VERITAS
"War What Is It Good For?"
By Craig Branch
November - December 2006
War! What is it
good for?—Absolutely
nothing!
War is something that I despise,
for it means destruction of innocent lives,
for it means tears in thousands of mothers’ eyes
When their sons go out to fight and give their lives
War! What is it good for?—Absolutely nothing! (1)
So begins the number
one hit written in 1969, and one of the most popular protest
songs
ever recorded. It reflected
the mounting frustration, cynicism, and anger over the Vietnam
conflict (war). Unfortunately, perhaps tragically, we are
experiencing a similar growing frustration over the “War
on Terror” in Iraq. Also, unfortunately, the nation’s
diminishing will to fight and the questioning of the government’s
policy in Iraq, is (as it was then) significantly influenced
by internal politics. I was in college during the Vietnam
era and served in the army on the cold war side in Germany.
I remember well the angry protests from the “peaceniks.” I
recently read the surprising results of three Pew Research
Center national polls which observe that Americans between
the ages of 18 and 29 supported the war in Iraq by 3 to 1
(69%). Yet when the Pew poll surveyed those 65 and older,
only 51% supported the war. This disparity reflects the lingering
effects of the Vietnam memory. (2)
This issue of Areopagus has to do with the Christian or
biblical view of war, which is always timely as we consider
the history (and future) of mankind. The role of government
and the will of the people are inevitably bound together.
Oftentimes, Christians miss this connection. We believe that
as our nation ponders the future course of the war in Iraq
and war on terror generally, Christians need to have a biblical
perspective on the subject of war.
War and the Christian
Ideas, philosophies, and values all have consequences. Throughout
our 2000 year history, Christians have had a significant
impact and influence on both the philosophy and conduct of
warfare. Now that we are in the nuclear age where the consequences
of war are of huge magnitude, we cannot go to the sidelines
and simply let others make policy on matters of life and
death. The Christian voice should be heard.
But, the Christian needs to know
what his “voice” should
be. Do you understand the issues? Can one be a genuine follower
of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and serve in a country’s
armed forces and fight in war? What should be the Christian’s
response to the suffering, death, and destruction inflicted
by war? Is war moral, immoral, or amoral? Are all wars the
same morally? When can Christians participate in war? When
should they abstain from participation or protest against
a war?
What about Christians fighting against, even killing, other
Christians? What guidance, if any, can we gain in Scripture?
Does the Bible contradict itself when Jesus says “turn
the other cheek…love your neighbor…love your
enemies…bless those who persecute you” and
when he says ”Do not think that I have come to bring
peace, but a sword,” and “let the one who has
no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” How about when
Paul wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on
you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, never avenge
yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is
written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says
the Lord” and then immediately after he wrote, “Live
peaceably with all men,” telling us that the government
is a servant of God and bears His sword “as an avenger
who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom.
13:1-4). How do we reconcile Jesus’ words, “My
kingdom is not of this world,” and the familiar refrain
from the “Lord’s Prayer” in which He
says, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.”?
These are the central questions
that confront God’s
people as we contemplate the topic of war. But there are
others. The Old Testament has many examples of God leading
His people into battle against evil pagan nations. These
might seem morally justifiable. But, how do we understand
His ordering the total extermination of entire populations,
including women and children, in some of these wars?
Many Americans and Christians
strongly condemn the Muslim doctrine of “lesser jihad,” or “holy
war,” as
it is understood and carried out by a significant number
of Muslims today. For example, Ahmad Sakr, leader of the
Foundation for Muslim Knowledge writes about jihad as being “fighting
to defend one’s life, land, and religion…Jihad
is not a defensive war only, but a war against any unjust
régime.” (3) Lebanese scholar,
Mahmoud Ayoub, professor of Islamic studies at Temple University
writes
concerning
lesser jihad that the Muslim’s justification for fighting
is to “protect those who are weak, exposed, and oppressed…to
make the world of Allah uppermost,” which means “to
insure His will as revealed in the Quran, exemplified in
the life of the Prophet Muhammad.” (4)
So what does the Quran
and Muhammad’s activities say
regarding the conduct of holy war? Speaking of “those
who suppress the faith [Islam]”, the Quran commands, “Fight
in the cause of God those who fight you but do not transgress
limits…and slay them wherever you catch them” (Sura
9:120-121). Also, “fight them on until there is no
more tumult or oppression and there prevail justice and faith
in God” (Sura 9:123). Other overt Quranic passages,
which command Muslims to not just defend but to route out,
kill, and terrorize unbelievers who oppress the spread and
rule of Islam, are Sura 9:5, 14, 29, 52; 5:17,33; 4:10, 102;
47:4; 61:4; 2:244.
Christians rightly criticize
Muslim belief in jihad (holy war), but Muslims denounce
their criticism
as hypocrisy.
They point to numerous examples in the Old Testament of
God leading His chosen nation of Israel into battle against
pagan
nations (I Chron. 5:22; Jud. 7-8; Num. 31; Ex. 23; etc),
which sometimes included the intentional extermination
of noncombatants, including children (Deut. 7:2, 16; Josh.
6:21-23;
10:40; I Sam. 15:3; Gen. 19:24-25). In addition, many Muslims
(and others) point out that the Crusades of eleventh and
twelfth centuries, led by the Roman government and medieval
Church is another example of holy war undertaken by Christians. So I hope you are beginning to
understand the seriousness and complexity of the question “What is the Christian/Biblical
view of war?” This issue of Areopagus Journal will
explore these questions and provide a biblical position on
war.
