In this article I consider:

• A righteous war or the lesser of two evils?
• The intentions of the enemy .
  
• The soldier in the New Testament.
• What about turning the other cheek?
• Where is our security?
• A Christian Jihad?
• Our Final Security.

A righteous war or the lesser of two evils?
No decent person ever goes to war gladly. Even if, sometimes, it is right to make war we should only do so with fear and trembling – and that takes courage . Not only is it terrible to be killed, injured or bereaved in conflict, it is even more dreadful to kill, injure and cause bereavement – especially when non-combatants such as women and children are caught in the fire of war.

There can never be a righteous war. But can war ever be justified? That is a different question. The best war can be is the lesser of two evils. It can only be right to fight a war if it is judged that not going to war would have even more horrific consequences for humanity. That is a matter of judgement. Our Western leaders have made that judgement and at the time of writing we are fighting al-Qaeda and the Taleban. I hope and pray that our leaders made their decision having humbly sought the face of God.


The Intentions of the Enemy.
Some say that negotiation rather than war should solve the conflict. That would be right if one could be confident that the cause of the enemy’s hostility towards us came simply from a grievance. But what if his intention is really our destruction or perhaps even his desire for world domination?
Before the Second World War many recognised that Hitler did have genuine grievances. They believed that negotiating with him and accommodating him would help ease tensions and reduce his expansionist plans. Others such as Churchill recognised Germany’s grievances but also realised that behind all Hitler’s anger was a desire for the destruction of nations and peoples and ultimately world domination. If, as we began to learn, Churchill was right, then negotiating with and accommodating Hitler would have been the worst thing we could do. It would have helped his aim to dominate the world, destroying many peoples in his wake.
During the Cold War much (but not all) of the argument between those who believed we should keep our nuclear deterrent and those who believed we should unilaterally disarm came from differing assessments of the Soviet Union’s real intentions. Who was right? Perhaps revelations that have come to us since the demise of the USSR are helping settle the issue? Future historians will enable future generations to have a better idea.
The same issue is before us now. What is the real intention of the violent form of Islamic Fundamentalism? It can list its grievances, but what else does it say?

The soldier in the New Testament.
What does the New Testament have to say about soldiering? A few Church leaders who appear to have knee-jerk reactions against the military would be embarrassed to note that throughout the New Testament the Roman centurions (officers in the Roman occupying army) are always spoken of favourably. There are at least six examples.
 

• Early in the gospels the ordinary people draw Jesus’ attention to a centurion who had done a great deal of good for the community of Israel.
• A little later Jesus says of the same man: “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith”.
• When Jesus died on the cross the first to recognise that He was the righteous Son of God was another centurion.
• In the book of Acts the first non-Jewish convert to Christ was a centurion and his family. We learn that he was a man full of piety and generosity.
• Later in the book of Acts it is a senior Roman soldier who rescues St. Paul from an angry mob.
• Later still, during a shipwreck, another centurion saves from death the Roman prisoners on the boat because he wants St. Paul (one of the prisoners) to survive.

No doubt there were many unpleasant centurions too. Today too we meet some unpleasant people in the military. However, writing from personal experience, I can say that I have met a significant number of very kind, gentle and generous men who are or were military servicemen.

What about turning the other cheek?
But does not Jesus tell us not to resist one who would do us evil and to turn the other cheek? Indeed He does.
However we need to make a distinction between individuals and nations.
After St. Paul says to us:

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 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. 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."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Rom 12:17-21

he immediately goes on to tell us that the government officials who punish crime and wield the sword are God’s servants!

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.    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. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. (Rom 13:3-4)

Although individuals should turn the other cheek, God has clearly delegated to governments the responsibility to defend the stability of the nation even if it means the use of the sword.

Where is our security?
Nevertheless governments and nations can only be a God-given temporary expedient until the coming of God’s kingdom. Military and political power structures can never give us final security.

Jesus refused to use worldly or even Divine power to rescue Him from death because He knew that the final healing of the nations would come through His resurrection.

After the Battle of Britain, Churchill said: “Never, in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few.”
True though that was, the Christian Faith teaches us that the whole world owes everything to the sacrifice of just one man - the One Son Of God on the cross for all our sins.

A Christian Jihad?
If governments have the responsibility – if necessary – to use violence to defend their people, do they ever have the responsibility to spread the the Christian Faith that way? The Crusaders of the Middle Ages obviously thought so. However I believe they were mistaken. It is mistaken because in Christian belief there is no identity of God’s kingdom on earth with political power structures. That is why there should never be a Christian Jihad.
A religion that does make a close identity between God’s kingdom on earth and the power structures of this world might believe in ‘Holy War’.
(For the Biblical relationship between Church and State see my article: Is it right to mix the gospel with politics? )

Our Final Security.
So although governments do have the temporary authority to fight to defend their people against violent enemies our final security must lie elsewhere. Perhaps the first nation to really learn that will be Israel which, like the rest of the world, puts so much trust in its military skills to save it from destruction.

Where will it – and the rest of humanity – find its lasting security?

Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.
Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isaiah 2:3-5 (NIV)

In the final re-union of heaven and earth there will be no need of military personnel. But there will be no need of clergy either. (See Jer 31:34). Nevertheless because of the grace of God there will be many who were military servicemen and even clergy who find their place with the Prince of Peace .

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