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Old 02-18-2008, 11:11 AM
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Diligent Diligent is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scaramouche View Post
This doesn't leave any room for retaliation. Some might argue that this is for individuals and not nations. However, nations are made up of individuals.
Sure they are, but individuals and nations are different entities in Scripture.

It's clear that Matthew 5 is talking about personal revenge, because Christ did not come to deny the law (eye for an eye). Interpreting this passage as applying to nations would make Christ out to be denying the law. Therefor, we must understand that lawful retribution (justice) is a function of the government, not a personal one.
1 Peter 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
Clearly, Christ was not a pacifist nor does he demand his followers be pacifists, since he told them to be armed in Luke 22:36 for travel on perilous roads.

Anyway, this is not the same topic as the original post. The question was about war, not "turning the other cheek." God very clearly is a "man of war" (Exodus 15:3) and war is a function of nations (Joel 3:9). There is nothing anywhere in the Bible that tells Christians that they can not be part of their nation's military forces, but I would suggest that any Christian considering military service should be sure that God is calling him to be used as a man of war and to kill other men. God has clearly called many men to that purpose, but let that calling be sure.