of God."
There are two meanings of the word "ordained."
The word "ordained" can mean "authorized," "condoned," or "commanded." The claim of this essay is that God never "ordained" "civil government" in this way.
The word "ordained" can refer to God's providential acts in history. For example, God "ordained" (predestined) the rise of "civil governments" in Genesis 14. But this does not mean that God authorized, condoned, or commanded these governments to exist or act as they are described as acting in Genesis 14.
Going back further, we can say that God providentially "ordained" the creation of Babylon in Genesis 10 and 11, and all the other empires formed by the "nations" outside Israel. Daniel 2 says that Jesus destroyed all these empires. Acts 2 (tongues at Pentecost) says that Jesus reunited the languages of Genesis 11.
In every case, the creation of these "civil governments" was a sin. It is the claim of this essay that the creation of "civil government" by human beings is always a sin. (And the verses which the Reformers and Puritans used as "proof-texts" for the current existence of "civil government" were actually describing other sources of government, such as family or the priesthood, and do not provide a continuing obligation for the formation of "civil government.")
These are examples of a "providential ordination," which in no way implies command or moral approval of the person or act that God "ordained." In fact, the Bible is replete with examples of God ordaining evil:
In the Bible, God never "ordained" "civil government," where "ordained" means "authorized," "condoned," or "commanded."
Romans 8:28 says God ordains evil for our good:
but it's still evil, and God condemns those who do what He ordained them to do, those to whom we are required to "be subject."
But they were all "ordained" to do what they did. Pilate and Assyria are part of a long chain of men and empires who violated God's moral law. The origin of "civil government" is sin.
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James Benjamin Green compiled a Harmony of the Westminster Standards, including the Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. In his exposition of Chapter XXIII on the Civil Magistrate in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Green correctly observes (concerning Romans 13:1),
"It is not meant that God directly ordained the state by saying to man, Thou shalt set up a government or organize a commonwealth."
This is the conclusion you come to if you just start reading the Bible from cover to cover.
The formation of "the State" was and is an act of rebellion against God's commandments against murder, theft, and vengeance. "The State" does what we all know is sinful if it were to be done in our families, businesses, churches, and charities.
People think of the Bible as a "religious" text, but the Bible is mostly about politics. Yes, there are whole chapters about priests and sacrifices, but there are entire books about kings and judges, and prophecies against kings and empires. The Bible is only "religious" because "the State" is a false religion. Every state before the birth of Christ claimed to be religious. Emperors claimed to be divine mediators between the gods and men. When Jesus said "Render unto Caesar," the coin He referred to proclaimed that the emperor Caesar was "Pontifex Maximus" -- High Priest. The Bible is a political clash between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of man, or as Augustine put it, the City of God and the city of man. The Bible is also a religious clash between God's religion (James 1:27) and man's worship of political power and the Messianic State.
There was no "civil government" in Israel until 1 Samuel 8, which expressly declares that the desire for a "civil" government is a rejection of God, who alone should be our King, Lawgiver, and Judge (Isaiah 33:22).
Since there was no "civil government," Moses gave no "civil law" or "judicial law." When Moses predicted that Israel would apostatize and ask for a king like the pagans (Deuteronomy 17, like much of the latter half of the book, is more like a "curse" than a mere "prophecy"), he did not legitimize their apostasy by handing down a corpus of "civil law." He gave a few commands to the king which would not be obeyed and would only serve to confirm the depth of Israel's rejection of God as King. God had His purposes for allowing this apostasy. Some kings, like David, served as a type of the coming Messiah. But it was not one of God's purposes to create a permanent "civil service" structure.
The Reformers and Puritans were mistaken to claim that God requires us today to create and maintain "civil government." They got that idea from the Greco-Roman tradition and "eisegeted" that concept onto the Bible.
The original government for human society that had God's moral approval was "Patriarchy." God created human beings in families. Families govern their members. Families create businesses and govern their employees. Family Businesses resolve disputes with other Family Businesses.
We might call this "Patriagora":
πατριά - Patria | Family + Market | Agora - ἀγορά
For centuries after the advent of the Messiah, after Rome fell and Christians began building "Western Civilization," merchants governed themselves. This was called "Lex Mercatoria," or the "law of merchants." There was no "civil government" involved or necessary.
"Government" under Moses is often called a "Theocracy." It is theoretically possible for a "Theocracy" to have a "civil government," if God requires it, but in the case of the Mosaic Theocracy, there was no "civil magistrate."
Government: Patriarchal or Political?
The category of "civil law" or "judicial law" presupposes that God commanded mankind to form "civil government," empires or "states." This is a mistaken assumption. There is only one true King (Isaiah 33:22). The Gentiles ("nations" outside Israel) had their own "kings," and these were false gods. When Israel imported the concept of "civil government" into Israel, God said this was a rejection of God as Civil Governor (1 Samuel 8).
When we hear the phrase "separation of church and state" we understand a priestly or religious institution ("church") and a "secular" institution of power and violence ("state"). Go through the Bible from cover to cover. You will never hear God say to mankind, "Form States."
The word "civil" does not occur in the Bible in any English translation except the "Amplified" version and in some editor-added headings. The term "civil magistrate" is not in the Bible. That proves nothing in itself, but it is indicative of how Bible scholars approach this subject. First, they allow humanist scholarship to define the concept of "civil magistrate," and then they look for something in the Bible that resembles this humanist concept.
So how does humanist scholarship define the term "civil magistrate?"
First, "civil government" is A Monopoly of Violence.
Conversely,
All humanist scholars agree with these definitions.
In order for there to be "standing law" in the "civil" category, there must be people we would call "civil" in contrast to those we would call "familial" or "patriarchal" ("moral law") or "priestly" ("ceremonial law").
If you're still reading, I thank you.
There really is no such thing as "judicial law," as we argue further here. Only "moral" and "ceremonial" law.
And the "ceremonial law" pointed to the work of Christ, and must not be followed as a "civil" blueprint today.
We will argue above that Old Testament "holy wars" were "ceremonial," not "judicial," and not part of the abiding "moral law."
The Old Testament "ceremonial law" is priestly law. It is generally about cleansing from sin, or making "atonement" for sin. And this generally involves the shedding of blood. The "ceremonial law" was fulfilled by Christ when He shed His blood on the Cross. In our day, no other blood has any power to atone for sins.
