From as long as I have been a serious Christian, I have felt that the case for a faithful refusal to use lethal force has all the hallmarks of being “catholic, primitive, and apostolic”[1], and thus grounded in the best traditions of the Universal Church.
Training for Free Church ministry helped me cement my views. I have a very distinct memory of my favourite lecturer at Bible College telling us, “If we do Church right, we’ll have MI6 breaking through our doors”, and while I can’t say I agreed with the hyperbole, I certainly understood the sentiment. As a Pacifist with the zeal of a recent convert, it was only natural that the State (which had historically a difficult relationship with Dissenting churches) should be an object of suspicion, and those in its armed service regarded as compromised members of our churches.
I was satisfied with my views then, and took them as settled.
However, as I found myself led to the Church of England, I decided it was a good time to re-examine all my theological convictions in light of the new traditions that I inhabited. So, as I re-assessed my views of the State, and found happiness in a more eirenic Christianity, I had to come up with a matching new understanding of my Christian Pacifism, which I’m provisionally sketching here this Remembrance-tide in three points.
The State
I am now convinced that allegiance to, and support for, our countries is part of our Christian vocation as members of society. Not as blind nationalism, but as prayerful reflection of the charges that are committed by God to our Rulers, and as engagement in light of the demands the Gospel puts on individual Christians. I can pray for the King and his Government each morning and evening without ever feeling like I might risk forgetting “whose minister he is” or to Whom my final allegiance lies.
Christians Who Take Arms
I have met many faithful Christians who believed that taking arms was their duty, and recognise the modern military is not (especially in peacetime) just about using lethal force.
I think Christians are theologically mature enough that we can proclaim peace and assertive non-violence as the ideals, whilst recognising that in a sinful world sometimes all we have are the least of many bad options. In such cases the Church should acknowledge the difficult reality, and be an instrument of healing and reconciliation, both between groups in conflict and for the individuals who made choices out of “tragic necessity”, as Orthodox Christians have often argued[2]. The best of the Lambeth Conference statements on War have also made this case for the Anglican world.
Just War
I have come to appreciate this theory in its Christian versions as a good “best worst case” tool, a compromise putting firm limits to those who finds themselves in the midst of war. The fact that a strong case can be made against weapons of mass destruction from a Just War perspective shows, I think, the importance of at least some qualified engagement with the theory.
And so this year, like the last couple of years, I will be remembering those who gave some or all in war, acknowledging the difficult choices they made, but I will continue to be particularly grateful for those among them who took “with the utmost seriousness… the example of redemptive love which the cross holds before all people”[3]. And, above all, I will continue to pray for that day when “nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more”[4]
Written by Simon Ramacci.
Simon is a Church of England Curate, who previously served as a Congregational Minister. He is an SCM member, and former member of SCM's General Council.
[1] To borrow the words the Royal Martyr used in defence of the episcopacy.
[2] Greek Orthodox Archidiocese of North America (2020), For the life of the World, §45 [https://www.goarch.org/social-ethos]
[3] The Lambeth Conference (1978), Resolution 5: War and Violence, §3 [https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127746/1978.pdf]
[4] Isaiah 2:4.