Part 6 (1/2)
To what a state has sin reduced our world? Is not the church covered with darkness and the people with gross darkness? A man may now engage in war with his fellow-man and openly return evil for evil, and still remain in respectable standing in most of the churches, being at the same time highly applauded and caressed by the world lying in wickedness!
But if we are here to be directed and at last to be judged by the gospel, no man can return evil for evil, in war or otherwise, without aggravated guilt.
X. WAR IS CRIMINAL, AS IT IS ACTUALLY DOING EVIL THAT GOOD MAY COME; AND THIS IS THE BEST APOLOGY THAT CAN BE MADE FOR IT
That it is an evil to spread distress, desolation, and misery through a land and to stain it with the blood of men probably none will deny. War, with its attending horrors, is considered by all, even those who advocate and prosecute it, to be the greatest evil that ever befalls this wicked, bleeding, suffering world.
Though men go to war primarily to gratify their corrupt pa.s.sions,--for they can never propose the attainment of any good by war which shall be commensurate with the natural and moral evils that will be occasioned by the acquisition,--yet the prospect of attaining some supposed good must be held out as a lure to the mult.i.tude and a means of self-justification.
Usually the object of war is pompously represented to be to preserve liberty, to produce honorable and lasting peace, and promote the happiness of mankind; to accomplish which, liberty, property, and honor--that honor which comes from men--must be defended, though war is the very thing that generally destroys liberty, property, and happiness, and prevents lasting peace. Such is the good proposed to be attained by the certain and overwhelming evil of war.
But no maxim is more corrupt, more false in its nature, or more ruinous in its results than that which tolerates doing evil that good may come.
Nor can any defend this maxim without taking the part of infidels and atheists, to whom it appropriately belongs, and with whose principles and practice alone it is consistent.
The apostle Paul reprobates this maxim in the severest terms, and he considered it the greatest scandal of Christian character to be accused of approving it: ”As we be slanderously reported,” says he, ”and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that good may come; whose d.a.m.nation is just.”
Now if war is in fact an evil, and it is prosecuted with a view to attain some good, then going to war is doing evil that good may come. It is therefore doing that which scandalizes Christian character; that which is wholly irreconcilable with the principles of the gospel, and which it is highly criminal for any man or nation to do.
XI. WAR IS OPPOSED TO THE EXAMPLE OF THE SON OF G.o.d, AND IS THEREFORE CRIMINAL
The example of the Son of G.o.d is the only perfect model of moral excellence, and his moral conduct, so far as he acted as man, remains a perfect example for Christians.
But did he appear in this world as a great military character, wearing a sword of steel, clothed with military finery, and surrounded by glittering soldiers, marching in the pomp and parade of a warrior? No; he was the meek and lowly Jesus, despised and rejected of men. He was King of kings and Lord of lords, but his kingdom was not of this world.
Had his kingdom been of this world, then would he have appeared as an earthly conqueror, and his servants would have been warriors.
Though a prince, he was the Prince of Peace. At his advent the angels sang, ”Glory to G.o.d in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men.”
”He came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” He was the Lamb of G.o.d, meek and lowly. He followed peace with all men; he returned good for evil and blessing for cursing, and ”when he was reviled he reviled not again.” Finally, he was ”brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.” That he did this as a necessary part of his mediatorial work need not be denied; but that he intended it also as an example to his followers is fully confirmed by an inspired apostle, who says, ”If, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with G.o.d.
For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him who judgeth righteously.”
Christ taught his disciples the doctrines of peace, and commanded them to take up the cross and follow him; to live in peace and to follow peace with all men. His last gift to them was peace. He said to them, when about to send them into the world, ”Behold I send you forth as lambs among wolves”; thus teaching them what treatment they might expect and what character they must maintain among wicked men. The nature of lambs and wolves is too well known for any one to mistake this figurative representation. Wolves are fierce, b.l.o.o.d.y, and ravenous beasts; but lambs are mild, inoffensive, and unresisting, having no means of relief but by flight. Now if a host of professing Christian warriors, marshaled under the ensign of a preying eagle or a prowling lion, clothed in all the splendor of deathly armor, and rus.h.i.+ng forward to destroy their fellow-creatures, are in figurative language but _lambs_, I confess I am at a loss where to look for the _wolves_! Do these warlike Christians appear mild as lambs and harmless as doves, kind and tender-hearted, doing good to all, to friends and foes, as they have opportunity? Can fighting be living peaceably with all men? Is it returning good for evil, and overcoming evil with good? If not, it is not imitating the example of Christ.
