The Bible is against violence. Therefore the Bible is against "the State," which is organized violence.
The Bible is not against all violence. The Bible does not condemn the violence which Jesus Christ advocated and exercised. However, just because God uses violence against His enemies does not mean we can. The Bible says violence "belongs to God." (Romans 12:17-21) The Bible condemns human violence. This web page explains the Biblical basis for opposing violence, and the connection between violence and the State, and why Christians must be anarchists.
That Christianity teaches non-violence is almost as universally acknowledged as it is universally ignored. It is to be conceded that there are many sincere Christians who do not believe that the Bible condemns all acts of violence, but I believe these beliefs result from "practical" (read: "political") considerations.
Moses gave the command of God, "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13). John Calvin recognized that "The sum of this Commandment is, that we should not unjustly do violence to any one. [U]nder the word 'kill' is included by synecdoche all violence, smiting, and aggression."[1] More than 50 other texts which explicitly mention "violence" clearly condemn violence to our neighbor.[2] And Leviticus 19:18 informs us that life begins in our hearts: "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD."
Affirmatively, the Command "Thou shalt not kill" includes acts which promote or restore life, even among those who do not share our citizenship or political philosophy.[3] The Bible forbids violent acts even toward our enemies. The ethic of Love of Enemy receives the classic statement in Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount,"[4] which is almost universally known and understood, even among those who do not claim to be Christian. Yet these and other clear commands of non-violence are set aside as "impractical," "unrealistic," or as unattainable "counsels of perfection" even by those who claim to be Christians. Elizabeth Flower, of the University of Pennsylvania, writing in The Dictionary of the History of Ideas, observes,
The perplexing issue is why such straightforward and unambiguous teaching came to be ignored, or at least taken as a counsel of perfection impossible of realization in this world. In any case, . . . Christians began to accommodate to the social realities of civil government, military service, taxation, etc.; and then to develop their own political power. Yet the literal directives of the Sermon [on the Mount] were time-resistant and Christian pacifism has not lacked for bold and uncompromising advocates in such early Church Fathers as Clement, Justin, and above all Origen, in sects such as the Quakers, Schwenkenfelders, and Doukhobors, and in such modern proponents as Leo Tolstoy, Jacques Maritain, and A.J. Muste. . . . Yet historical Christianity generally compromised its pacifist commitments.[5]
That Pacifism is a legitimate, tenable position for a Christian cannot, I believe, be controverted.[6]
I was asked by the California State Bar to state my views on Pacifism.[7] I limited my response to a few paragraphs which highlight choices I have made to follow Christ which were costly and "against self-interest."
I was reared in a Christian (but non-pacifist) home. Since childhood I had been fascinated by science and technology. My doodles were dominated by scenes of outer space and the explosive power of military technology. Around 1973 I came in contact with the claims of "Creation Science" and their arguments against the theory of random evolution. My study of the subject made it immediately clear to me that both Evolutionism and Creationism were "unprovable," yet it also became painfully clear that (a) Evolutionism was dogmatically touted as an unquestionable "scientific fact," (b) these claims were motivated not by "neutrality" or "objectivity," but by an anti-Christian bias, and (c) the theory was the foundation of modern "science," which found its most powerful embodiment in the "Military-Industrial Complex." The lines were vividly drawn by Aldous Huxley, grandson of "Darwin's Bulldog," Thomas H. Huxley:
I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics, he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do, or why his friends should not seize political power and govern in the way that they find most advantageous to themselves. . . . For myself, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political."[8]
I was profoundly affected by the revelation that for this and many other evolutionist scholars, "liberation" was from Christian values, values which were very passionately despised. I was struck by the fact that those scholars who had been telling me I could not trust the Bible were -- to be blunt -- liars. I became a card-carrying Creationist -- not a socially acceptable thing in the early seventies.
As I struggled to discover the implications of Creationism, I was also struggling to honor my father and mother, who wanted me to attend a secular, evolutionist university. During high school I had applied for and had been awarded a four-year full-tuition scholarship (including all textbook and related expenses and a monthly stipend) to the University of Southern California through Air Force ROTC. Although I was not a consistent pacifist at this time (as I still defended Capital Punishment) the inconsistencies between my faith and the secular Establishment became too great, and in order to pursue my goal of following the Prince of Peace, I relinquished the ROTC scholarship at the end of my sophomore year. Obviously this was a difficult decision. I continued college pre-law.
Before graduating, I had become a Chalcedon Scholar at the Foundation identified by Newsweek magazine as the "think tank" of the then-emerging "religious right."[9] In my first published article I returned to the secular, anti-Christian biases of Huxley and the evolutionists,[10] and later evidenced my growing distaste for the militarism of the secular Establishment.[11] During this time I began teaching in a Christian school (Dominion Christian School) and preaching regularly in a small church (Reformation Bible Church).
Reformation Bible Church attempted to follow the teachings of the Protestant Reformers. I began studying Reformed theology seriously around 1977. Beginning around 1980 I began teaching a class on the Westminster Larger Catechism. The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms were written in the 1640's. B.B. Warfield, professor at Princeton in the late 1800's, wrote of the Westminster Standards,
[T]hey are the final crystallization of the elements of evangelical religion, after the conflicts of sixteen hundred years. . . . [T]hey are the richest and most precise and best guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion. . . .[12]
Below is the Catechism's exposition of the Sixth Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." Over the years, I have attempted to follow these commands, although I have come to reject the lines justifying war and capital punishment. The footnoted Scripture references are in the original text of the Catechism.
Q. 134. Which is the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.[13]
Q. 135. What are the duties required in the sixth commandment?
A. The duties required in the sixth commandment are, all careful studies, and lawful endeavors, to preserve the life of ourselves,[14] and others[15] by resisting all thoughts and purposes,[16] subduing all passions,[17] and avoiding all occasions,[18] temptations,[19] and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any; by just defence thereof against violence,[20] patient bearing of the hand of God,[21] quietness of mind,[22] cheerfulness of spirit;[23] a sober use of meat,[24] drink,[25] physick,[26] sleep,[27] labour,[28] and recreations;[29] by charitable thoughts,[30] love,[31] compassion,[32] meekness, gentleness, kindness;[33] peaceable,[34] mild and courteous speeches and behavior;[35] forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for evil;[36] comforting and succouring the distressed, and protecting and defending the innocent.[37]
Q. 136. What are the sins forbidden in the sixth commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the sixth commandment are, all taking away the life of ourselves,[38] or of others,[39] except in case of publick justice,[40] lawful war,[41] or necessary defence;[42] the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life;[43] sinful anger,[44] hatred,[45] envy,[46] desire of revenge;[47] all excessive passions,[48] distracting cares;[49] immoderate use of meat, drink,[50] labour,[51] and recreations;[52] provoking words,[53] oppression,[54] quarrelling,[55] striking, wounding,[56] and whatsoever else tends to the destruction of the life of any.[57]
I concluded that, when taken seriously, these commands lead to a radical non-violent lifestyle.[58]
Prior to the 1982 elections, I circulated papers arguing that Christians should support the Nuclear Freeze Initiative on the forthcoming California ballot. This, combined with other writings which were not conventional for the "Religious Right," such as opposition to capital punishment and voting, precipitated my termination as a Chalcedon scholar and teacher at Reformation Bible Church. Once listed as having given "very special advice and assistance" on the "Acknowledgments" page of a Religious Right book critical of socialism,[59] my name was removed from the second edition of that same book,[60] and I was subsequently listed in the "Who's Not" of the movement.[61] Throughout the 1980's I was publicly "shunned" by the movement, a painful experience.
