Verse of the Day: Study War No More
Many peoples shall come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
- Isaiah 2:3-4
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Comments
These verses are a beautiful description of what lies ahead in the future. As for the present, war unfortunately exists. Of course, we shouldn't relish it; Jesus noted that blessed are the peacemakers. But we should at least be aware that it exists.
Posted by: Ngchen | February 15, 2008 10:19 AM
Ngchen
Most of us are all too aware of the existence of war. As far as I can see most wars are still as James said, a product of lust and greed. I would add fantasies of godlike power to the mix. One question raised by the verses in Isaiah is this: How shall these things come to be? I do not believe we are called to wait for the return of a Kingdom that is in us and in our midst now. The early church went far astray proclaiming a message of imminent return of the Messiah , and when this failed, were soon caught up in power squabbles which had nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus.
How do we act as peacemakers in the world? In my mind, to be a peacemaker is more than not relishing war. It is finding ways to prevent it, and oppose it, and end it, starting with the wars that are closest to our own responsibility and most clearly unjust.
Posted by: jonabark | February 15, 2008 11:33 AM
"Any observer would have to say that Christianity is fashionable at present in the United States. This might be a good thing, except that the observer, observing more closely, would have to conclude that, to the extent that Christianity is fashionable, it is loosely fashionable. It seems to have remarkably little to do with the things that Jesus Christ actually taught.
"Especially among Christians in positions of great wealth and power, the idea of reading the Gospels and keeping Jesus’s commandments as stated therein has been replaced by a curious process of logic. According to this process, people first declare themselves to be followers of Christ, and then they assume that whatever they say or do merits the adjective “Christian.” (For don’t we know that everybody named Rose smells like a rose?)
"This process appears to have been dominant among Christian heads of state ever since Christianity became politically respectable. From this accommodation has proceeded a monstrous history of Christian violence. War after war has been prosecuted by bloodthirsty Christians, and to the profit of greedy Christians, as if Christ had never been born and the Gospels never written. I may have missed something, but I know of no Christian nation and no Christian leader from whose conduct the teachings of Christ could be inferred.
"One cannot be aware both of the history of Christian war and of the contents of the Gospels without feeling that something is amiss. One may feel that, in the name of honesty, Christians ought either to quit fighting or quit calling themselves Christians."
--From Wendell Berry, Blessed are the Peacemakers: Christ's Teachings about Love, Compassion & Forgiveness. Shoemaker & Hoard 2005.
Posted by: Don | February 16, 2008 10:10 AM
Excellent quote from Wendell Berry. One of my favorite writers.
Posted by: jonabark | February 16, 2008 1:35 PM
Don,
I've never read Berry. The quote moves me to do so. Thank you.
Posted by: carl copas | February 16, 2008 2:54 PM
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