The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-04-28
THE GOSPEL OF PEACE VERSUS
THE GOSPEL OF WAR

No one can serve two masters sue
cessfully. He must render unto Gaze
sar the things which are Caesars and
unto God the things which are his.
Wars ante dated the birth of Christ.
At his coming he sounded the tocsin
of peace. He did not decorate himself
with eppaulettes. He did not flash a
sword. Never in his whole career did
he nurse the war spirit. The Chris
tan soldier" flashing a sword, or
breathing the vengeance Of war, is a
paradox. Between Christ and war
there is no halfway ground. One
may as well shout for heaven with one
breath and for hell with another. Pro-
claiming Christ with a loud voice on
the one hand and nursing the spirit
of war on the other, the churches are
the greatest foe to peace If the
churches throughout the world, with
one accord, would walk only in the
footsteps of the Prince of Peace, and
would not nurse nor nourish the spir-
it of war, why. the war spirit would
cease, and Satan in his strongholds
would be routed.
That this paper is not alone along
this line, which it has pursued for so
many years, it quotes from DR.. David
L. Dodge's 'FWar Inconsistent With
the Law of Jesus Christi"
"The principles of war and the prin-
ciples of the gospel are as unlike as
heaven and hell. The principles of
war are terror and force, but the prin-
ciples Of the gospel are mildness and
persuasion. Overcome a man by the
former and you subdue only his nat
ural power, but not his spirit. Over
come man by the latter and you
conquer his spirit and render his nat
ural power harmless. Evil can never
be subdued by evil. 1t is returning
good for evil that overcomes evil eff
fectually. 1t is, therefore, alone the
spirit of the gospel that can preserve
liberty and produce a lasting peace.
Wars can never cease until the princi-
pies and spirit of war are abolished.
Mankind have been making the ex-
pertinent with war for ages to secure
liberty and a lasting peace; or, rath-
er, they have ostensibly held out these
objects as a cover to their lusts and
passions. And what has been the re-
suit? Generally the loss of liberty,
the overturning of empires, the de-
struction of human happiness, and the
drneching of the earth with the blood
of man. In most other pursuits man
kind generally gain wisdom by expe-
rience, but the experiment of war has
not been undertaken to acquire wis
dom. 1t has, in fact, been undertaken
and perpetrated for ages to crafty
the corrupt desires of men. Is it not
important that everyone naming the
name of Christ should bear open tes-
timony against the spirit and practice
VI w Oh 0AulDlI Tic anu tenn
per of the gospel before the world that
lies in wickedness, and let their lights
shine before men? But what can the
men of the world think of such Chris
tians as are daily praying that wars
may cease to the ends of the earth,
while they have done nothing and are
doing nothing to counterfeit it's de-
structive tendency? 1t is contrary to
fact that war is calculated to preserve
liberty and secure a lasting peace; for
it has done little else but destroy lib
erty and peace and make the earth
groan under the weight of it's terror
and distress. 1t is reserved alone for
the triumph of the gospel to produce
peace on earth and good will to men,"