A Theology of War by Malcolm Herbert
Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace. ~Charles Sumner
We see much war in the OT. In the NT has God just lightened up? No – it’s the same God – Jesus says a bruised reed He will not break, gentle and mild, but look forward to Revelation where all His enemies are under His feet. He will return as a conquering King. But how do they relate to one another?
Part 1: War in the Old Testament:
OT Theocracy, God was the nation’s government. We’re going to look at what is possibly one of the hardest stories to read in the Bible – the conquest of Canaan.
There are many wars spoken of in Scripture – many of which were simply man’s doing, but here we have a direct instruction from God in Numbers 33:52:
Nu 33:51 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, Nu 33:52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Nu 33:53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
The first battle was against the Midianites (Numbers 31). The battles that Joshua and the Israelites fought were bloody and terrible in so many ways. But we need to remember that the conquest of Canaan was situation specific. Numbers 33:52 outlines a specific instruction to take the land and drive out the inhabitants. But this is not an eternal permission granted to believers to wage war against “God’s enemies”. Context is essential here. The Canaanites (of which the Midianites were a part) had come under God’s judgement due to their practices of sin, especially child sacrifice. The Midianites had led Israel astray into all sorts of occult sexual practices and therefore God’s judgement came on the Midianites. Archaelogists have found charred remains of tens of thousands of children in Carthage which is where the Canaanite Phoenicians lived. Proof of the extent of child sacrifice. But God’s judgement on them was not a knee jerk reaction at all. The Canaanites’ sin was left for 400 years to reach full measure before the Israelites were to take the land (Genesis 15:16). The Canaanites were not innocent. God waited 400 years before they were destroyed. They had forfeited their right to the land. God was still merciful to those who turned to Him – Rahab.
The conquest of Canaan is troubling to some more sensitive readers, but it needs to be seen for what it was. We can’t ignore its horror, but we can evaluate it ethically.
- It was a limited event and situation specific.
- It was God’s act of judgement and punishment on a morally degraded society. This doesn’t make it easier to accept from a human point of view but does bring context.
- God promised that the same may happen to Israel if they left Him, and it did.
- The conquest of Canaan anticipated the final judgement. Like Sodom|Gomorrah and the Flood, these happenings foreshadow the final judgement that is still to come, as a lesson to everyone.
But here’s the thing – the actual act of violence is never described in Scripture as being sacred or holy. This is important. A holy war would harness the best quality of God and marry it to one of the ugliest acts of human nature. Even though King David fought many wars on God’s side, he was not allowed to build the Temple because there was so much blood on his hands (1 Chron 28:3). Violence is regarded in the Bible as an inherently evil symptom of the corruption of a fallen world (Genesis 6:11). We cannot and should not glorify war in any way.
Now we start looking towards the new covenant to a future without violence: Isaiah 53:9 looks forward to the Lord’s anointed and see what it says:
Isa 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah looks forward to Jesus and says that He never committed violence. In this way the OT looks to the NT and the final restoration and redemption of the whole of life and creation in Jesus Christ.
Part 2 – The New Testament
- Our Spiritual walk. When we look at Jesus and His followers we find a systematic rejection of religious violence. The key to this was that Jesus’ Kingdom (or Commonwealth) would be spiritual and not physical. Jesus opposed violence for spiritual purposes (Matt 26:52).
Mt 26:52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Again as Jesus went to the cross, He said to Pilate at His trial:
Jn 18:36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
This was confirmed by Paul and Peter – see Romans 12:17-21.
Ro 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.Ro 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Ro 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Ro 12:20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Ro 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Also Titus 3:1-2; 1 Peter 2:20-24. So spiritually we are not to take up arms. We are to suffer. This puts to death any thought of holy war in our day and age.
- Our Daily Walk. But now let’s look at civil society – our daily walk. At the same the Apostles also affirmed that the civil authorities would need to use force to keep the peace and this role must be respected (Rom 13:3-5). Whether they are religious or pagan.
Ro 13:3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. Ro 13:4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.
It is therefore not a religious act to go to war or maintain justice – it is simply public duty.
- Was Jesus a pacifist? No. When He said “turn the other cheek” He was talking in terms of persecution, personal insults etc.
But Jesus said this when he sent them out:
Lk 22:36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.
You see total pacifism was popular in early days of Christianity, but then a Christian would become a judge, or a policeman, or a Christian ruler dealing with an invasion – what then?
Mt 23:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.
Jesus was speaking into a New Testament context to the Pharisees who have neglected to maintain justice.
Part 3. Is war justifiable today?
Some principles:
Separation of church and state very NB (No longer a Theocracy).
Mk 12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
The invention of “Christendom” – a mixture of church and state, along with the centuries long struggle against Islam, led to aberrant war theology that regarded war against pagans as “holy” and it was actually just sin. (The Crusades). Thankfully this view of warfare has been denounced as incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus. Jesus died for the lost, and here the church was killing them in supposed holy war.
