Sunday, September 11th: "I'm Not So Sure About...Just War"
Rev. Amy Morgan
September 11, 2022
Isaiah 2:2-4
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
Joel 3:9-12
Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare war,
stir up the warriors.
Let all the soldiers draw near,
let them come up.
Beat your ploughshares into swords,
and your pruning-hooks into spears;
let the weakling say, ‘I am a warrior.’
Come quickly,
all you nations all around,
gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
Let the nations rouse themselves,
and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge all the neighbouring nations.
Christians have struggled to reconcile these three things: the God-sanctioned warfare of the Old Testament; the pacifist teachings and personal self-sacrifice of Jesus; and the realities of the world as it is.
Some early Christians simply rejected the God of the Old Testament, asserting that the Hebrew creator god was a different deity from the benevolent God and father of Jesus Christ. Some Christians today believe the Bible commands absolute non-violence, under any and all conditions. The Roman Emperor Constantine, after his conversion to Christianity, counted on God to give him victory in warfare. For some Christians today, that seems to be the whole point of religion – to have God on your side in battle. Other Christians have lost their faith entirely when confronted with the horrors of war.
When we turn to scripture in search of guidance for a Christian response to war, it is easy to feel confused. Jesus spoke of peacemakers being blessed and loving enemies and losing your life to save it. But he also said, “there will be wars and rumors of wars,” and “I came not to bring peace but a sword,” and “the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.” We love quoting Isaiah’s prophesy about beating swords into ploughshares, but I’m going to bet none of us had heard Joel’s prophesy saying exactly the opposite. Scholars believe Joel’s version is the older phrase, a traditional Israelite call to battle, which Isaiah, and also the prophet Micah, inverted. We also probably haven’t read the context of Isaiah’s prophesy, which is the judgement and destruction of Jerusalem. The inversion of the battle cry is part of a vision Isaiah lifts up declaring that, after God has utterly and violently destroyed Israel for its wickedness, God will establish a new and righteous and peaceful reign.
So then, if the prophets, and even Jesus, seem to have contradictory messages about war, what are we to do?
Many Christians have been guided by a set of principles established by the 4th-century theologian Augustine of Hippo. Augustine developed what is known as “Just War Theory,” which established, not which wars were just, but how war might be justified.
This distinction sounds arbitrary, I know, but it becomes important in the application. You see, Augustine didn’t feel that any wars were “just,” really. All war was evil and sinful. But the reason, the justification for war, could be redeemable, to a degree.
Augustine believed that the only reason a Christian could go to war was in pursuit of, not justice, but peace. War was always a sin, but, in certain circumstances, it could also be a remedy for sin. Then, and only then, could war be justifiable. Again, not just, but justifiable.
Augustine lived in a time when war, and a Christian’s requirement to participate in it, were unavoidable realities. During his lifetime, Augustine would witness the conversion of Rome to Christianity, followed quickly by the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths. The remainder of the Empire continued to collapse, and his own hometown was under attack at the time of his death. He experienced the inevitability of war, as well as the suffering it caused, first-hand. His most popular book sought to explain how his fellow Roman Christians should interpret this reality and live out their faith as Christians and their duty as Roman citizens.
Augustine’s just war theory asserted that war should be used as a last resort, after all peaceful options have been exhausted. War should also be pursued with sadness and repentance. Augustine believed Christians did not have a right to defend themselves from violence, but they could use violence if necessary to defend the innocent against evil.
Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas further developed Augustine’s “Just War Theory” to include several principles that are still employed today to set international standards for just warfare. Aquinas agreed that war must be a last resort. He also determined that war should only be waged by legitimate authorities. Insurrection was not justified, although there was some allowance made for the overthrow of tyranny. War must also have some probability of success. Hopeless causes would just result in suffering and death without the establishment of a greater peace. The peace one hoped to establish through warfare also needed to be greater than the peace that would exist without resorting to violence. Aquinas also outlined the ideals of proportional response and the avoidance of civilian casualties.
In many ways, the “Just War Theory” developed by Augustine and Aquinas remain helpful guides for us today. It makes sense of the contradictory statements from the prophets Isaiah and Joel. Sometimes we must beat swords into ploughshares to make peace. Sometimes we must beat ploughshares into swords to make peace.
