Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-07
JESUS RESISTED
WRONG WITH FORCE
Peace at : Any Price Advocates
Confuted by Evidence From
the Highest Authority

nID Jesus advocate peace at any price?
~ This question mas perplexed many devout
souls who are not professional paciists. but
good Christians anxious to obey the law of
the Lord. Tolstoy one OF the most ia
nous preachers Of nonresistance. authority
for which he professed to find in the New
Testament Nonresistance IL insisted on by
the Friends, the Mennonites and one or two
other small religious sects.
The Rev, Abraham Nitric Rihbany.
Syrian. who has achieved considerable sue
cess as a Christian clergyman in America,
has written a book Militant America and
Jesus Christ" GIoughton Mimin Company,
Bcston), in which he penetrates to the heart
Of the teachings Of Jesus and proves by
citations from the Bible and by reference
to the conduct of Jesus himself that those
who have assumed that Jesus would consent
to all sorts of wrong rather than resist II
nave misunderstood the whole spirit of the
Christian teachings. II Is a book that every
Christian pacifist should read After noting
that the nonresisters have chosen passages
from the New Testament which can be In
tcrpretcd to fit their own preconceptions and
nave made them the basis of an argument
against all kinds Cf war defensive as well
as aggressive Mr.. Rihbany says:
Believing that by making Jesus a peace
at-any-price man the paciflst is decidedly
wrong, do not wish in the least to COM
init a similar error by clothing the Master
in the uniform Of a general But
do not wish IN the least to ignore those
sayings OF Christ which seem to preach
pacihsm and nothing else. In the fifth
chapter of the Gospel by St Matthew be-
ginning with the thirty-eighth verse, we
read:
Ye have heard that It hath been said An
tNe lot an eye ana tooth for "A tooth:
wSSsorvS %nio SSS ESSS ThTi Se fss"' not G by,
check, onS r turn ~ to to him the other also, And Il
a,wsssy Thy coat, ict him hav" thy cloak also
ma mhs wh"'SfTSr rH SiS bin shai compel ,hse to
thht It hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
nnn T1nS"r S" HG ovc hS51 xn,r thine enemy Put
curse YOU. do good to them that hate YOU
%g 70 iSr mng SnS" be which ts ch14s GhIsEHfuy U,e
Esther @ which is in heaven: Tor he makcih
ana sendcth rain on the Just and the unjust
We can make these words mean courlete
ana unqualified nonresistance and subiec-
tion TO aggression only by tearing them
out, not only from the res of the New
Testament. but from their setting in orr
entail thought and life, and by ignoring the
conduct of the Master himself To me- as
one who was brought up under almost the
Identical conditions of life which formed
the Masters own environment, these say
ings are perfectly natural and perfectly
clear AS tribes and clans we lived IA
life of mutual antagonism; blood relation
snip only formed for us a center of unity
Even among the inhabitants of the same
town. each clan considered the other clans
its enemies. The slightest provocation pre-
cipitated an interclannish fight.
Oriental Hyperbole
Now in view of these facts even as briefly
stated, can any one fail to realize the Mas.
ters meaning in these hyperbolc oriental
sayings? Was it not most natural for
Christ to advise his fellow countrymen to
live with one another on terms of mutual
friendliness and nc. on terms of mutual
antagonsm TO cherish love and not hatred
and not to be SO quick to render evil for
evil? DO we want Him to speak these
same words for us today in a fashion
which the western world can readily
understand and to admonsh Germany to
teach0n her schools not hatred, but good
will toward other nations?
Let me now call attention to Jesus own
conduct with reference to those sayings
Take. for an example. the saying. Who
soever shall compel thee to go mile, go
with him twain" Literally understood and
detached from it's oriental setting this pas
sage means that Christian should sub
NIT to every demand made upon him rather
than enter into n dispute with those who
command him. But Jesus correctS this err
roneous impression by His own actual con-
duct In the thirteenth chapter of st.
Iuke's Gospel the thirty-frst verse, occurs
the following passage:
In that very hour there came certain
fne:f 20 hence for Hefod would fain xiii thee, And
h sad pHso 'ns nsa demons mo nn and si perom
today and t9mosrow Sa,ds Snd the ns Ihra ga cay on
my my way today and tomorrow and the day
herish %,!G%'nSi out tar Of JqrusaS m sS%. '' " ''
Here the evidence Is clear that Jesus did
not mean to teach slavish obedience to un-
reasonable demands. He not only refused
TO go two miles at the command of the
Pharisees and of Herod, but he did not
move a single inch. Go and say to that
fox ! will not desert my post nor shirk
my duty, come what WILL
Mr. Rihbany then cites the rebuke o
Jesus 10 one of the officers who smote Hin
when He was before the high priests. In
stead of turning the other cheek he said
"If YOU have spoken evil. bear witness
against me; but If well, why smitest tho'
me?" He then passes on to the famous in
cident of the money-changers In the templ
and says:
The other scene, however. teaches us
how a noble person and a peace lover may
;,,st,, use nhysical force. IN the second
chapter of St Johns Gospel, the thirteenth
verse we read;
And the Jews passover was at hand and I'd
Issus %"n hoss qn 10 that sold oxen and sheep
and the changers OF money sit,ing, Ahd m @ wnsn
ali ali nSn SS, f1 of the iS%Hic the sheer and ne
oxen, and poured out the changers money
and overthrow the tables ana sald unto them
that sold doves, Take these things hence;
make not my Fathers house an house of
merchandise.
/ Christ Soldiers Exemplar
Here we find group of oriental traders
in the court of the temple, scene which
IL very familiar to me- The money
| changers were not bankers. but just money
| changers who exchanged small coins for
| bip coins at a small discount
| Those traders did Jesus no personal harm,
| The record does not tell us that they even
| cast upon Him cOntemptuous glance,
They were simply minding their own bus-
| ness. But their business desecrated a
| holy place and violated the sanctity of a
| holy ideal The realization Of this awak-
| ened in Jesus that sense of duty which Is
| above fear, stronger than death and deep
az eternity itself And the writer OF the
| C;ospel of John adds significantly to this