-
8. Keeping the Old Testament from Being Used to Justify War
- Augsburg Fortress Publishers
- Chapter
- Additional Information
113 chapTer 8 Keeping the old Testament from being used to Justify War If killing was good enough for Joshua, then it’s good enough for me! —An undergraduate student1 It is default of duty for anyone to teach these stories of holy war without suitable correctives and warnings. —Norman Gottwald2 over three decades ago, Peter Craigie wrote a popular little book titled The Problem of War in the Old Testament.3 It was his attempt to help Christians grapple with certain challenges raised by the overwhelming presence of martial material in the Old Testament. Early in the book, Craigie identifies “three principal areas of difficulty” occasioned by the presence of war in the Old Testament, one of which he describes as “the problem of ethics.”4 “If all the Bible has relevance for ethics,” writes Craigie, “does it follow that war may be pursued legitimately?”5 Or, to put the question more directly: Does the Old Testament support Christian participation in war? For some people of faith, the answer is an unequivocal “Yes!” Hundreds of years ago, Martin Luther wrote: “If the waging of war and the military profession were in themselves wrong and displeasing to God, we should have to condemn Abraham, 114 The Violence of Scripture Moses, Joshua, David and all the rest of the holy fathers, kings, and princes, who served God as soldiers and are highly praised in Scriptures because of this service.”6 More recently, professor George W. Knight III expressed a similar view: The God and Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, instructed his people of old to wage war when necessary and to slay the enemy. . . . These explicit instructions by God make it impossible to maintain that God prohibits the believer from engaging in war under any circumstances.7 Many Christians would agree with these sentiments. The presence of divinely sanctioned warfare in the Old Testament leads them to conclude that war is not always wrong. In fact, God’s involvement in warfare and killing in the Old Testament is regarded as incontrovertible evidence that war is sometimes right because it is ordained by God. Old Testament portrayals of God sanctioning war and participating in it have been used over and over again to justify subsequent acts of war and killing. Even today, many Christians continue to appeal to God’s involvement in war in the Old Testament as evidence that war, in and of itself, cannot be categorically wrong. Since God ostensibly initiated, sanctioned, and sometimes even participated in acts of violence and war, they believe there are circumstances today in which war is not only permissible, but necessary. Just as God ordered Israelites to go to war in the past, they reason that God sometimes may want Christians to fight in the present. This is a familiar argument, routinely advanced during times of war. In his book When God Says War Is Right, professor Darrell Cole emphasizes God’s “warlike character” in the Old Testament and believes it has direct relevance for the question of Christian participation in war.8 Since the Old Testament claims that God sometimes uses lethal force for the sake of justice, Cole believes Christians must do likewise in certain circumstances since they are to imitate God’s behavior. Cole argues that God’s expression of this warlike character through the “use of force” is to be understood as “a product of His justice, mercy, and love.”9 These are the principles Cole believes should also govern Christian participation in warfare.10 As Cole sees it: “Christians fight for justice because God is like that—He uses force to check evil and to bring justice. Christians ought to use force to restrain evil because God is like that; God’s order demands it.”11 But can one legitimately draw such far-reaching conclusions about the appropriateness of a Christian’s participation in war on the basis of Old Testament texts portraying God as warrior? I think not. While I agree with Cole’s assertion that Christians—and others—should “fight for justice” and “restrain evil,” I do not regard war as a morally acceptable option for doing so. Moreover, I strongly disagree with his contention that the Old Testament’s portrayal of God’s involvement in war serves as an example for Christians to follow. Such a claim makes the Bible an accessory to killing and results in using the Bible to harm others. [18.191.5.239] Project MUSE...