Pacifism
Learning Objective:
To understand the Christian belief in pacifism
Key Words:
Pacifism = non- violence
Pacifism
Means ‘Making Peace’
Some Christians believe that war can never be a good thing.
They believe that Jesus taught peace and compassion for others
What is their evidence?
The Commandments
ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'
TWO: 'You shall not worship idols’
THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'
FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'
FIVE: 'Honour your father and your mother.'
SIX: 'You shall not murder.'
SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'
EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'
NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.'
TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not
covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female
servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your
neighbour's.'
The commandments are laws sent down by God.
Pacifists say you can’t argue with them.
You simply can’t kill people.
Love your neighbour
Someone asked Jesus:
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied:
" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:
'Love your neighbour as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).
Someone then asked
“Who is my neighbour?”
Jesus replied with the story of the good Samaritan…
Once a Jew was beaten up. He was left for dead. Other Jews walked past
him. But a passing Samaritan (a group of people who were hated by the
Jews) stopped and helped the man.
Moral of the story?
Everyone in the world is your
neighbour.
Be like the Samaritan
Could You…
Jesus said.
You have heard it said before
Turn the other cheek?
“An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth”
But what I say to you now is
‘If you are slapped on one cheek, turn the cheek”
This means
Do not seek revenge
What if they keep slapping you?! How many times should you turn the other cheek?
“70 x 70”
?
“Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you”
Spoken by a man who was
persecuted in the worst
possible way
What did he say on the cross, just
before he died?
“Father forgive them”
“Those who live by the sword die by
the sword”
When Jesus had been betrayed by Judas. Peter tried to
attack the Roman soldiers, cutting the ear of one of them.
Jesus said
"Put your sword back in its sheath
for all those who take the sword
shall perish by the sword.”
He healed the soldiers ear and left peacefu
with his captors.
When someone refuses to fight for moral reasons they are called:
Conscientious
Objectors
In the first world war conscientious
objectors were given white feathers as
a sign of their cowardliness.
Most were given the worst, most degrading
jobs
Are conscientious objectors cowards?
Ask Muhammad Ali
The world heavy weight champion of the world was sent to prison for refusing to fight in
the Vietnam war on moral grounds.
How do pacifists combat evil?
Martin Luther King
Fought for equality with
non violent direct
action
That means, peaceful protests, strikes, marches etc. Which is how most people in this
country protest today
Sometimes such peaceful protests takes
courage. This is a student in China
stopping a tank in its tracks.
Quakers
This is the only denomination of Christianity that is completely pacifist
Why be a pacifist?
1. Using at least three pieces of evidence explain
why a Christian may become a pacifist.
A Christian would become a pacifist because ………….
2. “If everyone was a pacifist in this country then
evil people would always win.” Do you agree
and why?
I agree/ disagree that if everyone was a pacifist evil would always
win, because ……….
Do you believe conscientious objectors are cowards?
“If I use force against evil it will
just increase the evil not defeat
it.”