THE CONFLICT OF AGES – 2.
CONTENTS
21. The Effects of Constantine
23. Augustine and the Just War Theory
24. Thomas Aquinas
25. Martin Luther
26. John Calvin
27. Fruits of Reformation Theology
28. Pacifism during the First Millennium
29. The Cathari and Albigences
30. Pierre Waldes and the Waldenses
16. THE CLEANSINGS OF THE TEMPLE
Twice Jesus rid the bankers and merchandisers from the temple grounds; at the beginning of his ministry, John 2:13-15, and at the conclusion of his ministry, Matt 21:12-13. As Messiah Jesus had the right to reprimand those who corrupted the true worship of God in his Fathers house. Jesus impressed on the Sadducees their corruption of temple worship by upsetting the tables of the money changes and chasing out sacrificial animals for sale. In each case they ignored him and shortly after continued their business practices.
The point of discussion applicable is whether Jesus would have defended himself if attacked by these religious criminals. He would not have, just as he did not defend himself when arrested. Matt 26:50.
17. THE APOSTOLIC PERIOD
During the initial 150 years after the ministry of Jesus Christ the members of the newly-formed Christian churches, or Messianic communities as they rightly should be called, abstained from combat and military service. The earliest of these were the Messianic Jews of the apostolic period. These Jews fled Judea to the east side of the Jordan River by prophecy to escape the invasion of Judea by the Roman army, the Jewish War and the devastation of the country, which occurred in the years 66-70 AD. Their migration fulfilled the prophecy of Dan 11:41. The Jewish Christians of Judea were delivered from catastrophe on the east side of the Jordan River and Dead Sea, according to Eusebius, the church historian. None of the Messianic Jews joined the Jewish revolutionaries or took up arms to defend their country from invasion by the Roman army or in the defense of Jerusalem during the siege.
The following are excerpts from the apologists of the 2nd and 3rd century. They reflect the attitudes and practices of Christians during the early centuries prior to the Council of Nicea. Not every writer of the period will be mentioned, and not every passage dealing with this topic from the writers selected, but only the more influential and popular. The authors are also from various segments of the Roman Empire, including north Africa, Europe and middle east. This will provide sufficient evidence of the conscientious objection nature and attitude of the Christian churches of the era.
18. THE APOLOGISTS OF THE EARLY CHURCH
One of the earliest apologists was Justin of Caesarea, often titled, Justin martyr. He wrote about the years 140 to 160 AD, during the era when those who were taught by the apostles transmitted the gospel to his the next generation, and which original gospel was still untainted by later Greek philosophy and anti-Semitism.
Justin taught that the prophecy of Is 2:4, was fulfilled in the gospel preached by the 12 apostles, and so they ceased any involvement in war and military service. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, page 175.) This he mentions in his First Apology, chapter 39, and adds the following:
And we who formerly used to murder one another do not only now refrain from making war upon our enemies, but also, that we may not lie nor deceive our examiners, willingly die confessing Christ. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, page 176)
A similar definition of the fulfillment of Isaiahs prophetic words in the Messianic communities is mentioned in his Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 50.
And we who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons, - our swords into ploughs, and our spears into implements of tillage, - and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, page 254)
In both these passages Justin indicates that the Christians of his era felt the era of military service to conclude and the new era of pacifism to inaugurate with the Messiah Jesus.
Irenaeus had his home in southern Gaul, modern France, although he also spent much time in Rome. His writings were primarily directed against the prevalent heresy of gnosticism during the era of 180-190 AD. The following is an except from his treatise Against Heresies, 4:34:4.
But preached by the apostles who went forth from Jerusalem throughout all the earth, caused such a change in the state of things, that these [nations] did form the swords and war-lances into plows, and changed them into pruning hooks for reaping the corn, that is, into instruments used for peaceful purposes, and that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when smitten, offer the other cheek. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, page 512)
This excerpt follows the same vein of Justin that the words of Isaiah were fulfilled in the gospel taught by Jesus Christ, and which new mode of conduct was accepted by the gentiles of the Roman Empire.
Clement and Origin taught in Alexandria, Egypt. Clement wrote about 190-210 AD. He inclines toward pacifism as a character trait of the Christian. The following is a passage from Clement Instructor, book 1, chapter 12.
For it is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained. War needs great preparation, and luxury craves profusion; but peace and love, simple and quiet sisters, require no arms nor excessive preparation. The Word is their sustenance. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, page 234-235)
Origin likewise, though in a very subtle manner, mentions pacifism as a trait of the new Christian. This is in Book 5, Chapter 33 of his treatise Against Celsus.
And to those who inquire of us whence we come, or who is our founder, we reply that we are come, agreeably to the counsels of Jesus, to cut down our hostile and insolent wordy swords into plows, and to convert into pruning-hooks the spears formerly employed in war. For we no longer take up sword against nation, nor do we learn war any more, having become children of peace, for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader, instead of those who our fathers followed, among whom we were strangers to the covenant. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4, pg. 558)
Another witness to the exclusion of early followers and disciples of the teachings of Jesus to military conscription is Tertullian. He was the first of the great Latin apologists, writing 160-220 AD, having his center of ministry in north Africa.
There is no agreement between the divine and the human sacrament (Roman military oath), the standard of Christ and the standard (flag) of the devil, the camp of light and the camp of darkness. One soul cannot be due to two masters God and Caesar. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, pg. 73)
Shall it be held lawful to made an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? And shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law? And shall he apply the chain, and prison, and the torture, and the punishment, who is not the avenger even of his own wrongs? Touching this primary aspect of the question, as to the unlawfulness even of a military life itself, I shall not add more, (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, pg. 99-100)
Tertullian felt the allegiance given to the state through the military oath to defend the nation against all enemies as defined by their Senate to be disloyal to the true God. The oath would have included a testimony of obedience to the Roman Emperor, likewise repulsive to Tertullian. The flag or banner carried by the troops was antithesis to the spiritual signs and character traits of true Christians.
Cyprian, known to be a disciple of Tertullian likewise wrote in several passages that involvement in war was unacceptable to Christians as well as unjust and hypocrisy. The following is an excerpt from his Epistles.
The whole world is wet with mutual blood; and murder, which in the case of an individual is admitted to be a crime, is called a virtue when it is committed wholesale. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5, pg. 277)
It is hypocrisy to proclaim as a hero and valiant the person who will destroy and devastate the life and property of innocent people in organized warfare, when if the same occurs in peacetime it is considered a crime.
Lactantius was the last of the prominent apologists prior to the era of Constantine and wrote his massive treatise The Divine Institutes about 300 AD. He records also the attitude of the earliest Christians toward military conscription in several sections of his apology.
For when God forbids us to kill, He not only prohibits us from open violence, which is not even allowed by the public laws, but He warns us against the commission of those things which are esteemed lawful among men. Thus it will be neither lawful for a just man to engage in warfare, since his warfare is justice itself, not to accuse any one of a capital charge, because it makes no difference whether you put a man to death by word, or rather by the sword, since it is the act of putting to death itself which is prohibited. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7. Pg. 187)
Or why should he carry on war, and mix himself with the passions of others, when his mind is engaged in perpetual peace with men? [The Christian] considers it unlawful not only himself to commit slaughter, but to be present with those who do it, and to behold it. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7. Pg. 153)
In the Divine Institutes, Lactantius exposes the errors of pagan religion and the vanity of heather philosophy, and defends the Christian religion and the character of the Christian, which includes conscientious objector to war.
19. PRE-NICENE PACIFISM
The evidence provided by the apologists of the ante-Nicene era, from the beginning of the 2nd century to the early 4th century, indicates that the Christian religion was different than the balance of religions and philosophies in the Roman Empire in its attitude towards war and military service. They identified the insignias, flags, oaths, and practices of the military with pagan and idolatrous rites. The conduct of military personal in peacetime was corrupt, amoral and obscene, while in war it was the most inhumane and barbaric, no different than our present era.
The gospel the apologists received from the apostles and their direct spiritual descendents was that the cessation of war and its preparation was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and that a renouncement of military service was required for the members of the Christian church. This attitude was not retained easily by the Christian of early centuries and especially due to persecution. Some Christians succumbed to the pressure of the military and accepted service, and their history is also noted in the annals of the apologists. Persecution against Christians occurred regularly in the Roman Empire and many who refused military service were executed. The worst of the persecutions was under Diocletian, beginning 303 AD, and until 312 AD.
20. CONSTANTINE THE GREAT
The history of this era and its prime historical figure is of exceptional importance because of the massive metamorphosis that occurred as a result of the edits of Emperor Constantine.
Constantine was a soldier, a general of the Roman army. The turning point in the career of Constantine which was to affect Christianity was his vision at the Milvan Bridge near Rome in 312 AD, during his invasion of Italy to capture Rome, as he was preparing to battle his final competitor Licinius for sole rule of the Roman Empire. In this vision, Constantine saw in the sky during bright daylight the shape of a cross having the inscription, Conquer by this. He later stated that he had a dream, in which God told him to utilize this sign in all his encounters with enemies. In response to the vision, Constantine took a spear and affixed a bar to it forming the shape of a cross. With his army he proceeded into combat and gained the victory over the army of Licinius his opponent, and took possession of Rome.