In the Old Covenant, before Christ shed His blood, God required the shedding of blood of both man and beast to atone for sins. Some sins required more than the shedding of the blood of a dove or lamb. They required the shedding of the blood of the perpetrator himself. Today we call these ritual acts of bloodshed capital punishment, or in the case of entire nations in the Promised Land, "holy war." Old Testament "wars" were acts of cleansing or atonement on a national scale. These acts of sacrificial or ceremonial law are not "civil" laws, and are not "standing law" in our day.
Neither capital punishment or "holy war" are required or even permitted under the New Covenant.
Thought experiment: America's Founding Fathers abolished their government. It had become a "tyranny." In hindsight, we can say they replaced the government they abolished with one that turned out to be even more tyrannical. And if they could see today's high-tax, high-immorality murderous atheistic sodomist government in Washington D.C., I fail to see how anyone could doubt that America's Founders would take up their muskets to abolish the government of the United States -- which they ostensibly created.
America's Founding Fathers are too radical for today's postmillennialists. Jacob Hornberger writes:
Our ancestors brought into existence a society in which there was no income tax or IRS, one where people could keep everything they earned and decide for themselves what to do with it. There was no Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, farm subsidies, education grants, food stamps, public housing, or FDIC. Indeed, there was no welfare state or mandatory, coercive charity. There were no drug laws. There were very few economic regulations, especially at the federal level. No minimum-wage laws. No occupational-licensure laws. No Federal Reserve. No fiat money: the official U.S. money consisted of coins made out of precious metals. No immigration controls. No public (i.e., government) schooling. No national-security state. America had a relatively small army that was nothing like the enormous military establishment and military-industrial complex that exist today. No foreign military bases. No regime-change operations, coups, foreign interventions, foreign aid, or alliances with foreign regimes. No CIA. No NSA. No official programs for mass surveillance, torture, and assassination.
That is the most remarkable political and economic achievement in history. Never in history has there existed such a society. It was the closest that people have ever come to what libertarians envision as a genuinely free society. Notwithstanding the exceptions (e.g., slavery and tariffs), the result was the freest and most prosperous nation in history and certainly among the most peaceful and harmonious for most of the time (the Civil War, the Mexican War, slavery, and the war against American Indians being notable exceptions).
Today the exceptions have become the rule.
John Adams signed a Declaration of Independence which says we have a duty -- not just a "right," but a duty -- to abolish any government that becomes a tyranny. America's Founders abolished their government. They said their government had crossed the line and had become a tyranny. If America's Founders could travel through time from their day to ours, they would be appalled at our government, then outraged, and then they would take immediate steps to abolish it. A government that confiscates two-thirds of everything we own and uses it to promote abortion and homosexuality would surely qualify as "tyranny" in the eyes of America's Founders.
Were they under a Biblical obligation in 1776 to replace the "civil government" they abolished with another "civil government?" I don't think so. They did.
What if America's Founders became convinced (as I argue here) that the entire concept of "civil government" is the creation of pagan philosophy, and having abolished their government, they decided that they would not create a new "civil government," but would simply allow the now-freed market to provide social order?
Let's imagine that America's Founders travel through time to our day and repeal the Constitution they signed and abolish the government they created. Now we're starting from scratch. Clearly, the Constitution failed. As 19th-century legal theorist Lysander Spooner put it,
But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain that it has either authorized such a [tyrannical] government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case it is unfit to exist.
James Madison called constitutions parchment barriers, and said they were insufficient to stop the encroaching spirit of power on their own. In Federalist #48, Madison wrote:
A mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments, is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.
In his seminal commentary on the Constitution, St. George Tucker, the most prominent legal mind of his time, reiterated the insufficiency of parchment chains.
All governments have a natural tendency towards an increase, and assumption of power; and the administration of the federal government, has too frequently demonstrated, that the people of America are not exempt from this vice in their constitution. We have seen that parchment chains are not sufficient to correct this unhappy propensity.
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If we carry out the "duty" set forth in the Declaration of Independence, and abolish our tyrannical government, we should not replace it with anything. A society free from "civil government" would be God's blessing on us.
In his diary on February 22, 1756, John Adams, later second President of the United States, wrote this:
Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience,
to temperance, frugality, and industry,
to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and
to piety, love and reverence towards Almighty God.
What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be.
I believe the only law book we need is the Bible. The Bible is a textbook for every subject, not just religion. In our day, that's one of the most offensive things anyone can say. Adams is advocating "Theocracy." Adams is saying we should be governed by God and His Law Book, the Bible.
Worse than that, John Adams is advocating "anarchy" (in the eyes of the Trump-Biden Regime). "Law books" are created by "governments." No "law books" = no "government." Taking the Bible as our only "law book" is taking the Creator as our only King. Adams' "utopia" or "paradise" is the absence of human lawmakers and rulers, and complete reliance on one King, one Judge, one Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22).
Benjamin Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and served in the Presidential administrations of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison -- each of whom came from a different political party. And of what party was Rush? He answered,
I have been alternately called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe all power. . . will always fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone Who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.
The Bible says God is our Lawgiver, Judge, and King (Isaiah 33:22). That's all three "branches" of government under the U.S. Constitution. But the overwhelming majority of church-going Christians would be appalled at the idea of abolishing all earthly governments and submitting to the government of Jesus Christ, the Messiah-King. The Bible says Jesus is the only legitimate Governor. Human governments are idolatry. In the Bible, human governors are false gods.
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The Bible as the "only law book?"
Nobody in government today would ever say what Adams said, not even in "hyperbole":
"We should take the Bible for our only law book."
That's too "radical." That's "extremist." It's "homophobic." Or something. Only a "domestic terrorist" or "insurrectionist" would say something like that. (The Signers of the Declaration of Independence would be highly disappointed that Trump's January 6 "insurrectionists" really had no intention at all of discharging their duty to abolish a tyrannical anti-Christian regime.)
John Quincy Adams, in an Oration on the Life and Character of Gilbert Motier de la Fayette, Delivered at the request of both Houses of the Congress of the United States, before them, in the House of Representatives at Washington, on the 31st of December, 1834, said:
The war was revolutionary. It began by the dissolution of the British Government in the Colonies; the People of which were, by that operation, left without any Government whatever.
J. Q. Adams was exaggerating. America was not "left without any Government whatever." Americans had "government" -- self-government. James Madison, "the Father of the Constitution," is reported to have said this:
We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves ... according to the Ten Commandments of God.
Americans would be well-governed not because they had laws, statutes, executive orders, regulations, and Supreme Court opinions from a "civil government," but because they had the Bible. The current Constitution has been an astonishing failure. Thomas Jefferson said we should have a new constitution every 20 years. If we were starting over, creating a new society, what kind of constitution should we choose? I would say we have learned a lesson from the last 200 years. Laissez-faire capitalism (or something pretty close to that) during the first 100 years after the Constitution made America the most prosperous and admired nation in history. The second century, seeing the rise of secular progressivism, turned our prosperity into bankruptcy and our admiration into loathing and ridicule. This 200-year experiment, combined with the economic theory of great economists like Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard, has surely proven that there is nothing human beings need in a society that cannot be provided by a free market, and requires some degree of socialism or Keynesianism.
Rushdoony authored a book called Institutes of Biblical Law [read] [buy], explaining how the Bible had been used as a law book in John Adams' day (and throughout the history of Christendom), and how the Bible could be used today. Rushdoony's "law book" is not the same kind of "law book" as those found in a law library, containing statutes and decrees of government, enforced by violent earthly enforcers. Rushdoony's book explains how to take the Bible as our only law book.
The reason we don't need a library of books on compulsion and violence is because there is no verse in the Bible that anyone can point to and say,
This verse gives me the right to
and be assured God will not hold me guilty of sin for doing such things." |
Joe Biden cannot say that. Vladimir Putin cannot say that. No human being on planet earth in our day can say that. If you take the Bible seriously, that claim has staggering implications. Can you find such a verse in the Bible that Putin can legitimately point to? If there is no such verse, "civil government" should not exist.
The reason why so many Christian scholars believe that "civil government" is legitimate is because they have drawn their views from Roman law rather than Hebrew Law (now Christian Law). They draw their views from Athens rather than Jerusalem; from "the Academy" rather than from the Scriptures.
In most cases, those who are committed to the existence of "civil government" ("the public sector," "the monopoly of violence") find "civil law" in what is actually the "ceremonial law." This is because Moses did not create a "civil government." He created a Levitical priesthood, and he also set down laws for slave-like patriarchs who were dysfunctional and were about to be destroyed in the wilderness. Neither one of these law-categories are "standing law" which we are obligated to observe today.
The Declaration of Independence (1776) says we have a duty -- not just a "right," but a duty -- to abolish any government that crosses the line and becomes a "tyranny." Those men would say the U.S. crossed that line decades ago, and should be abolished A.S.A.P.
Some Theonomists would say the Bible is a blueprint for the construction of a new Civil Government to replace the one Samuel Adams and John Hancock would abolish.
I disagree with that claim, and I'll show why below.
"The Cold War" and "the War on Terror" killed millions of innocent non-combatant civilians around the world. Tens of millions of people were crippled or left homeless. James 1:27 says that true religion takes care of widows and the fatherless. What do we say about a government that creates widows and fatherless children on such a massive scale? The U.S. is clearly the world's most evil and dangerous terrorist group. And yet you and I were taught that the U.S. government is the best in the world. And we still believe it.
And yet I resist that conclusion, and still retain the patriotism I was raised with. Jesus would not be a patriotic American. He was not raised with any such loyalty for the "United States of America." I still tend to approach the facts with emotion. We are the products of government-run schools, and it will be hard for us to hear what the Bible is actually saying.
I am against the indiscriminate mass murder of innocent civilians. How could I be a follower of Christ the Prince of Peace and not be? But that opposition to war raises red flags (!) for many gung-ho Americans. I must be some kind of "pacifist" or even a "commie."
I am on the opposite side of the political spectrum from "commie," but I accept the epithet "pacifist." I think it was becoming a Theonomist that led me to become a pacifist.
It is helpful to incorporate North's insights in his distinction between three kinds of religion (in Moses and Pharaoh):
In the Bible, the original social structure is Patriarchy: the Family. To the Family was given the command to "exercise dominion" (Genesis 1:26-28). When one "nuclear family" ("patria") engages in commerce with another "nuclear family," a market emerges: "agora." We might speak of this as "patriagora" family + market
Franz Oppenheimer, in his book The State: Its History and Development Viewed Sociologically, distinguishes between "Economic Man" and "Political Man."
These categories match North's religions:
"Escapist Religion" emerges when "economic man" seeks to evade the responsibilities of dominion and God's Law, and he retreats into "Escapist Religion."
Escapist Man is easily seduced by the claims of "Political Man" that the "civil government" created by "Political Man" will take care of "Escapist Man."
In Luke 22:25 Jesus said to His disciples, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors." According to Thayer's Greek Dictionary, "benefactor" is a
title of honour, conferred on such as had done their country service, and upon princes, equivalent to Soter, Pater Patriae.
"Pater Patriae" means "father of his country." Soter is the Greek word for "Savior."
Luke 2:11
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Soter [σωτὴρ], which is Christ the Lord.
"We're from the government. We're here to help"
is equivalent to
"We're from the government. We're here to save."
"Escapist Man" happily accepts this offer.
In practice, Luke 22:25 should read: "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called Saviors." This is the frosting on the cake of our "three branches of government" which parallel Isaiah 33:22 :
| For the LORD is our Judge, | = "Judicial Branch" |
| The LORD is our Lawgiver, | = "Legislative Branch" |
| The LORD is our King; | = "Executive Branch" |
| He will save us | = "Benefactor" = "Administrative State" |
Christians have accepted the categories of "the kings of the gentiles" -- the Emperors, Pharaohs, and Fόhrers -- operating under "natural law" -- rather than the categories of the Bible. In the Bible there is only "moral law" and "ceremonial law." There are pacifist "servants" and there are violent "archists."
To return to Deuteronomy 17/1 Samuel 8, it was not God's purpose to create a permanent "civil government" in Israel. The coming Messiah, Jesus the King, was "the Last Adam" who would destroy all kings [pdf] (1 Corinthians 15), end "power religion" (and escapist religion) and restore man to his original Edenic dominion mandate.
Paul told the Romans that Caesar did not bear the sword in vain.
No empire ever bears the sword in vain. No matter how pagan or how lawless the State is, God is controlling it for His purposes. Saddam Hussein did not bear weapons of mass destruction in vain.
God sends the sword against His enemies. Even against His own people, when His people become His enemies by their idolatrous lust for the pagan empires.
Conversely, God promises not to send the sword against the Godly. Then they will "dwell in their land safely," with no archists "to make them afraid." Romans 13 speaks of "fear" as a central aspect of archist domination.
Biblical Law says "Thou shalt not steal," and "Thou shalt not kill."
Simple commands, but profound, and universally resisted.
"Civil Government" is a unique entity in human society that claims to have a right to disobey these commandments.