Responsibility of the State – governs, maintains law and order, organises and regulates life (internal), protects citizens of that state (external). Christians in government?
Responsibility of the Church – preaches the Gospel, works for justice, speaks prophetically, is the conscience of society. E.g. we speak into our culture about the sanctity of life (abortion, which is a political issue regulated by law) but we do not put our church’s support behind a political candidate.
So the question is this. Can a war be just? Yes, and here’s why…
JUST WAR THEORY:
Began with Cicero 105BC and developed by Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Calvin and many other scholars.
(Jus ad bellum) – going to war.
- Legitimate Authority
- Just Cause
- Correct intention
- Proportionality of the use of force
- Last Resort
- Reasonable hope of success
Now let’s look at a current war and adjudicate it on these grounds. The Iraq War that started in 2003. The millennium had dawned bright and clear but by September of 2001 the Cold War was gone but had been replaced by a Holy War with what happened in New York on 9/11. A terrible act of terrorism. The problem was that the response was seen in some very high circles as a religious war. A relative of pres Bush said that “the Pres sees the war on terror as a religious war. His view of it is that they are trying to kill Christians. And we the Christians will strike back with more force and more ferocity than they will ever know”.
We the Christians? Is there such a thing as a Christian nation? America, owning 95% of worldwide porn sites? South Africa under apartheid, when we oppressed 90% of the country’s population? I don’t think so. The Kingdom of God is present in every nation, but there is no such thing as a Christian nation.
EVALUATION OF THE IRAQ WAR:
Legitimate Authority – pass
Just cause – fail. No WMD and no link to Al Queda found.
On May 1, 2005 the “Downing Street memo” was published in The Sunday Times. It contained an overview of a secret July 23, 2002 meeting among British government, Ministry of Defence, and British intelligence figures who discussed the build-up to the Iraq war — including direct references to classified U.S. policy of the time. The memo stated, “Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”[95]
Correct intention – fail
Proportionalty to the use of force – shock and awe? Who knows?
Last resort – fail. This was an initiated act of aggression.
Reasonable hope of success – pass
Now this does not mean that we do nothing when our people are killed by terrorists. A strategy against terrorism should be to track, find and dismantle them by force. But that does not require a doctrine of pre-emption and attacking a nation as a show of force to the world.
Evaluate 9/11 (Al-Quaeda):
Legitimate Authority – FAIL
Just cause – FAIL
Correct intention – FAIL
Proportionalty to the use of force –Fail
Last resort – FAIL
Reasonable hope of success – FAIL
Even though we denounce the act – there is a cry behind it, often lost in the noise of gunfire – a desperate people who have possibly been marginalised. We need to “fight” for justice.
The best Theology on war is an avoidance of war. We need to work for the sanctity of life. It’s very dangerous to justify a war on religious grounds e.g. the Crusades.
The danger when a superpower becomes mature is that they can become Imperialist. If this happens they become a servant to wealth and global domination.
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living. ~Omar Bradley
PART 4: The War we are in:
What about us today?
The wars that we see in real life are a manifestation of the spiritual war that has been raging as long as sin has existed. It’s very important that we understand the kind of warfare that we are engaged in today. Let’s contrast Joshua with Acts:
- After leading his people out of slavery, Moses went to Heaven and Joshua took the physical battle forward. After doing the same (freeing His people at the Cross), Jesus ascended to His Throne, and the Apostles took the spiritual battle forward.
- Joshua fought with the sword, the apostles with the sword of the Spirit.
- There was trouble outside the camp – Canaanites and Rome|Jewish authorities.
- Both are stories of conquest, but here’s the key difference: Joshua’s war ended. The war that we are in will only end when Jesus returns. In the mean time the body count is rising with dead souls on a daily basis. People dying without Jesus. He is busy redeeming all of creation. Our battle cry is seek first His Kingdom. He has called us not to kill our enemy, but to die for them, so that they may be won for Jesus. Only once did God kill an innocent man – that was Jesus.
As we worship tonight, we worship on the side of victory over sin and death. Our battle cry is Jesus, His banner over us is Love. And He will return as a conquering King over the powers of darkness:
Rev 7:16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. Rev 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
For Lyndi Fourie
Forgive our deafness
Our ears are modulated
To hear voices of the dead
Counselling us from your tomb
We leap at your still commands
Hands that unleashed thunder on you
Nine summers ago
This summer tremble before your throne
In the twilight of our age
The angry soldier breezed from the bush
Tried in vain to hate
Succeeded in hurting
Today the guerrilla is foraging in the bush
For herbs
To heal hearts swollen with grief
Show us
How to muffle the roars of our rage
How to dam the rivers of our tears
How to share laughter and land
Land and laughter
Forgive our idiocy
Our souls are tuned
To heed prophecy
By the graveside of the prophet
Whose blood we spilt
Whose teachings we ridiculed
While he walked among us
Letlapa Mphahlele – written years after the St James church massacre by the commander of that terrorist attack.
« Stay connected! | Home | Human Trafficking Red Alert…by Malcolm Herbert »
Leave a Comment