In reality, Constantines interpretation of his vision and dream was opposite to its intent. Jesus was the Prince of Peace, and the purpose of these revelations was to indicate to Constantine that God wanted him to gain control over the empire through reconciliation with his enemy. But since Constantine was a soldier, he proceeded in the manner that he felt proper, that this sign represented a new religion or new deity that would grant him military victory and political control through combat using its emblem. The benefit was mixed: good to Constantine and his concept of Roman government, but detrimental to the original gospel of the spiritual kingdom.
The following year, 313 AD, Constantine issued an edit of toleration granting freedom of religion, and especially to those calling themselves Christians. Persecution against the Christians finally ceased in the Roman Empire. Constantine is heralded by Catholicism and Protestantism as a champion of the cross of Christ, although he continued as a military administrator in his rule over the empire, and permitted the Roman senate to classify him as a god in the tradition of the Roman Emperors. Constantine himself had no personal Christian virtues or morality to speak of; he was a soldier and pagan to his dying day.
The majority of these incorporated the concepts of Augustine regarding military service and his just war theory into their confession of faith, while a few held to conscientious objection. Both classes of militant and pacifist churches will be discussed.
Luther viewed the state as the civil arm of God, which became the dominant trend of thought in Protestantism. He believed that government was installed by God and which proceeded to govern the state as the supreme authority. Luther had the view that the state governed by divine providence, and so the citizens had the obligation of obedience to the state in the manner the state understood the will of God. This then proceeds to the question of war in the thinking of Luther. He taught that the soldier was the servant of the state, and that the state ruling by divine providence is allegorically given the sword by God to fulfill His will as the state sees fit. Luther described it in this manner.
The hand which bears such a sword is as such no longer mans hand, but Gods, and not man it is, but God, who hangs, breaks on the wheel, beheads, strangles, and wages war. (Ob Kreigsleute, Martin Luther, quoted from The Fall of Christianity, G.J. Heering, page 53.)
Luther in this manner hoped to reassure the Christians who were in the military that their service to the state in combat was acceptable and proper service to God. Luther continued the theology of the post-Nicene Fathers, having abolished the distinction between the divine and secular by stating that service to the state is service to God.
21. THE EFFECTS OF CONSTANTIN
Constantine realized the value of having religious harmony in his empire. His reason for issuing an edit of religious toleration was to cease persecution of minority religious groups, and thereby decrease strife within the empire. Christianity valued this as a blessing of God, especially after the persecution under Constantines predecessor Diocletian. Constantine realized the importance of such an advanced religion and its benefit for his empire, and especially the facets of the teaching that required them to be good citizens and submissive subjects of the emperor.
The religion, however, that Constantine promoted for the empire was not the religion of the Bible. Constantines concept of a state religion was that of Plato, not Jesus Christ. The resultant religion under the Ecumenical Councils was a Christianity redefined in terms of neo-Platonism. The attempt of the Nicene Fathers working together with the secular authority of the Roman state to create a Christian nation was in reality the materialization of Platos dreamed Republic.
The Christian leaders under Constantine then took the fatal leap of approving this new concept of the gospel. It now became part of Christian service to serve in the Roman military, since the emperor was Christian and the empire was Christian. There was no longer a distinction between the divine and secular kingdoms. This identification of the kingdom of God with the contemporary secular government created in the mind of the population the attitude that service to the government was service to God. To join the military and fight the emperors battles was to give service to both God and Caesar. The military now under the authority of a Christian ruler then promoted the enlistment of Christians and accepted the conversion of soldiers to Christianity. At a church council held in Arles in 314 AD, church leaders decided, They who throw away their weapons in time of peace shall be excommunicated.
22. ATHANASIUS AND AMBROSE
It was especially the church fathers of the post-Nicene era that promoted the necessity of Christians to support the secular authority with military service. Both Ambrose and Athanasius supported military conscription for Christian men as a service unto God. Athanasius, the father of Catholic orthodoxy, circa 350 AD, led the succession, teaching, Murder is not permitted, but to kill ones adversary in war is both lawful and praiseworthy. Ambrose, circa 375 AD, followed likewise teaching, And that courage which either protects the homeland against barbarians, in war, or defends the weak at home, or saves ones comrades from brigands, in full of righteousness. (The Fall of Christianity, G.J. Heering, pg. 36-37)
But it was Augustine who most systematically and effectively defended the right of the church to war.
