The Virtues of Christian Pacifism

Last updated on: April 15, 2023 at 1:41 am by Ben Witherington

The Virtues of Christian Pacifism 2023-03-22T21:11:58-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Though many Christians including many Protestants have ignored the literally millions of Protestants who are Christian pacifists, and even considered them anti-American, their tribes keep increasing. There are whole denominations of them— various kinds of Old and New order Amish, and various sorts of Mennonites, and Brethren and Quakers as well. And scattered among the many other more familiar Protestant denominations are quite a few as well. An interesting read of related matters can be found in the book Moral Minority by David R. Swartz who chronicles what he called the Evangelical left, by which he doesn’t mean liberal theologically or ethically, he means totally pro-life— opposing abortion, capital punishment and war but they have not withdrawn from general society like the Amish. But for most Christians, when they think of Christian pacifism they think of the Amish, and perhaps an excellent movie like Harrison Ford’s The Witness, or more recently Hacksaw Ridge (cf. this comment by the producer—https://youtube.com/shorts/9zKDk-rPMMA?feature=share). Here’s some classic images from my time living in the middle of Amish country in the middle of Ohio, and visiting places like the country store in Hebron which among many curiosities sells self-composting toilets for those who will not use electricity.

When I’m talking about Christian pacifists I should first make clear that its: 1) not necessary withdraw from Western society; 2) not necessary to dress up like 18-19th century German folk, 3) not necessary to forgo things like cars, electricity etc; and 4) not necessary to be farmers or other more rural occupations like barn builders etc; 5) not necessary to abstain from American political life etc. What I am talking about is personal pacifism. What I mean by this will soon become evident.

In the first place a disclaimer. Personal pacifism is what it says it is. It does not involve governments for example. The NT is clear enough that governments have a right to exist, a right to tax people, and even a right to bear arms for defensive purposes. Too often in American history we have made the mistake of assuming that our country was founded on specific Christian principles, and at best this is a half truth, which is also to say it’s half false. Only in a very broad and general sense can one even say this to be historically correct. While things were not set up to provide for a separation between church and state (despite modern readings of the data), it was set up to make sure we did not have a government sponsored church of a particular sort, whether Catholic or Protestant. The blending together of patriotism for a specific nation, namely the USA, with Christianity is problematic in the extreme, especially when the assumption is that we Americans are some kind of chosen people of God, something which the Bible nowhere affirms. This is not to say that Christians cannot serve their country in various ways, and so be patriotic. What personal pacifism of a Christian sort means is a commitment to ‘do no violence’. So for example, a Christian such as a Seventh-Day Adventist who cannot in good conscience shoot anybody, can nonetheless be a chaplain and medic in the army, as depicted in Hacksaw Ridge.

At the heart and root of Christian pacifism is an insistence on taking the Sermon on the Mount in Mt. 5-7 as Jesus’ blueprint as to how to be a good follower of him and his teachings. Again, this is not a posture that can or should be imposed on governments or non-Christian citizens who are not committed to the ethic of Jesus and Paul (see e.g. the second half of Romans 13 and 14). This is a personal decision that comes as a part of a Christian life that wants to obey what Jesus and Paul said about these matters. I do not see any basis in the NT for taking a different position on this as a Christian, but I respect Christians who have taken other views of the evidence. I freely admit that many devout Christians disagree with me about this. I’m simply not willing to violate my conscience and my faith on this matter.

And so, when I was in high school and the Vietnam war was raging, there was a draft. And I was subject to the draft, but I believed that killing people was immoral, and the Vietnam war could not be justified in any way as an example of a ‘just war’ which is the lesser of two evils. WWII would qualify, and probably the war in Ukraine to defend that nation from invaders qualifies. So, I decided I would go to the post office and get the conscientious objector forms. Now my father was a WWII veteran and he tried to talk me out of it, again and again. But I was determined. And out of his love for me, he went with me to get the forms, but he asked that I wait and see what my draft number would be, before filling them out and turning them in. I did so, and by God’s providence my number was pretty high— 192. And so I never turned them in. But in my first year at Carolina in 1970 I saw what devastating and life-changing things happened to students my age when they got a low draft number. One of them in my dorm through his TV out the window when he saw the number, and went and joined the Peace Corp. Another was so distraught he had no clue what to do, and dropped out of school. It was awful, and it wasn’t because these boys didn’t love their country. They just didn’t think participating in an immoral war counted as patriotism.

One final clarification. Christian pacifist is not opposed to using some force, so long as it doesn’t involve actual violence against another human being. He might for instance wrestle a thief to the ground or get in the way of a gunman and try to take away his weapon. Force is one thing, lethal force is another. There is more to be said about this matter, but this is enough to give you something to chew on. I have no problem with people having hunting rifles and doing hunting, and I don’t think the Bible requires people to be vegan. But that’s a story for another day.

Home and Religion

History and Religion

Uncategorized

what price pacifism?

Previous Post

April 14, 2023

The Oldest City in the U.S.-- St. Augustine

Next Post

April 16, 2023 The Players-- a Trip to Ponte Vedra

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz