Was Jesus a Pacifist?

Pacifism is the belief that violence and war cannot be justified hence promoting peaceful approaches to dispute resolution. While exploring whether Jesus was a pacifist, Andrew Fulford argued that when it comes to the ethics of Jesus, Christians lack a common or central set of precepts. Fulford (2018) further argued that people lack wisdom to understand the deeper meaning behind the commands given by Jesus. Jesus’ command and authority appealed to natural law. In some cases, humans, just like other animals are directed towards self-defense. That should not be used as the baseline to conclude that Jesus supported violence. Jesus was a pacifist. Fulford (2018) cited Matthew 5-7, and especially Matthew 5:9 where Jesus argued that blessed are the peacemakers. This means that Jesus valued peace and would have advised use of peaceful mechanisms to solve disputes instead of using violence. Furthermore, Jesus wanted to change the precedence set in the Old Testament where violence was used to address most disputes.

From the book of Isaiah, Jesus was called the prince of peace. His teachings had to align with this prophecy. Jesus pitted the Old Testament view of revenge and advocated loving of enemies. According to Fulford (2018) Jesus advised his followers to take up their cross and accept to be persecuted. Persecution means that they should not struggle to revenge when they are wronged. Jesus preached the gospel of love. He used parables and beatitudes to introduce Christians to a new view of kingdom of God. Without loving their neighbors, and enemies, Christians could not claim to love God. Jesus submission to the cross is the main area that pacifists use to conclude that Jesus was a pacifist. Considering the power he had, he could not have accepted to be crucified if he was not a pacifist. He also condemned Peter when he cut off an ear of one of his tormentors as he was taken to be crucified.

Reference

Fulford, A. (2018). Was Jesus a Pacifist? Providence. https://providencemag.com/2018/01/was-jesus-a-pacifist/ . Accessed 2 Sep. 2020.