This post is a very rough sketch of ideas and may include unfinished, incomplete, or erroneous ideas that will later be corrected. This post will be part of a series that will form the basis of a new book I’m writing following on the themes of my last book, Thoughts From Reconstruction. All of these themes center around the New Covenant. You can find everything published so far in this series on the Highlights page under the My Most Important section.
Risk and Reward
There’s no easy way to put this. You are almost certain to experience, in your lifetime, a major conflict that will affect you in your home country. Exploring war and killing is an exercise in brutality against the heart and mind. It is not and need not be a topic for everyone to have to come to grips with but some will need to when they are called upon. “War is upon you, whether you would risk it or not” [1].
You shall not murder.
-Exodus 20
The command is remarkably simple and, yet, questions immediately arise. Is murder the same as killing? What if it was an accident? I thought there were Old Testament laws for capital punishment, isn’t that murder? What about the Israelites when they were attacked by neighbouring nations, could they defend themselves? What about God telling the Israelites to attack other people? Let’s take a deeper look.
The commandment “You shall not murder” is the New International Version (NIV) translation of “not” or “no” (lō) and “kill” or “murder” or “dash to pieces” (trə·ṣāḥ) [2]. We know, logically, that “You shall not murder” can’t simply mean ‘no killing’ because the Bible indicates that some consequences for breaking the laws included the death of the offender(s). In these cases, it is because the offending party is guilty of Murder (Exodus 21:12-14), attacking/cursing a parent (Exodus 21:15,17), disobedience to a parent (Deuteronomy 21:18-21), kidnapping (Exodus 21:16), failure to confine a dangerous animal result in death (Exodus 21:28-29), witchcraft and sorcery (Exodus 22:18), human sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5), and many more such examples [3].
In cases of unintentional killings, the Biblical prescribed option was for the offending party to escape to a ‘city of refuge’ where they would have to stay until the death of the High Priest after which they were allowed to return to their home. The Bible, itself, makes apparent that God and the Israelites were fully aware of the nuances of the commandment against killing.
There are numerous situations when the Israelites were attacked by neighbouring nations and rightly defended themselves which would necessarily include the killing of enemies.
And then there are the commands from God telling the Israelites to go to war against the other nations. If it is God giving the command then most would agree God justifies it and we are not held in violation of the command against killing. Still, it helps us understand the meaning and bounds of the commandment not to kill. But, if God does not give the command then we need to do some work to understand the principle behind the choice we are making.
The principle has always been the same. The Law was always about the relation between man and God and man and his fellow man.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. -Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. -Leviticus 19:18
We were always to love God and neighbour above all else, because on these the Law and Prophets hang.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
-Matthew 22:37-40
Now we have firm principles from which to reason about the human justification for war and murder. On the surface, we find it difficult to justify the death and misery of war, at all, until we look at it a little deeper and with a little greater foresight. It is likely that all wars of offense are difficult to justify but we intuit that a war of defense is, at least, somewhat more justifiable.That intuition is because, one, we identify aggressors as unjust and committing sin (not loving their neighbour) and, two, while they are our neighbour they also bring death and suffering on not just ourselves but our neighbours. The aggressor expose themselves in their sin.
We, therefore, exercise love for God by following His commands to love our neighbours, both the aggressor and our friends, family, and immediate community, and act to stop our enemies from sinning further. The aggression which a party is willing to bring to bear will be the measure of the consequence brought upon them. If they bring war and killing, they have brought war and killing upon themselves because love of God and neighbour is most truly fulfilled by defending war with war. Again, if in doubt, just picture what would happen if a war of aggression was allowed to proceed against you.
Merit and Mercy
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. -James 2:12-13
The immediate objection rises that an “eye for an eye will blind the world” and that “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” This is, admittedly, true and it’s why every case should be judged on its own merits, as we did after World War II with the Nuremberg trials where not all guilty of death were given death. On the other hand, it becomes clear that in some heinous cases, showing a certain kind of “mercy” would be no justice at all and so judgment becomes mercy to provide solace and protection from those who might go on to other evils.
The topic of war is difficult, uncomfortable, and often leaves us in a place of uncertainty. The path of pacifism at all costs is tempting but what good is a pacifism that leads to greater evil? So, we see that we must wield the principles of Love God and Neighbour and, if all reason and intuition fails us, then we fall on the gift of mercy, either for ourselves or for those who have offended us. Only with intellectual humility can we find rest for our hearts in the ‘peace that passes understanding’ which God gives to us.
Footnotes
- Aragorn to King Theoden in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson. Not a direct quote from the books but well written in the tone and gravity of Tolkien, nonetheless.
- https://biblehub.com/text/exodus/20-13.htm
- https://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_CapitalPunishment.htm
This series will continue. Please check back from time to time, if you’re interested in reading new parts as they become available. The entire series will be made available on the Highlights page under the My Most Important section as each part is published.