Pacifism is “the belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances, and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means.”  

Pacifism prevails in many circles in the realm of professing Christianity, including (but not limited to) plain groups such as the Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites.  

Here are 10 reasons why associating Pacifism with Jesus Christ and proper Christian doctrine is evil and utterly incompatible with faithful Christianity.

1)  Pacifism promotes idolatry.  The false “hippie Jesus” which many believe in is intrinsically linked to the lie that Jesus was a pacifist.  Closely related, Pacifism also implicitly teaches an antichrist view that man is basically good, and that peace can always be attained through things like conversation and mutual understanding.  The judgment of the Scriptures regarding sinners is denied.  No wonder Pacifism also is common among Universalists and New-Agers who affirm the inherent goodness of the human race.  This is a stark contrast to God’s declaration in the Scriptures concerning mankind.

2)  Pacifism vilifies God’s own judgments that He gave through Moses.  He gave laws dealing with promoting and maintaining a pure, just, and orderly society- including the basic principle that the death penalty is to be administered by man to murderers (Genesis 9:6).

3)  Pacifism separates and distinguishes Jesus from the God of the Old Testament.  If Jesus taught Pacifism as the pacifist alleges, then who gave the Law through Moses?   If the pacifist is right and also stays consistent, it could not have been Jesus.

4)  And if #3 is so, then Jesus was a false prophet whom the Jews were right to seek to stone as leading them astray from the Law of God.  Isaiah 8:20 says: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”  Jesus would also then be an inconsistent hypocrite since He also taught the people to keep the Law and the Prophets (more on that in #5).

5)  The idea that Jesus taught Pacifism would also make Jesus a hypocrite and a sinner since He used force in driving men and animals out of the Temple (John 2:14-17 makes this absolutely clear).  The truth is that Jesus upheld the concepts of proper vengeance according to one’s jurisdiction, and taught nonresistance outside of that.  

The Law and the Prophets in the Old Testament which taught an eye for an eye for Israel’s judges also taught that man should not privately take vengeance on his enemies of his own accord.  This is what Jesus emphasized in the Sermon on the Mount.  He made it clear that He was only upholding and clarifying what the Law and the Prophets already taught.

Matthew 5:17-18: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

Matthew 7:12: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

That’s what Jesus was teaching in the Sermon on the Mount- the proper interpretation of the Law and the Prophets.

6)  Speaking of doing to others what you would have them do to you, this commandment is given with the implication that we should only have reasonable expectations of others which are consistent with righteousness.  Pacifism though endangers those who are abiding by the law and rather sides with criminals against those whom they seek to victimize.  Think about it.  If a group of thugs tried to physically attack you, would you want the only people in a position to help you to be Pacifists who didn’t believe it was morally right to strike your attackers nor harm your attackers by any means?

7)  Pacifism attacks God-ordained law enforcement as incompatible with Jesus’ kingdom.  This is ultimately an attack on God’s authority- since God ordinance civil authorities to punish evildoers and not bear the sword in vain (see Romans 13:1-7).  

Romans 13:2 makes it clear that those who resist the ordinance of God receive to themselves damnation.

8)  Pacifism justifies wicked criminals who get arrested and judged for their crime (see Proverbs 17:15).  The consistent pacifist must say that their apprehension and sentence should not have happened.

9)  When you consider pacifist doctrine, think of the old serpent in the garden saying “Yea, hath God said?”- because associating Pacifism with Christianity is ultimately an attack on the reliability and consistency of every word which God has spoken.  

To really believe it and obtain God’s grace you have to stake your life on it all.  

Yet if Pacifism is true, then the Apostles were either hypocrites or terribly confused since they baptized soldiers and jailers who bore the sword in serving the State (see Acts chapter 10 and Acts chapter 16).  The Apostle Paul also made use of the armed protection of the Roman Army in Acts chapter 23.  And if the Apostles were hypocrites or terribly confused, then the New Testament also, which the Apostles were involved in writing the entirety of, is totally unreliable and therefore not the Word of God (and that would include the four Gospels since the Apostles were involved in writing those too).  If Pacifism were true, that would nullify everything in the Bible.   

Pacifism then is evil, attaching it to Jesus falsely represents Christianity, and its influence leads and emboldens people to transgress against God in manifold ways.

Psalm 119:9-12: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?  by taking heed thereto according to thy word.  With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.”

This was written by King David.  David of course was not a Pacifist.  Goliath and the Philistine invaders of Israel found that out the hard way.  However, when David had the ability to step out of bounds and kill his personal enemies Nabal and King Saul (to kill them of his own accord through a desire for personal vengeance), he righteously restrained himself.

10)  If Jesus is a Pacifist God, there would be no need to seek peace with Him.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Luke 19:27: “ But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither (here), and slay them before me.”

Revelation 19:11-16: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.”

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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