Part 6 (1/2)
Jesus has been called the Prince of Peace, but the weight of his testimony is not on the side of absolute pacifism. With his view of rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, it is possible that he would have advised young men to obey the state and enlist, or accept the draft, whenever their country called.
On November 12, 1931, Rev. Dr. T. Andrew Caraker said at a banquet of the American Legion in Baltimore that if Jesus Christ had lived in 1917 He would have been the first to volunteer in the American army, the first to wear a gas mask, shoulder a rifle and enter the trenches.
Other ministers derive from the same gospels the belief that Jesus would not have stabbed Germans with a bayonet. Nor would Jesus have advised others to fight if he had been unwilling to fight himself.
Most of the sayings of Jesus regarding violence or non-resistance were intended to apply chiefly to personal relations.h.i.+ps; he said little of international strife. What he did say showed placid acceptance of the war system:
”And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pa.s.s, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”[19]
”And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”[20]
”But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pa.s.s; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”[21]
These verses have a more direct bearing on war as we now know it than any of his other sayings. They show his belief in the inevitability of war. Apparently he did not feel himself competent to counteract general ma.s.s militarism. He offered no program for arbitration of international disputes, no subst.i.tute for war between nations, no policy of war resistance.
When Jesus advised non-resistance, saying to his follower, ”Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,”[22] he was merely stating the danger of using violence, not the immorality of employing force. In fact, he commanded his disciples to take the very sword which he later told them to sheathe: ”He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one ... And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.”[23]
Thus Jesus, the supposed non-resistant, prepared his followers with swords. These swords were for defense, and when the time came he repudiated even that use of the weapons, but, nevertheless, he armed his disciples instead of adhering to his principle of non-resistance. He did not set a positive example of disarmament.
Jesus said: ”Blessed are the peacemakers ... love your enemies ... Have peace one with another ... On earth peace, good will toward men ...
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you ... These things have I spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace ... Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Other remarks of Jesus favored violence: ”Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”[24]
”Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.”[25] ”But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.”[26] ”My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews.”[27] ”When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.”[28] ”And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple.”[29]
In determining whether or not Jesus was a promoter of peace it is only reasonable to review everything that he said or did relating to the use of violence, giving equal weight to every verse. We cannot accept one statement and reject the others. The conclusion reached must be that Jesus was inconsistent in advocating both non-resistance and the use of force. He took diametrically opposed positions, the use of swords and scourges and non-resistance being mutually exclusive. Jesus preached non-resistance and at the same time armed his retainers with two swords.
He advocated turning the other cheek but did not criticize war.
Therefore, pacifists and militarists, with their opposite philosophies, should both admit that at times Jesus was mistaken.
_Marriage_
Jesus occasionally eulogized marriage: ”For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh ... What therefore G.o.d hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”[30]
_Celibacy_
On other occasions he made remarks which indicated his preference for celibacy as the higher state, the one he adopted for himself. ”In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of G.o.d in heaven.”[31] ”The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.”[32] ”I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to l.u.s.t after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”[33] ”There are some eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[34] ”There is no man that hath left ... wife, or children for the kingdom of G.o.d's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.”[35]
Jesus referred to the absence of marriage in heaven, the ideal realm.
Paul's testimony adds to the evidence that Jesus considered celibacy preferable to any form of s.e.x expression, even marriage.
_Adultery_