But there isn't a single verse in the Bible that any human being on planet earth today can point to and rationally say "This verse assures me that if I hurt people and take their stuff, God will not be condemning, judgmental, or angry with me for doing so, but will say 'Well done thou good and faithful servant,' because I call myself (or am called by my friends) a 'Minister of Justice.'"
One of the most persuasive arguments against Theonomic anarchism are the commands to "be subject" to the State (e.g. Romans 13:1). Don't such commands prove that the State is good? Isn't the State "ordained by God?" This is the answer to many erroneous interpretations of Romans 13, which has been used to justify massive state evil.
As I became a pacifist, I realized that when Jesus said "resist not evil" He did not thereby legitimize evil. When Peter told his readers (1 Peter 2) to obey even wicked slavemasters, he was not justifying wicked slavemasters. And when Paul spoke in Romans 13 of being subject to the demonic Roman Empire, and when Jesus said "Render unto Caesar," neither was saying that Caesar was morally or legally justified in his military invasion of Israel before Christ was born, in which thousands of Jews were slaughtered, Israel's national sovereignty was replaced with an undemocratic military dictatorship, in which centurions could enslave Israelites at will for conscripted labor, and plunder them with demands for tribute. As pacifists, Christians are commanded to "be subject" to evil acts of which the perpetrators are commanded to repent. The State should repent itself out of existence.
Traditional defenders of the State argue that this line of argument promotes "anarchism," and "everybody knows" that anarchism is chaos and is wrong.
The reply to this is simple:
The Vine & Fig Tree / Anarcho-Capitalist objection to political "gods" has not been engaged and refuted.
Defenders of the "natural law" view of the State raise Romans 13, claiming that God would only require pacifism (submission and non-violence in the face of state violence) if the State is justified in its violence.
Anarcho-Capitalists respond:
Idolatry = serving a false god.
"Civil Government" is a False god.
"Civil Law" is False Law
A moral Society depends on "Moral Law," not the monopolistic shedding of blood by a "civil government."
Private Sector |
Public Sector |
| Non-Government Sector | Government Sector |
| Competitive Sector | Monopoly Sector |
| Persuasive Sector | Coercive Sector |
| Peaceful Sector | Violent Sector |
| Productive Sector | Parasite Sector |
| Servant Sector | Archist Sector |
| "Economic Man" | "Political Man" |
Suppose a civil magistrate seeks to draft a criminal code regarding sexual conduct. Should the government's laws be based on Leviticus 18, or on the latest thinking from the Harvard Law School? Tragically, many Reformers and Puritans opted for Harvard, speaking in terms of "natural law" or "the law of Nations." This means the laws of Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans.
Leviticus 18 says that the gentile nations would be judged and destroyed if they did not act Theonomically. God's Law was not just for Israel. But the gentile nations didn't always agree with God's Law. Here is some evidence that the gentiles did not agree with God's Law on sexuality:
The Biblical Source of Western Sexual Morality
This might not surprise even anti-Theonomists, but the same is true for non-Christian political thought:
Greek Mythology: The Myth of Classical Politics
Getting government laws from these people is not just a "practical" mistake, it is rebellion against the Authority of God in His inscriptured Word.
This philosophical conflict has long been described as the conflict between Jerusalem (Christianity) and Athens (the Enlightenment). That was the title of Van Til's festschrift.
Gary North explains the foundational worldview assumptions of Roman culture:
(1) The legitimacy of homosexuality, especially the seduction of teenage boys by men over age 30;
(2) warfare as a man's supremely meaningful activity;
(3) polytheism;
(4) a personal demon as a philosopher's source of correct logic;
(5) slavery as the foundation of civilization;
(6) politics as mankind's only means of attaining the good life, meaning salvation;
(7) the exclusion of women from all aspects of public religion;
(8) the legitimacy of female infanticide.
The Harvard Law School contends that all of this "natural law" thinking is light-years more advanced than the "primitive" and "oppressive" laws of God in the Bible. And too many Reformers and Puritans agreed. America's Founding Fathers often quoted Greeks and Romans, although as
Clinton Rossiter notes, even when they mentioned Rome,
The Roman example worked both ways: From the decline of the republic Americans could learn the fate of free states that succumb to luxury.
Imagine 8 Roman philosophers, like Cicero or Seneca, and the 8 levels of depravity outlined by Gary North above. America's Founders would quote Roman Senator A in opposition to Depravity #1, even though Senator A supported Depravities #2-9. They would quote Roman Philosopher B in opposition to depravity #2, even though Philosopher B supported depravities #1 and #3-9. Etc. The Founders should have stuck with the Bible. Why should Christians pay homage to the regime that fed Christians to the lions?
Defenders of "Christian Classical" education similarly focus on humanists like Cicero or Socrates, who were critical of some of the worst features of Greco-Roman civilization, which Gary North lists above. These men do not represent Greco-Roman civilization as a whole; they are often critical of it. Some of them were executed by the regime. They do not base their criticisms on Biblical Law. Why do Christians identify with "classical" culture?
From the earliest church fathers to the most recent "process philosophy," Van Til built a body of work showing the compromise of Christians with unbelieving thought, primarily in the fields we call "philosophy" and "theology." Rushdoony applied Van Til's work to the State, and Gary North has done the same in the field of economics.
This is the big question in the "Theonomy Debate":
Is Natural Revelation Sufficient to Govern Culture?
If all laws which might be categorized as "civil laws" fall into one or more of these categories, then there is no such thing as "civil law." All such laws are either "moral" or "ceremonial," or they are "ecclesiastical" or "familial," or they are "not standing laws" at all. If a "freed market" creates some institution which is neither family nor church, but is described as a "civil" institution, the observance of a non-"ceremonial" "moral" law cannot be restricted to this "civil" institution as a monopoly. Considering "capital punishment" as an example: if anyone should shed the blood of a murderer (that is, if that requirement is not a "ceremonial" requirement), then everyone should shed the blood of a murderer, and the obligation is not restricted to a "civil" monopoly.
The Patriarchal Power of "Capital Punishment" -- The Death Penalty Debate - Appendix A
Many laws which are labeled "Judicial Law" or "Civil Law" are actually priestly law, or "ceremonial law." If there is any modern applicability to these laws, they are patriarchal (family), or market laws. They are not socialist laws.
