LIVES OF THE SAINTS: So in order to understand how Christians should approach the use of force, as I said, I think theology and tradition must be relied on since Scripture is not transparent. And in looking at tradition, one of the absolute best places to go is the lives of the saints, which are like a treasury of more wisdom and truth than a hundred libraries of theological treatises.

I don’t know what the role of saints and martyrs is in Prof. Work’s tradition; I assume there isn’t the same degree of certainty about who’s canonized and who isn’t, and I also assume there’s less emphasis on saints and martyrs in general. However, even outside more saint-focused traditions, I think there’s a place for examining the lives and witness of deeply holy and revered people.

And there are saints who took up arms. I’m not talking Joan of Arc here, or St. George, etc. I’m talking Sts. Julius and Hesychius (and their companions), and St. Sebastian–there are probably others I’m not remembering or couldn’t find, but those three are startling enough in themselves. Click on the links for their stories. Not only were these men Christian martyrs who apparently saw no contradiction between their faith and their occupation (and St. Sebastian was said to have chosen to become a soldier in order to aid those who suffer). Perhaps more importantly for our understanding of Christian tradition, these men were revered as martyrs and heroes of faith by the Christian community. And all this happened before Constantine’s conversion to Christianity. It seems to me that a line can be drawn from the convert-centurions of the New Testament to these three soldier-martyrs of the third century.

Some might say, “Well, these guys were martyred–that shows that their profession and their faith were incompatible!” I disagree. I agree with Prof. Work’s statement, “Since the American military does not allow recruits to participate conditionally in military actions or to be discharged when war takes an unjust turn, this pretty clearly precludes faithful Christians from American military service, unless they serve willing to face courts martial and dishonorable discharges when the time comes to withdraw.” Given that fact, there could easily be Christian soldier-martyrs in our own time, people court-martialed or executed for refusing to obey an unjust order. The soldier-martyrs, and the communities that praised them, did not believe that their faith was in conflict with soldiering, even though there might be scores of unjust acts (like, say, being required to deny Christ!) that they would face martyrdom to avoid.

So. That’s my (admittedly very rambly) take on the matter. I’ll revisit what seem to me to be subordinate questions of practicality and how to be a Christian soldier/cop/prison guard later.

Finally, I should say that if Prof. Work’s presentation of R. Neibuhr’s thought is on target, I’m not a Neibuhrian–it’s entirely possible to accept Christian soldiering without relying on weird “Everyone sins, at least I sin for justice!” stuff.

And I should call attention again to Work’s calm, faithful, and challenging witness–I think it’s awesome, even though I still disagree, and his site should be of interest to all of my Christian readers (and perhaps non-Christians interested in ethical questions of peace, war, and religious believers’ relationship to the state). I’ll try to print out several of his essays on pacifism (I tried one earlier and it crashed my computer!) and read them while I’m away, so perhaps I will be able to comment further then. (“Is that a promise or a threat?”) Anyway, go take a look at him.