December 22, 2006

Pacifism and the Sword: Conclusion

By James Arlandson
This article is the conclusion of the seven-part series on pacifism and the sword in the New Testament. The purpose of the series has been to bring clarity to many contradictory and confusing opinions circulating around the web and in the print media. Part One is the key to the entire series. It demonstrates that Jesus separates the kingdom of God from the kingdom of Caesar. And he did not intend to reestablish the theocratic kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6-7), which fused together religious and civil law with a military in the Old Testament. Instead, he does a new thing (Isaiah 42:9; 43:19; 48:6) throughout the globe, establishing the kingdom of God that breaks down all barriers. It is a remarkable (and miraculous) fact that his movement has and is succeeding, for it indeed goes around the world. His prediction that it would do this has been and is being fulfilled (Matt. 13:31-32; 28:18-20).Following the key theme of two kingdoms, I hypothesized in the Conclusion of the first article...(Read Full Article)