But the thing we might miss in both of these prophesies is what is made explicit in Psalm 46: God is the one who makes peace, who “makes wars cease to the end of the earth” who “breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,” who “burns the shields with fire.” In Isaiah’s prophesy, this peaceful vision comes in the midst of God’s utter destruction of Israel. God’s people have oppressed the most vulnerable among them, turned to worshipping false idols, and have become greedy and corrupt. God is sending other nations to decimate Israel, but at some point in the future, God will create a righteous and peaceful kingdom where war will no longer be necessary. In Joel’s prophesy, God is judging the nations around Israel for their wickedness, especially their oppression of the vulnerable. In both prophesies, war is the corrective for sin, and God is the one who ultimately will bring peace.
What we clearly see in the Bible and in the world around us is that war is a sinful reality in a broken world. It causes great suffering, and this is not God’s desire for the creation. But both scripture and our life experience testify that God brings life out of death, good out of evil, even joy out of suffering. War is a reality of the world we live in as we wait and long for the completion of God’s reign on earth. But, as Christians, we are called to be peacemakers and love our enemies, to sacrifice for others and participate in Christ’s mission to lift up the lowly, release the captives, and be agents of healing and hope. Our response to war must always contain sadness and repentance, but we also testify to our hope in the God who brings life out of death and good out of evil.
Twenty-One years ago today, a terrorist attack on America instigated a War on Terror which lasted nearly two decades. There has been much debate and criticism about whether this was a “just war,” particularly as it pertained to the invasion of Iraq and the final withdraw of troops from Afghanistan just over a year ago.
If we hold this war up to the standards of Augustine and Aquinas, to “Just War Theory,” we would ask, “Was the War on Terror pursued in the hopes of establishing a greater peace? As a last resort when all peaceful options had been exhausted? Undertaken between legitimate authorities? Was there a real probability of success? Was the outcome a greater peace than previously existed? Was the violence proportional and civilian casualties avoided?”
I think this is where we see the challenges posed by “Just War Theory.” I would argue that the answer to some of these questions is “yes,” and to others, “no.” Some of you may argue differently. On a macro level, with the complexities of modern geo-politics, it is nearly impossible to engage in a war that meets all the qualifications of a “just war.”
But our task, as Christians, is not to end all war or to justify any of it. Our task is to read the Bible authentically and authoritatively. When it comes to the very serious subject of war, this is especially important – that we listen for what scripture is saying in its own context and respond to the call it places on our lives.
As we reconcile the Bible’s violence and call to peacemaking, our response to war is sorrow and repentance, courage and hope.
We are at a critical moment, friends. After decades of decline in warfare casualties, along with other measures indicating movement toward a more peaceful world, authoritarian governments are on the rise around the globe. International cooperation is fraying at the seams, and the pandemic has exacerbated divisions within and between nations. The war between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted the peace of Europe and threatens to further ignite tensions between global superpowers.
In our nation, Christians are calling for violent responses to injustices – real or perceived. I’ve seen crosses made out of assault weapons and bumper stickers depicting a handgun declaring “Prayer is the best way to meet the Lord, trespassing is the fastest.”
Friends, I do not believe we can say the Bible condemns those who must participate in wars that are fought in the service of peace. But it also does not permit Christians to murder people who cross a property line, and it certainly doesn’t glorify weapons of war or in any way associate them with the cross of Jesus Christ. These symbols of perverted Christianity are not funny or clever, nor should they be tolerated. These symbols are the result of a warped reading of scripture that lifts singular sentences out of context and uses them to defend and glorify war and hateful violence.
Now, perhaps more than at any time in our recent history, we are called to witness to the truth of our scriptures when it comes to war and violence. We are called to follow Jesus’s courage and self-sacrifice, seek peace and commit to love. We know that we will not eradicate war from the earth, but we know that God can and will someday. In the meantime, if war must exist, we mourn it, even if we must participate in it. We engage war with the aim of greater peace. And we look forward with hope to the completion of God’s peaceful reign on earth.
To God be all glory forever and ever. Amen.
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