Digital Commons @ George Fox UniversityHistorical Quaker Books Pennington ePress1849The Bible against WarAmos DresserFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/quakerbooksPart of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Military, War, and PeaceCommons, and the Peace and Conflict Studies CommonsThis Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Pennington ePress at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted forinclusion in Historical Quaker Books by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, pleasecontact arolfe@georgefox.edu.Recommended CitationDresser, Amos, "The Bible against War" (1849). Historical Quaker Books. 53.http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/quakerbooks/53T H EBIBLE AGAINST WAR;U YllEV. AMOS DRESSER." Bitviscil nro tlio peacemakers."—Matt. v. 9."Tlicro iiover lias been, nor ever will be auy sucUtbinjr as a gooil war or a bad peace."Jicujamin Fra nklin.O B E R L I N .n i l N T E D F O U T U B A U T H O K .M D C C C . K L I X .ir £ <■■ . , - • ? . - " = " ^ - v C ^U JtX.Entorod according to Act of Congress in ihryear 1819,B V B U B H M E l t ,1.Q the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Ohio;JA.MES M, FITCH, PRINTER,OBERUN, OHIO.CONTENTS.Page.1 5Defin i t i on o f wa r,Riglit state of licart necessary in order to understand the Bible,Careful investigation, do.,English translation.Gospel to interpret the law.Types of tlie Old Testament prefigure peace.Names applied to the Jlcssiah, do.Prophets foretel a reign of peace,Eeign of Christ a reign of peace,Tlie^Apostles commissioned to preach peace.War contrasted with the gospel,War regarded as a curse,Peace " b less ing ,No distinction between ofensive and defcn-g i v e w a r , . , fi OCanaanites destroyed as sinners against God, WJews to share the same fate for the same sins, MDestruction of Jericho,God promises to fight the batles if they wilh o l d t l i e i r p e a c e , . '1 02 12 32 12 u2 63 03 74 15 6I V( r o d t r u e t o h i s p r o m i B c , 7 5C a s e o f I l c z o l u a h , 7 -" J o l i o s h a p h a t , 7 qWant of faitli tlie cause of tlicir war, S'.iThey refuse to follow the pillar of lire andTheir constant mnrmurings provoke war 83God promised as an Avenger, gS, 200, 207T-hey that take the sword shal perish &c. OlJews chose to defend themselves, 'They demand a king to light their batles, O7Various provocations,Reasons for their prosperity in war, 03, HiCase of Elisha,Ahijah and Asa,Gideon,The believer and his echo,n . . . O B J E C T I O N S .Romans xiii,Roman government not appointor r-Revolutionary war, ^ God, 133Gibbon's testimony of the carK- o,Christ's instruction as to Belf-d^ rPeter rebuked for using the sworThe true meaning of Romans x" •Christ's example on paying tribut"'Other objections,P R E F U C B .In my labors in the cause of peace for the fewpast years, I have fouiul all, without exception,opposed to war. All are ready to denounce it asa great evil and curse to mankind. Many, verymany, fully adopt the language of Professor Finney, and say, "War is one of the most heinousand liorrible forms of sin unless it be evidentlydemanded by and prosecuted in obedience to themoral law. Observe, war to be in any case avirtue, or to be less than a crime of infinite magnitude, must not only be honestly believed bythose wlio engage in it, to he demanded by the lawof benevolenee, but it must also bo engaged in bytliem with an eye single to the glory of God andtlie highest good of being. Tiiat war has been insome instances demanded by the spirit of themoral law tliore can bo no reasonable doubtsince God has sometimes commanded tliem."a *v i P R E F A C E .Surely no one acquainted with war could suppose tiiat it could be carried on benevolentlyunless there was proof positive that God had commanded it. This led me carefully to e.xaminc theBible to see it indeed God did approve of whatuniversal conscience condemns. If indeed Godrequired man to do, tliat which he instinctivelyehrink.s from with abliorrence. Tlic resultof myinvestigations I now present to the public, andthey must judge of their worth.riie Bible is quoted to justify defensive war.But if it justifies war at all, it justifies offensiveand aggressive war, such as none at our day approve. Yet most feel that self-defense is aprivilege and duty; tiiatgreat as is the evil of war,it is nevertheless riglit to fight sometimes. But" if It can be proved that defensive wars arealowable, it would be altogetlier useless to pursue the inquiry any further, because, under tlioname and pretext of defensive war, nationalcontests of every description would be carriedon. Every belligerent nation, with scarcelya single c.x-ception, scornfuly rejects tlie imputation of being the original aggressor, and professes to prosecute its warlike measures for purposes of self-protection. And so long as woadmit that defensive wars are allowable on Chris-lian principles, so long we grant, for all praclicajP R E F A C E . v i ipurposes, every tiling wliicli the advocates of warwisli. The true doctrine is, that linman life, botliin its individual and corporate state, as one andas many, is inviolaule ; that it can not he takenaway for any purpose whatever, except by explicit divine pennission; and that war, in everyshape, and for every purpose, is icivng, absolutely7vronf/, wholly icrnng. Any doctrine short of thiswill fall altogether powerless and useless uponthe broad surface of the world's crimes and miseries; it will dim the light of no sword ; it willwipe the tear of no widow and orphan."—IVo-fcssor Upham."Even the revelations of commerce prohibitwar; and shall the religion of the Ledger outweigh the religion of Jesus Christ'! It that religion will admit any defensive war, our hopesare e.xtinguished forever ; for the last words oftlio author of it were, " it is finished." Nothingcan be added, and nothing taken away. Let thehuman race come to this sacred volume for theirguidance, and read its prohibitions against allwar. It may be imputed to fanaticism and ultra-ism, but it has come to this; that if the gospelforbids all war, then there never was, and therenever will be, a period when its demands weremore imperative than now. The greatest prerogative conferred upon us this side of heaven, isv i i i P E E F A C E .to dwell together in love, and have God dwellingwith us. And in view of this, the apostle cx^ -claimed, "That neither principalities nor powers,nor things present nor thing.s to come, could separate us from the love of God which is in ChristJesus our Lord.""The highest demonstration of Christianitywhich a man can give is to forgive his enemies.Thus war makes it a capital crime to e.xercisttlie capital virtue of Christianity !" The whole world is looking to Christianityfor the blessings of peace. The down-troddenmillions who have been crushed uader the burdens of the grim Moloch of war, and are liftingup their lean, shrivelled hands, and cryimr forbread, are looking to us Christians, imploringly,to stay the awful devastations of war ; that theymay have opportunity to rise again to the dignityof manhood. And it is for us to remember, thatif we perforate the great law of love, which is tocement and bind together in harmony al races ofmen. even with so much as a bodkin, we make aholclarge enough to admit al the fiends of thepit and deluge with blood the whole face of thisbeautiful green earth."—ii:®M Burritt.But can it be that those who justify war understand what war is 1 Give a glance at its awfulhavoc of human life. It has destroyed at Dur-T R E F A C K . i xham, 15,000; At Agincourt, 20,000; at Bautzenand Lopaiito, 25,000; at j\usterlitz, Jciia andLiitzcn, 50.000 cacJi; at Eylau (i0,000; at Waterloo and (Jtiatrc Bray, one cngagoineiit, in fact,70,000; at Borodino, fc'0,000 ; at Fontenoy, 100,-000; at Yarnioiitli, 150,000 ; at Ciialons, 500,000of Attilla'y army alone. Julius Cu;.sar, in oneengagement, slew 505,()()(); in another -100,000;in a third, 450,000. Jenghis Khan, in one district, butchered 1,000,000, and, in his long reignof more than forty years, sacrificed .some 52,000,-000 lives ! Grecian wars arc suppo.scd to havedestroyed 15,000,000; Jewish war.s, 25,000,000;tlic wars of tlic twelve Ca\sar.s, 50,000,000 in all;tlie wars of the Bonian Empire, of tlic Saracensand the Turks, 00,000,000 each; the wars of theTartars, 80,000,0t)0 ; those of 7\.frica, 100,000,-000; during the whole history of war, no lessaccording to Dr. Dick, tiian 14,000,0()0,000, or,according to Burlte, 55,000,000,000 !! "—SeePeace Manual, p. 35,Thus at the lowest estimate war has devouredmore than fourteen times as many as all the inhabitants on the globe ! Shall the enemy devour fore v e r ! A n d t h e n w h a t h a v o c o f v i r t u e a n d a l lthat makes life dear! Take a single paragraphin the description of the sacking of Magdoburgh :"Neither the innocence of childhood, nor tlieP R E F A C E .holplcssncss of old age,—neither youth, sex, rank,nor beauty, could disarm the fury of the comiuer-ors. Wives wore dishonored in the arms of t l ie i rhusbands, daughters at the feet of tlieir parents;and the defenseless sex exposed to the doublesacrifice of virtue and life. No condition, however obscure, or however sacred, could affordprotection from the rapacity of the enemy. Fifty-three women were found beheaded in a singlechurch. Tiie Croats amused themselves by throwing cliildrcn into the llames ; Pappenhcim's Walloons witli stabbing infants at their mothers*breasts. Some of the officers of the League,horror-struck at this dreadful scene, ventured toremind Tilly tliat he had it in his power to stopthe carnage. 'Return in an hour,'was his answer, ' and I shall see what is to bo done; thesoldier must have some recompense for his dangerand toili."—Peace Manual, pp. 29, 39,"Stabbing infants, and throwing children intothe llames," is the soldier's amusement • "The soldier must have some recompense for his dangera n d t o i l s ! "Or to come nearer home and take a mereglimpse of some of the refinements of our latewar with Mexico. Says a spectator :" As atMatemoras, MURDER, ROBBERY, andRAPE wore committed in the broad light of day,"P K E F A C B . X X"On arrivinjr at Micr, \vc learned from inJis'putablc authority tliat outrages of tlie most die-graceful character had been conmutted againstthe citizens ;—stealing, or rather robbing, insulting the women, breaking into houses, and otherfeats of a similar character ! AVe liavc heard oftliem at almost every rancho, up to this place."" The women have been rcpcalcdhj niolaled—(almost an evorj'-day allair,) houses arc brokenopen, and insults of every kind have been offered to those whom we arc bound by honor toprotect."—Fads for the People, pp. 109, 110, 111-These are but a part of the usual and necessaryconcomitants of war. Arc llicy what Godapproves 1Yet no doubt many will be slow to believe tliattlic wars of .roshua, David & Co. were not carriedon witli tlio perfect approbation of heaven. 1 canheartily sympathize witlt such; for the idea thattliey were thus carried on, has been instilled intomy own mind from my youth, and there are manypassages that seem to favor that idea : but careful, faithful research has fully convinced me thattlte Bible does not teach that doctrine. I knownot that what I have written will produce tliosame convictions in the minds of others. All Iwish is to have each for Iiimsclf diligently " searchthe scriptures," and if I can even awaken newP R E F A C E .seal in tlic performance of lliistoomucli neglectedduty and privilege, I sliall feel myself amply rewarded fur my labor. I have tried to arrangevarious pa.ssages so as to assist in tliis delightfulwork, and my prayer is tiial tlie Holy Spirit mayaccompany tlieir perusal, and give the same satis-faction to the soul of the reader that it has to thecompiler. I am conscious of the many imperfections of the work, still I can hut hope it may helpto hasten the day when " nigliteousnessaml Peaceshall kiss each other," and nations .shall Icaruwar no more. 1 hat that day is approaching nonecan doubt who has carefuly observed the sFgns ofthe times. All who have studied the wonderfulevents of the past year, in the light of God's precious promises can heartily say," Tiiere's a good time coming,A good time coming:War in all men's eyes shall hoA monster of iniquityIn the good time coming.Nations shall not quarreldien.To prove which is the stronger ;Nor slaughter men for glory'a'sako •Wait a l i l l le longer. 'TJje reformation has begunWait a Kith longer"iITHE E IBLE AGAINST WAI l .uTo the law and to the testimony; if theyspeak not according to this word, it is hocauEethere is no liglit in them."—Isaiah viii: 20." Search the scriptures."—John v : 39.ty "Of f''"f f''0" shouldsttake them out of the world, but that thoushouldst keep them from the evil. Theyare not of the world, even as I am not ofthe world. Consecrate them to thy truth.Thy word is truth. As thou hast sentme into the world, so have I sent theminto the world. I consecrate myself forthem, that they also may be consecratedto the truth. I ptay not for these alone,but for them also who shall believe onme through their word; that they allmay be one, as thou. Father, in me, and IB3 8 T H E B I B L E A G A I X S T W A R .in llieo, that tlicy all may be one in ns;that the world may believe that thou hastsent mo. And I have given to them tiioglory which thou hast given to me, thatthey may be one as we arc one; I inthem, and thou in me, that they may bemade perfect in one, and that the worldmay know that tiiou hast sent me, andhast loved them as thou hast loved me."—Tohi xvii, 11—23.And then with such a trust and suciipromises, how appro[)riatc the instriudionof the apostle. " Beloved, think it notstrange concerning the fiery trials whichare to try you, as thougli some strangething happened to you, but rejoice in proportion as yc arc partakers in Christ'ssufferings, that when his glory shall berevealed, yc may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye are reproached for thename of Christ happy are ye because theSpirit of glory and of God rcsteth uponyou. By them He is blasphemed, byyou He is glorliied."—1 Pcler iv, 12,T I 1 1 3 l U n i . E A G A I N S T W A R . 39T H E . - M I S S I O N r i r i , F I M , E I ) , A N D T H E C O M M I SS I O N I t E N E W E I ) J I Y T H E A P O S T L E S .Such Nva.s tlic liglit by wliicli JesusChri.st illuiniiied this dark worhl, and suchtiic work cntru-stcd to us. The apostles,true to their calling, rcllectcd the samelight and signed over the same commission to their succes.sors. "The servantof tlie J.>ord must not liglit, but be gentletowards all, patiently enduring evil, skillful in teaching, by meekness instructingthe opposers, pcradvenlurc God may givethem repentance unto the exact knowledge of the truth, and so they shall recover* from the snare of the devil, havingbeen led captive by him into his will."—2 Tim. ii, 21—20, Greek." liccompensc to no man evil for evil.Take special pains to do things which*"Eocovor." (troek, "Become sober," or" a\v;ike iVoiu a drunken lit," implying tiiat tiiosoNvlio liglit become into.vicatcd wilb rage or cxcito-ment, and in that slate arc ensnared by !Sat.an,and taken alive by him into bi.s will. _ Can anything be more c-xpressive or trullif'ul 1 ■ •4 0 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .commend ihemsc lves to t l i e consc ienccaof all. If It be possible, so much as licthIN YOU, live peaceably \vith all men.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselveabut rather give place unto wrath, for it iswritten, avenging is mine, I will repay,saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him, and if he thir.st givehim drink, for in so doing, thou shalt heapcoals ot fire on his head. 13c not overcome of evil; but overcome evil withgood."—Horn. xii. 17-21. "Why do ye notrather take wrong ? why do ye not suflcryourselves to be defrauded ?"—1 Cor. vi. 7,« I will very gladly spend and be spent foryou, though the more abundantly I loveyou the less I be loved."—2 Cor. xii : 15."Even unto this present hour we bothhunger and thirst and are naked, and arebunbttcd, and have no certain dwelingplace, and labor, working with our ownhands. Being reviled we bless, being persecuted we suffer it; being defamed weentreat;, we have become as the filth of theTHE IHUEE AGAINST WAR.T;voi-l(l_thc oUscouring of all things untotiiis (lay.-l Cor. iv. 11-13. " Of theJews, five times received I forty stripessave one, thrice was I beaten with rods,once was I stoned,"—2 Cor. 11; 21, 25,savs Paid, yet wiien at Cmsar's judgment seat, instead of suing for redress,his forgiving plea is, " Not that 1 hadauaiit to accuse my nation of." '• Soalso they stoned Stephen, wiiile he,calling upon Ood, said, 'Lord Jesusrcccivm my spirit,' and he kneeled downand with a loud voice cried, ' Lord, la>not this sin to their charge,' and when hehad said this /lefcU asleep."—Acts vi. !39,GO. Aoiid a shower of stones, " iiu i'eleASi.EEi'." Ah this is grace 1 Do wc seeanything like it in war.LET ES COMPARE OUR COMMISSION AND Til.SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL, WITH THE SOLUIER'S COMMISSION AND THE SPIRIT 01 M AR.Lord Nelson the military lawgiver ofEngland's Midshipmen says, " There are4 2 T H E n i i i L i : a g a i n s t M a k .three things Avhich you arc oonstanlly tobear in mind, 1st. You must alwavs im-plicitl)' obey orcler.s witliout attem]iting toform any opinion ol your own rcsjicctingtheir pro])iic1y. 2d. You must considerevery man your enemy who speaks ill ofyour king. 3d. You must iiatc a Frcncii-inan as you do the devil."—P.p. IIG.Says Napoleon : " The worse tlic man,the better the soldier," and Lieut. Page,in the agonies of death—//-/s hlowhj tongueno longer able to hluspkemc—in iiendishexultation writes," We gave the Mexicansi!Ei,i,. ' Iliis is And surely LordWellington was right in sayinrr, » ^ cnwho have nice notions about religion liavono luisiness to be soldiers." The earlyChrLtians were right in saying, ^ M. am aChrislian, and tieuefoue I cannot Jig/u:'" Let us now put war and Chrisiiani.ty side by side, and sec how fur theyagree. Christianity saves men ; war destroys them. Christianity elevates men;T H E B I H I . E A G A I N S T W A U . 43war debases and dcp;radcs them. Cliris-tianitv piiiilics men ; war corrupts anddefiles them. Gliristianity blesses men ;war curses tiiein. Tlic gospel says, tliouslialt not kill: war says, thou shall kill.The iTOspel says, blessed arc the peacemakers ; Avar says, blessed arc the war-makers. The gospel says, love your enemies ; Avar says, hate them. The gospel savs, forgive men their trespasses;war says, forgive them not. The gospelenjoins forgiveness, and forbids revenge ;wiiilc war scorns the former, and commands the latter. The gospel says, resist not evil; war says, you may and mustresist evil. The gosjiel says, il any mansmite thee on one check, turn to him theother also: war says, turn not the othercheck, but knock the smiler doAvn. Thegospel says, bless those who curse you ;bless, and curse not; Avar says, cursethose Avho curse you ; curse and ble^ s not.The gospel says, pray for those who dc-spitcfully use you and persecute you;4 1 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A E .war sa3-s, pray against tlicm, and seektheir destruction. Tiie gosiici savs, seethat none shall render evil for evil unioany man ; war says, he sure to renderevil for evil unto all that injure you. Thegospel says, overcome evil with good;war says, overcome evil with evil. Thegospel says, if thine enemy hunger, feedhim; if he thirst, give him drink: warsays, if you do sujiply your enemies withlood and drink you will he shot as a traitor. The gospel says, do good unto allmen: war says, do as much evil as youcan to your enemies. The gospel say.s toal men, love one another: war says,"hateand kill one another. The cosjjcl saysthey that take the sword, shal perish hvthe sword: war says, they that take th'esword, shal he saved by the sword. Thegospel says, blessed is he that trusteth inthe Lord : w-ar says, cursed is such a man,and blessed is he that trusteth in swordsand guns. God says, beat your swordsinto ploughshares, your spears into prun-T H E B l i n . E A G A I N S T A V A R . 4 5iiiGj Iiooks, and Icani Avar no more: Avar.says, make swords and spears still, andc o n t i n u e t o l e a r n w a r. "" War in its spirit, its principles, itsjcgitimate results, is antagonistic to Christianity. I'eace Avas the song chamtedover her cradle by angels fresh fi'om theGod o f love . ]Ter Founder Avas theI'rincc of Tcacc ; her gospel is tlie statutebook of peace; the principles of peace.arc scattered throughout the New Testament, and most fully Avere they enforcedby the example of Christ, his apostles, aiidall his early disciples." Glance at the general contrariety ofAA'ar to the gospel. Says Dr. IMalcom,' War contradicts the very genius and intention of Christianity. Christianity, itit jn'cvailed, Avould make the earth a paradise ; war, wherever it prevails, makesit a slaimhtcr-house, a den of thieves, abrothel, a hell. Christianity is the remedy for .all human Avoes ; Avar produces every Avoc known to man. All the featuresB *4G the bible against war.all the concomitants, all the results ofwar, are the opposite of the features, theconcomitants, the results of Christianity.1 he two systems conflict in every partirreconcilably and eternally.' The whole structure of any army isin violation of New Testament precepts.What absolute despotism ! ' Condescending to men of low estate,' would spoildiscipline. 'Esteeming others better thanourselves' would degrade the officers.Instead of humility, must be gay trappings. Instead of Christ's law of love,must be man's rule of honor. Instead ofexamining all things, the soldier must belike a trained blood-hound, ready to be letloose against any foe. Instead of returning good for evil,. the army is organizedexpressly to return injuries with interest.The qualities required in the Christianspoil a soldier for the field. He must thencast away meekness, and fight. He mustcast away honesty, and forage. He mustcast away forgiveness, and revenge his.IT H E B I E E E A G A I N S T AVA R . 4 7country. lie must return blow for blow,wound for wound. Tiius, wiien we taketlie common soldier individually, we findiiim cnnipeUed to violate every precept ofhis religion.Let us state a few points that Avillbe conceded by all. I. The deeds of warin tiiemselves considered, arc confessedlyforbidden in the New Testament, andcan be justified only on the supposition,that government has a right in war, toreverse or suspend the enactments oiH e a v e n ." 2. The spirit of war is acknowledgedby all to be contrary to tiiat of the gospel. But can we itave war without itsspirit I What is the spirit of «?!_;/custom or act but the moral character ot thatcustom or act? Blasphemy witiiout thespirit of blasphemy! Perpetrate thedeeds of Avar Avithout the spirit ot Avar,and destroy property, life, and happinessby Avholcsale, from motives of pure benevolence ! Kill men just for their OAvn4S T H E B I B L E a g a i n s t \ T A B .benefit! Send tliem to perdition for tiieirown good !! Tremendous logic ; vet theonly sort of logic that over attempts toreconcile war with the gospel; a logicthat would reipiire us to suppose, thatthousands of cut-throats by profession,generally unprincipled and reckless, fierce,irascible and vindictive, the tigers of society, will shoot, and stab, and trampleone another down in the full exercise ofChristian patience, forgiveness and love I 1" 3. The (lualitics required of warriors,arc the reverse of those which characterize the Christian. Even Paley, the ablestchampion of war, avers that ' no twothings can be more diilbrent tiian theHeroic and the Christian characters,' andthen proceeds to exhibit the two in striking contrast as utterly irreconcilable.Must not war itself be equally incompatible with Christianity?" 4. The gospel enjoins no virtue whichthe soldier may not discard without losimrhis military rank or reputation ; nor doe'sT H E U I I i E E A E A I X S T W A R . 40it forbid ;i solitary vice Avhich bo maynot practice without violating the principles of war." 5. While tiie gospel prescribes rule.sfor every lawful relation and employmentin life, it lays down not a single principle,applicable to the soldier's peculiar business, and evidently designed for his use.If war is right, why this studious avoidance, this utter neglect of its agents ?<< G. The Old Testament predicts thatthe gospel will one day banish war fromthe earth forever. But if consistent withChristianity, how will the gospel everabolish it I The gospel destroy what itsanctions and supjiorts!" 7. Christians, in the warmest glow oftheir love to God and man, shrink with instinctive horror from the deeds of crueltyand blood essential to war; nor can they,in such a state of mind, ])erpctrate them,without doingviolence to their best ieelings.8. Converts from paganism, in the smi'plicity of their first faith, iiave unilormlv5 0 T H E I I I U L E A G A I N S T WA R ,understood tlie gospel as forbidding thiscustom. .Such was remarkably the casein the South Sea Islands ; and the factgoes far to prove, that no mind, not underthe hereditary delusions of war, wouldever find in the gospel any license for itsmanifold abominations.But let the A"ew Testament speak forItself. It may forbid war cither by a direct condemnation of it, or by the prohihi-Hon oj its moral elements, the thiiK'-swhich go to constitute war ; and we coLtend that the gospel does forbid it in boththese ways.I. Note first its express condemnationof war. « From whence come wars andfightings among you ? Come they nothence, even of your lusts?" James xm,1. We cannot wel conceive a denunciation more dii-ect or more decisive. OurSavior before Pilate declared, " if mykingdom were of this world, then wouldmy servants fight; but now is my kingdom not from hence."—/o/m xviii. 3GT H E n i D L E A G A I N S T AVA K . 5 1A most unequivocal condemnation of waras inconsistent witli Christianity. " Follow peace with all men." lleb. xii. 14.Or, as it is in the original, seek earnestly,with all your might, after peace, not onlyAvitli yonr own countrymen, but with foreigners ; not with your friends alone, butwith your enemies, with the whole humanrace. What language could, if tliese passages do not, condemn Avar as utterly unchristian.II. But look at the still more decisivemode of forbidding war by the condemnation of its moral elcynents. The gospelputs them all under ban. War contravenes the fundamental princijde of Christianity. This principle is, enmity subduedby love, evil overcome with good, injuryrequited by kindness. It pervades thewhole New Testament; it is the soul ofthe Christian system. The peculiar precepts of the gospel all rest on this principle ; nor can Ave take it away withoutsubverting the entire fabric of Christianity.5 2 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T A V A R .But this principle is inconipatihle withwar, because war always aims to overcome evil with evil, to return injury forinjury, to subdue our enemies by makingthem wretched, to indict on our assaibants the very evils they meditate againstus, to save our own life, ].roi)erly andhappiness by sacrificing theirs. .Such isAvar in its best form ; but, if tiiis he nota contradiction of the gospel, we knownot Avhat is, and challenge you to conceive a principle more directly opjiosedto that which lies at the foundation ofChristianity.But the gospel condemns in detail themoral elements of war. " Lay aside allmalice ; and let all bitterness, and wrathand anger be put away. vVvenge notyourselves.^ Ilccompensc to no man evilfor evil. Sec that none render evil forevil to any man. Whereas there is amonrryou envying and strife, and division, areye not carnal ?—Now, the works of thee^sh arc those; hatred, variance, emula-T l i n l t i n i , K A G A I N S T W A K . 5 3lion, -wTalli,strife, sedition, cnvyings, murders, rcvilings, and such like." Need anyone be told, that the things here denounced, are inseparable from war, and constitute its very essence ? What I war without bitterness, wrath or anger, withoutvariance, emulation or murder ! Nationsrro to war without avenging themselves,and rendering evil for evil !The gospel, however, still more fullycondemns war by enjoining rehat h incon-siiitcnt icUh it. "Thou shalt love thyneif^ hbor as thyself; " and the jiarable ofthe Good Samaritan makes every humanbeing our neighbor. " Love leorkcth 7ioill to his neightmr ; therefore love is thefulfilling of the law. Charity (love) suf-fereth long and is kind ; scekclh not herown ; is not easily provoked ; thinketh noevil; bearelh all things, belicvcth allthings, hopeth all things, endureth allthings'. Do good unto all men. Whatsoever ye would that men should do untoyou, do ye even so to them.—By this5 4 T H E H I B L E A G A I N S T " W A K .shall all men know that ye arc my disciples, if ye have love one to another.Have peace one with another. The fruitof the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgivingone another, even as Christ forgave vou.The wisdom wliicii is from above, is'firstpure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy tobe entreated. Blessed arc the poor inspirit —the meek —the merciful — thepeacemakers. Resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,turn to him the other also. Overcomeevil with good. Love your enemies, blessthem that curse you, do good to them thathate you."—P. Man. ],p. 139, M?—153.vSurely the Spirit of the .\ew Testamentis wliolly opposed to war. Therefore thespirit of the Old Testament must be opposed to war, as they each have the sameAuthor,-««"changed " and tmchangable.CIIKIST THE ANGEE OP THE OLD COVENANT.We sec then that if Christ be our teacher, wo " learn war no moi'c." But ChristT i n : B I U L R A O . V I X S T WA R . 5 5was tlic " Angel" of tiic old covenantalso, whose " voice" they rccrc to "obey."Jesus Christ was " that Prophet" untowhom they were to "hearken." (SecDeut. xviii. 15, and Acts iii. t23.) Andthe ]>romises relating to the " land," wereall connected with promises relating toChrist. {Gen. xii. 1-1; xxviii: 13, 1-1; Gal.3: 11-lC.) And it was evidently God'sdesign tluit the Jews should, on enteringPalestine, " enter into rest." (See Hcb.3 ; and d :) " A rest" from all war—from all the lusts of the llcsh—a rest suchas is found in CJirist Jesus—such as results from obeying the gosiiel, so that ifthe Jews were men of icar it was becausethey xeould not hearken to the " J^ rince ofPeace." vViul the Jewish wars were nomore in accordance with the will ot Godtlian arc the wars of our day. In eachcase they result from a love ot war rather than peace. 1 do not however meanthat war was ever approved by the rea-5 6 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .son-'^ or conscience of man. Nay, verily,W A R I S N O W A N D A LW AY S H A S B E E N R E -C A K I I E l ) A S A C U R S E .Even General Taylor says, " I sincerely rejoice at the prospect of peace. Mylife has been devoted to arms, yet I loolkupon war, at all times and under all circumstances, as a NATIONAL CAL vaiiTv, to beavoided if compatible with national honor:'— A l l i s o n L e t t e r .Hence, the Bible classes war with the"famine" the "pestilence," and otherjudginents for sin. " I will send thosword the pestilence and the famineamong them till they be consumed fromoil" the land."—Jcr. Nxiv. 10. " So Gadcame to David and said to him ' Thus saith* M. Raymond do Sagra, tlio only advocate ofwar at the late Peace Congress at Brussels, urir-ed the use of the sword, because "the an-e offaith had passed, but the ago of reasnn has" notarrived." So in speaking of the defense of theircountry, or their family, we often hoar men say" I would light like a dofr." " I would light like atiger," but never, "I would light like a Christian "T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W ' A K . 5 7the Lord, choose thee cither three years'famine, or tliree years to be destroyedbefore thy foes, while that the sword ofthine cueniics cvertakclh thee, or elsethree days the sword of the Lord, eventhe pestilence in the land and the angel ofthe Lord destroying throughout all thecoasts of Israel."*—! Chron. xxi. 11,1^-I repeat, then, in the language of Cru-den, " War is threatened of God in scripture as one of the greatest judgments, andmay justly be reckoned among the manymiseries which sin has entailed on mankind." CCr' -<1- simphj to the aggressor, hut to each party—to al engagedi n i t .TnE BIBLE SPEAKS OF PEACE AS A BLESsINGTHE KESULT OF OBEDIEXCE AND FAITH.For example, " The Lord wil bless hispeople with peace.—Fs. xxix. 11. The* Mark tlio wisdom of David's clioice. Herightly considered the pestilence as tiic .of the three evils:' The pestilence is notso grcastt curse as war. See Jcr. xxxiv. 17-^U . xi •2 Chron. xx. 9. Levit. xxvi. 23-37.5 S T i m B I B L E A G A I N S T W A K .work of riglitcousncss shall he peace andllie eilect of righteousness, quietness andassurance forever and my iieopic siialldwell in a peaceable hahitation and insure dwellings and in ipiiet restingplaces."—/s'«. xxxii. 17, 18. " Becausewe have sought the Lord our God—wehave sougiit and lie has given us rest, onevery side."—2 C/iron. xiv. 7. "I willhear what God the Lord will speak : forlie wil speak peace unto his people andhis saints ; but let them not turn again tofolly.^ Surely his salvation is nigh themthat fear Him, that glory may dwell in ourland. Mercy and truth are met togetherRighlcousness and peace have kissed eachother."-Ixxxv. 8-10. " The wisdomthat is from above, is first;wre, then;;c«cc-ahlc, gentle, easy to be entreated, full ofgood fruits, without partiality and withouthypocrisy ; and the fndt of riglUcous.ncssissown m peace by those who;;?-rtc-iica peace.—Jus. iii. 17, IS. "But thereis no peace saith my God to the iciclccd:'-^T I I K l i l l t L E A G A I N S T W A R . 5 9T H E K I I I I . E J I A R E S N O D I S T I N C T I O N H E T W E E N0I'FI;NSIVE AND DEFEN.SIVE WAR.*Yen, more, the wars which tiic Bible issaid to sustain ircrc (i}>- uT H E B l l l L E A G A I N S T WA R . 6 7figlitiiig,—no " contest," but the simpleexecution of divine law upon the wicked,as each man went in straight before him,and entered upon his mission ot death.It is altogether a misnomer to call this war.Who ever heard of a war where the slamwere all of one party, and the whole partyslain? Who ever heard of a war wherethe fighting{?) was all on one side?It takes/ICO iofight, "ict there isno evidence tiiat a single Israelite wasslain, nor that a single inhabitant of .Teri-cho lifted his hand in resistance to theexecutioners. Does this look like whatwe call war?!THE JUDGMENT OF WAR XNFUICTEU ONT H E M F O R S I N .But now, as at other times, whenGod honored them, they were filledwith pride, and essay the destructionof Ai in their own wisdom and strength-And Joshua, contrary to the divine injunction, (see Num. xxvii: 21,)not counsel at the mouth of the Lou tG8 THE niBLE AGAINST WAR.but sent out spies, who, self-confident, return, saying, "Let not all thepeople go up, but let about two or threethousand men go up and smite Ai: makenot all the pcoi,le to labor thither, forhey are but few. So there went up ofthe people about three thousand men:nnd they fled before the men of Ai. Andthe men of Ai smote of them about thirtv-men: wherefore the hearts of the 1)00-p e melted, and became as water. Ami■foshua rent his clothes, and fel to theeaith upon his face before the ark of theUul untd the even-tide, he and theelders of Israel, and put dust u])on theireads." Eve„Jo.luu,.aslo,,tli.fo™laitli, and begins to ,T|,c„t il.nt . ,, ,passed over Jordan. He penitently- p-Ver .0 God. one,Lord stnd onto Josl.oa, Q^t l.cenpitvereloreliest,l,o„„p„„„ r Phmel halh nnnal, and ibey , ^transgressed my covenant witici, I ' °rnanded.' ' Therefore the children of LT l l n 1 5 I I 5 L E A G A I X S T W A K . C9rael could not stand before tlicir enemies,bu t t u rned the i r backs be fo re the i r enemies, because they were accursed; neitherloill Ihe ivii/i ijou any marc, cxccj)t ye destroy the accursed from among you.'—Josh. 7. The curse of war is upon them,because they had sinned-, and remainsupon them till the accursed are put awayfrom among them, till thoroughl}^ iiuin-blcd they are again willing to look to Godf o r i n s t r u c t i o n .If tear was what they expected, how canweaccount for their astonishment, that outof three thousand they "lost" thirty-sixmen. DCF" Those who obey and trust Godare never obliged to Jight. Such are"saved by the Lord their God, and notby the sword."aT I I F . C O N S T A N T 1 , 1 A R m i T Y O F T H E J E W S T OFA L L I N TO I D O L AT l l Y A N D S I N , O N E R E AS O N W H Y 0 0 1 ) A F F P O I N T E D T H E M T O T H EW O R K O F D E S T R U C T I O N .God evidently selected the Jews to ful-fdl his purposes of wrath upon the idola-■ v . - ^7 0 T H E n i B L E . A G A I N S T W A R .tors because of their constant tcndcncvto fall into the same sin. For the samereason all his judgments were performed"before their face." But for this, theiractual transgressions, and their ownchoice, God would have been his ownavenger of blood. Their whole historyis replete with evidence on this point.Had it not been for the hardness of theirhearts," had they not refused to " hearkento that prophet," they would not havebeen called to act even as executioners.He inflicted his judgments upon Egyptwithout their agency. When hotly pursued by their oppressors, the mountainson either side and the Red sea beforethem, and thus apparently shut up to certain and utter destruction, they cry untoMoses,' Because there were no graves inEgypt hast thou taken us away to die inthe wilderness ? Moses said unto thepeople, fear ye not: stand still and see thesalvation of the Lord which He will showyou this day. * * The Lord shall fightT H E I H B E E A G A I N S T W A U . 7 1fo7- 1J0U, and ijc shall hold yourjieMcc. *And the Egyptians shall know that I amthe Lord -when I have gotten me honorupon Pharaoh.'[0^ This is the mode of procediu-c hehad designed. All along He reminds themof what lie did to Egypt—of the " wonders their eyes saw," and promises to doto all the inhabitants of Canaan, as Hehad done to P iu i raoh and h is host—if thei! would obey his voice.The promise is, "The Lord your Godwhich goeth before you, lie shall fight foryou Acconmxc: to at.i, that he die eohYOU IN EgYi'T before your eyes."—Dcut. i.30. " Ye shall not fear ihcm, for the Lordyour God Me shall fight for you."