{"id":1021,"date":"2015-05-25T12:13:38","date_gmt":"2015-05-25T16:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/?p=1021"},"modified":"2015-05-25T12:30:04","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T16:30:04","slug":"how-do-christians-interpret-you-shall-not-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/2015\/05\/how-do-christians-interpret-you-shall-not-kill\/","title":{"rendered":"How do Christians interpret “You shall not kill”?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

GEORGE\u2019S QUESTION:<\/p>\n

When are we as Christians allowed to fight back and protect our civilization?<\/p>\n

THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER:<\/p>\n

George wonders whether Christians should work in police departments, whose conduct is much in the news, as well as the armed forces or other security vocations that\u00a0 involve use of violence and possible\u00a0\u00a0injury or death. The Religion Guy previously addressed various religions\u2019 views of military service: www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/2014\/08\/is-military-service-sinful. But it\u2019s a perennial and important topic worth another look, this time limited to Christianity. [Thus the following leaves aside the pressing problem of\u00a0Islam\u2019s growing faction that applies religiously motivated terrorism against the innocent,\u00a0fellow\u00a0Muslims included.]<\/p>\n

The Christian discussion involves especially two Bible passages. In the Ten Commandments, God proclaims, \u201cYou shall not kill\u201d (Exodus 20:13, repeated in Deuteronomy 5:17).\u00a0 Or so say the familiar Douay, King James, and Revised Standard versions. However, most recent Christian translations instead follow the same word choice as the Jewish Publication Society editions of 1917 and 1985: \u201cYou shall not murder<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebrew scholars tell us the verb here refers specifically to illegitimate taking of life, that is \u201cmurder,\u201d as distinct from various other types of \u201ckilling.\u201d Conservative Judaism\u2019s commentary explains that throughout Scripture the verb in the commandments \u201cis never used in the administration of justice or for killing in war\u201d that may be justifiable.\u00a0Richard Elliott Friedman of the University of California, San Diego, lists situations where other verbs are used: \u201cmanslaughter, killing through negligence, killing in war, execution for crimes, killing animals, animals killing humans, and human sacrifice,\u201d plus deadly mistakes treated in Deuteronomy 4:41-42. (Friedman notes the vigorous debate over whether \u201ckilling\u201d in abortion and assisted suicide is the equivalent of biblical \u201cmurder.\u201d)<\/p>\n

The late Canadian Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut wrote \u201cThe Torah: A Modern Commentary\u201d for Judaism\u2019s liberal Reform branch. This work said correct understanding of the Hebrew means \u201cthose supporting pacifism or the abolition of capital punishment cannot justifiably base themselves on this word, but must look to other reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clear enough. But did Jesus Christ reinterpret this teaching? That brings us to the second scriptural passage, Jesus\u2019 \u201cSermon on the Mount\u201d in the New Testament\u2019s Gospel of Matthew, often seen as patterned after God\u2019s giving of the Old Testament law to Moses on Mount Sinai.<\/p>\n

This challenging section raises major interpretive questions. Old Testament law functioned when Jews had their own government, whereas the New Testament speaks to Jews and Gentiles utterly lacking in political power. Do Jesus\u2019 words apply only to personal relationships or, as advocates of non-violence and pacifism believe,\u00a0require that Christians always refuse to bear arms?<\/p>\n

As with the Old Testament translations, modern New Testaments have Jesus quote the commandment as \u201cyou shall not murder\u201d instead of \u201ckill\u201d in Matthew 5:21-22. Non-pacifists figure Jesus would have followed Old Testament acceptance of certain killings as morally justified since he didn\u2019t overturn this concept. Proof texts: In Luke 3:12-14 Jesus tells soldiers to shun theft and false accusations, not to forsake their careers. Nor did he denounce the vocation of the Roman centurion who believed Jesus could heal his servant (Matthew 8, Luke 7).<\/p>\n

Jesus extends the \u201cmurder\u201d commandment to anger and insults against another person, reaffirms the Leviticus 19:18 commandment to \u201clove your neighbor as yourself,\u201d then adds the new twist to also \u201clove your enemies.\u201d The startling conclusion is that his followers \u201cmust be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.\u201d Most interpreters explain this as an ideal to strive for that necessarily cannot be fulfilled, since the Bible teaches that even diligently moral people fall into sin.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0bigger difficulty arises in 5:38-39: \u201cYou have heard that it was said \u2018an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.\u2019 But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him also.\u201d How should that be interpreted?<\/p>\n

To R. E. Nixon of St. John\u2019s College in England, \u201cthe context suggests it is applicable to wrongs done to the person himself and not a prohibition of the defense of others.\u201d Canada\u2019s Adrian Leske says this is \u201cnot an invitation to commit suicide or let injustice go unpunished, but a call to counter evil with good, hatred with love, and so to transform human relationships.\u201d And U.S. conservative Michael Wilkins writes in the \u201cESV Study Bible\u201d that \u201cJesus is not prohibiting the use of force by governments, police, or soldiers when combating evil. Rather, Jesus\u2019 focus here is on individual conduct.\u201d Such analysts cite Old Testament and New Testament passages that advocate protection of the innocent, administration of justice, and respect for government authorities. The Catechism of the Catholic Church urges peace where possible but takes much the same position in its treatment of the Ten Commandments (#2302-2317).<\/p>\n

However, a Protestant pacifist like Scot McKnight of Northern Seminary in Illinois can point to precedents from church history after New Testament times: \u201cWhile early Christian writers were divided on many issues (e.g<\/em>. the mode of baptism, the role of women in leadership), when it came to killing their voices seemed to be unanimous: Believers are prohibited from taking human life.\u201d (There\u2019s more on this history in the \u201cReligion Q nd A\u201d item cited above.) Pacifism is much the minority view among Christians, yet has persisted through history as a respected witness. Such\u00a0believers also advocate strict peace-making in national and international affairs, a case of Bible \u201cliteralism\u201d inspiring \u201cliberal\u201d politics.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GEORGE\u2019S QUESTION: When are we as Christians allowed to fight back and protect our civilization? THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER: George wonders whether Christians should work in police departments, whose conduct is much in the news, as well as the armed forces or other security vocations that\u00a0 involve use of violence and possible\u00a0\u00a0injury or death. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow do Christians interpret "You shall not kill"?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"GEORGE'S QUESTION: When are we as Christians allowed to fight back and protect our civilization? 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