It is my claim that the Just War Theory relies solely on common sense and has no Scriptural grounding. Allow me to now explore some of the often cited verses which proport to defend violence in Jesus' name. Let me first say that these objections only work well as sounds bites quickly rattled off, finding favor only in the uncritical mind. When one examines these passages closely, however, it becomes pelucid that they do not promote religious violence in the least.
Moreover, prior to examining these passages, let us remember vividly the unambiguous teachings we have already explored. The gravity of these Scriptures cannot be disregarded. In theological discourse, it is often simply a matter of a preferred doctrine that enables certain verses to seemingly carry more weight than others. One will often hear, "well, my doctrine must be right because of a, b and c verses, so x, y and z verses cannot possibly mean what your doctrine promotes." Answers such as these reveal that one has not done sufficient study and is a case of interpretation desperation. When all else fails, just take a defensive posture and do not allow for seemingly conflicting verses to take any precedence. This is essentially what happens. I am going to work hard not to commit the same fallacy.
In my study, I am going to look at New Testament passages only. As far as Old Testament violence and holy war that occurs in Israel is concerned, there is much to discuss. Let me remind us that Jesus is our Lord, not Joshua, David, Elijah or any other Hebrew figure. This does not mean that we cannot learn from them and uncover great pearls of theological price in the Hebrew Scriptures. But recall that Jesus did overturn key concepts of the Law, such as the foundational eye for and eye, tooth for a tooth ethic of recompense (Matthew 5:38). In a situation identical to Elijah, James and John ask Jesus if they can imitate him by calling down fire on the city and the Lord rebukes them (Luke 9:51-55). Jesus even goes so far as to say "no one knows the Son except the Father and know one knows the Father except the Son" (Matthew 11:27 ESV). 'No one' includes even the magnificent leaders of Israel.
The book of Hebrews is utterly clear on this matter: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" (Hebrews 1:1-2 ESV). Read chapters nine through eleven in this epistle carefully. What the kings, preists and prophets prior to Jesus did was all well and good, but the Son of God is the full revelation of God: "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:3 ESV). Jesus is THE Word of God (John 1:1) - not simply A word of God. Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John 14:9). Paul overstates his case, claiming that in Jesus "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9 ESV). Jesus is not just deity, not just the fullness of deity, but the whole fullness of deity! He is the definitive, final, decisive, unambiguous, entire, complete and full revelation of all that God is, was and ever will be - period. Therefore, what He says takes prominence over any other divine revelation, though it certainly does not abolish the Old Testament Scriptures (Matthew 5:17).
For more on Old Testament violence, I would encourage readers to check out a helpful blog by Dr. Gregory Boyd here. In this post, he lists a few principles to consider when reading the Old Testament, especially in relation to the issue of the divine violence found in these Scriptures. I have taken some time to study his position and others' views on how to reconcile some of the violent portrayls of YHWH, so if you would like to discuss these issues, feel free to commence a dialogue in the comment section below.
Let's continue questioning common sense and explore some of the objections to the teachings on non-violence in the New Testament in part five of this series.
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