If Jesus told Peter to put his sword away after he used it against someone thinking he was “defending Jesus,” just imagine what he is trying to say to Christians today who are turning political power into a weapon against others while claiming to be “taking a stand...
We miss Jesus' point entirely when we use his words as weapons against others.
"The Bible is VERY clear!" What's meant by this phrase: I have reduced the Word of God exclusively to my own particular interpretation of an English translation of the Bible and I'm so certain that I have nothing more to learn about it that I can now use it as a...
The real weapons of mass destruction are the hardened hearts of humanity.
We can surely no longer pretend that our children are growing up into a peaceful, secure, and civilized world. We've come to the point where it's irresponsible to try to protect them from the irrational world they will have to live in when they grow up. The children...
It's not just hating war, despising war, sitting back and waiting for war to end. It's not just loving peace, wanting peace, sitting back and waiting for peace to come. Peace plans its strategy and encircles the enemy. Peace marshals its forces and storms the gates....
The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.
"Spare the rod, spoil the child." But shepherds don't beat their sheep with the rod. The rod is used to steer the sheep, as a support when the shepherd is tired, and as a weapon to defend the herd from harm. Sheep follow the shepherd because his kindness makes him...
I think that nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity. It has a way of disarming the opponent. It exposes his moral defenses. It weakens his morale and at the same time it works on...
There is not a syllable in the Pauline letters that can be cited in support of Christians employing violence. Paul's occasional uses of military imagery (e.g., 2 Cor. 10:3-6, Phil. 1:27-30) actually have the opposite effect: the warfare imagery is drafted into the...