Were the Earliest Christians Pacifists?
The Early Church Fathers, the Amish, & St. Francis' Peace-making Mission
Did you know that most of the earliest church fathers were against war and forbid Christians from joining the Roman imperial army? There were likely many reasons for this:
1) The Roman Empire was still pagan and many of its wars were unjust.
2) Christian identity could be morally comprised by participating in the army, which may encourage immoral acts or possibly even imperial worship (i.e. forced idolatry).
However, it does appear that the early fathers make a case that Christians simply shouldn’t kill as Christ has ushered in a new reality, and swords were not to be apart of it. Instead, swords were to be beaten into farming equipment (See Isaiah 2:4).
Here are few quotes from the ancient church:
St. Justin the Martyr: “We who were filled with war and mutual slaughter and all wickedness have each and all throughout the earth changed our instruments of war, our swords into ploughshares and our spears into farming-tools, and cultivate piety, justice, love of mankind, faith and the hope which we have from the Father through the Crucified One.” (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho)
Tertullian: “How shall a Christian wage war? Nay, how shall he even be a soldier in peace time without the sword which the Lord has taken away?… To begin with the real ground of the military crown, I think we must first inquire whether warfare is proper at all for Christians? Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? And shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law? And shall he apply the chain, and the prison, and the torture, and the punishment, who is not the avenger even of his own wrongs? Shall he carry a flag, too, hostile to Christ?”
Origen: “We Christians no longer take up sword against nation, nor do we learn to make war anymore, having become children of peace for the sake of Jesus who is our leader? To those who ask us where we have come from or who is our commander, we say that we have come in accordance with the counsels of Jesus to cut down our war like and arrogant swords of dispute into plowshares, and we convert into sickles the spears we formerly used in fighting. For we no longer take sword against a nation, nor do we learn anymore to make war, having become sons of peace for the sake of Jesus who is our commander.” (Origen, Against Celsus, 8.73; 5.33)
Canons of Hippolytus: “A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded.”
So what are we to make of this? Should all Christians be pacifists today and only practice non-violent peacemaking? Is this what Jesus wanted for His Church? Is this the teaching of Scripture? Is this the unanimous consent of the church fathers?
Of course, we all want to live in a world without war, and someday, that will be the reality. But currently, we do not live in Eden (Genesis 1 & 2) or the New Eden (Revelation 21 & 22) and instead, go to work and school in a very fallen world. Dictators try to conquer lands that do not belong to them, and people break into homes to not only steal but to harm its inhabitants.
St. Augustine of Hippo was a church father that was forced to think through these issues more than the previous fathers, because Christians were now in charge of the Roman Empire and the city of Rome was about to fall. Were Christians allowed to defend their city? Were they allowed to protect their homes and farms? Could they keep their children from being carried away as slaves? These were very real questions that stared St. Augustine directly in the face. Here are a few of his quotes below:
“What is the evil of war? Is it the death of some who will soon die in any case, that others may live in peaceful subjection? This is merely cowardly dislike, not any religious feeling. The real evils in war are love of violence, revengeful cruelty, fierce and implacable enmity, wild resistance, and the lust of power, and such like; and it is generally to punish these things, when force is required to inflict the punishment, that, in obedience to God or some lawful authorities, good men undertake wars, when they find themselves in such a position as regards the conduct of human affairs, that right conduct requires them to act, or to make others act, in this way.” Augustine of Hippo, Reply to Faustus the Manichaean XXII. 74. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4, p. 301.
“A great deal depends on the causes for which men undertake wars, and on the authority they have for doing so; for the natural order which seeks the peace of mankind, ordains that the monarch should have the power of undertaking war if he thinks it advisable, and that the soldiers should perform their military duties in behalf of the peace and safety of the community. When war is undertaken in obedience to God, who would rebuke, or humble, or crush the pride of man, it must be allowed to be righteous war; for even the wars which arise from human passion cannot harm the eternal well-being of God, nor even the saints.” Augustine, Reply to Faustus the Manichaean XXII. 75. NPNF 4, p. 301.
Although the Church east and west eventually embraced a theory of self-defense and just war theory, we Christians should still be very hesitant to fight in war or kill another person. St. Augustine was not ready to toss out the principle that the earlier church fathers developed from Scripture, and they all truly believed that “peace-makers would be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
What are your thoughts on war and peacemaking when it comes to being a Christian? Leave a comment below!
(And don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel to help me reach 1,000 subscribers over the next month)