The central question being posed in this paper is HOW we fulfill prophecies about international disarmament. Do we include disarmament in our understanding of the "Great Commission" and begin agitating for disarmament the same way we agitate against abortion and child molestation? Or do we wait around for the "second coming" when Jesus will do it for us? We teach the world that God demands immediate repentance and an instant end to theft, adultery, abortion and child molestation, without a "transition" period. Why do we not teach the world that God demands an immediate end to war and the Military-Industrial Complex?
The postmillennial task is hopeless without a sovereign God. Regeneration is a gift, not an achievement. Regeneration is necessary for social order; see the verses here. See also:
1 Corinthians 2:13-14
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Matthew 13:11
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
John 3:3
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 8:43
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
John 10:26-27
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Romans 8:5-8
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
John 6:44-45
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:20
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
1 John 2:27
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Jeremiah 31:33-34
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD:
John 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Ephesians 4:21
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
1 Thessalonians 2:13
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
If the project depends on our argument and persuasion, then we should follow the advice of Marshall McLuhan and massage the message. Water it down. The unregenerate advocate of "national defense" will laugh at pacifism and anarchism; only the regenerate will receive the message of love and service and repent of "self-defense" and archism.
The problem is not that the message is unclear; pacifism is perfectly clear: Don't kill. Love your enemy.
It's that Theonomy is a threat to Autonomy.
An anthropologist from another planet, here to study the human race, specializing in the teachings and influence of Jesus Christ, would see immediately that Christ and the Bible advocate pacifism. Christ did not defend Himself against attack, and we are to follow "in His steps" (1 Peter 2:18-24). "Thou shalt not kill" and "love your enemies" are clear commands. Elizabeth Flower, of the University of Pennsylvania, writing in The
Dictionary of the History of Ideas, observes,
The perplexing issue is why such straightforward and unambiguous teaching came to be ignored, or at least taken as a "counsel of perfection" impossible of realization in this world. In any case, . . . Christians began to accommodate to the social realities of civil government, military service, taxation, etc.; and then to develop their own political power. Yet the literal directives of the Sermon [on the Mount] were time-resistant and Christian pacifism has not lacked for bold and uncompromising advocates in such early Church Fathers as Clement, Justin, and above all Origen, in sects such as the Quakers, Schwenkenfelders, and Doukhobors, and in such modern proponents as Leo Tolstoy, Jacques Maritain, and A.J. Muste. . . . Yet historical Christianity generally compromised its pacifist commitments.
"Just War Theory" is one such accommodation to "social realities." It is an attempt to escape the clear teaching of Christ and the Scripture, and avoid the Theonomic requirement to beat "swords into plowshares." The only people willing to take seriously the commands of Christ concerning peace, non-violence, non-resistance, and love of enemies, are those who are willing to ignore "social realities" and become social outcasts (James 4:4). That's why too many pacifists in our day (the infancy of the church) tend to be goof-balls like the Doukhobors. People who may be outcasts for other reasons are willing to become outcasts for being pacifists. Why not ignore one more "social reality?"
We can expect to be mocked by "the mainstream" for ignoring "social realities," but our priority is to be "approved unto God" (2 Timothy 2:15).
"War will exist until the distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warrior does today."
-- John F. KennedyThe calculated indifference of the [Clinton] administration to national defense has forced thousands of our most experienced and patriotic warriors to leave the military. We [Republicans] will once again make wearing the uniform the object of national pride.
-- Republican National Platform, 2000
Those who wore a uniform in Vietnam and Iraq are not the object of "national pride" in our day, and should not be the object of Christian pride. They should have said "No" to killing and gone to prison instead. Postmillennialism holds forth the vision of a society that repudiates war and does not take "pride" in those who love to drop bombs. In the day envisioned by the Prophets, the person who says swords should be beaten into plowshares will have more respect than the one who advocates mass murder and mass destruction in Vietnam, Iraq, or anywhere on earth. In that day, the unBiblical extremes of fringe pacifists like the Doukhobors will be held in check by the now-Theonomic/pacifist "mainstream." Even unbelievers will be held in check by "the mainstream." Because "the mainstream" will be held in check by God's Law.
Civilization depends on getting people to be more like Jesus. It cannot depend on the creation of a strong military. The military is anti-civilization.
In the premillennialist framework, the millennium unfolds instantaneously at the second coming.
For postmillennialists, "millennial" conditions are the result of an intentional and self-conscious obedience to the Great Commission: we teach the nations to obey God's Law, and this obedience is blessed (Deuteronomy 28; Leviticus 26, etc.). Those same chapters teach that if we do not disciple the nations and do not obey God's Law, anti-millennial conditions (cursing) will be the result.
Postmillennialists, with Antonio Gramsci, recognize the need for "the long march through the institutions," and even through the corporations. Postmillennialists believe "bringing in the Kingdom" will require an "agonizing" effort.
Premillennialists accuse postmillennialists of being "deistic" and "humanistic." For pre-mils, Christ directly rules the world from a throne in Jerusalem during His ten centuries-long reign. For post-mils, Christ reigns from the right hand of God in heaven, but Man ("the church"; the saints) must bring in "the millennium" on earth. Hal Lindsey represents the old pre-mill paradigm:
There used to be a group called "postmillennialists." They believed that the Christians would root out all the evil in the world, abolish godless rulers, and convert the world through ever-increasing evangelism until they brought about the Kingdom of God through their own efforts. Then after 1000 years of the institutional church reigning on earth with peace, equality and righteousness, Christ would return and time would end. These people rejected much of the Scripture as being literal and believed in the inherent goodness of man. World War I greatly disheartened this group and World War II virtually wiped out this viewpoint. No self-respecting scholar who looks at the world conditions and the accelerating decline of Christian influence today is a "postmillennialist."
Hal Lindsey, The Late, Great Planet Earth, 1970, p. 176
The idea that Christians would bring about the Kingdom of God "through their own efforts" is a real red-flag for these kind of Christians. They say it reeks of "secular humanism."
The "postmillennialists" Lindsey is talking about were liberal progressives a century ago. J. Gresham Machen (18811937) said these liberals weren't real Christians at all. They were pursuing a secular "millennium." Today's postmillennialists are conservative Bible-believing Christians and are pursuing a Theonomic, Theocratic "millennium." Today's postmillennialists are happy to see Christian influence on the rise in Africa, Asia, and South America, contrary to the claim of the blinkered Anglo-centric Hal Lindsey.
Obviously, Bible-believing pacifists do not believe that the millennium is legislated by a joint act of a secular-progressive Congress. The New Jerusalem is not the decree of an ecclesiastical council or synod, or ecumenical one-world religion. The City of God is designed by God, but man is commanded to "exercise dominion" and "make disciples," and man's obedience is orchestrated by the "Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" to create the Vine & Fig Tree world described by the Prophets.
