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A Biblical Challenge to Christian Pacifism

By David Servant

I’ve hesitated for some time to write about a Christian viewpoint of military service, war and pacifism, due to the fact that the subject is so controversial. God-seeking Christians don’t all agree on the issue. I decided, however, that this might be a good time to broach the subject since, after my previous two e-teachings, I succeeded in persuading some readers to see the contextual errors of the Anabaptist interpretation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Christian Pacifism E-Teaching Graphic

Christian pacifists are apt to cite Jesus’ words about loving our neighbors and enemies—both found in His most famous sermon—to support their convictions against military service and war. “How can one claim to love his neighbor or enemy and shoot bullets at him on a battlefield?” they ask. That straightforward reasoning has convinced many Christians that the military is no place for followers of Christ. Some groups and denominations even go so far as to teach that no one in military service can possibly be an authentic Christian because he so blatantly disregards Jesus’ most fundamental teaching.

So let’s begin by considering, within the context of all Scripture, the two commandments upon which Christian pacifism rests.

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Getting the Sermon on the Mount Right (The Anabaptist Challenge), Part 2

by David Servant

In last month’s e-teaching, I challenged a premise—held by Anabaptist and other holiness groups—that Jesus established new moral standards during His Sermon on the Mount that were higher than those found in the Law of Moses. The basis of that Anabaptist premise is the assumption that Jesus’ six “You have heard…but I say to you” statements are each examples of Him quoting a standard found in the Law of Moses followed by “a new, higher standard” that was, from that moment on, binding on His followers.

Picture of Jesus Christ teaching the Sermon on the Mount