- Wars must be officially started by the legal authority.
- There must be a good reason to start a war.
- War must be the last option.
- Parties involved intentions are to restore Peace and Justice.
- Force used should be in portion to enemies’ forces and civilians should not be harmed.
Some Christians believe in pacifism which means they believe all violence is wrong. Many Christians use the New Testament and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John show tell them to follow Jesus in the way Jesus followed God which was not using violence to get what he wanted but spoke in a strong, calm voice which many people listened to. But other Christians believe that Jesus did use force in the temple where civilians were using it as a market place instead of a place of worship and prayer. And this action was the first and last time Jesus used violence in his human life. Many Christians believe war is good because it doesn’t say: “Shalt not go to war” but it does say: “Love the enemies as thy self”, “turn the other cheek” and “Shalt not kill”.
Some Christians believe that they are conscientious objectors which means they would refuse to fight a certain war because they regard it as wrong. Because they might believe in the war theory and there is a reason missing because they will only go to war if all 5 laws are in place or they might believe they can not fight for the government.
So to conclude Christians all over the world believe in many this about war. Some would follow the just war theory, others would be pacifists and others would be conscientious objectors which means they would refuse to fight a certain war because they regard it as wrong.
All of the teachings come from the bible in one sense or another. The teachings can be taught by The Pope, Arch bishops, Bishops and most often by Priests. Many of the teachings come from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christians would react in different situations. They could:
- Go to their local priest.
- Worship God for the best things in this world.
- Prayer- ask God to help them through a difficult period in their lives.
- Follow some one who has been there before- e.g. Lord Donald Soper who was a Methodist Pacifist and a socialist who supported many of the labour party’s ideas. He preached the gospel on Tower Hill in London for 60 years and from Speakers Corner in London’s Hyde Park for 40 years. He believed all violence was wrong, it didn’t solve any thing is just created more problems in the future.
- Christians could join an organisation like CND (campaign for nuclear disarmament)
- Read the bible where Jesus cleansed the traders from the temple in Jerusalem and remember Jesus was just like us now he is with our heavenly father in heaven. He felt many things we feel today like: happiness, love, sadness, betrayal, joyfulness and many more things. God has let us in when we have needed him most, he will always be helping us through life by the words in the bible God loves us so much he sent his only son to die for us.
So to conclude teachings from the bible help every Christian to se through life even f it seems too hard to bear God will be with us seeing it through for us.
I would not totally agree with the statement although I believe that it is wrong to kill. I think there are occasions where war is inescapable and it is the only option, for example Adolf Hitler was a threat to the peace of the world and had to be stopped. War in this case was necessary to get rid of the evil that he caused. Therefore I do not think war is wrong, even though I would consider myself a pacifist most of the time.
Some people would totally disagree with the statement. They would say that killing is wrong and this includes war situations. Martin Luther King, for example, was a Christian Pacifist who had strong views about what he believed in and fought for justice but never used violence. The Quakers are an organisation which believes that violence is not the answer, if anything it creates more problems.
Christians would argue and disagree with the statement. Some Christians would look at the Bible and quote ‘Thou shalt not kill’ and ‘Live in peace with one another’. They would say that Jesus is a man of peace who didn’t agree with violence in any form. Other Christians would say that if the ‘just war’ theory was followed then war can be justified in some circumstances. They would say that there are times when violence is acceptable and Jesus was not always a pacifist. He himself showed violence on an occasion when he threw the money lenders out of the temple and smashed their stalls. Although Jesus encouraged people to live in peace he didn’t say war was wrong.
