Author: Associate Professor Dr. Kostadin Nushev
Biblical truths about peace and war
Peace, according to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is revealed as a gift from God to man. God Himself is the God of peace (Gen. 26:4 – 28:14) and His blessing favors man with the gifts and benefits of a peaceful and peaceful existence, happiness and prosperity on earth.
• In the biblical wisdom of the Holy Scriptures, true and lasting peace is seen as the fruit of God’s justice, and Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah is the “Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). The Messianic kingdom of righteousness is the kingdom of God’s peace.
• Peace (Hebrew shalom; Greek eirini Latin pax) is a state that derives from God, but also from justice – from God’s justice and human justice. It is based on the principles of justice, respect and regard for the natural rights of man and his legitimate interests and well-being.
• Violation of peace as a blessed condition in the relations between man and God and between man and other people leads to enmity and injustice, to evils and aggression, to violence and misfortunes for men, for society and for nations.
War as a consequence of the Fall
• War is a fruit of sin and enters the world together with the consequences of sin in man’s relationship with God and the destruction of the bonds of peace with his fellow men.
• War is an evil that is a manifestation, action and state of violation of God’s law of love and God’s justice.
• The war between men begins with Cain’s fratricide and the violence committed against his brother Abel.
• War is the result of enmity and lack of peace and is manifested by aggression and violence, which are enmity against God and neighbor and a violation of God’s law of love for God and neighbor.
THE PEACE OF CHRIST AS A GRACEFUL GIFT OF SALVATION
“Peace I leave you; My peace I give you; Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27)
• The biblical concept of peace is much broader than the usual political or formal legal understanding of peace as the absence of war or enmity and the absence of conflict in interpersonal relationships.
• Peace is a great gift and blessing from God, which requires benevolence (benevolentia) – “good will” between people (Luke 2:14) and justice in its spiritual-moral, social and legal dimensions, which are the real and permanent basis for everyone true peace.
• lasting and stable peace in human relationships can only exist on the basis of the satisfied requirements of God’s justice and human justice. This applies to social, political and international relations as well as to interpersonal relations and the resolution of moral conflicts.
The Christian View of War and Peace
• Enmity and rivalry, envy and arrogance, trampling on the rights and freedoms, dignity and honor of an individual, or of a community, people and state as one of the parties in interpersonal or contractual-legal relations, regulated by the principles of justice or legality, lead to conflicts, fratricidal wars and international disasters.
• The gospel and the protection of peace on the part of the Church do not completely overlap with the causes of political pacifism, but have a wider value dimension, which in theological science is defined as “Irinism”.
• These principles of Christian ethics derive from the Savior’s words to His disciples: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you; Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27).
Moral problems of peace and war in the history of Christianity and the tradition of the church
• The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments definitely talk about the possibilities of using force for the protection of peace, order or a just cause, and even about the need to defend sacred causes through the legal and morally justified use of force.
• The answer that St. John the Baptist gives to the soldiers who came to be baptized by him and seek spiritual advice about how to act and what to do in order to live righteously and godly in order to achieve salvation does not contain a command to prohibit the weapon and demand that they give up their ministry.
• Saint John the Baptist advised the soldiers not to give up the use of arms, but not to use their arms and power for injustice: “Do not trouble anyone, do not slander and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14).
• war in Christian ethics and for the possibility of moral justification of defensive war and liberation war, which are related to the legitimate use of force to oppose violence, lawlessness and injustice.
The theme of “just war” in Christian ethics and church tradition
• The theme of peace and war, of justice and violence and the just use of force in Christian moral theology, as well as in the theory of international law, is considered in history and in relation to the theory of “just war” (justum bellum).
• Within the Christian ethical tradition, this topic has its historical development and significance for ethics, for the state and law, and for international relations.
• Christian ethical concepts are the result of centuries of discussion, development and improvement of the norms of morality and international law, both in the East and in the West.
• The doctrine of just war (justum bellum) in Christian ethics passes from antiquity and the legacy of the Ancient Church to the Medieval philosophical tradition and Western European culture, and in some aspects it is connected to the moral code of chivalry.
• Augustine’s views on just war were adopted in medieval theology through the writings of Isidore of Seville, who also provided one of the authoritative formulations embedded in the Christian tradition.
Just war and defensive war to repel armed violence with the lawful use of force
Lawful and just use of force
• Based on the examples from the Holy Scriptures and above all by carefully examining the teaching of Jesus Christ, it can be concluded that the use of force, in itself, cannot be qualified as an unconditional evil from a Christian point of view. Although Jesus Christ distinguished himself from his contemporary zealots, and taught about the peaceful change of social injustices and evils, the fair use of force is possible under certain conditions.
Defensive warfare and coverage of an armed attack
• Christianity does not absolutize the New Testament principle of manly bearing of evils and sufferings and not resisting evil and calls everyone to bravely fight against evil and wage a spiritual battle against it, and if it is armed evil and evil that uses weapons of violence and injustice, to use for the purposes of defeating evil and neutralizing its destructive action, and legitimate use of force.
Note: The text was presented within the framework of the international scientific conference organized on May 12, 2022 in Sofia by the “Pokrov Bogorodichen” Foundation on the topic: “The Church and War”, the purpose of which was to present a theological reflection on the topics related to war and peace , from the perspective of Christian tradition, history and anthropology.
Photo: Icon of St. Archangel Gabriel. Ikoni Mahnevi, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057324623799
