JESUS, DID YOU MEAN THAT SOMETIMES YOU WANT YOUR DISCIPLES TO KILL THEIR ENEMIES?
JESUS, DID YOU MEAN THAT SOMETIMES YOU WANT YOUR DISCIPLES TO KILL THEIR ENEMIES?
Most Christians since the fourth century have said the answer is yes. The just war tradition (the official view of most Christians since then) says that Christians should kill to preserve peace and justice-- provided the just war criteria are met.
In my heart and in my head, I understand the just war tradition. Vicious bullies and ruthless dictators—Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Isis --swagger through history wreaking terrible havoc on hundreds of millions of innocent people. In response, responsible, caring Christians and others regularly conclude that the only realistic way to stop their vile destruction is to use lethal force. In the face of such massive evil, pacifists who claim that the followers of Jesus should love their enemies and never kill them, seem to be naïve, simplistic utopians.
Even worse, pacifists appear to be fundamentally immoral. They seem to ignore their basic moral responsibility to love and therefore protect their neighbors. Standing passively on the sidelines doing nothing to defend neighbors who are being destroyed is irresponsible and wicked. So sometimes, it is claimed, Jesus wants us to kill our enemies.
But is that what Jesus meant when he said we should love our enemies? When we read the Sermon on the Mount and other things Jesus said and did, it certainly does not look like he was teaching that we should kill our enemies.
If (as Christians through all the centuries have believed), Jesus is true Lord as well as true man; if Jesus came not just to die for our sins but also to show us how to live; then the most important question is this: What did Jesus teach about how his followers should treat their enemies? If Jesus is true God and true man, then Christians dare not tell Jesus: “Sorry, Jesus, your ideas sound nice but they simply don’t work in the real world.” That would be heresy.
The most basic question on this topic for biblical Christians is this: What did Jesus teach about how his disciples should treat their enemies?
This is what my new book is all about: IF JESUS IS LORD: LOVING OUR ENEMIES IN AN AGE OF VIOLENCE. Baker just published it this week. You can order it from Baker, your bookstore or Amazon.
In my next two blogs I’ll tell you more about what the book says.
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