23. AUGUSTINE
Augustine in his early years was part of the membership of the Manicheans, who were disciples of Mani. They taught dualism, the ethereal struggle between good and evil forces, but they were also objectors to military service. What changed the attitude of Augustine toward war was the defeat and sack of Rome by the Goths in 409-410 AD. He now viewed the state and church as 2 divine spheres each having the responsibility to save the world and to each of which the Christian had equal obligations. Therefore if the state required war to carry out its purpose the Christian was required to participate.
During this period after the defeat of Rome, Augustine compiled his just-war theory which he adopted from the pagan philosopher Cicero. Not all wars would be approved or sanctioned by God, Augustine felt, but only those considered just wars. Augustine formulated 4 points that must be adhered to in order to wage a justifiable war, that is, a war that would be approved by the God of the Bible. These 4 points are as follows:
1.War is to be declared by the sovereign of state.
2.War is to be declared only after all peaceful means of accomplishing resolution have been exhausted. Inward love must be the motivation.
3.The purpose of the war must have as its object the punishment of injustice and atrocity.
4.The war must be directed on the enemy forces, that no innocent people or civilians be injured or killed and that no civil property be destroyed.
The primary flaw in the criteria of Augustine and his just war theory is that both sides claim the same justification. Each side claims that peaceful means of resolution have been exhausted to no success; the war is declared by their sovereign; each nation is defending itself from aggravated assault; each nation is attempting to bring peace by punishing the other for their injustice and atrocity. But war is not war without the death of civilians and the massive destruction of private property. Augustines criteria has given Christian denominations greater justification to promoting war, rather than ceasing war.
Augustines justification to Christian soldiery is explained in his letter to Faustus, a Manichaen, and where he provides his imbalanced Christian justification.
What is the evil in war? Is it the death of some who will soon die in any case, that others may live in peaceful subjection? This is mere cowardly dislike, not any religious feeling. (Against Faustus, 22:74)
Augustines conclusion was that since the enemy is going to die at some time anyway in his life, it would be better for him to die the sooner so he would not continue his evil, and that only cowards referring to religious pacifists would consider war wrong. The following paragraph continues his thinking:
For there is no power but of God, who either orders or permits. Since, therefore, a righteous man, serving it may be under an ungodly king, may do the duty belonging to his position in the State in fighting by the order of his sovereign for in some cases it is plainly the will of God that he should fight, and in others, where this is not so plain, it may be an unrighteous command on the part of the king, while the soldier is innocent, because his position makes obedience a duty how much more must the man be blameless who carries on war on the authority of God, of whom every one who serves Him knows that He can never require what is wrong? (Against Faustus, 22:75)
In this passage Augustine clearly states that the Christian should fight in a war even if ordered by an ungodly king because of the necessity of obedience to the state, and that he would be innocent of any crime committed, because God requires this obedience to the order of the king.
24. THOMAS AQUINAS
Thomas Aquinas was the greatest of theologians of the Catholic church of the middle ages, living 1225-1274. He defined Catholic theology for the future generations of Catholics, and is highly respected and very influential at the present in world-wide Catholicism.
Aquinas specified 3 conditions for a just war in his Summa Theologica: 1. The ruler under whom the war is to be fought must have authority to do so. 2. A just cause is required. 3. The war has as its purpose a right intention: to achieve some good or avoid some evil. Aquinas imbalanced justification for the Crusades was the following:
This is the reason that Christians often make war on unbelievers, not to force them to believe, but to prevent them from interfering with the Christian Church. (St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics, Paul Sigmund.)
Much like Augustines criteria for a just war, Aquinas criteria likewise gave Christians greater justification for waging war than ceasing it. Thomas Aquinas confirmed Augustines just war criteria as valid Catholic doctrine, but not without good reason. Thomas Aquinas lived and taught in the era of the 6th, 7th, and 8th Crusades, 1228-1229, 1248-1254, and 1270, respectively. The popes were urging the citizens to war against Islam, whom they labeled as infidels. Three of his brothers were soldiers in the Crusades. Thomas Aquinas also taught the legality of slavery and the burning of heretics by the state.
25. MARTIN LUTHER
With the dissolution of the authority of both Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy during the middle ages, a number of smaller denominations were created. Each had their own founder with a specific set of religious criteria for their denomination. The majority of these incorporated the concepts of Augustine regarding military service and his just war theory into their confession of faith, while a few held to conscientious objection. Both classes of militant and pacifist churches will be discussed.
Luther viewed the state as the civil arm of God, which became the dominant trend of thought in Protestantism. He believed that government was installed by God and which proceeded to govern the state as the supreme authority. Luther had the view that the state governed by divine providence, and so the citizens had the obligation of obedience to the state in the manner the state understood the will of God. This then proceeds to the question of war in the thinking of Luther. He taught that the soldier was the servant of the state, and that the state ruling by divine providence is allegorically given the sword by God to fulfill His will as the state sees fit. Luther described it in this manner.
