Jesus was no Pacifist!

A while back I posted a blog that answered the question, "Would Jesus have gone to Vietnam?" This is some further insight on that subject.

Pacifism and Jesus? Maybe, if he was a 21st century liberal American. But Jesus was, in fact, a first Century Jew.

In the Jewish Talmud, which Jesus would have read, trusted, and taught from, are these words, "If someone comes to kill you, anticipate him and kill him first" (Sanhedrin 72a). To kill in self-defense was perfectly permissible in Jewish belief. And please take the time to ponder for a moment that Jesus was not a Christian; He was a Jew.

In fact Christians were a legitimate sect of the Jews, not unlike the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, et cetera, until 380 A.D. or C.E., whichever you choose. It was then that the church father, John Chrysostom was appointed Bishop of Antioch.

According to Stephen M. Wylen, when Chrysostom came to the city, he was shocked to find his flock regularly attending the synagogue, enjoying the sermons there and socializing with Jews. The Christians treated rabbis as holy men, going to them for amulets, blessings and cures. John Chrysostom responded with his ten famous sermons Adversus Judaeus, “Against the Jews.”

He condemned the Jews in the strongest terms as servants of the Devil. He forbade social and economic contact of any kind with Jews; much less a sharing of religious ideas and practices…these sermons became the basis for church policy. Judaism was utterly condemned as debased, even satanic religion. Contact with Jews was restricted. Attendance at Jewish rites was prohibited. Christians were prohibited by law from “Judiaizing”—that is, from observing Jewish rites, laws and customs. Christians were prohibited from keeping kosher, celebrating Jewish holidays, or visiting synagogues.

The Ebeonites, or Jewish Christians, had become increasingly marginalized. Now they disappeared altogether. To become a Christian was to reject Jewish identity and become a Gentile, with no exceptions. –The Jews in the Time of Jesus, pgs. 195-196

To truly understand Jesus and how he would respond to laws against killing, you must understand first century Jews and their beliefs and teachings, as well as have some understanding of the original languages. You also have to understand what Jewish culture and social life was like for a follower of Jesus. Jesus told his followers to buy swords in Luke 22:35-37. We also know that some of them carried weapons (Luke 22:8; 22:50).

For those who believe that Jesus was a Pacifist, the misunderstanding comes from a mistranslation of the Semitic languages and Biblical Greek into English. The word used in Matthew 5:21 which says, “You shall not kill” is better translated, “You shall not murder.” There is a big difference, even in modern English.

Killing and murder are polarized by the intent. As David Bivin and Roy Blizzard, Jr. point out in their revised edition of their book, Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus New Insights From a Hebraic Perspective, “It’s difficult to explain how English translators made this mistake since the Greek language also has separate words for ‘murder’ and ‘kill,’ and it is the Greek word for ‘murder’ (not ‘kill’) which is used in Matthew 5:21.”

There are also other passages of Scripture where the English translations lend themselves to lead readers astray. If you want to know more, buy the books that you see quoted in this blog. But be careful, some modern Christians live by the motto, "The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it." These books just may unsettle it.

I hope this has shaken your faith just enough to get you thinking and studying for yourself.

For those of you high and mighty, know-it-all Chirstians, there is a saying, “Once a Christian becomes a Bishop, he never again eats a bad meal, reads a good book, or hears the truth.” (source unknown, at least to me.)

I'm not in the mood to be diplomatic tonight. But my name is still Johnny and I'm still your friend.

Forever learning
Johnny