—Dcut.iii. 22. " If thou shalt say in thine heart,these nations arc more than I, how can Idispossess them, thou shall not be alraidof them, but shaft well remember whatthe Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh andunto all Egypt, the great temptationswhich thine eyes saw, and the signs and7 2 T H E n i l S E E A G A I N S T WA E .tlic Avonders and the iniglity Imnd and thestrctclicd out arm, wlicrehy tlie Imrd thvGod bronght thee out: So sluill the Lordthxj God do unto al iho people of whomthou art afraid. If yeshali diligentlv keepall these commandments wliich I command yon, to do thein~\.o love the Lordyour God, to walk in al his ways, and tocleave unto llim, then xdllthc Lord driveout ail these nations from before yoir ® *Behold I set before you this day aWessmg and a curse-a blessing if ye wilobey the commandments of the Lord yourGod. And a curse if ye will" notobey, dzd—Beut. xi: 22—28. " BeholdI send an angel before thee to keep thclHI the way and to bring thee into theplace - -hi have prepared: beware ofh.m and obeyjns voice; p,ovoke himnot, for he wdl not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in inn-,. But. thou sha t indeed obey his voice, anddo al that I speak, then I wil be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversaryT H E n i n L E a g a i n s t w a h . 7 3lo thine adversaries. For my angel sliallgo before thee and bring thee in unto theAinorites, and the Hiltiles, and the i'eri-zitcs, and the Canaanltcs, and the llivitcs,and the Jebuzitc.s, and I ii-ill cnt tlicvi ojf.'* * * I tvill send my fear before thee,and will destroy all the people to whomthou shalt come, and I will mahe all thineenemies turn their backs unto thee, andI wil l send hornets before thee." &c.—(Ex. xxiii: 20—30. See also Josh, iii;10 ; Dnit. xxxi. 0—S.)He promises to do to Canaan as he haddone to Egypt. Cod was his own executioner in Egypt, and lie would have beeni n C a n a a n b u t f o r t h e i r o w n c h o i c e a n dw a n t o f f a i t h i n G o d .T H E C A N A A N I T E S E X P E C T E D G O D W O E I . I >E U E I T E E H I S P U O . M I S E .Such was God's promise, and eventhe heathen expected this promise wouldbe fuiniled. "Rahab said unto the men,I know that tiie Lord hath given you7 4 T H E n i E L E A G A I N S T W A U .llie land, and lliat your terror is fallenu p o n u s , a n d t i i a t a l l t h e i n h a b i t a n t s o fthe land laint because of you. For wehave heard how the Lord dried up thewater of the lied sea for you, when yecame out of Egypt; and wiiat ye didunto the two' kings of the Ainorites,that were on the otiier side .Jordan, Sihonand Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. Andas soon as we iiad heard these things, ourhearts did melt, neither did tiiere remainany more courage in any man, becauseof you; for the Lord your God, he is Godin Imaven above, and in earth beneath "-Josh, ii : 9-11. " And it came to passwhen all the kings of the Amorites whichwere on the side of Jordan westward,and al the kings of the Canaauites whichwere by tlie sea, heard that the Lordhad dried up the waters of Jordan from• before the children of Israel, until wewere passed over, that their heart melted;neither was there spirit in them anymore,because of the children of Israel. Tosh.T I I F. B i n i - E A G A I N S T AVA R . 7 5V : 1. The heatlicn knew cnougli of Jehovah to be l ieve l ie would do as l ie hadsaid.G O D W A S T R U E T O T U S P R O M I S E W H E N E V E RT H E C O N D I T I O N W A S r U E F I E I - E D ." God is not a man that He should lie ;neither the son of man that He should repent: hath he said, and shall He not do it?or hath He spoken, and shall He not makeit good ?"—Num. xxiii: 19. " It is betterto trust in the Lord than to put conii-dence in man. It is better to trust in theLord than to put conlidence in princes."—Ps. exviii: 8, 9. "And they that believe on Him shall not be confounded."C A S E O F I I E / E K I A I I .The history of Hezekiah furnishes anillustration in point. When " Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered intoJudah and encamped against the fencedcities, and thought to break them up * *Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah"70 THE niBEE AGAINST WAR.the son of Amoz, prayed and cried toheaven. Ami the Lord sent an unqclwliich cut oil all the niightv men of valorand the leader, and captains in the campof the king of Assyria. So he returnedwith shame of face to his own land. yVndwhen he was come to the house of hisgod, they that came forth of his ownbowels slew him there with the sword.Thus THE LORD savcd Hczckiah and theinhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand ofSennacherib the king of Assyria." See2 Chron. xxxii. 1, 20—22.the case of JEHOSHAIMIATfurnishes another striking example ofthe power of faith, and the safety oftrusting God « The children of Moab,and the eh. dren of Amrnon, and withtliem other besides the Ammonites, cameagainst Jehosliapliat to battle. Then therecame some that told Jehoshaphat, sayin-There cometh a great multitude agains"thee from beyond the sea, on this sideVT H E B I I I L E A G A I N S T \ V A K .Syria ; and behold tliey be in Ilazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. And Jchosha-phal feared, and set himself to seek theLord, and proclaimed a fast thronghoutall Jiidah. And Judah gatiiercd themselves together, to ask iielp of the Lord;even out of all the cities of Judah theyc a m e t o s e e k t l i e L o r d . A n d J e h o s h a -l)hat stood in the congregation of Judahand Jerusalem, in the house of the Jjord,before the new court, And said, "0 LordCod of our fathers, art not thou God inheaven ? and rulest not thou over all thekino-doms of the heathen? and in thinehand is there not power and might, sotha t none i s ab le t o w i t hs tand t hee . A r tnot thou our God, who didst drive outthe inhabitants of this land before thy])eople Israel, and gavest it to the seed oiAbraham thy friend for ever? And theydwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, ]f»when evil cometh upon us, as the sword,judgment or pestilence, or famine, we7 8 T H E n i l J L E A G A I X S T W A K .stand before tliis bouse and in tliy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) andcry unto thee in our aflliction, then thouwilt hear and help. And now behold, thechildren of Amnion and ^Moaband MountSeir, whom thou wouldcst not let Israelinvade, when they came out of the landof Egypt, but they turned from them, anddestroyed them not; Behold, they reward us, to come to cast us out of thypossession, which thou hast given us toinherit. O, our God, wilt thou not judgethem ? for we have no might against thisgreat company that cometh against us ;neither know we what to do; but oureyes are uj>on thee." And all Judah stoodbefore the Lord with their little ones, theirwives and their children. Then upon Ja-haziel, the son of Zechariah, the son ofBenaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mat-taniah, a Lcvite of the sons of Asaph,came the Spirit of the Lord in the midstof the congregation ; And he said, "Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jc-T H E I J I I S E E A G A I N S T I V A I l . 7 9iTisalcm, and tliou king .Tchoshaphat; Thussaith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nordis7nai/cd hij reason of this great multitude ; for the bailie is not yours hut God's.To-morrow go yc down against them: behold, they come up by tlie cliiF of Ziz;and ye sball find them at the end of thebrook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. ; set yourselves, stand ye still, and secthe salvation of the Lord with you, O Ju-dah and Jerusalem : fear not nor be dismayed ; to-morrow go out against them,for the Lord will be with you. And .Te-hoshaphat bowed ins liead, with his faceto the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of .Tcrusalem fell before the Lordworshiping the Lord. And the Levitesof the children of the Kohathites, and olthe children of the Korhites, stood up topraise the Lord God of Israel with a loudvoice on high. And they rose early in themorning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth.s o T I I K n i U L E A G A I N S T W A I l .Jehoshaphat Stood and said, Hear mc, 0Judali, and ye inliabitants of Jerusalem;Believe in the Lord your God; so shall yebe eslahlisked; believe his prophoAs, soshall ye prosper. And wlien he liad consulted witli the pco])le, he a])poiiited singers unto tiie J.ord, and that siiouid praisethe beauty of holiness as they went outbefore tlie army, and to say. Praise theLord, for his mercy cndureih. forever.And wiien they began to sing and to iiraise,the Lord set ambushments against tliechildren of Amnion, Moab, and MountSeir, wiiich were come against Judah;and they were smitten. For the ciiildrcnof Ammon and xMoab stood up aminst themhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slayand destroy them: and when they hadmade an end of the inhabitants of Seir,every one helped to destroy another.And when Judah came toward the watch-tower in the wilderness, they looked untothe multitude, and behold they were deadbodies fallen to the earth, and none es-T H E n i B I . E A G A I N S T A V A U . S Icaped. And when Jchosliapliat and hispeople came to take away the spoil ot"them, they found among them in abundance, both riches Avith the dead bodies,and precious jcAvels, (Avhich they strippedofl'for themselves,) more than tbcy couldcarry aAvay ; and they Avcre three daysin gathering of the spoil, it Avas so mucli.And on the fourth day they assembledthemselves in the valley of Beracliah ; forthere they blessed the Lord ; therefore thename of the same place Avas called thevalley of Berachah, unto this day. Thenthey returned every man of .Tudah andJerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to JerusalemAvith joy : for the Lord had made them torejoice over their enemies. And theycame to Jerusalem Avith psalteries andharps and trumpets, unto the house of theLord. And the fear of God was on all thekingdoms of those countries when theyhad heard that the Lord fought againstthe enemies of Israel. So the realm of8 2 T H E i n n i . E A G A I N S T A V A R .Jchosliaphat was (|niet: fur his God gavehim rest round about."—2 C/iroi i . xx.1 — 3 0 .lie is now at no loss for an answer tothe (|Ucstion " What would you do in extreme cases ? " " God is our refuge andstrength, a very present help in time oftrouble: Therefore will not we fear,though the earth be removed, and thoughthe mountains be carried into the midstof the sea; liiough the waters thereofroar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, ye-lah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the MostHigh. God is in the midst of her; sheshal not be moved; God shal help her,and that right early. The heathen raged,the kingdoms were moved: he utteredIds voice, the earth melted. The Lord ofiiosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is ourrefuge. Selah. Come, behold the worksof the Lord, what desolations he hatiiT H E J i l l l L E A G . V I X S T W A K . S 3m a d e i n t h e e a r t h . H e m a k e t h w a r s t ocease unto the end of tlie eartli; he break-eth the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; ho burneti i the chariot in t i ie fire. Bostill and know that 1 am God ; I will beexalted among the heathen: I will be exa l ted in the ea r th . The Lo rd o f hos ts i swith us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge.Selah."—Fsahn xlvi. ('^This was the result of Jclioshaphat'sfaith, [I say " Jchoshaphafs faith,'''' " foras yet the pi'oph had not prepared theirhearts unto the God of their fathers."—2Chron. xx. 33,] as he did " that which wasright in the sight of the Lord."THE WANT OP THIS FAITH, XVAS THF. CAUSEO F T H E I U W A l l A N H E L O O U S H E D .At the commencement of their jour-neyings, it was promised, " The Lordshall fight for yoii, and you shall hold your(*) Psalm xlvi, and cxv, arc supposed by Commentators to liavo been written by Jehoshiipbatdirectly after his notable deliverance.8 1 T H E I l I K E E A G A I N S T W A K .peace." God's reason for leading themthrough tiic wilderness was to keep themout of the sight of war. " God led themnot through the way of the land of thePhilistines, although that was near: forGod said, lest jyeradventurc the people repent when they sec war, and they return to^Syph"—Ex. xiii. 17. And even aftertheir repeated transgressions in the wilderness, (by which they had once andagain provoked war,) as they are about topass over Jordan, God says, " Know thisday that Jehovah is thy God. He goingbefore thee is a consuming fire. He shaUdestroy them, or He shall Iminble thembefore thy face, and thou shalt dispossessthem, and cause them to wander, hasten-ing."-(^ e«/. ix. 3, Hebrew,) and again,Ihe Lord your God lie shal expel themfrom before you, and drive them from outof your sight, and ye shall possess theirland, as the Lord your God hath promised you. Be ye therefore very courageousto keep and do all that is written in theT H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R . 8 5book of the laio of Moses, that ye turn notaside therefrom to tiie right hand or tothe left.—{Josh, xxiii, 2, G.) It needsmore courage to obey God than it does tofight. Tlic Lord your God ivhich goetkbefore ijou, He shall fight for you according to all that He did for you in Egypt,before your eyes. Yet in this thing yedid not believe in the Lord your God, whowent in the way before you to search youout a place to pitch your tents ; in fire by' night to show you by what way yeshould go, and in a cloud by day.T H E Y R E F U S E T O F O L L O W T I I E P I L L A R O FF I R E A N D C L O U D .Again and again tbe complaint is madeagainst them that" they would not confide in God's going before them to guideand direct as he had planned. (See Ex.xiii. 21,22 ; Nu. ix. 15—23 f x. 34 ; Nek.ix. 12—19.) But distrustful of God, theysent spies to see whether it would be safeor expedient to obey Him. " We ivill8 6 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R ,send MEN before 21s, and they shall searchus out the land, and bring us word againby what way we must go up and intowhat cities we must come * * and theLord heard the voice of your words andwas wroth, and sware,saying, there shallnot one of these men ot this evil generationsee that good land," &.c.—Dt. i. 22—36."But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked, * *he forsook God which made him, andlightly esteemed the roc/c of his salvation.Ihey provoked Him to jealousy withstrange gods with abominations, provoked they Him to anger—They sacrificed unto devils, not to God. • * * Andwhen the Lord saw it. He abhorred thembecause of the provoking of his sons anddaughters. And He said, I wil hide myJace from them ; I will see what their end.shal be ; for they are a very froward generation—c/«7(/?-ck in whom is 210 faith ** The sword without, -and theterror within, shal destroy both the youngman and the virgin; the suckling withT H E I I I U E E A G A I N S T W A R . 8 7'the man of gray hairs * * oil! thatthey were wise, that they understood this,that they would consider their latter end.How shall one chase a thousand, and twoput ten thousand to flight, exceih theirRock had sold them, and the Lord hadshut them up. For their rock is not asour Rock, even our enemies themselvesbeing judges.—Dcut. xx.xii. 15—31, "Ohthat thou hadst hearkened to'my conn land-ments ! then had thy^jracc been as a ri ver,and thy righteousness as the waves !,.■ thesea."—Is(i. xlviii. 18." But my people would not hearken tomy voice, and Israel would none of me, soIgavethem upunto their own heart'shists,they icalked in their own couNSEns. 0that my people had hearkened unto me,and Israel had walked in mv way, I shouldsoon have subdued thei r enemie andturned my hand against their adveivaries.* Hebrew.—Tlicy desired me not. So | sentthem according to tiic stuhbornnoss of their Jieart.Tlioy wallvcd according to tlicirown plan.8 8 T H E B i n L E a g a i n s t w a r .The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him. But theirtime should have endured forever."—Ps.Ixxxi: 11, 15.THEIR CONSTANT MURMURINGS PROVOKBW A R .Their murmurings commenced immediately on their leaving Egypt, and continued almost unceasingly till they werefinally destroyed. Again and again hadthey rebelled against Jehovah and provoked him to anger by distrust, saying," Is the. Lord among us or not ?" beforothey are made to taste the bitter dregs ofwar, (and then their success is made todepend on Moses's intercessions.GOD HAS PROMISED TO AVENGE AND PROTECTH I S P E O P L E .From Genesis to Revelations God proffers himself as the "refuge," the "he-FENSE," the "hiding place," the "menTOWER," the " salvation" of his people:THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 89and never are they obliged to fight ineelf-defense when willing to trust Him."Avenging is mine, I will repay, saith theLord ; therefore if thine enemy hungerfeed him."—Rom. xii: 19, 20 ; &c. "Heshall judge the poor of the people, Hoshall save the children of the needy, andshall break in pieces the oppressor."—Ps.Ixxii : 4. " For he shall deliver theneedy when he crieth; the poor also, andhim that hath no helper. He shall sparethe poor and needy, and shall save thesouls of the needy. He shall redeemtheir soul from deceit and violence : andprecious siiall their blood be in his sight."Fs. Ixxii; 12, 13, 14. " Hearken untome, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear yenot the reproach of men, neither be yeafraid of their revilings. For the mothshall eat them up like a garment, and theworm shall eat 'them like wool: but mylighteousness shall be for ever, and mysalvation from generation to generation.9 0 T H E H I E L E A G A I N S T W A R .Awr.ke, awake, put on strcngtli, O armof Iho Lord: awake, as in tiic ancientday.., in the generations of old. Artthou not it that liatli cut Raliab, andwounded tlie dragon? Art thou not itwhioli hath dried tiie sea, the waters ofthe great deep; tliat hath made thedepths of the sea a way for tlic ransomedto pais over? Therefore the redeemedof th ■ Lord shall return, and come withs.ngmg unto Zion; and everlasting joyshall be upon their head : they shall obtain gladne.ss and joy; and sorrow andmom „mg shall flee away. I, even I, amHe tuat avengeth you: who art thouthat thou shouldest be afraid of a mans .al, bcnadcas gns.! Andl i e U , r d h y t | „ , tforth the heavens, and laid tie foundations of the earth ; and hast feared continuaily every day, because of the fury ofthe (repressor, as if he were ready to de-stro) ? and where is the fury of "the op-T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A K . 9 1pressor?"—Isa.W: 7—13 ; &c. Sec alsoxxxil: 35—13; Ilcb. x; 30; &c.IT IS GOD'S ARIIANGEIIENT THAT THEY WHOTA K E T H E S W O R D S H A L L T E R I S I I W I T HT H E S W O R D ." Surely your blood of your lives will Irequire," (not shall ye require.) Whososheddeth man's blood by man shall hisblood be shed."—6r(v«. ix: 5,9,0. "liethat Icadeth into captivity shall go intocaptivity. lie that killeth with the swordmust, be JdUed with the sword. Hereis the patience and faith of the saints.'"— R e v . l Z - . l O .P R O O F f r o m h i s t o r y o f t h e P R O V I D E NT I A L F U L F I L M E N T O F T H E S E P R O M I S E S .And universal history testifies that thisprediction lias been verified to the letter.Hence says President Mahan in the Ober-lin Evangelist of March 15, ISIS, underthe caption, " He that takcth the sivordshall qmrish with the sword."02 THE BIDEE AGAIN8T WAR."How strikingly verified that maxim is in therecent revolution in France. No monarch inEurope, probably, had taken the pains to throwaround his tiirone, for self-protection, such a forestof glittering bayonets aa Louis Philippe. Yet, bythe very means by wliich he purposed to liold thepopulace in subjection was his own throne overturned. When will oppressors, civil and ccclesi-Mtical, learn wisdom from tiie providence ofSAFETY FOUND IN THE EXERCISE OF V\-t i e n c e a n d f a i t h .And I would add,' when will the people of God learn that they'do not needthe sword for protection ? When willll.3y realicc that their safety i, i„ their■paltence" and their " Their• Fff thnsaaiththe Lord God the Holy One „f(that ie, repenting,) andahal ye be raved in ,uie.