Dave,
It is not unfair that Christians remain completely neutral as to worldly affairs. But we do understand your question. That is one of the main reasons Christians in the first century were persecuted by the pagan Romans as well, their refusal to fight in war and their refusal to participate in their pagan holidays (which were later grafted into apostate Christianity).
Now if everyone was a real genuine Christian (a Jehovah's Witness) war would be no more. Think about that. If everyone on earth were a practicing Jehovah's Witness, there would be no more hatred, crime, murder, no more warfare.
We have achieved among ourselves what people in the world only yearn about. Why would you want us to go back to the primitive way of slaughter and butchery that the rest of humankind continue to engage in (whether they be religious or otherwise)?
“While they [the Christians] inculcated the maxims of passive obedience, they refused to take any active part in the civil administration or the military defence of the empire. . . . It was impossible that the Christians, without renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume the character of soldiers, of magistrates, or of princes.”—The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon, Vol. I, p. 416.
Other references as to the real Christians stance on warfare:
“A careful review of all the information available goes to show that, until the time of Marcus Aurelius [121-180 C.E.], no Christian became a soldier; and no soldier, after becoming a Christian, remained in military service.” (The Rise of Christianity, by E. W. Barnes, 1947, p. 333)
“It will be seen presently that the evidence for the existence of a single Christian soldier between 60 and about 165 A.D. is exceedingly slight; . . . up to the reign of Marcus Aurelius at least, no Christian would become a soldier after his baptism.” (The Early Church and the World, by C. J. Cadoux, 1955, pp. 275, 276)
“In the second century, Christianity . . . had affirmed the incompatibility of military service with Christianity.” (A Short History of Rome, by G. Ferrero and C. Barbagallo, 1919, p. 382)
“The behavior of the Christians was very different from that of the Romans. . . . Since Christ had preached peace, they refused to become soldiers.” (Our World Through the Ages, by N. Platt and M. J. Drummond, 1961, p. 125) “The first Christians thought it was wrong to fight, and would not serve in the army even when the Empire needed soldiers.” (The New World’s Foundations in the Old, by R. and W. M. West, 1929, p. 131)
“The Christians . . . shrank from public office and military service.” (“Persecution of the Christians in Gaul, A.D. 177,” by F. P. G. Guizot in The Great Events by Famous Historians, edited by R. Johnson, 1905, Vol. III, p. 246)
Answered By: Leon Manso - 7/9/2012 |