With my short-lived career at the Religious Right at an ignominious end, I turned to the religious left, a pacifist organization called the "Catholic Worker." Founded in 1933,
The movement and the paper are still imbued with the pacifist-anarchist sentiment with which the organization was launched by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. . . . [As Dorothy Day puts it,] "The emphasis was always, from the very beginning, on the use of nonviolence as a way of changing the social order, and in that sense it could be said that is was always a pacifist group. But the objective, as Peter Maurin phrased it, was to try to work so as to bring about the kind of society where it is easier for people to be good. And it's always remained with us as a very good expression of the ideas. I think we're primarily religious. I think we're primarily trying to live our faith and we think in terms of man's showing his faith, his love of God, by his love of his brother. . . . The precept that Christ laid down was that we should love our brother as He had loved us, and that is to the laying down of our lives. Not to the taking of lives, not to violent revolution as a means of changing the social order, but to a non-violent process -- a true revolution in which we follow the Gandhian techniques."[62]
I began volunteering at a Catholic Worker soup kitchen on L.A.'s skid row while still in law school.[63] In 1988 I asked to become a member of the Catholic Worker community in Santa Ana, though not a Catholic, and lived and worked there for the next seven years. This work included living with approximately 20 homeless people, and serving meals to hundreds more during the week. I consistently protested militarism at the main gate of the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station every Friday afternoon for 6 years, usually holding a sign that said "Violence is Not the Answer." I also made trips at least once a year to the Nevada Test Site to suggest non-violent alternatives to nuclear war, and worked for other peace groups, such as Pax Christi, USA.[64]
My opposition to violence has also had economic implications. I support "the Gold Standard" because the Bible says that fractional reserve banking is fraudulent and is an act of violence.[65] In order to avoid acts of violence, I have attempted as much as possible to limit my use of United States Federal Reserve Notes, by foregoing such amenities of "the American dream" as Health Insurance, Home Ownership, Interest-bearing Investments, etc., and have sought out volunteer work rather than salaried positions;[66] I have not accepted a Federal Reserve Note-denominated paycheck since 1977.[67]
Since this litigation concerns resistance of a state statute, I have limited this listing of "evidentiary facts" to those which relate to the resisting of violence. Much more could be said of positive acts of countering violence and evil with good, as described above in The Larger Catechism. Jesus said the marks of a true Christian are the "works of mercy":
for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; {36} I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. {40} Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.[68]
For over ten years I have attempted to practice this kind of Christianity on a daily basis. A listing of "all evidentiary facts" detailing day-to-day work with the homeless, drug addicts, the fatherless, and the incarcerated, would, I trust, be time-consuming and superfluous.
Finally, I have attempted to counter violence with justice. By serving on the Board of Directors of the Christian Conciliation Service, and mediating legal disputes, I have attempted to follow the Scriptural commands listed in Appendix B of my Petition before the California Supreme Court (p. 43). I would like to continue pursuing justice and non-violence through the practice of law.
Continue: Why Pacifists are Anarchists
(1) Cited by R.J. Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law, 219 (1973). See the discussion, below, p. 7. [Back to text]
(2) From the King James Version (1611): Genesis 6:11-13; Genesis 21:25; Leviticus 6:2-4; Deuteronomy 28:31; 2 Samuel 22:3; 2 Samuel 22:49; Job 20:19; Job 24:2; Psalm 7:16; Psalm 11:5; Psalm 18:48; Psalm 55:9; Psalm 58:2; Psalm 72:14; Psalm 73:6; Psalm 86:14; Psalm 140:1; Psalm 140:4; Psalm 140:11; Proverbs 4:14-17; Proverbs 10:6; Proverbs 10:11; Proverbs 13:2; Proverbs 16:29; Proverbs 28:17; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Isaiah 53:9; Isaiah 59:1-15; Jeremiah 6:7; Jeremiah 22:3; Jeremiah 22:15-17; Ezekiel 7:11; Ezekiel 7:23; Ezekiel 8:17; Ezekiel 12:19; Ezekiel 18:7-8; Ezekiel 18:12-13; Ezekiel 18:16-18; Ezekiel 28:16; Ezekiel 45:9-10; Joel 3:19; Amos 3:10; Amos 6:3; Obadiah 1:10; Jonah 3:8; Micah 2:2; Micah 6:11-12; Habakkuk 1:2-4; Habakkuk 1:9; Habakkuk 2:8; Habakkuk 2:17; Zephaniah 1:9; Zephaniah 3:4; Malachi 2:16; Luke 3:14. [Back to text]
(3) Exodus 22:4-5 ("If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. [5] If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.") Luke 10:33-34 ("But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, {34} And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.") [Back to text]
(4) Matthew 5-7, passim. ("Blessed are the peacemakers," "Love your enemy," "Turn the other cheek," etc.) [Back to text]
(5) "Peace, Ethics of," 3 Dictionary of the History of Ideas, 441 (1973). [Back to text]
(6) More on the non-violent teachings of Christianity will be found below at p. 7. [Back to text]
(7) I am reminded of a slogan repeated in certain Christian circles, "If being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" The basis of my Complaint, and the allegation in paragraph 8 of the Complaint, is not that I am perfect, or consistently exemplify the teachings of Christ, but that such is my personal goal, and the law challenged in my Complaint is an obstacle to that goal. [Back to text]
(8) I first ran across this quote in J. McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, 12 (1972), then encountered similar admissions in abundance. [Back to text]
(9) 97 Newsweek 5:60 (Feb. 2, 1981). See also W. Estep, Revolution Within the Revolution: The First Amendment in Historical Context 1612-1789, 11-15 (1990). [Back to text]
(10) J. Craig, "'The Facts' vs. the Faith." Chalcedon Report, No. 166, (June 1979). Reprinted in Creation News (Wales), No. 37, Spring 1980; Creation Social Science and Humanities Quarterly Vol. II, No. 4 (Summer, 1980). [Back to text]
(11) K. Craig, "The New Priesthood of War," Chalcedon Report, Nos. 175-76 (Mar-Apr, 1980). [Back to text]