If Christians were like Christ, their warfare would not be carnal, but spiritual, corresponding with the armor which he has provided. They would conquer by faith and overcome by the blood of the Lamb, not counting their lives dear to themselves.
On the whole, if to engage in war is not avoiding the appearance of evil, but is running into temptation; if it inflates the pride of men; if it infringes on the rights of conscience; if it is not forgiving trespa.s.ses as we wish to be forgiven; if it is not patient suffering under unjust and cruel treatment; if it is not doing to others as we would have them do to us; if it is not manifesting love to enemies and returning good for evil; if it is rendering evil for evil; if it is doing evil that good may come; and if it is inconsistent with the example of Christ, then it is altogether contrary to the spirit and precepts of the gospel and is highly criminal. Then Christians cannot engage in war or approve of it without incurring the displeasure of Heaven.
In view of the subject, if what has been said is in substance correct, and of this I desire the reader conscientiously to judge, then the criminality of war and its inconsistency with the gospel are undeniable.
It is admitted by all that war cannot exist without criminality somewhere, and generally where quarreling and strife are, there is blame on both sides. And how it is that many Christians who manifest a laudable zeal to expose and counteract vice and wickedness in various other forms are silent on the subject of war, silent as to those parts or practices of war which are manifestly and undisputably criminal, is to me mysterious. There has been a n.o.ble and persevering opposition against the inhuman and cruel practice of the slave trade; and by the blessing of G.o.d the efforts against it have been successful, probably, for the time, beyond the most sanguine expectations. When the lawfulness of this practice was first called in question, it was violently defended as well by professing Christians as by others. Comparatively few Christians fifty years ago doubted the propriety of buying and holding slaves; but now a man advocating the slave trade could hardly hold in this vicinity a charitable standing in any of the churches. But whence has arisen so great a revolution in the minds of the ma.s.s of professing Christians on this subject? It has happened not because the spirit or precepts of the gospel have changed, but because they are better understood.
Christians who have been early educated to believe that a doctrine is correct, and who cherish a respect for the instructions of their parents and teachers, seldom inquire for themselves, after arriving at years of maturity, unless something special calls up their attention; and then they are too apt to defend the doctrine they have imbibed before they examine it, and to exert themselves only to find evidence in its favor.
Thus error is perpetuated from generation to generation until G.o.d, in his providence, raises up some to bear open testimony against it; and as it becomes a subject of controversy, one after another gains light, and truth is at length disclosed and established. Hence it is the solemn duty of every one, however feeble his powers, to bear open testimony against whatever error prevails, for G.o.d is able from small means to produce great effects.
There is at present in many of our churches a n.o.ble standard lifted up against the abominable sin of intemperance, the greatest evil, perhaps, war excepted, in the land, and this destructive vice has already received a check from which it will never recover unless Christians relax their exertions. But if war is a greater evil than drunkenness, how can Christians remain silent respecting it and be innocent?
Public teachers consider it to be their duty boldly and openly to oppose vice. From the press and from the pulpit they denounce theft, profaneness, Sabbath breaking, and intemperance; but war is a greater evil than all these, for these and many other evils follow in its train.
Most Christians believe that in the millennial day all weapons of war will be converted into harmless utensils of use, that wars will cease to the ends of the earth, and that the benign spirit of peace will cover the earth as the waters do the seas. But there will be then no new gospel, no new doctrines of peace; the same blessed gospel which we enjoy will produce ”peace on earth and good will to men.” And is it not the duty of every Christian now to exhibit the same spirit and temper which will be then manifested? If so, let every one ”follow the things that make for peace,” and the G.o.d of peace shall bless him.