Just War Theory and Pacifism

Throughout the last couple of years I have been wrestling with the question should a Christian be a pacifist. There are a lot of hard questions to answer if a Christian is meant to be a pacifist. How am I to protect the innocent? How much force is too much force? If someone was about to murder my family don't I have a right and a duty to kill that person to protect my family? In light of such questions it is quite understandable most people including Christians are at least hesitant if not entirely reluctant to embrace pacifism. First, pacifism must be defined and shall be define loosely to mean that a Christian cannot engage in violent actions towards people. So, in comparison force but not violence can be used. It is hard to figure out where the line is between force and violence but that does not mean there is not one or that pacifism isn't true.

However, there are some very good biblical reasons to embrace pacifism. In Matthew 5:44 it says, "But I tell you, to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." What is really interesting is that the Greek word for love used in this sentence is agape, which is a selfless, benevolent love. It is tough to reconcile this passage with Just War Theory or self-defense but Augustine attempts to do this by saying that as long as we have a benevolent inward disposition o towards those we are killing then we are permitted to kill. Augustine attempted explanation of this passage is not only wrong but quite sickening. As Christians we are to follow after Christ and become like Him. When examine the character of Jesus it is clear He shows God's benevolent love by dying on the cross for his enemies. If Christ showed what it meant to love your enemy by dying on the cross for them then it does not seem that an inward disposition of benevolence is what is meant by loving your enemy. If there was anyone who could have had a benevolent disposition and still kill people it would have been Jesus yet He never once did that. Secondly, when examining the life of the apostle it is clear that none of them killed to protect their life but rather laid down their lives for the sake of the gospel. If both Jesus Christ and his closest disciples lived this way and if in general the way they lived is the way all Christian are meant to live then it is most likely that all Christians are to follow the ethical practice of be pacifism.

Now, one objection to this conclusion is that God used war in the Old Testament. Since God used war in the OT then clearly Just War Theory still holds as a belief today. Now this would be a sufficient blow to the pacifistic theory except that there is a shift in what God allows in the NT. Matthew 5:43, says, "You have heard that is was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." Then Jesus continues on in Matthew 5:44 to say now you are to love your enemy. This suggests strongly that a revolution is happening in the way Christians relate to their enemy.

                                                                                                    

Lastly, we should examine a situation where a person kills to defend the innocent. In Just War Theory there a clear cut way to handle the situation, where for example, a psychopath comes into your house and is going to kill not only you but you 5 year old child as well. Here a Just War Theorist will say you should kill the psychopath but the pacifist has no options. While that does seem intuitively correct there are some other considerations that must be dealt with. These circumstances of psychopaths are quite rare. Secondly, is the pacifism that I argue is endorsed by the NT is not to deal with every circumstance to turn out favorably but rather to commit oneself to redeeming love that can even save the evil person. This is the goal of every Christian to make more and better disciples and radical love, not violence, has been the key to conversions of the worst sinners. This has been shown to happen throughout history in different martyrs’ lives. So, while the pacifist does not necessarily have a direct tool that can save them from the psychopath it is the case they have the tool that changes people and the world. One only has to imagine how different thing would of been if the disciples believed in redeeming violence, killed Saul before he converted. This would of the left the world without one of the most astounding acts of grace and one of the mightiest men of God would have never been known.