(12) From an address "delivered, on its appointment, before the Presbytery of New York, Nov. 8, 1897" (from the Princeton Press, Nov. 13, 1897); published in book form under the title, The Significance of the Westminster Standards as a Creed, 1898, reprinted in 2 Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield 660 (1973). [Back to text]
(13) Exodus 20:13. [Back to text]
(14) Ephesians 5:28-29. ("So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. {29} For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:") [Back to text]
(15) 1 Kings 18:4. ("For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.") [Back to text]
(16) Jeremiah 26:15-16; ("But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears. {16} Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.") Acts 23:12,16-17,21,27. [Back to text]
(17) Ephesians 4:26-27. ("Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: {27} Neither give place to the devil.") [Back to text]
(18) 2 Samuel 2:22; ("And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?") Deuteronomy 22:8. ("When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.") [Back to text]
(19) Matthew 4:6-7; ("And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. {7} Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Proverbs 1:10-11,15-16. ("My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. {11} If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: {15} My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: {16} For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.") [Back to text]
(20) Psalm 82:4; ("Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.") Proverbs 24:11; ("If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;") 1 Samuel 14:45. ("And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.") [I cited the first two passages in my Petition before the California Supreme Court, Appendix B, "The Call to Justice."] [Back to text]
(21) James 5:7-11; ("Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. {8} Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. {9} Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. {10} Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. {11} Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.") Hebrews 12:9. ("Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?") [Back to text]
(22) 1 Thessalonians 4:11; ("And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;") 1 Peter 3:3-4; ("Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; {4} But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.") Psalm 37:8-11. ("Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. {9} For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. {10} For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. {11} But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.") [Back to text]
(23) Proverbs 17:22. ("A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.") [Back to text]
(24) Proverbs 25:16,27. ("Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. {27} It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.") [Back to text]
(25) 1 Timothy 5:23. ("Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.") [Back to text]
(26) Isaiah 38:21. ("For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.") [Back to text]
(27) Psalm 127:2. ("It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.") [Back to text]
(28) Ecclesiastes 5:12; ("The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.") 2 Thessalonians 3:10,12; ("For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. {12} Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.") Proverbs 16:26. ("He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him.") [Back to text]
(29) Ecclesiastes 3:4,11, etc. ("A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; {11} He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.") [Back to text]
(30) 1 Samuel 19:4-5; ("And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: {5} For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?") 22:13-14. ("And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? {14} Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?") [Back to text]
(31) Romans 13:10. ("Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.") [Back to text]
(32) Luke 10:33-34. ("But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, {34} And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.") [Back to text]
(33) Colossians 3:12-13. ("Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; {13} Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.") [Back to text]
(34) James 3:17. ("But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.") [Back to text]
(35) 1 Peter 3:8-11; ("Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: {9} Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. {10} For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: {11} Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.") Proverbs 15:1; ("A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.") Judges 8:1-3. [Back to text]
(36) Matthew 5:24; ("Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.") Ephesians 4:2,32; ("With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; {32} And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.") Romans 12:17,20-21 ("Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. {20} Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. {21} Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.") [Back to text]
(37) 1 Thessalonians 5:14; ("Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.") Job 31:19-20; ("If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; {20} If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;") Matthew 25:35; "(For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:") Proverbs 31:8-9. ("Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. {9} Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.") [Back to text]
(38) Acts 16:28. ("But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.") [Back to text]
(39) Genesis 9:6. ("Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.") [Back to text]
(40) Numbers 35:31,33. ("Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. {33} So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.") [Back to text]
(41) Jeremiah 48:10; ("Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.") Deuteronomy chapter 20 throughout. ("When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. {2} And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, {3} And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; {4} For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." etc.) [Back to text]