For premillennialists, the saints wait for Jesus to do all the heavy-lifting and the millennium is handed to the saints on a silver platter.
Postmillennialists believe we are to work to create the millennium in this present age.
Philippians 2:11-13
12 work out your (ἑαυτῶν | plural) salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you ( ὑμῖν | plural, "you all") both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Millennial Parallel:
12 work out the Vine & Fig Tree world with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you all both to will and to work to bring in the Kingdom.
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In the whole Bible, the word "salvation" most often refers to entire societies of human beings -- and eventually the entire human race -- enjoying a Vine & Fig Tree world, not just one individual believer going to heaven after he dies.
The Old Testament prophets predicted a time of peace and the end of wars. Nations would be disarmed.
The Old Testament prophets were "premillennial." They looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would inaugurate the expansion of "millennial" conditions.
According to postmillennial eschatology, we are now living in the days predicted by Old Testament prophets, because Jesus is the Messiah today. Amillennialists and premillennialists both frown on the vision of "Christian Reconstructionism," which holds that it is our present duty to extend the reign of the Messiah over the earth, intentionally and self-consciously working to create "millennial" conditions. Premillennialists believe the age in which we now live will be characterized by increasing disobedience, increasing wars. Amillennialists generally agree with this dismal prospect.
According to postmillennialists, the "second coming" of Christ in our future will end time and history, inaugurating the eternal state, after which there is no more opportunity for Christian Reconstruction -- no more opportunity for the Great Commission to be obeyed, and these prophecies to be fulfilled. So they must be fulfilled in our day. But how? When?
"Theonomy" contends that we have a moral obligation to obey God's Law. Old Testament prophets foretold that the Messiah would cause obedience to God's Law. It is Theonomic obedience that creates "millennial" conditions on earth.
Therefore we ("The Church," "the Body of Christ") have a moral obligation to bring about the fulfillment of Old Testament "messianic" prophecies by promoting Theonomic obedience.
According to premillennialists, the second coming of Christ creates instant world-wide blessing, and presumably some time afterwards, Theonomic obedience, lasting for 1000 years. Old Testament prophecies are instantly fulfilled, including the prophecy about beating "swords into plowshares" (Isaiah 2, Micah 4). Even animal sacrifices resume, even though, presumably, people stop sinning. All adulterous relationships cease without even a final "goodbye." And war ends. All wars. Perhaps Jesus gets on His communicator and orders Scotty to use the transporter beam to send all swords and spears to another planet. Instant peace.
According to postmillennialists, the end of war comes as an effect or consequence of the Great Commission. As the nations are discipled and taught the Law of God, sin stops: adulterous relationships end and governments disarm. And then, as a reward for obedience, God blesses the earth (Deuteronomy 28; Leviticus 26, etc.).
If the Old Testament prophets predict (1) Theonomic obedience and (2) military disarmament, then military disarmament (pacifism) must be a requirement of Biblical Law.
But some Theonomists argue that pacifism (disarmament) is "impractical," "unrealistic," or "utopian." Some go further and claim that pacifism is a violation of Biblical Law. Postmil folks criticize pacifists who are trying to bring about the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Postmil folks have no practical road-map for getting from where we are to where Micah and Isaiah say we should be, and ultimately will be. It seems postmil folks don't want swords to be beaten into plowshares. They oppose all pacifist efforts to that end. Postmils always have a Bible verse that seems to prevent the beating of swords into plowshares.
But do these exceptions have validity? Do the favorite anti-pacifist verses actually teach what Postmils say they teach? Do they really negate all the pro-peace commands?
What is needed is careful, line-by-line analysis of Biblical Law.
Most debates over pacifism vs. "national defense" boil down to slogans and bumper-stickers being thrown at each side, without careful analysis.
A careful analysis and a lengthy debate that looks at all the relevant verses will conclude: Pacifism is not a violation of Biblical Law. War is.
In the 21st century, eschatology seems to be centering on the divide between "preterists" and "futurists."
"Preterists" (from the Latin word for "past") contend that significant prophecies were fulfilled in the past, notably at the time of Christ's coming in vengeance against the Jews who murdered him.
"Futurists" contend that these prophecies have yet to be fulfilled.
The "millennium" is a term that speaks of a time or age of maximum blessing. The word comes from the Latin for "thousand years," and that concept comes from Revelation 20.
Revelation 20:1
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.
Premillennialilsts take the number literally, and contend that the "millennium" lasts exactly ten centuries; Jesus reigns on earth for about 1/6 as long as Satan reigned on earth.
Postmillennialists tend to believe the number is symbolic of very long time, and it can last many thousands or even millions of years.
Some preterists contend that the "thousand years" symbolized the complete binding of Satan so that he could not deceive the nations and obstruct the preaching of the gospel in "the last days" of the Old Covenant, as the gospel was broadened from Israel to all the gentile nations. So for the preterist, the "thousand years" symbolized not the length of time, but the effectiveness of the binding of Satan for the project of preaching the gospel to every nation. This "binding of Satan" lasted until the destruction of the temple in AD 70, at which point he was tossed into "the Lake of Fire." So the "millennium" is past.
But preterists can still use the term "millennium" to speak of a time of maximum blessing on earth, even if they dispute the more popular interpretation of Revelation 20:1-3, viz., many centuries of time.
Another digression: I believe premillennialism has strong antinomian characteristics. Proving that claim is beyond the scope of this paper. I would like to argue that premils have an obligation to obey prophecies about the millennium, but I can't convince them of their obligation unless I convince them to abandon premillennialism and all its unBiblical baggage. For premils, the present age is one of escalating disobedience. For premils, encouraging social and global obedience, and expecting the blessing that God promises for obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Leviticus 26:3-13) goes against their "defeatist" eschatology. (Some modern premils are not committed to thinking in line with older mid-20th century dispensationalists, who discouraged all social improvement projects, and who some postmils call "pessimillennialists." These younger, modern premils are not against pursuing pro-life policies in the public square, for example, even though more efforts in that direction might risk "millennializing" the present age, before Christ returns to inaugurate "the millennium" officially.)
"The Great Commission" is a term used to describe the command in Mathew 28:18-20
Mat 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Mar 16:15-16
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Luk 24:47-48
47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 "And you are witnesses of these things.
