Christianity - Peace & Conflict

Christians Believe People Should Be Peaceful

  1. Many of Jesus’s teachings show that peace is the ultimate goal for all human beings.

  2. Isaiah 9:6 referred to the Messiah as the “Prince of Peace” - Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah and God wanted him to create peace on Earth.

  3. For Christians, Jesus’s command to “Love your enemies” (Luke 6:27) is very important in the way they live their lives. He said that people shouldn’t follow the Old Testament teachings about retaliation:

    • “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you… If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:38-39)

  4. This is evident in Matthew 26:47-56. Even though Judas had betrayed him, Jesus didn’t condone anyone being violent. Jesus said “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52), suggesting that people who engage in conflict will die because of it

  5. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that”Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). He also told his followers “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27)

Jesus’s Teachings and Work for Peace

  • Dorothy Day was a Catholic activist who followed Jesus’s pacifist teachings. She protested against the Spanish Civil War, WW2, violence and nuclear weapons in the USA. She co-founded ‘The Catholic Worker’, a newspaper which was firmly anti-war and eventually evolved into a pacifist group of campaigners.

  • Archbishop Oscar Romero worked for peace during turbulent times in 1970s El Salvador. He raised awareness of the suffering and violence people were being subjected to by the military and the police. He helped those affected by the cruelty, fought for their rights and promoted peace between opposing groups. He was killed for his beliefs in 1980.

  • Dr Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister who dedicated his life to trying to change the way black people were treated in the USA. He organised peaceful marches, rallies and boycotts, and in 1965 black people were given equal voting rights with white people.

  • Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk and a famous pacifist. In the 1960s, his writings influenced many in the civil rights movement for racial equality and he was against the violence of the Vietnam War

  • Most Christians wouldn’t support violent protests, but some might think it’s sometimes justified - when Jesus saw that some people were exploiting the temple, he “overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves” (Matthew 21:12) in protest at what they were doing

Some Christians Recognise Just Wars

  1. Although war goes against the teachings of Jesus, most Christian denominations accept that there can be such a thing as a ‘just war’. They would agree with the conditions of the Just War Theory

  2. Some interpret this verse as meaning the government has the right to use violence to ensure peace:

    • “…if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:4)

  3. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2265) says that “Legitimate defence can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others”. However, due to the advanced weaponry used in modern-day wars and the horrendous impact that war has had in Syria, the Catholic Church is reconsidering its stance on just war.

  4. Christians are strongly against the indiscriminate killing involved in terrorism

Holy Wars are Now Rejected by Nearly All Christians

  1. In the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, Christians went on crusades to ‘free’ the Christian holy places in Palestine. The wars caused a lot of devastation

  2. In the past, holy wars were fought to convert other people to Christianity. Jesus told his disciples: “Do not supposed that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Many think Jesus wasn’t actually talking about violence here - he meant that spreading the Christian message would cause divisions between believers and non-believers.

  3. The vast majority of Christian’s don’t believe in the idea of a holy war any more. Although it’s for different reasons, their stance on holy war would be the same as an atheist’s