(42) Exodus 22:2-3. ("If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. {3} If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.") [Back to text]
(43) Matthew 25:42-43; ("For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: {43} I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. James 2:15-16; ("If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, {16} And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?") Ecclesiastes 6:1-2. ("There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: {2} A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.") [Back to text]
(44) Matthew 5:22. ("But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.") [Back to text]
(45) 1 John 3:15; ("Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.") Leviticus 19:17. ("Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.") [Back to text]
(46) Proverbs 14:30. ("A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.") [Back to text]
(47) Romans 12:19. ("Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.") [Back to text]
(48) Ephesians 4:31. ("Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:") [Back to text]
(49) Matthew 6:31,34. ("Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? {34} Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.") [Back to text]
(50) Luke 21:34; ("And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.) Romans 13:13. ("Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.") [Back to text]
(51) Ecclesiastes 12:12; ("And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.") 2:22-23 ("For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? {23} For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.") [Back to text]
(52) Isaiah 5:12. ("And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.") [Back to text]
(53) Proverbs 15:1; ("A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.") 12:18 ("There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.") [Back to text]
(54) Ezekiel 18:18; ("As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.") Exodus 1:14. ("And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.") [Back to text]
(55) Galatians 5:15; ("But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.") Proverbs 23:29. ("Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?") [Back to text]
(56) Numbers 35:16-18,21. ("And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. {17} And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. {18} Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. {21} Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.") [Back to text]
(57) Exodus 21 from Ver. 18 to the end. [Containing laws for smiters, for an hurt by chance, for an ox that goreth, and for him that is an occasion of harm.] [note in original] [Back to text]
(58) I was again profoundly affected when I studied the conflict between the Protestant Reformers and the pacifistic Anabaptists of the 16th century. The Anabaptists rejected the moral legitimacy of church-state coercion, and attempted to live out commands such as these. Their radical pacifism was perceived to be a threat to the Establishment, and they were imprisoned and executed, often by the Reformers themselves, who at this point rejected Biblical Law in favor of Roman Law. John Calvin, trained as a lawyer, dedicated his Institutes of the Christian Religion to the King of France in an attempt to curry favor with the king and divert French persecution of the Protestants onto the Anabaptists. Nice guy. See generally, L. Verduin, Reformers and their Stepchildren (1980) and B. Nelson, The Idea of Usury (1969). Prior to my joining the Catholic Worker, members of an Anabaptist Bruderhof stayed at my home as they sold their crafts in the So. Cal. area. [Back to text]
(59) D. Chilton, Rich Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators, iv (1981). [Back to text]
(60) D. Chilton, Rich Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators, "Acknowledgments," n.p., 2nd rev. ed., 1982. Both editions were published by Gary North's Institute for Christian Economics, featured in a PBS documentary. See Bill Moyers, Transcript: "God and Politics: On Earth As It Is In Heaven," Public Affairs Television (broadcast date: Dec. 23, 1987). [Back to text]
(61) G. North, "Publisher's Epilogue," in D. Chilton, Paradise Restored, 344n.7 (1987 paperback ed.). [Back to text]
(62) J. Finn, Protest: Pacifism and Politics, 372 (1967). [Back to text]
(63) The conservative Christian Simon Greenleaf School of Law. [Back to text]
(64) Some elements of the religious left associated with the Catholic Worker, such as the American Friends Service Committee, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the War Resisters League, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, while claiming to be non-violent, have defended violence directed against "colonialism" and have supported armed uprisings in the "Third World," praising the militarist socialist regimes emerging from such conflicts. See G. Lewy, Peace and Revolution: The Moral Crisis of American Pacifism (1988). I have always opposed all forms of violent revolution (now including that directed against British colonialism in the years preceding 1791, and the militarist socialist regime which thereafter emerged). [Back to text]
(65) Micah 6:11-12 ("Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? {12} For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.") See also Deuteronomy 25:13-15; Psalm 72:14 (cp. LXX); Ezekiel 18:7-18; 45:9-10. [Back to text]
(66) This opposition to paper "money" was universally held by our Founding Fathers, and is embodied in the Constitutional provision (Art. 1, S 10) that "No state shall . . . make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. . . ." The proposition that contemporary government monetary policy (fractional reserve banking) is fraudulent and an act of violence was held by economist F.A. Hayek, who warned that it would "destroy the foundations of a free society." The Constitution of Liberty, 339 (1960). Hayek was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1974. [Back to text]
(67) I am struggling to put these laws into practice. It is a monumental task. See my discussion of God's Law on Money. I have received checks denominated in dollars for writing and speaking, and these have been donated to 501(c)(3) corporations such as Vine & Fig Tree. "Render unto Ceasar, etc." [Back to text]
(68) Matthew 25:35-40. [Back to text]
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This case has now been rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Check it out!
Having seen why Christians must be pacifists, it now remains to see why pacifists must be anarchists.
Pacifists are against violence. The State is institutionalized violence. Therefore pacifists are against the State.
The California State Bar also asked me if I was an anarchist. I explained some of the writings that influenced me. Some of those volumes were listed in my Petition before the California Supreme Court, Appendix A, "Petitioner's Religious Views," p. 37, note 27, reproduced here.[1]
Once again,[2] clear Biblical statements have not been consistently practiced by Christians over the centuries. Greatly simplified, the argument runs as follows:
Ethically, God commands us to love our enemies and not to kill. Nevertheless, we use the State to conduct a "bold foreign policy for a New World Order" (that is, to kill nearly a quarter million innocent people in Iraq) and to "speedily bring criminals to justice" (that is, to kill them).
God commands us not to steal. We use the State to "redistribute wealth" through "taxation."
God prohibits fraud through currency debasement. We make it the cornerstone of the State's economic policy.
God commands us not to kidnap. We use the State to enslave through conscription and imprisonment.
What distinguishes the State from private citizens is its claim to sin with impunity.
Historically, this claim is without foundation. God created man to do the "works of mercy"[3] in a family-centered society. Men left the family not out of necessity, but to pursue their lusts in violation of God's Law. The Biblical record shows that God nowhere commanded men to form a State; the state is the instrument through which rebels violate God's Law. These arguments were set forth in the California Petition, Appendix A, "Petitioner's Religious Views," especially at note 23.
Philosophically, this movement from Patriarchy to Politics is justified by a philosophy of atheism and secularism. We are told that our high ideals of good and justice will be thwarted by evil and the forces of injustice unless we adopt policies of justifiable war and legalized violence. Miraculous divine intervention cannot be relied upon, if it in fact exists at all; we must arm ourselves. The philosophy of the State presupposes the ultimacy of rights over self-sacrifice, competition and threats over harmony, and vengeance over forgiveness. Constitutionalism denies that order arises spontaneously and can safely continue in the absence of organized political force,[4] and yet in the Bible we are explicitly challenged to repudiate violence and trust in the Providence of God. These two philosophies are utterly irreconcilable.[5]
Christianity began to dominate in the Middle Ages. But after the "Enlightenment," Secularism triumphed, reaching its apex in the 20th century. During this century's reign of Secularism, over 180 million people worldwide have been murdered (deliberately killed) by secular governments.[6] Here are 180 million reasons to condemn the State, and any philosophy which justifies this killing or uses it to win an election is anti-Christian.
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Ninety-Five Theses on Biblical Anarchism
(1) Ironically, many evolutionists and Secular Humanists now question faith in any coercive political apparatus to generate or preserve law and order, and I quote them frequently: see generally,
Nobel Prize-winning economist F.A. Hayek was also a defender of what he called "spontaneous order." See generally, his The Mirage of Social Justice, volume II of Law, Legislation, and Liberty, published by the University of Chicago Press, 1976. See also J. Birner, ed., Hayek: Co-Ordination and Evolution, 1994.
Unfortunately, Christians have not frequently spoken in defense of "anarchism." One exception is Jacques Ellul, Professor of Law at the University of Bordeaux, France, in Anarchy and Christianity (1988). [Back to text.]
(2) See the remarks from the Dictionary of the History of Ideas. [Back to text.]
(3) See Interrogatory No. 1. [Back to text.]
(4) This presupposition dominates nearly all of The Federalist Papers. [Back to text.]
(5) The Bible is critical of the State and institutionalized violence from cover to cover. Its rhetoric is almost unremittingly strident and defiant. But the Bible also commands us not to return violence to the State for its violence. These commands to "submit" to the wrongs of the State have historically been understood by many Christians to justify the existence of the State. This is tragically erroneous. When Jesus says "turn the other cheek," He is not saying that hitting people is morally legitimate! [Back to text.]
(6) R. Rummel, Death by Government, 1994. [Back to text.]
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