Christians, War and Military Service in the Age of Muslim Terrorism, Military and War - How Did the Early Church Fathers View war and the military, Join the Roman Army, Emperor Constantine and Christians, early christianity war conflict, military second century, Christians Church, apocalypse, Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount

Muslim Terrorism and Christian Pacifism

November 15th, 2015

Yet another random terrorist attack against innocent people.
Another terrorist attack in Paris, France.
Civilians at a rock concert and normal people eating in a restuarant. Thankfully, these terrorists were unable to gain access into the soccer match - we would have suffered FAR more lives lost.
"We?" Yes, when Muslim terrorists attack random western targets, they are attacking ALL of us.

When I was in the third grade I had a bully that would come after me EVERY day when we got off the bus. He was in the 5th or 6th grade and had failed at least one grade. He was smaller than me and I knew how to fight, but I was scared of him. Everyday he would shove me in the back, then start swinging at me. He never hit me more than just hitting my upraised fists and I did block some of his punches. I cannot remember swinging back. I may have, but I did not want to fight this guy.

He knew I was scared. He knew I did not want to fight and he was feeling BIG by taunting me. I also think if he had hit me it would have been bad for him. I had a really bad temper and if he had hit me I probably would have thrown myself at him and probably would have whipped him. BUT...I was scared and he knew it. He knew it and he took advantage of me.

We are seeing a rise in Christian pacifism in the USA. This always happens during and after we have experienced armed conflict. The Iraq War did not go well for the USA and now we have FAR more Christians speaking strongly against armed conflict. I do not remember guys like Greg Boyd offering so much comment immediately after 9-11. Perhaps he did, but I certainly did not hear about it.

Greg Boyd has a Ph.D. in Theology - he needs to stick to theology. When he tries Christian history he gets the details all messed up. You can listen to his presentation against Constantine and Christian military support.

Boyds comments on the early church are wrong in many details. I would suggest that you read my pages on Constantine to keep your history straight.
Begin with the Donatist and Arian controversies.

"Christians, War and Military Service: From the New Testament to Emperor Constantine" lays out the evidence from both the New Testament and the Early Christian Church. The evidence clearly shows that the Christian movement has NEVER been a pacifist one. I am offering this ebook right now for FREE and I urge you to download it, read it and pass the link around to your friends.

I am NOT arguing for Christians to be war-mongers.
This is always the charge against someone who disagrees with Christian pacifism.
I am NOT arguing for the USA to send 250,000 troops to the Middle East.
I am NOT arguing that we should carpet bomb Syria...or Iran...or any other nation.

I AM arguing against those who want to distort the NT and the evidence from Early Christianity to say that Christians are to be strict pacifists. I AM arguing against the view that a Christian CANNOT serve in the military and continue to be a legitimate follower of Jesus.

If you ask me difficult questions regarding how we fight against Islamic fundamentalists I might not have great answers. I am NOT saying I know the right answers, but we have been fed a constant message that we cannot condemn ALL Muslims. I do not know any serious thinker who thinks this.

France is likely to get serious now.
This is a good thing. If President Obama's feckless foreign policy has done anything positive it MIGHT be that European nations know the USA is NOT going to get too involved and they MUST step up and take on this fight.

The only way to deal with a bully is to stand up and fight. If you refuse to defend yourself you will become their whipping boy. The difference between the bully I faced in the third grade and ISIS or ISIL is that we now have more than 300 deaths in November 2015 at the hands of these terrorists.

Peace talks will not stop them.
Tolerance will not stop them.
Pacifism is not going to stop them.

Questions, Comments or Criticisms:
You can send an email to directly to me Al Baker, CH101.
CH101 retains the right to edit and post comments/questions unless you specifically ask that your comments NOT be posted. Comments that are personal or private are never posted...only questions about Church History, the Bible, etc.