By Kelly O'Connell —— Bio and Archives September 8, 2013
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Real Christians will abstain from violating the rights of others, and therefore will not provoke war. Almost all nations have peace or war at the will and pleasure of rulers whom they do not elect, and who are not always wise or virtuous. Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.It is contingent upon Americans, in the midst of world conflict and chaos, in the mouth of obtuse and even illiterate national leadership, that we look outside the immediate paradigm for direction. And what better place to seek guidance than our own splendid Founders--anyone of whom would easily outstrip any current politicians in terms of education, wisdom, statesmanship and vision.
Whether war of every description is prohibited by the gospel, is one of those questions on which the excitement of any of the passions can produce no light. An answer to it can result only from careful investigation and fair reasoning. It certainly is very desirable that a pacific disposition should prevail among all nations. The most effectual way of producing it is by extending the prevalence and influence of the gospel. Real Christians will abstain from violating the rights of others, and therefore will not provoke war. Almost all nations have peace or war at the will and pleasure of rulers whom they do not elect, and who are not always wise or virtuous. Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.So Jay explains that the Christian religion is the very best foundation for global peace. And the best way to achieve this is to elect Christian leaders. The second letter excerpts continue his thoughts on the topic:
It is true that one of the positive ordinances of Moses, to which you allude, did ordain retaliation, or, in other words, a tooth for a tooth. But we are to recollect that it was ordained, not as a rule to regulate the conduct of private individuals towards each other, but as a legal penalty or punishment for certain offenses. As, therefore, Divine ordinances did authorize just war, as those ordinances were necessarily consistent with the moral law, and as the moral law is incorporated in the Christian dispensation, I think it follows that the right to wage just and necessary war is admitted, and not abolished, by the gospel. The law of all the nations prescribed the conduct which they were to observe towards each other, and allowed war to be waged by an innocent against an offending nation, when rendered just and necessary by unprovoked, atrocious, and unredressed injuries. Thus two kinds of justifiable warfare arose: one against domestic malefactors; the other against foreign aggressors. The first being regulated by the law of the land; the second by the law of nations; and both consistently with the moral law.Thus, Jay offers a fairly nuanced view of war. First, the God of the Bible allows warfare and even occasionally commands this, both in the Old and New Testaments. Second, since the world is a sinful place, governments must be established to protect people and keep order, including waging wars. Third, there are just and unjust wars. Just wars are waged against both domestic and foreign evildoers, or "...one against domestic malefactors; the other against foreign aggressors." So since war with Syria would not involve internal malefactors, we must ask if it would be engaged with "foreign aggressors"? In fact, according to Jay's theory of war--which is waged in a Christian sense against those menacing America by their aggressions, we have to conclude that the Syria struggle is a civil war that is not an aggressive act against the US, whatsoever. Therefore, how does one make an argument that the Founders in general, with Washington's admonition against meddling in foreign wars, or John Jay's Christian Just War theory, would be satisfied by Syria's civil war? In fact, one might easily point out that Jesus, when asked to judge an inter-family dispute, had this response:
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?" (Luke 12:13-14)
Kelly O’Connell is an author and attorney. He was born on the West Coast, raised in Las Vegas, and matriculated from the University of Oregon. After laboring for the Reformed Church in Galway, Ireland, he returned to America and attended law school in Virginia, where he earned a JD and a Master’s degree in Government. He spent a stint working as a researcher and writer of academic articles at a Miami law school, focusing on ancient law and society. He has also been employed as a university Speech & Debate professor. He then returned West and worked as an assistant district attorney. Kelly is now is a private practitioner with a small law practice in New Mexico.