„e,,s, and confidence shall be yonr strength: and «w o u l d n o t . " • 'Here was the difTiculty with the Jews-They " would not " trust God.T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R . 9 3r i i E V C H O S E t o d e f e n d t h e m s e l v e s , a n dG O D I N A N T I C I P A T I O N O F T H E I R R E B E LL I O N , G A V E T H E M L A W S I N V I E W O F I T .*' Tlie Lord said unto Moses, Beholdthou slialt sleep with thy fathers, and thispeople will rise up and go a whoring afterthe gods of the strangers of tlie landwhither tliey go to be among tiiem, andwill forsake ine, and break my covenant,whicii I iiavc made with them. Then myanger shall be kindled against them inthat day, and I will forsake them, and Iwill hide my face from them, and theyshall be devoured."—Bent, xxxi, IG—^18.And so i t was. "Thus sa i th the LordGod. In the day when I chose Israel, andlifted up my hand unto the seed of thehouse of Jacob, and made myself knownunto them in the land of Egypt, when Ilifted up my hand unto them, saying, I amthe Lord,your God, in the day I lifted upmy hand unto them to bring them forthof the land of Egypt, into a land that Ihad espied for them, flowing with milkD *9 4 T H E n i B E E a g a i n s t W A E .and honey, which is the glory of all lands,then said I unto them, Cast yc away everyman the abominations of his eyes, anddefile not yourselves with the idols ofEgypt. I am the Lord your God. Butthey rebelled against me, and would nothearken unto me. I gave them mystatutes and showed them my judgments,which if a man do he shall even livei n t h e m . * * * B u t t h ehouse of Israel rebelled against me in thewilderness. They walked not in mystatutes, and they despised my judgments,which if a man do he shall live 'in them.* therefore I gave themalso statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.—Ezek. XX. 1—25.THEY DEMAND A KING TO FIGHT THElBB A T T L E S .Thus we can account for the commandsto go and fight—for his command to appoint a king, &c. "All the elders of IsraelT H E B I E L E A G A I N S T W A R . 9 5gathered themselves and came unto Samuel unto Ramah,and said unto iiim,Beholdthou art old, and thy sons walk not in thyways. Now make us a king to judge uslike all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said give us aking to judge us. And Samuel prayedunto the Lord, and the Lord said untoSamuel, hearken unto the voice of tliepeople in all that they say unto thee, forthey have not rejected thee, but they haverejected me, that I should not reign overthem. Aeeording to all the works whichthey have done since the day I broughtthem up out of Egypt, even unto this day,wherewith they have forsaken me, andserved other gods, so do they also iintot h e e . N o w t h e r e f o r e h e a r k e n u n t o t h e i rvoice : howbeit yet protest solemnly untothem, and show them the manner of theking that shall reign over them. * * Nevertheless the people refused to obey thevoice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, butwe will liave a king over us, that we also9 6 T H E I H I I I . K A G A I N S T A V A K .may be like the nations, and tliat ourking may judge us, and go out before us,and fight our batiks"—1 Saw. viii.4—22.Here is the secret. " Tiiat he mayfight our battles." Tliey wished to defendtheir " national honor," and " stand up forthe i r r i i r i i t s . "o 'V A UIO t; S J' R O 0 c A TIO X s.Hence they despised tiic God of ])eacc,and " their heart went after tiieir idols"of war They took up the tabernacle ofMoloch,-'- and the star of their god Rein-phan.—vii. 43; Amo.s v. 26. " Theyseived their idols, which were a snareunto them. Yea, they sacrificed theirsons and daughters unto devils."—Fs.* Molocli. A licailicn deity, whose principal sacrihccs were ihihan victims "—lia"-st.r. \yiiat better deflnitioii could you'wish fora god of war'!"The star of your god Remphan." Possiblythis may have been tiio insignia upon tlieir lla"-,as now are borne "the lone star of Texas," oursacred stars and .'^tripc.s, our ravenous " Ean-lc,"t i i c " R r i l i s h L i o n , " S i c . °THE BIBIiE AGAINST WAR.cvi., 3G, 37. " How oft did they provokeHim in the wilderness, and grieve Him inthe desert! Yea, they turned back andtempted God, and limited the Holy Oneof Israel. They remembered not Inshand, nor the day when He deliveredthem from the enemy." —Ps. Ixxviii.40 42. " Tiiey provoked Him to angerwith their high places, and moved Ilim tojealousy with their graven images. WhenGod heard this. He was wroth, and greatlyabhorred Israel. So that He forsook thetabernacle of Shiloli, the tent which Heplaced among men; and delivered hisstrength into captivity, and his glory intothe enemy's hand."—Ps. Ixxviii. 5S—61." He gave his people over also unto thesicord, and was wroth with his inheritance." " When lie slew them, then theysought llini, and they returned and inquired early after God. And they le-membered that Gon was their Rock, andthe high God their Redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter Him with t leir98 THE IHBLE AGAINST WAR.mouth, and they lied unto him withtheir tongues, fur their iieart was notright with Hiin, neither were they .s'/twZ-fast in his covenant. But He being fullof compassion, forgave their ini(iuitt° anddestroyed them not, yea, many a timened He his anger away, and did notstm up all his wrath."_P.,. h^viii: 3d,6 4 .COD OFTEN EROSPEREn TIIEH NOTWITII-their .sins on ACCOUNT Of•• Horii!"",';''/""""si« ihcm up.how shal l 1.1 1- rphraimisha l l ISO .heo as Zcbo.m ? my haari is turaed™^"p-«"s-.-oki„diad to.g e t i i e i . — H o s c a x \ - S . H i s i a „ , ,to bless them, and through th"n^ 'T'^WO.R luJuednohadeaho:;:"!';:,®.omu covenant with Abraham to bless th»T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A B .world through him. (Sec Geji. xii; 1 3 r.and xxii; IG.). To accomplish this purposeit was necessary to preserve the Hebrewnation distinct from all others. Here isone prominent reason for iiis often takingsides with them and saving them from thelegitimate consequences of their own.chosen way. Hence when tiiey hadopenly apostatized and prostrated themselves before the golden calf, " and said,these be thy gods, O Israel, whichhave brought thee up out of the landof Egypt, the Lord said unto Moses,I have seen this people, and beholdit is a still-neckcd people : now therefore let me alone, that my wrath maywax hot against them, and that I mayconsume them, and I will make of theea great nation. And Moses besoughtthe Lord his God, and said. Lord, whydoth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out ofthe land of Egypt with great power, andwith a mighty hand ? Wherefore shouldiOO THE BIBLE AGAI.\ST WAB.the Egyptians speak and say, For mischiefdid He bring them out, to slay them inthe mountains, and to consume tiiem fromthe face of the eartii? Turn from thyfierce wrath, and repent of tiiis evilagainst thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants,-towhom thou swarest by thine own self,and saidst unto tiiem, I will multiply yourseed as the stars of heaven ; and all thisland that I have spoken of will I give untoyour seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of theevil which he thought to do unto his peo-xxx i i : S—11 . So f o r h i s ownname's sake, and for his oath's sake. Heo ten blessed them in their own chosenw a y .GODS REPUTATION CONNECTED AVITII TIIEIBSUCCESS IN BATTLE.Again, God's reputation was ibtimatelyconnected with their prosperity, and asIsrael's God He often gave them the vie-T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T WA R . 1 0 1tory, lest the heathen should attributetheir success to their idols. Hence, again,the force of the prayer of Moses: " Remember Thy servants Abraham, Isaac,and Jacob. Look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sins. Lest the landwhence Thoit hroughtest them out say, ^ Because the Lord was not able to bring theminto the land which He promised them,'^c. * * Since they are Thy peopleand Thine inheritance."—Deut.'w: 2629.So when they were driven into captivity because of their sins, and the heathen reproached them tauntingly, saying," These are the people of the Lord !" Jehovah assigns as the reason for deliveringthem, " I had pity for my holy name,which the liousc of Israel had profanedamong the heathen whither they went.Therefore say unto the house of Israel,Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this foryour salces, O house of Israel, but lor myQ A - o102 THE BIRLE AGAINST WAR.holy name's sake which ye liave profanedamong the heatlien wliitlier yc went. * *Not for your sakes do I this, saith theLord God, be it known to you. Beashamed and confounded, for vour ownways, O house of Israel."—Tii^ e/t.'xxxvi; 19—3G. See also/s«. xlviii ; /sa.xl; Fs. 135.they frequently had faith in god,SI.MPLY AS CONTRASTED WITH THE IDOLGODS OP THE HEATHEN, AND THEY WEREDLESSED according to THEIR FAITH.I,.,n■?,'! 'f"' 'F tlio .TCU'S l.ailM .U c i,. God, ,„a only woreho „o,,, to nttritac Ihei. victo.rod™ -"'"""•otvas.hcsamoK t m l o n c y t l . ct o i n c r e a s eand dovclo, the,r faith in Hint, and " forU3 own „a,not, cake" Uoho,n,n doing what did not approve-the bos he could do in the circumetanco—on tiie same principle that He how"sends rain on the just and on theTHE IlinLE AGATXST WAE. 103unjust." Wherever there tvas faitli—even on the part of a few—to take Godas lie had all along manifested Himself—as a Savior from their enemies, lie wasfound of them according to their iaith.A beautiful illustration of this is found intheC A S E O F E M S I I A .When the king of Syria encompassedDothan with " horses and chariots and agreat host" to capture Elisha, his servantsaid to him, " Alas my master, how shallwe do ? And he answered. Fear not;for they that be with us are more thanthey that be with them. And Elishaprayed and said. Lord, I pray thee, openhis eyes that he may sec. And the Lordopened the eyes of the young man ; and hesaw, and the mountain was lull of horsesand chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him,Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said.Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blind-104 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAK.ness, nccording to the word of Elisha."—2 Kings vi. 10-18 ; and in tiiis state Elisha led them into the city of Samaria, totheir enemy the king of Israel, wiio, elated at seeing them, said, " My father, shallI smite them? shalll smite them? Andhe answered, thou shalt not smite them:wouldst thou smite those whom thou hasttaken captive with thy sword and withthy bow ? Set bread and water beforethem, diat they may eat and drink, and goto thei master. And he prepared greatprovision for them: and when thev hadeaten and drunk, he sent them away," " ' e s t e r . S o t h ean s o , yiiji came no more into theland of Israel.''-2Pauls', coals of fire" ,vere effectual."1 he Lord also wil be a refuge fortheoij-essed,y-efugein times of tiouble.And they that know thy name wil putthe.r trust m thee; for thou, Lord hast Lforsaken them that seek thee."—ix.9, 10. " Be not afraid, only believe."'THE B IULE AGAINST WAR. 105So afterwards, wlien Benhadad besieged Samaria and caused " a great famine"so that women ate their own children tosatiate the cravings of their hunger (!) oneof the dire frui ts of war—the wickedking attributed the cause of their difficulty to Elisha, and sent to slay him, but inanswer to Elisha's prayer, "The Lordhad made the host of the Syrians to heara noise of chariots, and a noise of horses,even the noise of a great host; and theysaid one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings ofthe Hittites,. and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore theyarose and fled in the twilight, and lefttheir tents, and their horses, and theirasses, even the camp as it was, and fledfor their life."—2 Kings vii. 6, 7, leavinga great abundance of provisions for theirfamished foes.nCF " If thou canst believe, all thingsare possible to him that believeth."106 THE miJLE AGAINST AVAR.In other cases God fonnd simply faithenougii to look to llim for success in battle,and lest his giving the victory to tlieirenemies sliould be wrongly construed byeach party, and to punish the guilty, Hegave thcrn success. In illustration seet h e c a s e o p A l i l J A I I .When .Teroboam made AvarAvith him,Abijah's faith did not look to God as aRefuge. ^ He had barely foith enough tolook to God for success in self-defense, notenough to seek Mini as a " hiding-place,"but simply to contrast Him with the idolsof Jeroboam. And the children of Ju-d.I, Kc^ aikd l,cca«0 ,l,ey .-eliad tl.axiii. lo, and context.The same also may be said ofASA HIS SON.Wian Zara the Ethiopian came againsthim with a host of one million, and threehundred chariots, " Asa cried unto theT H E B I I i E E A G A I N S T W A R . 1 0 7Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing for thee to help, wliether with many,or with them that have no power: helpus, 0 Lord our God ; for we rest on thee,and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our G od; letnot man prevail against thee. So, theLord smote tiie Ethiopian before Asa,and before Judah; and the Etiiiopiansfled."—2 C/nwi. xiv. 11, 12. "According to thy faith be it unto thee."In each case the people knew but littleof Jehovah. They feared the Lord andserved their own gods." " Now for a longseason Israel had been without the trueGod, and without a teaching priest, andwithout law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto tiie Lord God of Israel,and sought Ilim, He was found of them,"just in proportion to their faith. (See thehistory in 2 Chron. xiii. xiv. xv. and xvi.)T H E C A S E O F G I D E O N ,Furnishes another illustration in point." The ch i ld ren o f I s rae l d id ev i l i n the1 0 8 TO E B I B L E A G A I N S T WA R .sight of the Lord, and tlie Lord delivered Ithem into the hand of Midian, * * and 'Israel was greatly impoverished becauseof the Midianites. And they cried untothe Lord, * *■ and the Lord sent a prophet, who said unto them. Thus saith theLord God of Israel, I brought you upfrom Egypt and brought you forth out ofthe house of bondage, and I deliveredyou out of the hand of the Egyptians andout of the hand of all that oppressed youand drove them out from before you and. gave you their land, and I said unto you ^I am the Lord xjour God. Fear not thegods of the Amorites in whose land youdwel. But ye have not obeyed my voice."And the Angel of Jehovah appeared \to G.deon and bade him break down thealtar of Baal and cut down his grove, andthen, in the name of Jehovah, go againstthe enemy. After much hesitancy andmany excuses, he finally obeys the mandate. Baal's altar is demolished, and analtar to Jehovah built, bearing the inscrip- iT i m n i B I - K A K A I N S T A V A R .tion, " Jehovah Slialom," The God ofpeace. And " the spirit of tlic Lord cameupon Gideon and he blew his trumpet"and an army of tiiirty-two thousand isenro l led."And the Lord said unto Gideon, thepeople that are with, thee are too many forme to give the Midia.nites into their hands,lest Israel vaunt themselves against me,saying, my own hand hath saved me.Now therefore, go and proclaim in theears of the people, saying, whosoever isfearful and afraid, let him retain anddepart early from Mount Gilead, andthere returned of the people twenty-twothousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon,The people arc yet too many:" and thenumber is reduced to three hundred.These go forth armed (?) with their lampsand their trumpets against the foe ; who■*' lay along in the valley like grasshoppersfor multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side110 THE B IBLE AGAINST WAR.for multitude." At a given signal theybreak their pi tellers, let their " light shine,"and blowing their trumpets, cry " Thesword of the Lord and of Gideon, andthey stood every man in his place roundabout the camp. And all the host ran,and cried, and Jled, and the three hundred blew the trumpets, and tiie Lord setevery man his sword against his fellowyeven throughout ail the host," See Judg.v i . v i i .Their success was in their standing inin their place and blowing the gospeltrumpet.But even here they failed fully to restin God, and elated, took the work into-their own hands, and so forgot God andwent a whoing after the golden ephodwhich Gideon made from the spoils of war,Alas! alas! for the woful unbelief andwickedness of man! The heart of the.sons of men is fully set m them to do eviL" Lord increase our faith !"T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T WA R . I l la n o t h e r r e a s o n f o r t h e i r p r o s p e r i t yI N W A Ris found in the fact that lie often sendsthem against otlicr nations, lor the samereason lie sent iSennaeiierib against Jerusalem, of whom lie .said, "O Assyrian*the rod of mine anger, and the stall intheir hand is mine indignation. I willsend him against an iiypocritical nation,and against tiie people of my wratli will Igive him a charge to take the spoil, andto take the prey, and to tread them downlike the mire of the streets, llowhelt Hemeaneth not so, neither doth his heaitthink so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut oil nations not a few.Isa. X. 5, G, 7. " Wherefore it shallcome to ]3ass, that wdieii tiie Lord hathperformed his whole work upon MountZion and on Jerusalem, I will punish thefruit of the stout heart of the king oi Assyria, and the glory of his high looks."Shall the axe boast itself against himthat heweth therewith? or shalMhe saw1 1 2 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .magnify itself against him that shak-eth it? as if the rod should shake itselfagainst them that lift it up, or as if thestaff should lift up itself as if it were nowood."—/sff. X. 5—7, 12, l'5. &c.. In the same manner we can accountfor the civil wars between Israel andJudah generally.HARDNESS OP HEART" THE CAUSE OPA L L T H E I R W A R .' So it was " because of the hardness oftheir hearts that God even used them asinstruments of destruction.Their exodus from Egypt, their wholehistory, their being carried array captivesinto Babylon, shows that it was not "withGod's approval that they waged war Oftheir own choice, and according to theirown plan " they took the sword," andthey finally ''perished by the swrn-d."True, for his own name's sake amongthe heathen, He often blessed them, butmuch more would his name have beenTHE IHEEE AGAINST WAR. 11 3honored and revered had tliey been willing to hold their peace," stand still andsee the salvation of Jehovah. Then couldthey have sung the song of Moses and theLamb, and said truly, "The Lord is mystrength and song, and He is become mysalvation: lie is my God, and I will pie-pare Ilim an habitation; my father's God,and Twill exalt h\m."—Ex.^y. 2. Jehovah is a man of war, the Loixl IS hisname. " Who is like unto Thee, 0 Loid,among the gods? who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doingwonders ?" » * " Thou in Thy mercyhast led forth the people which Thou hastredeemed: Thou hast guided them mThv strength unto Thy holy habitation.—Ex. XV. 11, 13. "The people shallhear and be aiVaid." * * "dread shall fall upon them : by the greatness of Thine arm they shall be as still asa stone."—Ex. xv: 2, 3, 11,13 16.Then too could they have united withJehoshnphat saying, " Not unto us, O11 4 T H E B I H L E A G A I N S T A V A R .Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy namegive glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thytruth's sake. Wherefore should tiieheathen say, Where is now their God?But our God is in the heavens; He hathdone Avhatsoever He pleased. Their idolsare silver and gold, the Avork of men'slands. They have mouths, but they speakact; eyes have they, but they see not:they have ears, but they hear not; noseshave they, but they smel not; they havehands, but they handle not; neither speakniake the.n are like unto them; so ist i u s t ^ T ^andtbeii'lTidshield tl"t'f' ^ <^ p^'^ "h'treirslwkl The Lord l,„th beeo „.i„df„r^ Jue: He wdl lessue: ne„ni bless thehouse of Israel, He Avdl bless the house ofAaron. He Avill bless them that fear theTHE Bl lJEE AGAINST WAU.Lord, belli srvKili and great. The Lordshall increase you more and more, youand your children. Ye are blessed ol theLord', which made heaven and earth.The heaven, even the heavens are theLord's: but the earth hath He given tothe children of men. The dead praise notthe Lord, neither any that go down intosilence. But we will bless the Lord fromthis time forth and forevermore. Braisethe Lord."—Hi-. 115-In conclusion, tiien, I remark, that bysearching the scriptures,1. We find the spirit of the New Testament to be the spirit of peace, and as theOld Testament has the same author, andas " God has not changed," it also musthave the same spirit. We.jind it /las.2. We find the lovers of war strive mvain to extract the siiirit of war from theexample or precepts of .Testis Christ. Hisfollowers are men of peace, and it is because the Jews would not become his followers that they were men ot war.IIG THE BIBLE AGAINST WAE.3. We find the Bible regards war nfibn-sive or defensive, as a curse to all engaged in it, inflicted only on Jie dis~obedient and iinbclreving. Of courseGod does not inflict curses on the obedient and faithful. Wars and fightingscome from men's lusts as self-inflictedjudgments for sin.4. We find the Bible regards peace asa great blessing promised to obedience andaiti. The faithful and obedient haveresi, and enjoy the fruits of the land.5 We find that even with the faintle r they had no war" I * % l „ . B e l n gboSvT''° pil lar ofso ,*„ G„l k,l ,1,on,"nilwas wel, Bnt tlrey ,ef„ecl obey. „el-r , s r r ' " ' " "■ I - -Co 1<1,(1 amongliem, but hardened theirnetifcs and in their rebelion appointed acaptain to return to their bondage "andsent men before them to search out the-THE n iBLE AGAINST AVAR. 117land and bring thcin word by what waytiiey should conic" &c., tliat is they didnot wish Jciiovah as a leader, so lie gavethem up to their own stubbornness andthey walked according to their own plan.And by bitter c.xpcricnce they Ibund theycould not " lie down safely," while theytrusted to their swordsG. Substituting imir for slaveiy, howapplicable the language of T. D. Weld:" Tlio spiril of (war) never takes refuge in theBible nf Us oien accord. Tlie liorns_ of tiie altarare its last resort. It seizes them, it at all, onlyin desperation—rushing from tlic terror of tiieavenger's arm. Like other unclean spirits, itluiteth the light lest its deeds should be reproved.Goaded to madnos.s in its conllict with commonsense and natural justice, denied all quarter, andhunted from every covert, it breaks at last intotbe sacred enclosure, and courses up and downthe Bible seeking rest and finding none. TheLAW OF LOVK, Streaming from every page, flashesaround it an omnipresent anguish and despair.It shrinks from the iinted ligiit, and howls underthe consuming touch, as the demoniacs recoiledfrom the Sun of God, and shrieked " torment uanot." At last it slinks among the shadows of theMosaic system, and thinks to burrow out of sightamong its typos and symbols. Vain liope .' Itsasylum is its sepulchre : its city of retiige, thgl i s T H E n i K L E A G A I N S T W A K .city of destruction. It rushes from light into thoeun: from heat, into devouring lire ; and from thovoice of God into the thickest of his thunders."Blessed be God, lie does not require usto avenge our wrongs. Our rights, ourlives, and our sacred honor are secure."The name of tite Lord is a strong tower.The RIGHTEOUS runneth into it and isSAFE."—Prou. xviii. 10. For the eyes ofthe Lord run to and fro throughout thewhole earth to show Himself strong inthe behalf of those whose heart is perfecttoward Him."—2 Chron. xvi. 9."There is none like unto the God ofJeshurun, who rideth upon the heavens irithy help, and in his excelency on the sky.The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And Heshall thrust out the enemy from beforethee, and shall say, Destroy them. Israelthen shall dwell in safety alone. * *Happy art thou, 0 Israel! who is likeunto thee, O people saved by the Lord.The shield of thy help, and who is thoT l i n n i l l L F. A G A I N S T WA R . 11 9sword of tliy cxccllcnoy, and tlilne enemies sha l l he found l i a rs i i n io thee . "—DeuLxxxlu. 27,23."The angel of the Lord cncainpethround about them tiiat fear llim, and de-livercth them. * * The eyes of theLord arc upon the rigiitcons, and his earsare open to tiieir cry. The face of theLord is against them that do e\ii, to cutoff the remembrance of tiicm from theearth."—i-'s. xxxiv. 7, 15, IG. See thewhole psalm. DCj^ 1 ^Ps. Ixi.My defense is of God, who savcth theupright in heart."—Ps. \\i. 10. "Thouart my hiding ])lac.c and my shield."—Ps.cxix: 111. Ps. xxxii. 7. "The Lordis my strength and song, and lie is become my salvation."—P.v xv. 2. "TheLord is my defense, and my God is therock of my refuge."—Ps. xciv. 22. Seea l s o P s . I x i i ." The Lord is my rock and my fortrc.ss,.and my deliverer: the Gotl of my rock, in1 2 0 t h e b i b l e a g a i n s t w a k .Ilim will I trust: He is my shield, and thehorn of my saivatiun, my high tower andmyrcluge: my Savior: Thou savcst mefrom violence." * * As for God, hisway is perfect." * •» " He is a buck-lei to all that trust in Him."—2 Sa7n. xxii.See also Isa. xxxiii. L5, IG; Zee//, xii.^ 1®' 3, 4; Ptov. xvi i i . 10.2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8; Gen. xv. 1 ; Ps.xxviii. 7, 8; Ps. xxxiii. 20; Ps. Lxxxiv.11; &c., &c.Such is the language of the Old Testament saints. Now if they had so muchground for confidence in God, how muchmore we who live under the blazing lightof the cross, with "legions of angels,"(j alt. xx\i. o2, 53,) at our service, "sentforth to minister to them that shall beheirs of salvation," QM. I4,)_assuredol our Savior that our " angels do alwaysbehold the face of his Father in heaven,"{Malt, xviii: 10; assured too, that " allthings work together for good to themwho love God," {Rom. viii. 28; thatT H E B I B L E A C A I N S T W A R .every occasion of sulleriiig shall " turn tous for a testimony," {Ltike xxi. 13,) andso gire an opportunity to bear witnessto the blessed savor of meekness, forgiveness, patience and love.0, if God had occasion, by way olcomplaint, to say of Israel, " Hath a nation changed their gods I But my jieoplehave changed their glory for that whichdoth not profit. Be astonished, 0 yoheavens at this, and he horiibly a lai ,be ye very desolate, saith the Lord, t ormy people have commited two evils;They have forsaken me, the fountain ofliviim waters, and hewed them out cisterns", broken cisterns, tiiat can hold nowater:" {Jer. ii. 11-13:) how infinitely more guilty arc we if we neglect sogreat salvation. Jesus is our Savior. ASavior from hell—a Savior from sin—aSavior from uU our enemies. " Blessedbe the Lord God of Israel, for lie hathvisited and redeemed his people, and hathraised up an horn of salvation for us, m1 2 2 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR.the house of his servant David; as Hespake by the mouth of his iioly prophetswhich have been since the wmdd besan,that ive should be saved from our enemies,and from the hand of them that hate us,to periorm the mercy promised to ourfatiiers, and to remember his ludv covenant, the oath which he sware to ourfather Abraham, that he would grant usthat we, being delivered out of the hand ofour enemies, might serve Ilirn withoutoar m holiness and righteousness beforef t r a a l , h „ .b o — / 5 ,"Hojv s^^ethe name of Jesus soundsIn a b liever's ear."To you therefore tvho believe He isIhet, . the la,,5t,ageknow Jesus Chri.st. He is the "Ancientof days." "Thousand thousands minister unto Hum Ten thousand times tent h e u i b l e a g a i n s t w a r . 123thousand stand before Him," {Dan. vii.10;) and " this God is our God foreverand ever. He will be our guide evenunto death."—Ps-. xlviii. 14. Tiieii sinceJehovah is the strengili of my life, ofwhom shall I be afraid ?We rnay indeed sufl'er " tribulation, or'^ 'Stress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword." Vov"''Hh\\l % ^s*c-'I'l ' fx , >' « V No w n ,alone Ie a r ,)p tear,3 well,ewell 1Vtin.> . \\ AV ,\\33S :«1122 THE BIBLE AGAINST AVAIl.the house of Iiis servant David ; as liespake by the moutii of his holy prophetswhicli have been since the world beijan,that we should he saved from our enemies,and from the hand of them that hale 7is,to periorm tiie mercy iiromised to ourfathers, and to remember Ins holy covenant, the oath which he sware to ourfather Abraham, that he Avould grant usthat we, being delivered out of the hand ofour enemies, might serve Him Avithoutfear m holiness and righteousness beforeHim all the days „f x,k,_Lnkc i.b » — / 5 ."How sweetiG name of Jesus sounds•In a believer's ear."To you therefore who believe He isprecous -. Whom have I in Heaven butthee.^and I desire-noneupon earth besidehee, IS the language of al who realyknow JC.SU3 Christ. He is the "Ancientof days." "Thousand thousands mimister unto Him. Ten thousand times tenTHE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 123thousand stand before IJim," {Dan. vii.9,10;) and " lliis God is our God foreverand ever, lie will be our guide evenunto death."—Ps. xiviii. M. Tiicn sinceJehovah is the strength of my life, ofwhom shall I be a fraid ?We may indeed suffer " tribulation, ordistress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword." For Christ'ssake we may be " kiled al the day long,and accounted as sheep for the slaughter,"yet not a hair of our head shall pgiish.If in patience we possess our souls, " inall things we arc more than conqueiorsthrouglUIim that loved us."—Rom. Viil31—39; Lulcc xxi. 12—19.We are ready then to give an answerto every one who asketh us, a reason ofthe hope that is in us with meekness andfear.—1 Pet. iii. 8—18.The conclusion of the whole matter issummed up in the following lines:T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .TJIE EELIEVER AND IIIS ECHO,"True faith, producing love to God and man;Say, Echo is not this the gospel plan 1E. The gospel plan.E. Must I my faith in Jesus constant show.By doing good to all, hoth friend and foe 1E. Both friend and foe.E. But if a brother hates and treats rnc il.Must I return him good, and love iiim stilllE. Love him still.E- If he my failing.s watches to reveal.Must I his faults as carefuly conceal IE- As carefully conceal.E. But if my name and character he tears,n cruel malice too, too plain appears:And when I sorrow and affliction know,He oves to add unto my cup of wo:this uncommon, thus peculiar case,Sweet echo, say, must I stil love and blesslStill love and bless,a Whatever usage ilH may receive.Must I stil patient be and stil forgive I£1. Stil patient be and stil forgive.B. Why echo, how is this! fflou art sure a(love,T I I K n i n L E A G . V I N S T W A U . 1 2 5Thy voice will teach me nothing else thanlove 1E. Notiiing else than love.D. Amen, witiiall my heart: then be it so.'Tis all delightful, just and good I know:And now to practice I'll directly go.E. Directly go.B. Have I no cause to fear, though man afflict.May! be sure my Savior will protect?E. My S.ivior will protect.B. Henceforth on Him I'll roll my every care.And both my friend and foe embrace inprayer 1E. Embrace in prayer.B. But after all, tiiesc duties, when they'redone.Must I in point of merit them disown,And rest my soul on Jesus' blood alone 1E. On Jesus blood alone.B. Echo—enough—thy counsel to my ear,Is sweeter than to llowers the dew-drop tear,Thy wise instructive lessons please me well,Till ne.xt we meet again. Farewell!f a r e w e l l !E . F a r e w e l l ! f a r e w e l l ! "OBJECTIONS.K.0MA\S XIII. GIVES FUEL AUTIIOIIITY FORt h e u s e o f t h e s w o r d .1 HEN we may use it. But before placingour hand to the hilt, let us pravcrfullyexamine our commission, lest while the" is granted, we find our-btod" to take "one drop of' V T I O N O FAnd first we need a stand point fromwinch we can "take our reckoning."This we have in the context. " Let lovebe without dissimulation. Abhor thatT H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A K . 1 2 7w h i c h i s e v i l : c l e a v e t o t h a t w h i c h i sgood." " Dearly beloved, avenge notyourselves, but ratiier give ))lace untowratli, for it is written, Avenging is mine,I will repay, saitli the Lord, Thereforeif thine enetny hunger, feed him, and ifhe thirst, give him drink, for in so doingthou shalt heap coals of fire upon hishead. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Let every soul besubject to the higher powers," &c.The apostle is urging tlie duty of non-resistance to evil, repeating the injunctionof our blessed Lord to do good to ourenemies, and submit patiently to wrongdoinrr, leaviim our cause in the hands ofO ' Oof God. There can be no doubt but thatthis is the doctrine of the 12th chapter,and its separation from the 13th is oneof the unfortunate arrangements of thechapter makers. Evidently it is notPaul's arrangement. The subject is one."Avenge not yourselves," — overcome1 2 S T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A K .evil with good." " Let every soul besubject," &c.But we are elevated still higher on ourobservatory, if we mark the circumstancesunder which Paul wrote. He was writingto the Christians at Rome. Tlicy ofcourse would understand ins instructionsas applying to them under the circumstances in which they were jdaced. Theywere at that time smarting under the lashof tyrannical power, and were keenlyalive to tiie injustice of being compelledto |)ay taxes to the very governmentwhicii was crusliing them. The passagemust be so construed as to meet theircase. Hence in chapter xi, he lays downgreat fundamental principles, therebygreatly to prepare the way for the hum-bhng, unwelcome truth he presents inchapter xiii. This is the pivot on whichthe interpretation of the passage turns.Let It be .kept constantly in mind. Theapostle is simply teaching Christian subjection. See Barnes'Notes on this chapter.THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 129The objector insists tliat in this chapter we arc taught to obey and supportgovernment,—governments sustained bythe sword,—but the construction necessary to give this idea is open to tiie following objections:1. It assumes that submission is synonymous with obedience. The words,though sometimes synonymous, are notusually nor necessarily so. According to •Webster, " Submission is the act of ijicld-ing to power or authority. Surrendei ofthe person and power to the control orgovernment of another." Obedience is"compliance xoiih a command." Andwhenever our duties to civil rulers areBpoken of, tlic term "'submit" or " be subject is used in every case but one. lhatis Titus iii. 1. Here the term translated"obey magistrates" is "peitharkein,"which is " to yield submission to authority." Neither the word " magistrates'nor "obey" is necessarily included in theoriginal.T H E B I B E E A G A I N S T W A R .2. .Using the term " be subject," assynonymous with "obey," exceptionsmust be made such as neither the textnor scripture in general admits.yourselves to every ordinance of man forthe Lord's sake."—1 Pet. ii. 13. YetBarnes says, "there were cases in whichIt was right to resist tiie laws, [!!] * *when the laws interfered with the rightsof conscience, when they commandede worship of idols, or any moral wrong,en it was their duty to refuse submis-smn. [!!] . ^e are not to infert h e m t o" m- rheir requirements may be op-po«d .he 1„„, „f God, „,.d Ln we[confounding submit with obey.]Again he thus explains " ieisteth." ..Thev'• w t i o o p i i o s e t h ercgola.- exccutioo of thepi.ed, however, thai ,h„eebe such at to violate the right of co.fscience, or oppose the laws of God."T H E B i n L E A G A I . X S T A V A R . 1 3 1Once more, in cx]ilaiiiing the phrase"Resistctli the ordinance of God," headds, " If the government is establislied,and if its decisions are not a manifestviolation of the laws of God, we are tosubmit to them." And then on the clause,"For rulers are not a terror," he says,"The apostle here speaks of rulers ingeneral. It may not be ^ inivcrsalhj truethat they are not a terror to good works,for many of them have persecuted thegood."Thus on almost every point, an if, aan exception, or denial under certaincircumstances, is necessary with his construction, and so the required submissionis virtually frittered away. The circumstances of the Christians at Rome broughtthem under the e.vccptions to the rule.Many of the Roman laws did " violatethe rights of conscience, and oppose thelaws of God." Their "decisions" in reference to Christians were generally "amanifest violation of the laws of God1 3 2 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .SO that indeed Paul is made to teach rebel l ion under cover of submission ! Wasthis his design? Yea more, as resistinggovernment is resisting God, Paul is thusmade to teach rebellion against God, andto do it, too, in face of threatened damnation ! Can this construction be theright one ?T H E T E X T .Let us now take each phrase separately,and interpret it in the light of the context and parallel passages, and thus havethe Bible explain itself.We have seen from the context that theapostle was speaking of submission. Thesame subject is continued. Let everysoul be subject to the higher powers. Noexceptions.Submit yourselves to every ordinanceof man for the Lord's sake. " Likewiseye younger submit yourselves to theelder, yea all of you be subject one to another. 1 Pet. ii. " Servants be subjectTHE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 133tt) your own masters, not only to thegood and gentle but also to i\\& fToioard"" I say unto you that ye resist not evil."We are here taught, not the use of thesword, but simply submission to its use—but submission to authority or power doesnot necessarily imply the rightfulness ofthe authority any more than submissionto the blow implies the rightfulness tosmite, and yet the Savior says, " If aman smite thee on the right cheek turnto him the other also." He also says,be subject, &c. Submission without resistance, is. one obedience quiteanother thing.R E A S O N F O R S U B M I S S I O N ."Let every soul be subject to the higher powers," " For there is no power butof God." " If thou seest the oppressionof the poor, and violent perverting ofjudgment and justice in a province.Marvel not at the matter, for -He that ishigher than the highest regardeth."—Eccl.F134 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR.AT. 8. " He wil l cause the wrath of manto praise Him and the remainder of rvrathwil l He restrain." Hence when Pilatesaid to Jesus, " Knowest thou not that Ihave ])ower to crucify thee and have power to release thee." Jesus answered," Thou couldst have no power againstme except it were given thee from above."—hio. xix. 10, 11. So " spake the Lordto Paul in the night by a vision. Be notafraid but speak and be not silent. Because I am with thee and no one shallimpose upon thee to hurt thee."—xix. 9, 10.) So Christ said to his disciples,' Nothing shall by any means hurt you." |{Luke X. 19.)CASE OF DANIEL." 0 Daniel, servant of the living God,is thy God, whom thou servest contiimally, 'able to deliver thee from the Hons ? * *My God hath sent his angel and haih shutthe lions' mouths, that they have not hurtme, forasmuch as before Him innocencyT H E b i b l e a g a i n s t w a k . 1 3 5was found in mo, and also before thee, Oking, have I done no hurt. * * So Danielwas taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him, becausehe believed in his God."—Dan vi. 20,23.There is no power to injure except permi t t ed o f God .c a s e o f s i i a d k a c i i , m e s i i a c i i a n d a b e d -K E G O ." And wdio is that God who shall deliver you out of my hands?' said theproud Nebuchadnezzar to Shadrach, Me-shach and Abednego, who " answered tothe king. O Nebuchadnezzar, we are notcareful to answer thee in this matter. Ifit is best, our God whom we serve is ableto deliver us from the burning Jiery furnace and He loill deliver lis out of thinehand, 0 king. But if not, be it knownto thee 0 king, that we will not serve thygods nor worship the golden image whichthou has set up." The foithful non-resistants are indeed thrown into the " burning1 3 6 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A H .fiery furnace," which is made so hot thattheir persecutors are consumed by itsflames,butupon them "the fire had no power nor was a hair of their head singed,neither were their coats changed, nor thesmell of fire had passed on them. ThenNebuchadnezzar spake, and said. Blessedbe the God of Shadrach, Meshach, andAbednego, who hath sent his angel, anddelivered his servants that trusted in Him,and have changed the king's word, andyielded their bodies, that they might notserve or worship any god, except theirown God. * * There is no other God thatcan deliver after this sort."—See Dan, iii.Here is submission, but not obedience ;and one reason why they.sK&mii is, because they are conscious "there is nopower but of Go d."" B E A U E G B D A I N E D O PGOD."That is, it is said," God hath appointed human governments as apart of tlie moral government of God, and oaT H E B I B L E A G A I N S T ' W A R . 1 3 7such they arc to he sustained by Christians,whatever form they may assume. Consequently,in certain states of societ}', it would be a Christian duty to pray for and sustain even a militarydespotism ; in a certain otlier state of society topray for and sustain a inonarciiy; and in otlierstates to pray for and sustain a republic; and ina still more advanced stage of virtue and intelligence, to pray for and sustain a democracy; ifindeed a democracy is tlie most wholesome formof se//-govcrninent, wliich may admit a doubt."—Prof. Finney's Sk. Lcc. on Thcot. page 24/.With Prof. Finney I agree that humangovernments arc a necessity of humannature," and that "this necessity willcontinue as long as human beings exist inthis world," and that human legislationimposes moral obligation, 1. not when itrequires what is inconsistent with moiallaw. 2. Not when it is arbitrary, or notfounded in right reason. 3. But it alwaysimposes moral obligation, when it is inaccordance with moral law."" It follows that no government is lawful orinnocent, that docs not recognize the moral law,as the only universal law, and God as the SuprerneLawgiver and Judge, to whom nations in theirnational capacity, as well as all individua.s, are138 THE B IBLE AGAINST WAK.amenable. The moral law of God is the law ofindividuals and of nations, and nothing can herightful government hut such as is foimdcd andadministered in its support.—,S'A-. Theol 2:15,238,and Sys. Theol. 435.To all this I heartily say, Amen, andtherefore I do not admit that Christiansare to sustain a military despotism, because it is "arbitrary and not founded hiright reason," and because it is "inconsistent with the moral law." The veryidea of despotis7n excludes God from thethrone, and his law from the statute book.Faith in God and faith in a military despot, are as opposite as heaven and hell.The Bible every where recognizes GODas the "Supreme Lawgiver," and hiswill, not a despoVs, as law. But more oft h i s a n o n .WA^S THE BOMAN GOVERNMENT APPOINTEDO F G O D !It is admitted that government according to God's plan, is an appointment ofGod. But in what sense have the gov-T H E n i B L E A G A I N S T WA R . 1 3 9ernments of th is wor ld been ordained ofGod, and in what sense have the rulers ofthe government of this ^vvorld been appointed of God ?The powers that be at least include theRoman power, and to the Roman Christians, Paul was understood to mean noother. (See Gibbon.) How was tiiatgovernment " ordained of God," and itsrulers originally, appointed.History tells us tiiat the city was builtby the marauding sliepherds, Romulus andRemus, who consulted the licathcn oracle,not the Lord, as to who was to have thedirection in building it. Wlien built, itWas opened " as a sanctuary for all malefactors, slaves, &c., who constituted themain part of the inhabitants. They choseRomulus "as their king, who was accordingly acknowledged chief of their religion, sovereign magistrate ot Rome, andgeneral of the army. Besides a guard toattend his person, it was determined tliathe should always be preceded, wherever140 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR.he went, by another of twelve men,armed with axes, tied up in a bundle ofrods, and who were to execute the laws,and impress his new subjects with a highidea of his authority. The principal religion of that age consisted in a firm reliance on the soothsayers, who pretendedfrom observations on the llight of birdsand the entrails of beasts, to direct thepresent and dive into the future, Romulus, by an express law, commanded that noelection should be made, no enterjmise undertaken, withoict first consulting them:'—Grimshaw's Rome, pages 13, 14.Is this the mode of God's establishinggovernment?—this the way He commis"-sions lis agents ? Then verily the government of hell is appointed of God, andtmefore we aie to pray for and sustainbatan as the prince of the power of theair. ]No,nol -SmcA governments are notthe creatures of God's approval. W e arenot to pray that they may be sustained,but that they may be broken to pieces byT H E B I i n . E A G A I N S T W A R . 1 4 1tlie " stnnc cut out imlhout hands, aud tlierighteous kingdom of Jesus Christ established on their ruins. " That the kingdoms of this world may become thekingdoms of our Lord and his Ciirist,andthat lie may reign forever and ever."That the tiirones may be cast down, andthe ancient of days may sit. When timsthe kingdom is given to Christ and Inssaints, then as his faithful subjects wewill sustain it. But in Paul's day thekingdoms of this world belonged to Satan.Jesus Christ did not accede to the condition on which the arch deceiver, the devil,proffered them to Him. And O, that allof his professed followers, when on thesame condition they have been oileredpreferment, had with the Savior said,"Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,tind Him only shalt thou serve."The governments appointed of God aresuch as acknowledge God's rigiit to appoint—such as acknowledge Him as the1 4 2 T H E B I D L E A G A I N S T W A K .Lawgiver. Bnt none will contend thatthe Roman government can be includedunder this head. Of course, theiefore,Paul could not have meant that tiiey wereappointed of God, and to give the passage that interpretation does violence aliketo common sense and the original text.Says Barnes, " this word 'ordained'denotes the ordering or arrangement whichsubsists in a military company or army.God sets them in order, assigns themtheir location, changes and directs themas He pleases. He directs and controls,"&c. He arranges them so as best toserve his purposes. Then the simple import of the text is this. The existingpowers are under God's control. Youroppressors, even, are so controlled ofGod that He will accomplish his ownpurposes, and make al work together forgood, and so the clause is simply intensive or explanatory of the preceding.Let every soul be subject to the higherpo jvers, for there is no power but of God,THE BIBEE AGAINST WAK. 143T H E P O W E R S T H AT E E A R E C O N T R O L L E DO F G O D ." He removeth kings and setteth upkings. Tlie Most Iligli ruleth in the kingdom of men and give til it to whomsoever hewill, and setteth up over it the basest ofmen."—ii . 21, iv. 17. "1 havestrength. * * By me kings reign."—viii. 15, IG. O blessed tiiought! OurGod is an Almighty Sovereign. He hasthe same control of nations that He hasof individuals, and no one hath any power to hurt us. If God places us in circumstances of great trial, he thereby designs either to bring us to repentance forour sins, or give us an opportunity to magnify his power and the riches of his grace,as in the case of Daniel, of Shadrach, Me-shach and Abednego, and the whole list,who have been counted icorthij to suffershame for his name. He doeth all thingswell, but frequently " his ways are not ourways, nor his thoughts our thoughts.They are as far above ours, as Heaven is144 THE BIBI.E AGAIAST AVAR.above the earth. How Avondcrful thehistory of Joseph! IIoav mysterious toJacob, at the time, Avere God's dealingsAvith him. But Joseph, in consoling hisconscience-stricken brethren after theirfather's death, says, "as for you, yethought evil against me. God meant itfo7- good." So God ever has his oAvnplans for good, and frequently, as in thecase of Joseph, uses rulers, wicked rulers,to accomplish his purposes. rVnd thepoAvers Biat be are so controlled of God,and He is so accomplishing his purposesby them thatrowpR^^ T'ikuefore resi.steth theOP GOB. THE ARUANGE.A1E.AT" Tlmj who resist, by themselves shalreceive the punishment." That is thepunisliment is self-inflicted by the 'vervact of opposition, and this is the exactmeaning of the original, and the flicts ofuniversal history, attest the truth of it.THE lUEEE AGAINST WAR. 145As an illustration in jjoint, see the history of the Jewish captivity, found in Jer.xxiv,—xxxi i .t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y a v a r a n i l l u s t r at i o n I N I ' O I N T .Our own revolutionary struggle affordsanother striking illustration ot the truththat they who resist, shall receive tothemselves damnation.Our fathers left the mother country toescape religious tyranny, hut had haid ybreathed the air of freedom, before theyin turn began to lay the same oppressiveyokes on the necks of .the Baptists andQuakers. They also persecuted to thedeath many innocent ones accused ofwitchcraft.- They invaded the rights ofthe red man of the forest, and when incensed, instead of winning him by thegospel, as did William Penn, drove himto a returnless distance by cruelty andrevenge; and so in various ways provokedthe God of heaven to say, " Shall I not146 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR.visit for these things, and sliall not mysoul be avenged on such a nation as this?"—{Jer. V. 9—29; ix. 9.)When God, as a punishment for oursins, began to give us a moiety of thedregs of oppression, had we repented, andby fasting, supplication and prayer, soughtthe Lord, the curse might evidently havebeen averted—and then—having putaway our trangressions—in "returningand rest," we might have been " saved."Had every soul been sihjcct to the thenexisting powers, and " by meekness instructed those who opposed" us, our fathers and brothers who were in the Britishso 'ery, could never have engaged in thefratricidal butchery as they did. But weno on y violated this plain injunction ofeaven, ut even provoked hostilities byrevenge for minor wrongs ; dared themto fire, and then resisted unto blood,striving against military power-they resisted, and received the consequent damnation. The withering curse of war wasT H E B i n E E A G A I N S T WA K . 1 4 7permitted to sweep over the land, desolating the whole country, and poisoningthe whole atmosphere. Sayin g nothingof the liuman gore that moistened oursoil—nothing of the millions of propertydestroyed and money expended—nothingof the thousands upon thousands of valuable lives sacrificed to Moloch whathavoc of virtue was made—what a floodgate of vice was opened ! Says GeneralWashington,"Our conflict is not likely to cease so soon asevery cood man could wish. The measure of ouriniuuitfjis net yd ful; for speculation, PecuMmn.engrossing, forestalling, with all t leir r,-.ant, afibrd too many proofs ofuirtue, and too glaring instances ofinterest and desire of too many who ^ vo" fthought friends, to continue the war. bucn aspirit of avarice and yectdahou, sajsoneown historians, " had crept into the P"^ '® J®-partments, and taken a deep hold of the '"".'ori yof the people, as Americans a few years beforewere thought incapable of." Tins Was the effectof the war. " There sprang up during the war,says another, "a race of men ^ '^'jo soug imake private advantage out of the public dis r •This public pest spread wider every day,_ ana unally gangrened the very heart of the stale.148 THE niBLE AGAIXST WAR." Tho Christians of tliat day took a still moroserious view of the case. A I'rcsbytery in NewEngland, all friends of the war itscf, published avolume to illustrate and arrest it.s nialio-n influences upon the moral character of the conmiunitv.They specify the vices and .sins that had becomeinost preva ent. " The profanest langua'rc," saythey, " IS become the fashionable dialect. Theyouth, that was bred in innocence, and was neverheard to defile his tongue with one profane oathm his life, no sooner gets on hoard a privateer,or lias spent a few days in a camp, than we findfilm learned in all the language of hell." Corruption, fraud and cruelty grew apace.Benevolence to our fellow-men,' say they, ' wasperhaps never less cultivated in any country, thantho "f■ ^I'l'^'l-'iearted indiflbrenco todistress of the poor, tho widow and the or-Se hnr"^ ''-I "Pc' tl>rone. Therestrained''^'" ° never had so un-w o K r a l l 1 7 o u ts l a n t t ' m m i n c o n -ed our aiLils with ti e? "nf'dse honor have disgrac-a n d f r i e n d s h a v e . 1 o f d u e l l i n g ,of friends, while'Jhf.has given sanction to the cr"ime"'°Ain the streets, or lurles t t.stained the public foads wit •Avarice and extortion ,71'"'"'" ""'T "'-to such lengths. Fraud «, , oo-.''''md hereall before them; while drL"', sweeptown and country. Glarinrr ^11 bothlion, and breach of public 7and uncensured,- and private rot^iyTtlS fundburglaries abound more and more.'I fT I I E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R . 149"Intemperance, also, is hccoine sadhj commonamoiiij us men; and tliis monster, not contcntwith human sacrifices among men, and with making shipwreck of many professors of religiontoo, has begun to ravage and destroy even thegentler sex!' It is well known that the war olour revolution was the starting point, the greatfountain of our national intemperance."Licentiousness, liowever, was perhaps thefoulest ollsiiot of the war. "It is well knownthat tills period never liad itsca for the prevalence ot all tlie on.cs o/sc :Uncleanness is awfullyfornications are so Irequent and so ^ ,siircd, that it has almost ° ^ ^^ ardedas a crime; adulteries arc e.xcusedname of galantries ; books ""erly unfit for ti emodest eye, are published avowedly o >to teach intrigue as a science; and 'tapo^ o^nous letters of a British ""Pieman are eag^bought up, read, and commended , ' i; ' ptof politeness and true taste, thoug i . ,tendency is to patronize lewdness, an L.world forget that chastity is a virtue. —IcaceManual, pp. 174—17G.At the time of the revolutionary warthere were hut few slaves, and slaverywas fast withering away under the scoich-ing light of advancing truth, as proclaimeby a little faithful band of Reformers,with Benjamin Franklin at their head.150 TUB BIBLE AGAINST WAR.It would soon liave died had it not beenwatered by the blood of freemen jiouredforth upon the roots of the great upastree of war, of which slavery is only abranch. The spirit of war and slavery isone. Ihe spirit of despotism, and this itis that has been eating out the vitality ofour republican government, till now thedeclared fact that all men are createdequal, and endowed with certain inalienable rights, in defense of which ourfathers pledged their lives and sacredhonor, is pronounced a " rhetorical flourish," and one-sixth of the inhabitants ofthe land reduced to the most abject bondage that ever cursed the earth—free bornsons of God sold in the shambles like oxen,and the capital of our republic noted fornothing more than for its slave prisonsand slave auctions. True, in the Hall ofCongress is heard from a Giddings of aHale, the echo oi Liberty ! but " Going!Going!!" in a sepulchral tone, is at thesumo time hemd fiom th© uuGtioiiecrj usthe bible against WAK. 151he raises his hammer over the head of hisfellow man, and tears him from his wifeand children and home forever ! !Aye, and the angel of Providence wouldhave us listen to this her warning voice.It is indeed " Liberty going," rapidly going, and already so far gone that now noone can he a successful candidate for thePresidency who has not been trained inthe despotic school of war—while at thesame time a martyr to humanity is incai-cerated in the cold cell of the prison at ourcapital for attempting to place the cup ofliberty to the lips of the famished: andsuch is the public disregard to law, to order, to honor, to the rights ot man, to justice, liberty, or even life itselt, that if acitizen of the United States would passfrom one state to another to visit his le-lations and friends, his aged parents even,to collect his debts, or more especially to" preach the gospel to the poor," he mustleave his manhood and his consciencebehind him, or be lashed to the whipping1 5 2 T H E b i b l e a g a i n s t w a r .post, imprisoned, stationed in the pilloryand then pelted with addle eggs andbranded with the red hot iron, or s/ioLYea more, the ambassador of a sovereign state is obliged to flee for his life,when the legislature of the state towhich he is sent, understand his missionis justice and humanity. Surely there isburning eloquence and truth in the . remark of J. C. Calhoun, "If by war we become great we cannot be free." Oh thatour eyes as a nation might be opened toour real condition and its cause. Thislawless spirit of despotism and disregardto right was born in our revolutionarywar, and has been nursed in our militarycode ever since, and by the report of theSeczetary of our navy, it appears thatJanuary, to the last day of December^ " tLIo n t h e l o w e s t e s t i m a t e , w e l n u „ J .three hundred lashes of the catstripes !) for every day m the year, on the backso f A m e r i c a n s e a m e n ! "THE BIBLE AGAINST WAK. 153This blood-sucker, 1 repeat, is the childof despotism, born in our revolutionarywar. It began to suck the veins of ourrepublic as soon as it came into existence,and has been fattening on her liie-bloodever since. Yes, this is what occasionsher pallid and ghastly countenance ^ aslately seen in secret conclave, concoctingplans for self-dissolution, and afterwards inthe drunken revels andbachannahan lightsin which our last session of Congressclosed. Indeed, such is the influence ofdespotic power, that at the close of ourrevolutionary struggle, (havingbeen, evenfor so short a time under its sway,) rightin the face of the declaration that mancan govern himself, the crown is ofleredto the commander in chief of our army!And had not that Commander-in-chiefbeen George Washington our now boast-edform of a Republic would never havehad even a. for?n.Oh how can we close our eyes to thefact that we are receiving the damnation154 THE BIBLE AOAIN'ST WAR.consequent upon our "resisting the arrangement of God," for not obeyingthe holy mandate, « Let every soul besubject to the higher powers." How dif-ferent might have been our condition hadwe humbled ourselves before God, andthen, in the manner appointed of heaven,sought the redress of our grievances;putting our trust in the Lord and takingfor our mottos, " Truth is mighty andwdl prevail," " Agitate ! agitate !" " Thereis no revolution but what is bought toodear if it cost one drop of human blood,"" The Lord of hosts is with us, the Godoi Jacob is our refuge."Then might we have had a governmentw t e e I , a v 3 b e o nPeace, and whose '< exactors," " Right-" " " ' f ® " ' t b c b i t t e rfmus of our resisting h„-e beetr seen inthe form of lieeutiousness-intemperanco-sabbath.brc=ifc,ng_p,ofanity - despotismand lawlessness. " They that resist sitallreceive to themselves damnation." OhTHE BinLE AGAINST WAK. 155when sha.ll we learn that God is true tohis word. " He is not a man that heshould lie, nor the son of man that heshould repentand He hath said, " Thefruit of Righteousness is sown in Peace,by those who practice Peace"—{Jas. vi,17, IS.) " Be not deceived, God is notmocked; for whatsoever a man soweth,that shall he also reap."