Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2001553 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 94 pages

Customer Reviews

Balanced, Kind, and Informative
This short book is a must-read for anyone seeking to explore the idea of pacifism, as it stems from early church theology. The books gives an overview of early Christian thinkers and how the idea of service in the military was seen as inappropriate for Christians--both because of the issue of idolatry (state worship) and because of the teachings of Christ. It also summarizes how that foundational church thinking changed when the Roman Emporer became a "Christian" and Christians began thinking that the Emporer's conquests were an extension of God's will. Some very interesting parallels for today--many modern Christians equate the actions of the government with God's actions. A highly recommended title that was eye-opening to me.

Good for a beginning
According to the title I gave, this book is a good beginning for someone who wants to explore quickly the history of the Christian attitude to war from the perspective of a person who believes in Christian pacifism. The book is small and is limited to the basic information of the early church documents, of which it has references. On the other hand, it doesn't have a bibliography, neither does it argue against others who don't accept Christian pacifism. Writer's position is that, even though some Christians were soldiers since late 2nd century, no Church father or writer ever endorsed this attitude until the conversion of Constantine the Great; all of them thought it Christian to "beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks."