Should Christians Fight In Any War?

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

GCSE Religious Studies: Should Christians fight in any war?

James Eadon 10TDE

War is never a good thing. Many people are often killed in war and this leads me to my first point: In the 10 commandments it states ‘thou shalt not kill’ In a war situation almost any man would have to kill another and then this would be on their conscience, if a Christian is forced to do this then he may find it morally and spiritually hard to do, I would see this as a valid reason for them not to fight as many Christian pacifists believe that violence is never allowed even in a just war situation as it goes against the Commandments in the bible, and violence is not the Christian idea of love. Christian pacifists also look to other parts of the bible to show why they do not to choose to fight ‘turn the other cheek’ and love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ This teaches to not take revenge and love our enemies, which most would find very hard to do - if this why a Christian does not want to fight and they constantly back their words up with their actions then this is a credit to them and they should not have fight. Christians take example from Jesus in times of conflict; The strongest teaching of Jesus’ life about pacifism is undoubtedly through his actions at his arrest and crucifixion. When he was arrested many of his disciples drew their swords in rage and one of the disciples chops of the ear of the high priest’s servant’s ear. Jesus then said: -“No more of this, he touched his ear and healed it”

He then said: -“He who lives by the sword dies by the sword”

These two quotes are important because it shows that even though the people who have come to arrest and in due course kill Jesus are hurt he stops the violence and cares for his enemy. However even more powerful than this is when he has been hung on the cross and is dying he says: - “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing…”

Most Christians try to keep peace as it also says in the Bible ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they ...

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He then said: -“He who lives by the sword dies by the sword”

Most Christians try to keep peace as it also says in the Bible ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.’

On the other hand though Christians should have to fight in wars especially if the war is to the criteria of Aquinas’ just war guidelines as if it is the last resort then they would be fighting to maintain or reclaim peace. Also it is submitting to leaders which it teaches in the bible. Another teaching is in the OT which teaches ‘an eye for an eye’ so if a country tries to get back at another country for a terrorist or unprovoked attack then this would be an acceptable reason for a Christian to fight.

In my opinion a Christian should not have to be forced to fight, or not to fight, nor should anyone else, religion or culture should not bar someone from fighting in a war as they are conscious of the consequences and the emotional scars that they may come out with at the end of the war. There are verses in the bible that seem to condone violence, or force to solve a situation especially when it is a last resort, like when Jesus went into the temple and overthrew the tables to tell that the temple should be used only for worship. Violence and force should not be confused, though, because force does not have to be violent, Martin Luther King used force to get black rights changed by boycotting buses however this was not violent. There are also verses that seem not to condone violence or force, like when in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus stopped his disciples fighting the guards that came to arrest him, although this was a desperate situation for him he refused to use violence and was taken away peacefully, he continued with this pacifistic attitude right until his death, he didn’t defend himself whilst in custody of Pilot.

I think after reviewing both sides of the argument that when Christians make a conscious decision to fight or not fight that they will have a justified reason for it and they should not be ridiculed by anyone, including others of their religion who share different views, for their decisions

CSE Religious Studies: Should Christians fight in any war?