—(Ga/. vi. 7.)" Do men gather grapes of thorns ? orfigs of thistles? Even so every goodtree bringeth forth goof? fruit, and everycorrupt tree bringeth forth corrupt fruit.A good tree can not bring forth evil fiuit,neither can a corrupt tree bring forth goodfruit." Oh, how strange then, that fromage to age, this great, ugly, pestiferous,cragged war tree has been reared andcultured with so much expense and care(watered with the tears of widows andorphans, mingled with the heart's bloodof husbands, and fathers, and sons,) as ifexpecting righteousness wmuld grow upon it 1 Vain expectation ! ! Even Re-1 5 6 T I f E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .publicanism, when engrafted into it,brings forth only " vile Jigs—so vile thatthey can not be eaten. Let it be hewndown and cast into the fire."RULERS NOT A TERROR TO GOOD WORKS.But another reason why Christiansshould be subject to all higher powers is,that they are not " a terror to goodworks." By many this is considered assynonymous with saying that rulers donot persecute the good. But is it so?What then mean the many and oft repeated warnings of our Savior that Christians should be brought before rulers andmany of them put to death ? That asthey had done to the green tree so wouldthey do to the dry? that the servantshould be content to be treated as wel ashis Lord ? If so, how shall we accountfor the fact that the great multitudes ofChristians have been persecuted by thecivil power, and many of them actuallyput to death. That the apostles, withTHE BlIiEE AGAINST WAR. 15'perhaps a single exception, died by thehand of violence ? and from the daysof Nero to this day, it has generallybeen true that " he that departeth fromevil' maketh himself a prey?" If so,what cruel mockery was this language tothe Christians, to whom Paul was writing—who were cut in pieces, and throwninto Nero's fish ponds, and in every waytortured for the amusement of that ungodly debauchee ? What other construction, if this be the meaning, could theyput upon the passage than that the blameof their persecutions was on their ownhead ? Did Paul intend to convey thisidea?The passage declares no such thing.It simply states an universal truth,namely, that rulers, good or had, onearth or in hell, are not feared by thesoul who " dwells in God and God inhim." To all such our blessed Saviorsays, " Fear not, little flock, it is yourFather's good pleasure to give you thea1 5 8 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A B .kingdom."—Luke xii. 32. Be not afraidof them that kill the body, and after thathave no more that they can do. But Iwill forewarn you whom ye shall fear.Fear Him who after He has killed thebody, hath power to cast into hell; yea,I say unto you, fear Him. Are not fivesparrows sold for two farthings, and notone of them is forgotten before God.But even the very haim of your head areall numbered. Fear not, therefore, yeare of more value than many sparrows."—Luke xii. 4—7.I ^wil never leave thee nor forsakethee." So that we may boldly say. TheLord is my helper: I will not fear whatman shall do unto me.—iiei. xiii. 5, 6.x x r u s a l v a t i o n .Whom shalll fear? Jehovah is the de^fense of my life! of ^ vhom shall I beufra.d? When the wicked, mine ene-mies and my foes come upon me, to eatup my flesh, they stumbled and fell.Though a host should encamp againstT H E n i l l E E A G A I N S T W A I t .me, my heart shall not fear, though warshould rise against me here will I trust,* * for in the time of trouble he shallhide me in his pavilion : in the secret ofhis tabernacle shall he hide me: he willlift me high upon a rock. Ps. xxvii. 1-3,5. God is our refuge and strength, avery present help in trouble: thereforewill not we fear, though the earth be re-moved and though the mountains be carried into the heart of the seas ^ the Lordof hosts is with us, the God of Jacob isour refuge?—Ps. xlvi. 1, 2, 7. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up; forthey be many that fight against me. Othou Most High, "what time I am afraid,I will trust in Thee. In God I will praisehis word; in God I have put my trust. I"will not fear what flesh can do unto me.* * When I cry unto thee, then shallmine enemies turn back: this I know: forGod is for me: * * In God have I put mytrust, I will not be afraid what man cando unto me.—Ps. Ivi. 2-4 9', H- The1 6 0 T H E B I B E G A G A I N S T W A R .Lord is on my side : I will not fear wiiatm a n c a n d o u n t o m e ? I t i s b e t t e r t otrust in the Lord than to put confidencein Princes. * * Tiie Lord is my strengthand song and is, become my salvation.—•Ps. cxviii. 0, S, 9,14. Sec also, 1 PL iii.10-IS, and Isa. li. 7-lG.Such is the heart's ebullition of all wholove and obey God. To this, the experience of the righteous gives an universalamen. Was Illisha afraid when encompassed with a great host of horses andchaiiots sent to take him prisoner ? " Fearnot," he undaimted replies, " for they thatbe with us are more than they that bew i t h t h e m . "Was Nebuchadnezzar a terror to Daniel toShadra ch, Meshach,and Abednego?Were the " Rulers," a " terror" to Peter and John ? to Paul and Silas ? to theapostles generaly? True they persecuted them to tl le death. But were they a terror to them '? Was Martin Luther terri-lied by the I lulers ? He says:THE miJEE .*>GA1NST WAR. 161"I find tliat CluirlcB Inas issued an edict in «-.Tri-fy me; but Christ lives, and we sliall enter Wormsin spite of all the councils of hell, and all thepowers of tlic air." When told that he would he'' hurncd alive and his body reduced to ashes, aswas the case with J(din Huss"—nninoved he replied, " thoiio-h thev should kindle a fire whoseflames should reach from Worms to Wittemherg,and rise up to heaven, I would go through it in thename of the Lord, and stand before them. I wouldenter the jaws of the behemoth, break liis toetli,and confess the Lord Jesus Christ!When asked hy an officer, " Are youthe man who has taken in hand to reformthe itapacy. How can you expect tosucceed ?" Luther responds ;" Yes I am the man. I place my dependenceupon that Almighty God whose word and commandment is before me."When Ills beloved Spalatin sent a message to iiim to " (thslain Jrom enteringWorms," Lutiicr, still un.shaken, turnedhis eyes on the messenger and answered:" Go tell vour master that though there shouldbe as many devils at Worms as there are tiles onits roofs, 1 would enter it."Surely '• rulers are not a terror to goodworks," Lutiicr was summoned to meet1 6 2 T H E B I D L E A G A I N S T WA K .the higher powers at Worms, and he" subject to" those powers, yielded to thesummons. See D'Aubigne's history of theReformation, book vii. pp. 214-21S, vol 2.Do you ask the secret of this boldness,It is found in the conscious presence ofGod. The consciousness that the powers that be are so controlled of God thathe will cause the wrath of man to praiseHim, and the remainder of wrath He"Will restrain, that He maketh all thingswork together for good to them that loveGod. It is this that leads the soul exult-ingly to say:Ood near me !—and near me ever !On the land and on the sea;Thus the word that erreth never,■I hus niy life assureth me.Ask ye therefore,'Who is nigh theel'God 13 present—God is by me !Death's dark valey, depths of ocean.Prison wals, hide not from God;He observes my every motion.While at home and while abroad;THE B IBLE AGAINST WAK.Let me sit, recline, or stand,Everywliere is God at hand.God for vie .'—my consolation,All my soul's desire, is God ;Faint I'll not in tribulation.Under crosses and the rod;Ask ye, ' What consoleth thee ?'Listen—God uplioldeth me.Want, and pain and death I'll conquer.If my God be only near;Satan's snares I'll burst asunder.Triumph over every fear.'Thou, do these things V question ye !Nay, nay ; hut, ray God with me."T h e n"Why that look of sadness IWhy that downcast eye ICan no thought of gladnessLift thy soul on high IOh thoii heir of heaven.Think of Jesus' love.While to thee is givenAll his grace to prove.» * ♦ *1G4 THE BIBLE AGAINST AVAB-Is thy spirit (Iroopiiinr ?Is the tempter near IStill in Jesus hoping-,What hast thou to fear 1"But this absence of fear is peculiar togood rrorlcs, by wiiich I mean the worksof faith. (" This is the work of God, thatye believe on Him whom He bath sent.")John vi. 2D.) Those wdio have no faith inGod, have cause to fear. A goading conscience gives fear—lience the wicked Ileawhen no man pursueth, but the righteousare bold as a lion."—Proi,. xxviii. 1. Theworkers of iniquity are in great fear whereno fear is."—7^ .9. y. 3 ; iv. 5. Tiiey lleewhen none pursuetli, and the sound of ashaken leaf shal chase them ; and theys la 1 flee as fleting from a sword; andthey .shal fal when none pursueth.-Ze..XMvi. 17,3G.op'SSoVlh I*' II" !»"■w i j o e v e r l o o k s u p o n i t i - ? c t v . i j i t . . tM « .11 1 11^ , struck dead, it is thuswe s l iou la ho ld up the Snn cc I - 1 « o i ^ o d a j j a i n a t t h es / i a r e s o f t h e d e v i l . " ^T H E B I D L E A G A I N S T W A R . 165" W I L T T H O U T H E N N O T R E A F R A I D O F T H EPOWER ?"Trust in tlic Lord, and do good, andHe will make even thine enemies to be atpeace with thee. " Do that which isgood, and thou shalt have praise of thes a m e . "It is said "p>-aise" here means "jJro-tection." Yes, but saying so does notmake it so in these days of investigationand inquiry. The age now demands thewhy and the wherefore. " If the passagemeans," as Barnessays, "youshall be unmolested and uninjured," the proof ofcourse will be forthcoming. There aremultitudes who have complied with thecondition—have "(Zu/ic good," and so arecompetent witnesses in the case. Let ushear their testimony as to the protectionthey have received from the civil power.And first, we summons the church atRome, to whom Paul was writing. Callforth the Christians accused by Nero ofwrapping the city in flames, when " heIGG T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A K .himself had applied the torch. Lot thefishponds bear testimony. Go to the amphitheatre, and call forth the persecutedones who were made to fifdit with wildbeasts for the sport of their " rulers."And oh, their ghastly, bleeding wounds 1Charge cruelty upon Paul for calling thisprotection. Aye, and what must Paulhimself have thought of the protection ofthe sword as he felt its keen edge severinghis head from the body ? Let us callfrom " under the altar the souls of thcinthat were slain for the word of God andfor the testimony which they held."—iie a.,vi. 9. " They had li-ial of cruel mockingsand seourgings, yea, moreover of bondsand imprisonments. They were stoned,t ley weie sawn asunder, they were triedthey xoereput to death by the slaughter ofthe sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, (of whom the worldwas not worthy.) They wandered indeserts and mountains and dens and cavesTHE BlULE AGAINST WAR. 10/of llie earth."—I/e//. xi. 37. Sail protection ! If tliis is being " unmolestedand uninjured," wiicn, in the name of humanity, could tiiey he said to be iiiokaledand injured? But this testimony comports with the intimation of onr Saviorwhen lie said " Behold I send you forthas sheep in the midst of wolves." The undivided testimony of the prophets, theapostles, the early Christians, of REiminr-ERS ofcdl a^ rcs, uudcr any and every formof human ca>t7(?) government,is that thosewho " do good," receive the same protection from the sword, that sheep usuallyreceiveJ'rom wolves. And we can but pitythe lloclis that are advised—while wecensure the shepherds who advise themto leave the " fold " of the " good shet-HERT)," and go forth to devouring wolvesfor protection!" But if praise here does not mean pro-tection, what does it mean?" It meansPRAISE. Such as .Jesus Christ receivedfrom his executioner, the centurion, wheg.16S THE BIDLE AGAINST WAR.he said, " Cerlainhj this was a righteousnan /" Such as Jesus Clirist receivedfrom Pilate when He said, " Ye havebrought this man unto me as one that per-verteth the people; and behold I havingexamined before you, have found no faultin this man touching those things whereofye accuse Him, A^o, nor yet Herod ; forI sent you to Him, and lo! nothingworthy of death has been done by Him.I will ^ /lere/ore CHASTISE and release Him.* And he said unto them the^hird time. Why, what evil hath Heo^ ? I pgyg found no cause of deathm im, will therefore chasti Him andlet Him go." * *;:.ave sentence that it should be as theydes,red."-i,;te xxiii. 14-24. Praise,but not piotection, is here given by theruler. So it was with Peter and John:Acts IV. 21 So also with Paul and Silas-rue, au at one time received protection from the mob ixsaRonian citizen, yethe was put to death as « Christian, byTHE BIBLE AGAINST WAK. 169the very power of which he Is now speaking. His citizensiiip saved him from thecross, but consigned him to the sword.Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego received praise from the rulersby whom they were oppressed ; but theirprotection came from Him who is " higherthan the highest." See Gen. xxxix.4, 21,22; and xli. 38-44; Dan. iii. 15—30;vi. 10 28. So said the officer who iiadbeen confronted by Martin Luther, "Dearfriend, there is much in what you say;I am a servant of Charles, but your mas-ter is greater than mine. He wdl helpand protect you." Thompson, Work andBurr, in the Missouri state prison, bydoing good, received praise from theirrulei°s! The Mayor of Nashville, in acquainting the mob with the decision ofthe committee of vigilance against me,prefaced his sentence of condemnation bysaying, " Mr. Dresser appears to be a fineyoung man : he has evidently designed noevil," &c. And the secretary afterwards in170 THE imJEE AGAINST AVAR.defending the action of tlic committee,said, " Dresser had broken no law;" andthen went on to show tliat it was neces-sary/o?- \.\\q jmhlic good to resort to lynchlaw. And though there was no form oflaw in my trial; yet I was tried by the"rulers" of the city. Members of thecommittee who passed sentence upon me,with whom I had sat at the communiontable three weeks before, said they believed me to be a Christian, &c.' Yettheir praise did not jirotect my naked backfrom the cow-skin."^Ve are then to be subject to the higherpoweib, because by "doing good," Aveave not only God's favor, and a conscious rectitude of heart that excludes allbut we have even the rulers' con-czrace on out side; and the consciousnessof tins IS sufficient to lift us far above theirpower to destroy our peace. Yoa.-more;this same persecuting power, as in thecase of Stephen, develops the heavenlyexcellence of the Christian graces, andTHE UIKLE AGAINST WAK. 171thus often extorts praise from the persecutors. I fence it is said that several ofNero's soldiers, who at his command he-headed Paul, were converted to Ciiristi-anity by the patient spirit with which heendured iiis sullerings, and were themselves afterwards put to death as martyrs.This is the praise that is received for doingcood ." FOR HE IS THE MINISTER OF GOD TOTIIF.E FOR GOOD."Again, Taul urges submission to thehigher powers, from the consideration thatthey arc simply God's ministers lor goodto those who do good. It is said, " Thiscertainly means protection." Let ussearch and see. Barnes says ;"The ruler is a servant of God, _ * * toprotect you in your rights: to vindicate yourname, person or properly ; and to guard your hb-eriy and to secure to you the rights ot your industry."And yet almost in the next paragraphhe says :1 7 2 T H E n i B E E A G A I N S T W A R ."That the doctrine respecting the rights ofcivi l rulers, and the l ine which is to be drawnbetween their powers and the rights of conscience, have been slow to be understood. The"ftugglc lias been long ; and a thousand persecutions have siiown the anxiety of the magistrate torule tlie conscience, and to control religion. Inpagan countries it has been conceded that theruler had a right to control the religion of a people ; church and state there have been one. Theflame thing was attempted under Christianity.Ihe magistrate still claimed this right and attempted to enforce it. Christianity resisted theclai^ m, and asserted the independent and originalrights of conscience. A conflict ensued, ofcourse, and the magistrate resorted to persecutions, io subdue by force the claims of the new religion and the rights of conscience. Hence the tenc h n r p e r s e c u t i o n s o f t h e p r i m i t i v eHire ,v 't lilood of the early Christians flowedto ' '•I'O'^so.nds and tens of thousands wentrioked eithp^ '"f V^ ^^ i^ w^tion, they uere never pro-i n d f f n S f t o " f i ® " , o rremote and seo.rp t themselves into somepage ^ |°1"®«tered comer of the globe."-TJis testimony is doubly valuable, as itcomes rom one who utterly discardedtheir course.I know It is affirmed by the advocateso 16 swor , that Christians refused totake part m the army or government, be-T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R . 1 8 9cause of t l io idolatrous r i tes connectedtherewith. This, no doubt, was one goodreason. But ihv. reason Gibbon assigns,is, that they could not reconcile the iiscofthe swoi-d icith Christianity. True, thesword and lieatiienism have always gonehand in hand together, and to the earlyChristian war was as truly an object ofabhorrence as idolatry. It is as trulybarbarous and devilish.R E I G N O F C O N S TA N T I N E .Individual cases may be adduced whereprofessed Christians were found in thearmy. But it was not tolerated by thechurch in her pristine purity, nor till thehypocritical Coustantine amalgamatedchurch and state. The church then received a protection (l) that wellnigh workedher ruin. It was this protection that effaced every distinctive feature of the gospel, and made it nothing worth, becauseit differed nothing from the world. Under his reign multitudes flocked to the ar-190 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR.my, and to the various ofTices of state;and here were sown all the vile featuresof Romanism and Papacy, that have tothis day cursed the earth with bigotry-lust of power, and persecution.R E I G N O F J U L I A N .Wiiat would have been the result hadthis amalgamation of the church and thesword continued, none can tell. But Julian, Constantine's successor, had no sympathy with it. Under him,"The greater part of the Cliristlan oiBcerBwere gradually removed from their employments'he state, the army, and the provinces; andthe hopes of future candidates were extinguishedhy the declared partiality of a prince who m-icu l^y reminded them that it was ' unlawful fora.yhrisltan to use the sword either of justice orof war."