I’ve heard Christians defend war a lot, since San Antonio, where I come from, is such a military city (six bases). They might say they’re motivated by love for country or family or justice, things they interpret as being equivalent to God’s love. But other Christians would question whether, for the sake of God’s love for a man, someone could put a bullet into his head . They would hold to be the real criteria of legitimate Christian force: can you do it in love? I suppose that’s applies to any kind of compulsion: when is it the love of God that compells us to coerce someone else? Maybe parents experience God’s love in that way, sometimes. I know that many American soldiers returned to Asia as missionaries after World War II. But I don’t know how many of them felt they were acting in love as soldiers before they returned as missionaries, or whether they felt their Christian testimony was lacking as soldiers and now wanted to make up for it.
Month: May 2005
The world has always been post-Christian.
The UK-based Anabaptist Network announces the publication of a series of books, beginning with Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World by Stuart Murray. “This book explores what it means to be Christian in a world in which Christianity is no longer the dominant paradigm in our society.”
Except that Christians have always lived in a world in which Christianity is not the dominant paradigm. Maybe it used to be different in your society, but it’s always been this way for the vast majority of human beings throughout history. The Christians in China, India, and Africa know that. Ever since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, we’ve been living in a “post-God” world. Continue reading “The world has always been post-Christian.”