Jesus, as it turns out was a hard core pacifist and he was serious as a heart attack about that non-resistance, turn the other cheek, take up your cross and be prepared to die at the hands of your enemies stuff. He was, to use an oxymoron, an adamant even a belligerent pacifist. ‘Those who live by the sword die by the sword’ was his warning, and when his disciples tried to take up swords for the sake of the Kingdom Jesus not only told them ‘enough of that’ but he then repaired the damage to the ear of the high priest’s slave. Jesus was in deadly earnest about being the Prince of Peace.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bibleandculture/2012/10/03/the-long-journey-of-a-christian-pacifist/
Ben Witherington III is not a liberal. He is an Evangelical Academic.
Wow. That is a powerful argument.
Related articles
- Pacifism – Matthew 26:52 (thinkershandbook.com)
- @TheIRD, Bonhoeffer and War (simuliustusetpeccator.com)
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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[...] Joel shared this the yesterday and in light of the recent conversation here, I think this is extremely relevant. [...]
I read Ben’s article. It was a long journey for me, also. [And I, too, ran into Quaker friends.]
Sorry, that posted before I finished [?]
I graduated in the spring of the Kent State shootings and entered the Marines. Long story.
Anyhow, I just started a resource and quotes blog on the topic of pacifism.
http://christianpacifismblog.wordpress.com/