The hand which bears such a sword is as such no longer mans hand, but Gods, and not man it is, but God, who hangs, breaks on the wheel, beheads, strangles, and wages war. (Ob Kreigsleute, Martin Luther, quoted from The Fall of Christianity, G.J. Heering, page 53.)
Luther in this manner hoped to reassure the Christians who were in the military that their service to the state in combat was acceptable and proper service to God. Luther continued the theology of the post-Nicene Fathers, having abolished the distinction between the divine and secular by stating that service to the state is service to God.
26. JOHN CALVIN
Calvinism was largely grounded in the reformation of Luther and used many of the same arguments to approve of military service and the relationship between church and state. Calvin was far more militant than Luther, teaching that the church and state were to work together in one loyal alliance for a common goal.
Calvin felt that the state was subject to the church, following the concept of Israel in the Old Testament, thus creating a Christian state in Protestantism. Calvin felt he solved the problem of the conflict between the secular and spiritual by having the state subject itself to Christian law, but a Christian law based on the Old Testament concept of a theocracy and not on the concept of the spiritual kingdom of the new Testament. This included the execution of heretics.
Calvin had no difficulty in providing an acceptable place for military conscription in his Christian state, using all the arguments and justifications of the Old Testament. The areas dealing with pacifism in the New Testament were rewritten and interpreted out of recognition by Calvin. He himself advocated and participated in the defense of his new Christian denomination using military force.
27. THE FRUITS OF REFORMATION THEOLOGY
The Thirty-Years War was the direct result of the theology of Calvin in actual practice. This war was actually a series of religious wars between the Protestants and the Catholics in Europe, 1618-1648, and dealt with which religion was to be the political and military power in Europe. The fruits of the theology of Calvin was the military devastation of Europe and increased enmity between Catholicism and Protestantism.
The theology produced by the later theologians, both Catholic and Protestant, circumvented the pacifism of the early church and succumbed to the concepts of Augustine and his peers due to pressure from popes and kings of Europe during the middle ages. As much error that the reformers were able to rectify during their era, they were still unable to return to the apostolic concepts of the spiritual kingdom, and continued the support of military service.
28. PACIFISM DURING THE FIRST MILLENNIUM
The extant history of small Christian denominations and sects that separated from the doctrine of the ecumenical Catholic church during the early centuries is very brief and meager. However there is sufficient evidence to establish a continuous vein of thinking from the ante-Nicene era to the present pertaining to conscientious objection as part of the gospel of the spiritual kingdom.
The Montanists of central Turkey of the 2nd to the 5th centuries were most likely pacifist. This conclusion is based on the available information regarding their beliefs, which are close to those of Tertullian who was a Montanist for many years during his early life. Tertullian no doubt acquired his pacifist convictions from disciples of Montanus.
The Paulicians were originally disciples of Paul of Samosota, a bishop of Antioch in the 3rd century AD, and primarily living in central and eastern Turkey and Armenia. Records indicate that they repudiated the rites and theology of the Catholic church and so were heavily persecuted. They were pacifist.
The influence of the Paulicians gave impetus to the rise of another sect, the Bogomiles, who primarily lived in the Balkans. This occurred during the 6th through the 10th centuries. The Bogomiles likewise repudiated the Catholic rites and theology and were pacifist.
29. THE CATHARI AND ALBIGENCES
The Cathari were the popular name of the group, although in southern France they were known as the Albigences. This group appeared in historical records about the year 1000 AD, with the appearance of members who rejected the rites and teachings of the Catholic church. They assimilated many of the doctrines of the Bogomiles. This group re-introduced pacifism into the instruction and practice of those seeking a true teaching of the gospels, as opposed to that of the Catholic church.
Eventually, massive persecution by the Catholic church beginning in 1120 AD, broke the sect and caused them to assimilate into the general population. The Inquisition under Pope Innocent III especially affected the Albigences and Waldenses.
30. PIERRE WALDES AND THE WALDENSES
He was also known as Peter Waldo, founder of the Christian sect that became known as the Waldenses. Pierre Waldes lived in Lyons, France toward the end of the 12th century, about 100 years before Thomas Aquinas, and during the 2nd and 3rd Crusades. His group was excommunicated by the pope in 1184.
The Waldeses were pacifist, and accepted the New Testament literally. The group spread from southern France to Italy and then into Germany. In Italy, they were known as the Lombards. The sect lasted into the era of the Protestant reformation and then apparently assimilated into other denominations.
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