This is the second part in a series tracing the teaching of what we today call nonviolence in ancient Christianity after the end of the biblical era. I pick up where I left off in Part 1, in the mid-Second Century AD/CE and go all the way through the Third Century AD/CE. In the process I cover such topics as tribalism, nationalism, abortion, violence, the role of government, a Christian’s place in government, whether a Christian can hold political office or not, the military – both from the perspective of a soldier who converts to Christianity and a Christian who is thinking about joining the military, justice, political idolatry, the Second Amendment, gun ownership, natural rights, the universal nature of the Church and Christianity, and the hypocrisy of the world’s ideologies. The teaching of these ancient Christians carrying forth the ideals of Christ confront, counter, and dismantle the cunning craftiness of the world’s doctrines through the application of the truths of the Gospel.
Tag: swords and guns
The Christian Case For Nonviolence
The following address, “A Case for Christocentric Nonviolence”, is a copy of a presentation made by New Testament scholar Dr. Preston Sprinkle. It is merely the tip of the iceberg of the evidence and arguments from Christian scripture, history, and theology he uses in his book “Fight” to demonstrate that Christianity is rooted in an absolute ethic of God-like love for all and the commandment to renounce all violence for all causes as Christians are ordered by Christ’s word, deeds, and example to save our enemies, not destroy them. In it he discusses four basic theses, statements of fact that will be proven, which demonstrate the nonviolent nature of Christ and Christian teaching. Then he deals with four arguments commonly made by people trying to justify Christian violence – Romans 13, the cleansing of the temple by Jesus, Jesus telling the Apostles to go buy sword, and the Second Coming – and after demonstrating the errors in them and answering those concerns he concludes by suggesting but a few ways of how this should effect the way we think and act as Christians today in both terms of violent personal self-defense and in war.