Act 1:8
8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Act 13:46-47
46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 "For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.' "
Act 28:28
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
The Gospel was preached to every nation before Jerusalem was destroyed:
The "end of the age" Jesus spoke about in Matthew 28:20 was the "end of the Old Covenant Age." See "Last Days."
For the Jews of that day, "salvation" meant being delivered from destruction by the Romans, who declared war on Jews throughout the empire, in every city. Of course, only believing Jews (that is, Christians) believed the prophecies and avoided destruction.
For Christians (those who believed in Jesus as the Christ, and were therefore no longer "Jews") "salvation" had broader, long-term implications. It meant the transformation of the Roman Empire into a Vine & Fig Tree Global Christocracy.
Many theologians have written about "the relationship between law and gospel." As John Frame notes,
It has become increasingly common in Reformed circles, as it has long been in Lutheran circles, to say that the distinction between law and gospel is the key to sound theology, even to say that to differ with certain traditional formulations of this distinction is to deny the gospel itself.
Law and Gospel
This distinction is drawn from a misapplication of some of Paul's words. To counter this misunderstanding of :Paul, we recommend this:
What is "the Gospel?" The word literally means "good message" or "good news."
Q.: So what is the "good news?"
A.: God's Law will be obeyed.
And when God's Law is obeyed, it is because God is recognized as our only Lord, King, and God, and that means the State -- the enterprise of false gods, false lords, and false kings -- disappears.
Therefore "anarchism" is "the Gospel."
The purpose of this essay is to prove that
I was mentored by R.J. Rushdoony along with David Chilton. I substituted for Rushdoony on occasion in the weekly pulpit from which he delivered the Institutes of Biblical Law. At one time I wrote a regular column in The Chalcedon Report. Gary North published several of my articles. Greg Bahnsen tutored me one-on-one in the quixotic quest to be ordained in the OPC under the apprentice model rather than the modern seminary model. (It was his idea. At the time he only knew me as a Christian Reconstructionist and "Chalcedon Scholar." He didn't realize I had by this time become an anarcho-pacifist. I recommended that we get past this issue before moving to the classical loci of theology, he agreed, and then excommunicated me.)
"Theonomy" ("God's Law") is not a theory about "civil government." It is a theory about the whole Bible and how it should be interpreted and applied. Bahnsen's discussion of the civil magistrate is just one man's "application" (p. 315) of the Theonomic thesis to the State. Theonomy stands in opposition to ideas like "dispensationalism" which relegates God's Word before the incarnation to the status of "God's Word (Emeritus)."
It was Jon Zens who pointed me to studies on the Anabaptists by Leonard Verduin, and how the Reformers opposed Theonomy and put the Anabaptists to death.
I eventually became a pacifist. If people call you a "pacifist" because you're opposed to indiscriminate mass murder and destruction of property (General William Tecumseh Sherman: "War is hell," i.e., total disorder, burning chaos, lawlessness), then you will eventually be labeled an "anarchist." And I have come to accept that label as well.
"Vengeance Theonomists" give the impression that the central feature of Theonomy is an omnipresent Orwellian State that barbarically punishes the smallest infraction following "the judicial laws" of the Old Testament. This is a faulty representation of the views of Rushdoony. If the current federal budget is $5 trillion, a more Biblical budget would be $454,545,454.5454545 (according to my calculator, following the number in Confronting the New Critics of Christian Reconstruction [see the text at footnote 18]). Call it $500 million. This is about the size of the federal government in 1899 for today's population of 300+ million people. Every Democrat in the U.S. would say that's a call for "anarchy." So would Republicans. I would argue that's still unBiblically large.
This is a 16-part study of the key concepts in Micah's prophecy:
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Here are the key concepts as found in each verse of Micah's prophecy:
Micah 4:1-7 |
Key Concepts |
| 4 for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. | 0. Bibliolatry: God speaks, the Bible is our Authority |
| 1 But it shall come to pass, | 1: Calvinism/predestination: "It shall come to pass" |
| in the last days | 2: Preterism: "in the last days" of the Old Covenant |
| that the mountain | 3: Creationism: The "mountain" = Eden |
| the house of the LORD | The temple of the LORD: Where is it today? |
| shall be established | 2. Preterism: This happened in the past (Acts 2:36) |
| in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; |
U.S.A / U.S.S.R / U.K / N.W.O. etc. are all rival "mountains" |
| and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; |
4. Optimillennialism: "Peoples will stream; nations will come" This is currently happening. |
| and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. |
5: Theonomy: "the Law of God"
4 for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. |
| 3 And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; |
6: Theocracy / Christocracy: "He shall judge" |
| and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. |
7: Pacifism: "swords into plowshares" |
| 8: Archistlessness: no war = no state || Jesus is the One True Archist | |
| 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: |
"dwell safely" - "none afraid" |
| Family Education | Family Business |
| 10: Education: Family does the teaching of God's Law
11: Character: We teach God's Law because |
9: Patriarchy: "His Vine" - Family Property
12: Agrarianism: Vine & Fig Tree 13: Property/Communism: Compulsory sharing is theft, but sharing is Christian |
| 5 Although all people will walk every one in the name of his god, we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. |
11: Character vs. "Mass Formation Psychosis" standing alone against public lawlessness and unbelief |
| 6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: |
14. Socialism/Community: the ones "God has afflicted" |
| [7] and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. [5] for ever and ever. |
15: Eternity: "forever" The Kingdom that Christ inaugurated in "the last days" of the Old Covenant lasts forever. |
These 16 Themes are discussed in more detail here. Below is an outline with links to the key sections:
Theme 0. Bibliolatry:
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God speaks, we worship the Word
Our religion and our vision for politics is derived from the Bible.
Our politics must be derived from the Bible as God's Law-Word, not from think-tanks like Heritage or Hoover
More about Bibliolatry
Theme 1: Calvinism/predestination:
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God has predestined the rise of patriarchy and the end of the monopoly of violence. We must conform our lives to God's revealed will.
More about Calvinism/Predestination
Theme 2: Preterism: What happened
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The Kingdom was established. The "millennial" reign began. Jesus is the Christ today.
We are now in "the millennium," as that term is popularly understood (the "messianic age")
Eschatology determines duty. Duty brings eschatology.
We are morally obligated to "immanentize the eschaton."
Theme 2: Preterism: When it happened
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This "establishment" has already happened (Acts 2:36)
"in the last days" of the Old Covenant
Christ's Kingdom has already been established. It has been inaugurated.
End of demonic imperial paradigm for nations.
More about: Preterism
Theme 3: Creationism:
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The "mountain" = Eden
How does creationism determine our politics?