In This Issue
Historically,
Christians and the Church have justified, rationalized,
restrained, and
promoted various views on warfare
and its conduct. The expressed views range from the holy
war Crusades on one side to pure pacifism on the other. The
two most widely held views are the “just war” doctrine
and principled pacifism. Each of these two views has some
variations within them, but this journal will explore the
two most widely held views and examine their biblical support.
The first article, “War and Peace and Political Wisdom:
Just War Moral Reasoning Reconsidered” is written by
J. Daryl Charles, professor at Union University. Charles
builds a case for the “just-war” perspective
stating that it “is not first and foremost about military
tactical strategy, nor is it about justifying warfare that
has been undertaken,” but it “is a morally guided
approach to statecraft that views ‘peace’ as
a result of just relationships.” I encourage the reader
to make sure the footnotes to Charles’ article are
read and studied as they provide significant elaboration
on his thesis.
Second, ARC’s Steve Cowan contributes a short survey
of “War in the Old Testament.” He shows that
the ancient Israelites believed in just war doctrine despite
appearances to the contrary. Our third article, “Does
the Bible Teach Pacifism?” is by Todd Wilson, pastor
of Grace Covenant Church. Wilson begins by presenting the
passages and arguments used by many pacifists such as Anabaptists,
Mennonites, Amish, and Quakers. He follows with a critical
response to those interpretations. Wilson concludes that
while disagreeing with the pacifist interpretations, he does “agree
with their spirit” of aversion to war.
For additional study, I recommend the book, War: Four Christian
Views, edited by Robert Clouse, published by IVP (1981).
It presents a point/counter-point approach and covers the
two main perspectives, but adds two additional modified views
on those two perspectives.
Recently, I saw two humorous
examples that summarize the two main positions on war.
One was a recent edition of the
satirical comic strip, Non Sequitur. In the comic strip,
one figure asks another to clear up his confusion about current
religious wars. The other responds, “OK, one group
of followers willingly sacrifices themselves to blow up people
who follow a different religion…The other group of
followers, who are willing to commit all their resources
to launching overwhelming military force, strikes in retaliation…[and
a third group is] willing to blow up the entire planet.” The
first figure responds, “And why are they doing these
things to each other?” He answers, “To prove
which one is the true religion of peace.”
I saw the second example as I
was driving the other day. I pulled up behind a car with
a bumper sticker that read, “Except
for ending slavery, fascism, Nazism, and communism [almost],
war has never solved anything!”
Christian Jihad?
Early
in this article, I raised a number of examples demonstrating
the complexities of
the question of how or whether war is
compatible with the Christian life. I believe that the articles
we’ve included adequately respond to those issues.
But one issue that is not answered directly is the alleged
congruency of Islamic jihad and God’s “holy war” in
some Old Testament accounts. These accounts refer to God’s
directing His nation in defensive and offensive warfare against
other nations. While there are certainly some similarities
between Jihad and the “just war” doctrine, as
it is understood by most Christians, there are also radical
differences.
The Bible’s truths are revealed progressively, eschatologically,
in time-space-history. He manifests His nature in the outworking
of human history. We see fallen man motivated by sin to selfishly
dominate and subdue the earth, and we see God’s nature
of righteousness, justice, holiness, law, mercy, love and
grace manifested in punishment, restraint, patience, and
redemptive acts.
He began with the elect holy
nation (Israel) but reveals that, even then the truly elect
(the Church) was a spiritual
body. His Old Testament revelation foreshadowed the ultimate
manifestation of Jesus and His holy nation—His Church
(I Pet 2:4-10).
The holy nation today is spiritual
with physical implications but it is not a physical, fleshly
theocracy like Islam. Christianity
holds to a distinction between Church and State. There is
no such distinction in true Islam. The weapons of our spiritual
kingdom’s warfare are not physical but spiritual for
the “tearing down of strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4-5).
Our battle is to bring the life-saving gospel to the nations
in both word and charitable deeds. Orthodox Islam does seek
to convert first by persuasion and then by force. But nevertheless,
in Islam, force is mandated if persuasion is not effective.
The Christian does not see forced conversion as an option.
Nevertheless, the majority Christian
view is that the state has the right and obligation to
administer justice against
heinous crimes – just war, capital punishment, imprisonment – within
Biblical parameters, and that the Christian may participate
morally in this function of the state. This just war tradition
will be explained and defended in this issue of Areopagus
Journal.
One error is to evaluate God’s war actions in the
Old Testament by our fallen human dispositions. Compared
to the purity, love, righteousness, mercy, and patience of
God, humankind’s rebellion and its damaging effects
of sin are so heinous that no one deserves to live. In light
of this, we can see that God’s order to annihilate
all Canaanites served both as justice on their sins and as
a protection of Israel and her calling to bring in our Messiah.
Comparatively, this is far less significant than God’s
direct annihilation of the entire human race but for a few
(Gen. 9). These actions were both deserved and yet served
as a gracious “wake-up call” to all mankind.
It is a picture of the coming final judgment. Though severe,
the destruction of the Canaanites made possible the salvation
of the world.
War is an unfortunate reality
in this age. But Christians know that there is a final
battle that the Lord himself will
bring. Then all weapons will be turned into plowshares and
war will be no more (Is. 2:1-4; 65:17-25; Rev. 21 & 22).
Craig
Branch is director
of the Apologetics Resource Center, Birmingham, Alabama. NOTES
1 “War,” lyrics by
Edwin Star.
2 Anne Scott Tyson, “Antiwar views
split among generations gap,” Christian
Science Monitor (Nov. 6, 2002).
3 Ahmad Sakr, Understanding Islam and Muslims (Lombard,
IL: Foundation for Islamic
Knowledge, 1990), 17-18.
4 Mahmoud Ayoub, Islam Faith and Practice (Markham, Ontario:
Open Press, 1989),
196-197.
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