Christian pacifism

Christian pacifism holds that the Christian faith is fundamentally incompatible with any form of violence, grounding this view in both scripture and reason. Its proponents argue that Jesus himself was a pacifist who both taught and lived non-violence, and that his followers are called to do the same. Well-known figures associated with this position include Martin Luther King Jr., Leo Tolstoy, Adin Ballou, Dorothy Day, Ammon Hennacy, and the brothers Daniel and Philip Berrigan.

Some Christian pacifists, such as Ballou and Hennacy, also embrace Christian anarchism, believing that because governments inevitably threaten or use force to settle conflicts, true Christian commitment requires rejecting the state as well. However, most Christian pacifists—including the peace churches, Christian Peacemaker Teams, and thinkers like John Howard Yoder—do not claim to be anarchists.

The roots of Christian pacifism appear in the Old Testament. Baylor professor John A. Wood points to scriptural foundations there, while scholar Millard C. Lind describes ancient Israel’s theology of warfare as one where God directed the people to trust in him rather than in military power, and to seek peace instead of coercion. Stephen B. Chapman notes that the Old Testament presents God’s divine intervention—not human politics or warrior kings—as the key to Israel’s preservation. Lind adds that the Old Testament shows God occasionally sanctioning or even commanding wars, sometimes fighting through natural forces, miracles, or other nations. God fights so that Israel does not have to fight like other nations, because God delivers them. Exodus 23:22 promises that God will fight for Israel and oppose their enemies. John Howard Yoder explains that God sustained his community not through power politics but through the creative power of his word, spoken through the law and prophets. The Old Testament provides background on God’s victory over evil, sin, and death. Stephen Vantassel argues that the Old Testament places war and killing in historical and situational context.

The role of war evolves throughout the Old Testament. Chapman asserts that God used war to conquer and give Israel the Promised Land, and later to defend it. The Old Testament explains that Israel does not need to fight like other nations because God delivers them. Starting with the Exodus, God fights as a warrior rescuing his people from Egypt (Exodus 15:3). In Exodus 14:13, Moses tells the Israelites, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” The parting of the Red Sea shows God acting as a warrior through nature, not human armies. Deuteronomy 1:30 reaffirms God’s promise to fight for his chosen people.

Old Testament scholar Peter C. Craige notes that during the conquest of the Promised Land, Israelites fought real wars against real enemies, but God granted them victory. Craige contends that God determined the outcome of human events by participating through human activity—essentially, God fought through the fighting of his people. After the land was secured, God used war to protect or punish Israel, exercising sovereign control over nations to achieve his purposes (2 Kings 18:9–12, Jeremiah 25:8–9, Habakkuk 1:5–11). Yoder affirms that as long as Israel trusted and followed God, God would work through them to drive out occupants from lands he willed them to occupy (Exodus 23:27–33). Israel’s future depended solely on faith and obedience to God through the law and prophets, not on military strength.

Jacob Enz explains that God made a covenant with Israel, requiring them to worship only him and obey the Ten Commandments. When Israel trusted and obeyed, the nation prospered; when they rebelled, God spoke through prophets like Ezekiel and Isaiah, warning that he would wage war against them as punishment (Isaiah 59:15–19). War served God’s ultimate purpose of restoring peace and harmony for the whole earth, aiming toward the salvation of all nations through the coming Messiah and a new covenant. Enz describes God’s plan as using Israel for a higher purpose: to be the mediator between all peoples and God. The Old Testament shows God helping Israel even after repeated lapses of faith, demonstrating grace rather than violence.

The Old Testament presents God as the only giver of life, sovereign over human life. Humanity’s role is to be a steward caring for all creation, including protecting human life. Craige refers to God’s self-revelation through participation in human history as “Salvation History,” with the main objective being humanity’s salvation. God acts through people in a world that is both in need of salvation and imperfect. God participates in the human activity of war through sinful human beings for the purpose of bringing salvation to the world.

Scholars Friedrich Schwally, Johannes Pedersen, Patrick D. Miller, Rudolf Smend, and Gerhard von Rad maintain that the wars of Israel in the Old Testament occurred by God’s divine command. This divine activity took place in a world of sinful humans and activities like war. God’s participation through evil human activity, including war, was for the sake of salvation.