How does evolutionism determine the politics of our enemies?
More about: Creationism
Theme 4. Optimillennialism: "Peoples will stream; nations will come"
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This is currently happening.
Western Civilization is the effect of optimillennialism and pacifism.
All nations are being Christianized. Billions are getting new hearts, repenting, and believing.
Our political actions and quest for "security" should presuppose the regeneration of hearts and conversion of nations as the prevailing will of God, whenever His Word is proclaimed. (Hint: pulling a trigger is not proclaiming God's Word.)
More about: Optimillennialism
Theme 5: Theonomy: "the Law of God"
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Biblical Law, not "natural law."
Strict obedience to Biblical Law does not allow funding of a "garrison state" or "military-industrial complex."
More about: Theonomy
Theme 6: Theocracy / Christocracy: "He shall judge"
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Christ is judging now: see the paragraph from the covenanters
It's just as easy for Jesus the Christ to judge the U.S. and Brazil from the right hand of God in heaven as it is to judge U.S. and Brazil from a throne in Jerusalem.
How should kings react to the enthronement of the King of kings? How should the ascension of Christ to the throne of David at the right hand of the Father affect our defense policy and political actions?
Providence vs. Politics
More about: Theocracy
Theme 7: Pacifism:
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The goal or will of God is a disarmed pacifist world.
"National defense" is a sin
Hobbes is wrong: No need for a "Leviathan," "the State" or "civil government"
Who leads? are we expecting unbelieving nations to be the first to beat swords into plowshares?
More about: Pacifism
Theme 8: Archistlessness:
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No war/"national defense" = no state.
War is the basic purpose of "government."
Jesus is the One True Archist.
More about: Anarcho-Capitalism
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USA/USSR/UK/NWO etc. are all rival mountains. Daniel 2 prophesies one global mountain.
Theme 8b:
The temple of the LORD: Where is it today? It is not "the institutional church"
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What is the duty of "the institutional church" with regard to politics and "national defense?"
In the past, clergy cheered armed revolution (1776) and war (blessed the A-bomb)
Christians gathering as "churches" must promote disarmament (swords into plowshares).
More about: church
Theme: 8c
| Micah 4:4
"dwell safely" - "none afraid" |
no archists
God will not send the sword
God can't send sword if swords have been beaten into plowshares.
This has to be a conscious goal/intention of the population.
Being an armed nation -- prepared for intentional mass killing -- must be unthinkable.
More about: Peace
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| Family Education | Family Business |
| 9: Patriarchy: "His Vine"
10: Education: Family does the teaching of God's Law 11: Character: We teach God's Law because |
12: Agrarianism: Vine & Fig Tree
13: Property/Communism: Compulsory sharing is theft, but sharing is Christian |
Theme 9: Patriarchy:
The family is God's central institution.
Husband is head of family as Christ is head of church
Patriarchy vs. politics
More about: Patriarchy
Theme 10: Education:
Family does the teaching of God's Law (see Theme 5, all nations being taught God's Law)
Raise a new generation of anti-war, anti-state anarcho-pacifists
More about: Education
Theme 11: Character:
We teach God's Law because the Pentagon and the Military-Industrial Complex employs many highly-intelligent people who don't bat an eye at killing innocent children.
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It's been said that character is reflected in what a person does when nobody is looking.
Theme 11: Character vs. "Mass Formation Psychosis"
Character is also displayed when everyone is looking -- and mocking.
People of good character can stand against the crowd, even if the crowd walks in the name of a false god.
Standing alone against public lawlessness and unbelief: public schools; covid lockdowns.
No fear = no clamor for "national defense"
Leviticus 26:6 I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of [tyrants and those who seek to impose their will on others by force] and keep your enemies out of your land.
Absence of fear is a manifestation of Godly character
Matthew 10.28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Love of enemy casts out fear
More about: Character
Theme 12:
Agrarianism: Vine & Fig Tree
What is the relationship between urbanism and "national defense?"
More about: Agrarianism
Theme 13: Property/Communism:
Compulsory sharing is theft, but sharing is Christian
no borders = no war
no state = common property
More about: Property
Theme 14. Socialism/Community
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To many Americans, "socialism" means caring for the weak. "Capitalism" means greed and selfishness. Their public schools never taught them about the results of state socialism.
True religion (James 1:27) is caring for widows, not creating more widows through "national defense."
Anti-pacifists don't care for widows. They pass welfare onto the State. God will judge us, no matter how many nukes we have, "protecting" us from invasion and slavery.
True religion is gathering the ones "God has afflicted."
We cannot assume that those who have been afflicted are evil -- see the case of Job.
True religion is caring for the afflicted, driven out, weak and crippled. James 1:27, Matthew 25:31-end of chapter.
More about: Community
Theme 15: Eternity: "forever"
Micah 4:7
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The Kingdom that Christ inaugurated in "the last days" of the Old Covenant lasts forever.
Heaven on earth
More about: Eternity
Articles by Laurence M. Vance on Christianity and War @ LewRockwell.com
1. Introduction
2. The Biblical Case for Pacifism
3. Alleged Biblical Excuses for not Being a Pacifist - Debunked
4. Why Pacifism Leads to Anarchism
5. 16 Key Concepts in Micah's Vine & Fig Tree worldview.
1. Introduction
2. The Biblical Case for Pacifism
- We are commanded to be slaves of whichever government God "ordains." [details]
- No government ever bears the sword "in vain."
- God Ordains Evil
- God "ordains" invading governments, and we are commanded to be subject to them. [details]
- God has had much practice in sending evil governments against people who forget Him. See the Old Testament. [details]
- Rather than "importing" enslaving invaders, God sometimes "exports" the objects of His wrath to an evil government, taking them captive and shipping them off to a foreign land, rather than bringing an evil government to place over the objects of His wrath. [details]
- Old Testament "Holy Wars" are not a valid basis for "National Defense" in our day [details]
- "National Defense" in 2022 is Defense of Politicians, Not "The People." [details]
- "Self-Defense and "National Defense" are both forbidden [details]
- There is no such thing as a "nation" to "defend." [details]
4. Why Pacifism Leads to Anarchism
This is a major objection to pacifism in the minds of many post-mils. But this is actually the best argument for pacifism. Anarcho-pacifism is the millennium. Anarcho-pacifism is "salvation." Anarcho-pacifism is the Gospel.
5. 16 Key Concepts in Micah's Vine & Fig Tree worldview (Micah 4:1-7)
0. The Bible vs. the State
Miscellaneous
