Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84known to us who says that it is legitimate for Christians to kill or to join the military; meanwhile, a substantial number of passages written over a period of many years explicitly say that Christians must not or do not kill or join the military: • Nine different Christian writers in sixteen different treatises explicitly say that killing is wrong. • Four writers in five treatises clearly argue that Christians do not and should not join the military. In addition four writers in eight different works strongly imply the same. • At least eight times, five different authors apply the Messianic prophecy about swords being beaten into ploughshares (Isaiah 2:4) to Christ and his teaching. • Ten different authors in at least twenty-eight different places cite or allude to Jesus’ teaching to love your enemies, and in at least nine of these places, they connect that teaching to some statement about Christians being peace- ful, ignorant of war, or opposed to attacking others. It is also true that the documents show that by AD 173 there were a few Christians serving in the Roman army; their numbers increased substantially in the late third and early fourth centuries. But these Christian soldiers were doing what all extant statements on the topic by Christian authors clearly condemned. In summary, early church history confirms what a biblically balanced approach urges: a completely pro-life agenda. Putting It into Practice How do we apply this early Christian vision today? Partly, of course, our historical context will influence our response. All the same, in every age, the first, most important political act The Early Christian Witness From the Didache (ca. AD 60–110) There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways. Now this is the way of life: First, you shall love God, who made you. Second, you shall love your neighbor as yourself; but whatever you do not wish to happen to you, do not do to another. The teaching of these words is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what credit is it if you love those who love you? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? But you must love those who hate you, and you will not have an enemy. . . . The second commandment of the teach- ing is: You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not corrupt children; you shall not be sexually immoral; you shall not steal; you shall not practice magic; you shall not engage in sorcery; you shall not abort a child or commit infanticide. . . . You shall not hatch evil plots against your neighbor. You shall not hate anyone; instead you shall reprove some, and pray for some, and some you shall love more than your own life.  Didache 1.1–4, 2.1–7, trans. Michael W. Holmes in Apostolic Fathers (Baker Academic, 2007). Image from Wikimedia Commons (public domain) Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow, The Wise and Foolish Virgins (detail) Plough Quarterly • Autumn 2016