Evangelical Theology and the Peace Position

Evangelical Theology and the Peace Position

David Miller

Brethren in Christ Historical Society 38-3, (Mechanicsburg, PA) December 2015

In the beatitudes, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NRSV).[1] Throughout the history of the Church, believers from all traditions have had little disagreement that Jesus calls his followers to be peacemakers but there has been constant searching and controversy about how to faithfully respond to this call in our violent world. The two major approaches to living faithfully as peacemakers are the Just War position and Christian pacifism. The Just War approach supports participation in war by Christians if certain criteria are met for entering into situations of violent conflict and how to conduct war.[2] Christian pacifism sees participation in war[3] as inconsistent with a life of following Christ...