Year: 1870

WAR And CHRISTIANITY.


"Is Christianity bloody relgionf" This is
a question which was recently prOpounded by
one of our correspondents, who, to his grief
and apparent astonishment, had found Doctors
of Divinity defending war. Our friend is not
the first man who has been confused by the
inevitable paradox, for a paradox we admit it
to be- 1t is impossible to deny that in the
largest sense war is quite Incompatible with
the Christian scheme. And yet how does 1T
happen that only single sect of any import
ance has considered the bearing of arms un-
der any circumstances to be sinfulf How has
il happened that, ever since the first preaching
of Christianity, great wars have been waged
in behalf of it-not merely prOseyting wars,
but contests absolutely conscientious, like that
which resulted in the Commonwealth of En-
gland? That is to say, how has it happened
that thousands of Christians prOtessed and
constantly protesting have thought it
not merely no sin to fight, but an
absolute Christian duty to draw the sword
From one point of view, this is not an easy
question to answer. IL the teachings of the
gospel are to be literally interpreted, and not
according to their obvious spirit, the things
which we may do or must leave undOne
would be numerous enough and various
enough to change the whole civil constitution
of society. Take the matter of the corporal
oath and observe that if the injunction to
swear not at all were to be Obeyed TO the
letter, there would be an end of courts of
Justice We say this because affirmation really
amounts to about the same thing as swearing.
Again, who sells all that he has and gives the
purchase-money to the poorP What Christian
doing this would not have q commission of
lunacy sued out against himR We must, in
fact, be contented with the general ten
dency Of any doctrine, political, philo
sophcal, or religious, although this requires
patience and patience, we know, is
not precisely the virtue of the present
age. Yet the abolition of Slavery has given
us q precious illustration of the force which is
inherent in any great moral scheme. We find
indeed, in the whole political status of this
Republic, plenary evidence of the yitalizing
power Of Christianity, and of the completeness
with which it finally extirpates certain abuses
So in respect of war. We believe that it has
tended, upon the whole, to the diminution of
strife and slaughter. A religious war, for in
stance, like those waged by Philip of Spain,
with their frightful butcheries, would now be
simply impossible. The politics of the world
are becoming slowly but surely Chrstianized,
and when this process has reached q max
imum, wars of particular class and perhaps
all wars, will cease.


Christianity has been received and pr0fessed
as a scheme of moral truth for eighteen CEN
tures. 1t seems to us, if we are to ask any
such narrow question as that of our CORE
Ta ,tr N DIV IioioY
that the past is sufficiently discOuraging be-
cause nominal Christianity thus far has been,
while in its theory pacific, at the same time
in its practice fearfully sanguinary. IL we take
Europe (tO go no further back from A. ID.
1900 to A. ID. 1900, we shall find that probably
a moiety or more of the violent deaths to
which men were subjected resulted either from
ecclesiastical institutions or from religious
wars. Taken by themselves, these annals of
the Church are discouraging-these wholesale
massacres of the field these horrible sacks of
captured cities these burnings these buryings
alive-whilc down through the muTky centu-
ries which these blOOd-smeared annals chroni-
Gle comes the dull drOne of the priests, pat
tering prayers and exhorting to orthodoxy.
This is the dark side-tOO dark to be dwelt
upon and if it were ALL we might sit down and
fold our hands in dull despair. Yet all this
time genuine Christianity has been molding
the hearts of men, and gradually persuading
the world to peace, until now distinctly re-
lgious war, waged avowedly for the propaga-
tion of any particular form of belief, would
be impossible We have at least outliyed the
crusading spirit. There is no longer pre-
tense that infdels are beasts TO be slaughtered
by the dripping swords OF the faithful and
here we have practical proof of the power OF
genuine Christianity to promote peace which
shall be nearly universal Moreover, it is TO
be remembered that wars, from being constant
and the main business of mankind, have be-
come exceptional. The progress of the worlds
pacifcation may be slow, but we believe it to
be sure, although the clangor of contending
hosts almost reaches our ears ~ We are
writing.


But with all our desire for the wQEld's tran