War has been marring the peace of the world for millenniums. One only need Google to view a list of currently ongoing conflicts to learn of such devastation. This list was updated as recently as 14 November 2018. How many of those are justified?
It's difficult to say.
The following thought has been previously established but it bears repeating...
"So far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men" (Romans 12:8).
Case in point...just today I was parked very properly in a proper parking space. I went about doing my errands and returned to discover another driver had parked very improperly and not in a proper parking space leaving his or her two very young children locked up in the car. I would not be able to get out of my space without bashing into that car (yes, I felt like it) unless I did some improper calisthenics with my vehicle enabling me to go on my way. Can you imagine the unholy thoughts that frothed up? How inconsiderate could that driver get?!! And that not to mention leaving the two children unattended!! On top of that, when I beeped my horn to call attention to the in absentia driver who was nowhere in sight, the older of the young children shook his little fist at me.
I certainly did NOT feel like I wanted to be at peace with that driver parent and so I went self righteously grumbling down the road after my escape maneuvers. As I remember and write about the incident I still feel the unforgiveness in my heart. The mind was, however, convicted; you are a child of God, "live at peace"!
Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda comments in his book What Buddhists Believe on pages 366-367...
"People should not pander to their aggressive instincts. They should uphold the ethical teachings of the religious teachers and display justice with morality to enable peace to prevail."He continues...
"To guarantee true peace, we must use every method available to us to educate youths to practice love, goodwill and tolerance towards others."
He has good points. And I certainly had good opportunity to put that into practice.
Tolerance, yes; to within Christ's standards. And, there will be no guarantee of true peace until Jesus Christ reigns over the earth. However this doesn't mean we don't try for peaceful solutions towards avoiding war or bashing purposefully into a thoughtless, self-centered someone's car.
Matthew 24:6 (NIV) says,
"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen but the end is still to come."
Again, this does not give license to go on shooting sprees nor create wars on a whim.
Nevertheless there are times,
"...to love, and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace"
So said King Solomon in the Song of Solomon 3:8.
The Buddhists do not believe there should be war either but Sri Dhammananda says there are instances that under certain circumstances a person may be...
"...duty bound to join the struggle for peace and freedom" and "they cannot be blamed for becoming soldiers or being involved in defense" (Page 367).
Sri Dhammananda goes a step further in saying that,
"Buddhists should not be the aggressors even in protecting their religion or anything else"(Page 367).
Emphasis on the "should". Human nature being what it is, there are news accounts that they do become aggressors. Examples have been pointed out previously such as in the case in Sri Lanka. The question there was that due to religion or cultural and territorial preservation or a bit of everything? Similarly in Bhutan seems to be more about zealously preserving their religion for one and all of their citizens rather than allowing them to choose the religion of their own individual choice. This is not tolerance.
Sri Dhammananda uses the word "tolerance" on several occasions throughout his writings. He believes that when the concept of tolerance, as mapped out by Buddhist teaching, is exercised, war will be averted. That is the ideal in Buddhism, Christianity, and no doubt in other religions. Yet, as in the above mentioned countries those teachings are not always adhered to. Results are war (Sri Lanka) and aggression against Christians and other non-Buddhists (Bhutan). Are these justified? Where was/is the tolerance?
I'm not stating these things to make war. I only wish to show that even religion cannot be a totally guaranteed deterrent.
It is not religion that changes hearts to good behavior. It is being born again through Jesus Christ and living in step with the Holy Spirit of God. It is Jesus Christ who brings about a change of heart and mind..."the true disarmament" (to use Sri Dhammananda's phrase, Page 368). It is relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, NOT religion.
Romans 7:22-21 (ESV) reveals this struggle,
"...but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."
Add to that what the apostle John says in John 6:63 (ESV),
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
Thank God for explaining this in His Word.
The idea of war being justified, or not, is well explained by Commander Timothy J. Demy, a former chaplain in the US Navy. You can peruse his thoughts in his articles Onward Christian Soldiers? Christian Perspectives on Wars. (I cannot find the original article on this subject I found when writing the original rough draft of this blog entry but this link is a fair facsimile to it. A second article is from a U.S. Naval Institute Blog which you can also take a peek at.)
Christianity Today also has an excellent article by one Phillip Jensen, dean of Saint Andrews Cathedral in Sydney, Australia.
Both authors talk about a "spectrum of war"; one that swings from a pacifists perspective all the way to full battle cry, such as that of the Crusaders of long ago, "God wills it!" (This is not necessarily the authors' view.)
There is a "just war" view which Demy explains is "most moderate" which has "general acceptance by Christians through the ages".
He says,
"...just war seeks to limit devastation and outbreak of war".
He cites 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV) that reads,
"...praying for authorities that we can...live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and honesty."
However, a Biblical pattern for war is,
"...a war of defense that defends innocent people from evil aggressors".
We go on to see that according to Romans 13:1-4, authorities are...
"...the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrong doer".
"The role of the government is to promote justice and defend innocent people from evil aggressors and act as an avenger to promote good and to punish evil" --Demy
John MacArthur of Grace to You points out that God's justice is established on an individual level through human government. So as individuals we adhere to Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not murder" and as the Lord says in Romans 12:19, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay...." Yet God has,
"...established war as a means of judgment on a national level using kings and countries to gain His own purposes".
MacArthur states Joshua 10:40 and the conquest of Canaan; Jeremiah 5:14, 15 where God brought the Babylonians against the House of Israel; Jeremiah 51:1, 11 where the Medes and Persians were used to overcome the Babylonians; and step back to Exodus 15, the Israelites even sing about the victory God got for them on their behalf from the Egyptian army.
MacArthur reviews many other verses about how,
"God is involved in war...understands the devastation that war brings...."
Such Scriptures to read are Psalm 37:9; Isaiah 13:15, 16; Hosea 13:9; and Nahum 3:10.
The reality of war, however, is not a pretty picture.
Another denotation MacArthur makes is that God is sovereign and doesn't have to give us an account of His actions (Amos 3:6-7). Let it be known that God is never responsible for evil; He hates sin and He is absolutely righteous.
"God is patient and gracious but His sovereignty selects the calamities and battles He allows even though they are generated by wicked and evil men, they fit within His purpose..."
We are reminded again by King Solomon,
"...a time for war, a time for peace..." Ecclesiastes 3:8
So, is a particular war justified? What are the reasons?
Does it come under the "just war" perspectives of "defending innocents from evil aggressors"?
An individual would need to do their homework to discover and discern the answer for themselves on any given 'war'.
That answer would bring the individual to "help" out the cause: to join or not to join the army, navy, air force; in short, the military, and whether or not to go...to war.
That drops us into the lap of another question which we will pursue in the next entry, Part 49...
Is it OK to join the army?
~ERC November 2019~
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