Following Jesus does not equal pacifism

Jesus was no pacifist

Date published: 9/3/2010

This is in response to John Whitehead's Aug. 15 op-ed about President Obama's faith and Jesus' teaching ["Obama belies the teaching 'blessed are the peacemakers'"].

Mr. Whitehead should read all of the Bible instead of separating the words of Jesus from the larger narrative of Scripture.

Jesus claimed to be God the Son, a person of the Godhead, or Trinity. The historical Christian understanding of this reality carries the implication that Jesus was in perfect agreement with His Father when He gave orders for His old covenant people (Israel) to go to war, and instituted stoning as a just punishment for particular crimes, and revealed to the Apostle Paul that it pleases Him for civil governments to carry out the death penalty.

Jesus taught nothing in contradiction to the Old Testament or the Apostles. He came to fulfill, not abolish. Jesus did not teach non-violence in all aspects of life. He has not told us not to defend our families when they are attacked, or our borders when they are threatened. He has told us as His church to, as much as it depends on us, live at peace with all people, and to be peacemakers between men and God by proclaiming the gospel that brings the two together.

To apply the principles given in the Sermon on the Mount (blessed are the peacemakers) to the civil realm is not altogether to honor Jesus' words. He was not speaking to governments, but to His followers.

Interestingly, following the verse where Jesus teaches peacemaking (Matthew 5:9), He blesses those who choose to suffer rather than make peace when making peace violates His law of righteousness.

There is plenty in the Scriptures for our government to chew on in regard to policy making. And certainly it should adopt the values of Jesus. But following Jesus does not equal pacifism.

For those who don't believe that, meditate on Revelation 6 describing "the wrath of the Lamb" and "consider both the kindness and severity of God."

Brent Martin

Stafford



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Date published: 9/3/2010


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Hawking has changed his mind! (posted by soldat65 , Sep. 4, 2010 9:33 am)   
The universes created themselves! He no longer believes in a creator! Now there is a man who relies on proof positive. Personally, I'd rather have hime set up worm holes for my use than pontificate. Of course "no creator" means all religions are b.s. case closed..the pinkphantom of the opera wins the war of the words.

Jesus's Desciples (posted by JohnHH3 , Sep. 4, 2010 8:45 am)   
The desciples were men who spent time with Jesus. After Jesus's resurrection, they too allowed themselves to be martyred for their faith in God and in Jesus. Would you allow someone to kill you for your beliefs, if you knew your beliefs were false?

Pensfan...I don't believe there's an afterlife. (posted by pinkphantom , Sep. 3, 2010 3:57 pm)   
Millions of people still believe in psychics, the devil, witches casting spells that work, vodoo and vampires. Believing in something does not make it so. Do you discount the fossil record, the distribution of DNA patterns through all of earth's life? What about plate techtonics? The book"Your Inner Fish" explains evolution beautifully without being complex. It's a great start to learning the facts and not holding onto mere beliefs. Our purpose is to be nice to others. We don't need old myths to know that.

No Pensfan, a religious historian only will say that. (posted by pinkphantom , Sep. 3, 2010 3:51 pm)   
If you do the research (from credible sources) you will discover that the Jesus story is built on the mythology of earlier Man-Savior gods whose stories are very similar to the gospels of the New T. The story of Jesus is derived from these annonymous sources. That really is my biggest gripe w/ religion--presenting mythology as factual. We have religious BELIEFS, not religious facts. There's a good reason for that!

TIT-FOR-TAT (posted by MGWork , Sep. 3, 2010 3:37 pm)   
"The only reason I'm talking in the first place is to improve the silence." Much can be said of this conversation, dialogue and exchange of perceptions. We can't possibly KNOW anything, one way or another, unless we start talking to one another, whether anyone is willing to LISTEN or not. While the debate lingers, I still don't have a clue what came first; the chicken or the egg. Whether we believe in anything or not is counted one at a time, not by the number who show up at every religous sacrafice. TRUTH?

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