—/6., page 307.It is good to be taught even by ane n e m y.CHRISTIANS NEVER HAVE RECEIVED PRO*TECTION FROM TIIE SWORD.Hence, I remark again, that if humangovernments were designed to protectTHE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 191Christians by the sword, the plan hasproved a failure. At least this was trueof all the governments of Paul's day.The only protection they have received,is, (as Gibbon says, page 157,) " Theyderived new vigor from opgositioni'The " persecutions only served to revivethe zeal, and to restore the discipline,of the faithful, "—page 194. In thissense Rulers have been tiie ministers ofGod for good to his faithful ones, and inthis sense there has been protectionenough, most certainly. Says Gibbon,page 181:» Wc should naturally suppnso _ * *magistrates, instead of persecuting, would haveprotected an order of men who yiddcd the most passive obedience to the laws, though they declined theactive cares of war and yovirnmcnt.After speaking of the " universal toleration of polytheism," he then attemptsto account for their eflbrts " to opposethe progress of Christianity," and admitst h a t192 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR." About eighty years after tlio doatli of Christ,hts innocent disciples were punished with death, bythe sentence of a proconsul of the most amiableand philosophical character, and accohding TOTHE LAWS of an emperor distinguished hy tliewisdotn and .iustice of his general administration.7 i c h o o b e y e d t h e d i c t a t eand 'sohcAted the liberty of conscience^ were alone,among al the subjects of the Roman Empire, excluded from the common benefUs of their auspiciousg o v e r n m e n t . " 'embracing the faith of the gospel, "theUiristians incurred the supposed guilt of an unnatural and unpardonable offence. [And even tole present day, by many, non-resistance is con-Rbmn- f ' 'o'oous crime than blood-lioi, ^ ^ that the oppressed be-asserted the inalienable rights of con-ai iT j 'n igtnent. * * * Mal iceChri«?inn" concurred in representing thethe ?nov//7 ®°c'ety of atheists [!] who by"/ the emnLT^ attack on the religious constitutionversion of tli' ' ["crited the severest aniniad-.. -n T. '"agistrato."—;,. 183.punishZnts"To subd^ 1^^ "°"^ '''"•vhich boldly acknowlaZe I ""lepe"'lent spirit,were^imbitSdwere nailed on crLcs" othe rskins of wild beasts, and 0X0^=017".."^ 7 fdogs: others again smeared nuo ? , .""yble materials wSre uset^ as torebp u" " " f ' I ' " " i e wTHE BIUI -E AGAINST WAR. 193were destined for the melancholy spectacle,which was accompanied with a horse-race, andhonored with the presence of the emperor, whomingled with the populace in the dress and attitude o f a char io teer. "—Tac i tus Anna l . XV. 44 ,quoted by Gibbon, p. 180."The impatient clamors of the multitude denounced tlie Christians as the enemies of godsand men, doomed them to the severest tortures,and venturing to accuse by name some of themost distinguished, required with irresistible vehemence tliat they should be instantly apprehended and cast to the lions."—p. 189.Such admissions historians are obligedto make notwithstanding their apologiesfor the persecutors, and their efforts toshow that the persecutions are only " inconsiderable !" Strange protection this !Strange defense of our sacred rights ! Isthis the method by which God designs toprotect those who do good? Had it notbeen for the "testimony" they were calledto give in behalf of the llesh-subduing,soul-elevating principles of the gospel,God would doubtless have sent his angeland delivered them. But i t was necessaryfor them to sea/ their testimony with theirblood. And they did it joyfully'.1 9 4 T H E B I B E E A G A I N S T W A R .B u t i t i s s a i d t h a t s u c h i n s t a n c e s a r ea perversion of the design of human gove r n m e n t . " A m e n ! S o i s t h e u s e o f t h esword in all cases except where there is adirect command from Jehovah for usingit. Admit if you choose, that evils willresult without its use. They are as adrop to the ocean compared with using ita t m a n ' s d i s c r e t i o n .Still all this is said to be irrelevant, because the passages quoted only prove thatwe should not exercise revenge. SaysP R E S . M A I I A N ," Revenge is evil intentionally inflicted a/fcr®"PPosed, has been received, oric ed, not at all as a moans of self-protection,7 / „ a n d s e n t i m e n t s o f h a t e a n dxU-will which the reme brance of the injury excites.Revenge, according to this sense of the term, is,III a 1 circumstances, actual or conceivable,morally wrong and wholly so"All scripture prohibitions pertaining to revenge, such as ' avenge not yourselves,' ' resistnot evil, be not overcome of evil,' &c., have noreference whatever to self-defense. They reforto an entirely distinct and opposite thing, and arowholly misapplied when adduced against the principle of self-defense. It is also very singularT H E B i n i i E A G A I N S T W A R .that they should ever be so applied, when tlieyare presented by Christ and liis apostles, inalmost every instance, as literal quotations tromthe Old Testament, in which the right of sclf-dejenseis expressly sanctioned.—Moral Philosophy, p. 410.Indeed ! W hen and where in the OldTestament is " the right of self-defense expressly sanctioned?" Will Pres. Mahancite one passage which throws the responsibility of self-defense upon God'speople. Self-defense, by violence, is asfuly forbidden in the Old Testament as inthe new. In every case where the workof destruction was committed to theJews, it was because God's honor was atstake, and hence the wars, if such theymay be called, were usually aggressive,and never in self-defense only, as theirpreservation was connected with God'sreputation. And as previously shown, itwas for the want of faith in God, andfrom their own choice that even thisbloody work was assigned them. Nay,verily, so far from there being any command or permission simply to defend19G THE BIDLE AGAINST WAR.ourselves, from Genesis to RevelationGod is every where revealed as ourRefuge, our Defense, our Salvation, ourStrong Tower, our Avenger, &c., &c.But "avenge not yourselves," meansthat we should not "gratify feelings andsentiments of hate and ill-will." Is thattheir meaning? Dearly beloved, do notgratify feelings and sentiments of hateand il wil, because God says it belongsto Ilim to exercise such feelings. [Do notexercise malice and hate. / idll do that!saith the Lord!! Such interpretationsas I ls have led individuals to say, "YourGod IS my devil."avenge, is "ekdi-ZTL r -hich accord.-er;::i:hnc:r''nT'r;-means "justice." The word tonlfrdvengeance is from the the, 1 . ' • a e s a m e r o o t , a n das the connect,o„ „o„ysame ,mport As if l.,„,Dearly beloved, seek not redress for inj,.-THE B IBLE AGAINST WAR. 197nes, forGod says I will see that justiceis done. I will vindicate your cause-Hence says Albert Barnes, in commentingon "Vengeance is mine, I will repay,""This e.xpression implies that it is imprnperfor men to interfere with that which properlybelongs to God. * * Its design is to assureus that those who deserve to be punished shall boand that therefore tlie business of avengingmay be safely left in the hands of God. Thoughtee should not do it, yet if it ought to be done—itwill be done. This assurance will sustain us,not in the desire that our enemy should be punished, but in the belief that God will take the matter into his men hands, He can administerthe matter belter than we can, and that if our enemyought to be punished he will be. We therefore shouldleave it all with God. Tliat God will vindicate hispeople is clearly and abundantly proved in 2Thess. i. 6—10; Ren. 6. 9—11; Dent. xx.xii.4 0 _ _ 4 3 . "PASSAGES EXPLAINED BY THE CONTEXT.Now the plain and evident meaning ofsuch passages is, that we should notbe careful about protecting our " sacredrights," as God will see to them if weseek first the kingdom of God and his1 9 8 T H E n i B L E A G A I N S T W A K .righteousness. This is evident from thecontext of each passage." Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath,for it is written. Avenging is mine, I willrepay, saith the Lord, therefore, &c."Here the question is not at all whetherthe person deserves punishment, orwhether the public good demands that heshould receive it, but we are not permitted to avenge, as that is God's especialbusiness, "^ /te?'e/ore," we are to seek thegood, the well-being, not of ourselves, butof our enemy, God has our well-beingin charge, and so to speak has committedour enemy's well-being to us. Our workis to bless-wholly and curse not at all.O blessed calling i" Say not thou, I wil recompense evil,but wait on the Lord, and He shall savethee. 1 rov. xx. 22. The meaning of« recompense'' here is determined by theantithesis, as the correlative of ''save!'The Hebrew word means " to finish"THE B IBLE AGAINST WAK. 199—hence to stop or prevent. Say notthou I will by violence prevent the wrong,but wait on the Lord and He. shall savethee.Again those who love life, &c., are directed to seek peace as a means of preserving it, because " the eyes of theLord are over the righteous, and his earsare open to their cry. They are expected to find salvation from the Lord.And " who is he that will harm you,if," &c. If there is safety at all, it is inacting on the peace principle. "Yieldingpacifieth great oflences." "A soft answerturneth away wrath," &c. But if wesuffer this only increases our blessedness.We shall be protected and saved it it isbest. If the greater good demands patient suffering, the Christian counts itall joy to have the privilege of thusshowing the power of the sustaininggrace of Christ, and thus recommendingthe gospel as he could in no other way.2 0 0 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T WA E .G O D O U R R E F U G E .These passages, then, forbid somethingmore than the exercise of "feelings andsentiments of hate and ill-will." Theyforbid not what is improper to be dpne,but what it is not our province to do.And while they do not refer us to thecivil ruler for protection, and the vindication of our " sacred rights," they dorefer us to God for redress, and give thisas the reason why we should not seek itourselves. They refer us to Him who"judgeth righteously" "who will avengehis own elect speedily." And shall notthe judge of all the earth do right?And may we not safely and confidentlyleave our cause in his hands? That Godfrequently uses wicked men and wickedrulers too, to punish the guilty and protect the righteous, is evident, as we shallsoon see. But in no case are we to regard them as his representatives, exceptwhere they bear a commission directf rom God.I THB BIBI iE AGAINST WAR. 201P R O M I S E S T O D E L I V E R F R O M V I O L E N C E E XP L I C I T .To me it is strange that persons canadvocate faith in God " in every possiblecircumstance of life"—hold up JesusChrist as a perfect Savior, made perfectthrough suffering—advocate the consecration of all our "sacred rights," toHim, and then be unwilling to leave theirdefense in his hands. His promises to"deliver the needy when he crieth; thepoor also tiiat hath no helper"—to " re-deem their soul from deceit and violence"—" that we should be saved from ourenemies and from the hand of all that hateus," "and be delivered out of the hand ofour enemies," &c., are as full and explicitas are the promises of salvation from sinand he l l .FAITH THE CONDITION OP THE PROMISES.Each is alike conditioned on faith inGod, and the reasoning that would anni-202 THE BIBIJ3 AGAINST WAR,hilate the one class will .annihilate theother. Hence the saints of all ages luhilein a state of faith, have taken God astheir Refuge and their Hiding-place, iiereand hereafter. Their language lias been" Show thy marvelous loving-kindness, 0thou that savest by thy right hand themwho put their trust in thee, from thosethat rise up against them. Keep them asthe apple of thine eye; hide me under theshadow of thy wings, from the wickedthat oppress me, from my deadly enemieswho compass me about."—Ps. xvii. 7—9." Lord is my Rock and my Fortress,and my Deliverer. The God of my rock,in Hirn will I trust. He is my Shield andUie Horn of my salvation, my HighTower and my Refuge, my Savior. Thousavest me from violence."—2 Sa7n., xxi. 2,3. And this salvation has been indepen-dent of their agency, when they have hadfaith to be "saved by the Lord theirGod," as in the case of Jehoshaphat, Hez-ekiah, &c.THE BinUE AGAINST WAH. 203t h e c a s e o f p e t e h .So when Peter was thrust into prisonby the "civil magistrate," " prayer wasmade without ceasing of the church untoGod for him, and whenllerod would havebrought him forth, the same night Peterwas sleeping between two soldiers, boundwith two chains, and the keepers beforethe door kept the prison. And beholdthe angel of the Lord came to him, and alight sinned in the prison, and he smotePeter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains felfrom his hands.—Acts xii. 5 7. So" Paul ami Silas in tlieir prison,Sang of Christ the Lord arisen ;And an earthquake's arm of might,Broke their dungeon-gates at night."So also Moses in his straits cried untothe Lord, and Israel was delivered. And"In that hour when night is calmest,Sang lie from the Hebrew Psalmist,I n a v o i c e s o s w e e t a n d c l e a r sThat one could but choose to hear,204 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR.Songs of triumph and ascriptions,Such as reached the swart Egyptians,When upon the Red Sea coast,Perished Pharaoh and his host.And the voice of his devotionFills one's soul with strange emotion,For its tones by turns were glad,Sweetly solemn, wildly sad."Christ's instruction as to the defenseOF " SACRED RIGHTS,"The Savior often reminds his disciplesthat their " sacred rights" will be invaded;but instead of directing them, in thesecircumstances, to apply to the militarypower for protection. He tells them thatIt IS by "patiently enduring" that theyshall save their souls, and when He announced the voluntary sacrifice of hislife which he was about to make at Jeru-salem, Peter did not beUeve in the doctrine at al; but « took Him and beganto rebuke him, saying. Be it far from theeLord. This shall not be unto thee. ButHe turned and said unto Peter. Get 'T J I E n i D L E A G A I N S T W A R . 2 0 5thee behind me Satan. Thou art a scandal to me; for tiiou savourest not thethings that be of God, but those that beof men. And when he iiad called thepeople with his disciples also, he said unto them all. Whosoever will come afterme let him deny himself and take up hiscross and follow me, for he who desiresto save his life shall lose it, but whosoevershall lose his life for my sake and thegospel, the same shall save it. For whatis a man profited if he gain the wholexmrld and lose his own soul, or whatshall a man give in exchange for his soul."(See Matt. xvi. 21-26. Mark viii. 31-38.Luke ix. 22-35.)Does this look like teaching self-defense? What is the import of thisquotation, taken with the context, unless it be that a man endangers hissoul by violent self-defense. And whatcould justify the Savior in calling Pet e r " S o l a n " u n l e s s i t b e t h a t i n h i slove for self-defense he had shown him-12 0 6 T H E B I B I - E A G A I N S T W A H .self a stranger to the heaven-given doctrine of self-sacrifice.P e t e r ' s r e b o k e f o r e s i n g t h e s w o r d .So when Peter was rebuked for usingthe sword in defense of his master, hewas not to ld t i iat that case was an exception to the genera! rule, that he couldunder ordinary circumstances use thesword, nor that he should in such casesseek help from the magistrate. No.But "Put up thy sword into its place,for all who take the sword, by the swordshall perish. Thinkest thou that I cannot immediately pray to my Father andhe will instantly give me more thantwelve legionsof angels?" (S ee 2 Kingsvi. 17. Daniel vii. 10.) As if He had |said. If it were best I should be defended,God is not wanting in means. But how .then shall the scripture be fulfilled, thatthus it must be 1"—MaU. xxvi. 51-51.It was hard for Peter to give up thoidea of self-defense. But such were the ^T H E U I B L E A G A I N S T W A R . 2 0 7lessons ho i-cceived from his Savior, thatwhen lie was " converted," lie " strengthened his brethren" on this point. See1 Pet. ii. l!)-25; iii. S-IS; iv. 12-19; v.10, &c.O D D o u n A V E N G E R , & C . A P R O M I N E N T D O CT R I N E O F T H E K I U L E .But God's protection is not broughtforward incidentally in the Bible. Nay,it holds a prominent place on almost ev-ery page in the Old Testament and in theNew. Shall not God avenge his ownelect?" (who cry to Him by day andnight,) and be very indulgent to them?(that, is, will He not bear long with theirwant of faith—their many provocations,&c.) I tell -you He will avenge themquickly. But when the Son of mancomes, shall he findupon the earth?"Shall he find those who look to Him asan Avenger I Shall He find his electcrying day and night unto Him as thoughhelp could come from no other ? Says20S THE BIBLE AGAINST WAI l .Barnes, "This passage supposes thatwhen the elect of God are in trouble andpressed down with calamities, and/)e?-se-cuted, they will cry unto Him; and itaffirms that if they do, He will hear theircries and will answer their requests," andthis accords with Ps. cxlv. lS-20. " TheLord is nigh unto all that call upon Himin truth. He will fulfill the desire of themthat fear Him: He also will hear theircry and will save them. The Lord pre-serveth all that love Him; but the wicked will He destroy."In the 32d Chapter of Deut., God complains of the frowardness and backslidingof his people and because they wouldnot trust in Him he says, " I will hide myface from them. I will see what theirend shall be, for they are a very frowardgeneration, children in whom is no faith.* * I said I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance ofthem to cease from among men, were'itnot that I feared the wrath of the enemy.THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 209lest their adversar ies should behavethemselves strangely, lest they should say,' Our high hand and not the Lord hathdone alHhis.' For they are a nation voidof counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. If they were wisethey would look at this and consider theconsequences of their course. Howshould one chase a thousand and two putten thousand to flight, except their Rockiiad sold tiiein, and the Lord had shutthem up," &c. Rigid m this connection,while speaking of Himself as their pio-tector and defense, he says, "lo me be-lonceth vensreance and recompense.O ^Their feet shall slide in due time, for theday of their calamity is at hand and thethings that shall come upon them makehaste. For the Lord shall Judge his people, and repent Himself for his servants,(bear long with them,) when He seeththat their power is gone, and there isnone shut up or left. And He shall say,where are their gods ? their rock in whom2 1 0 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T V / A R .they trusted? wliicli did cat the fat oftheir sacrifices and drank tlie wine of theirdrink oUbrings. Let them rise up andhelp you and be your prolcclion ! [Theyhad trusted in other sources for help andprotection until tlicy saw their follyand in their extremity they cry untoGod, who, in his long suilering, bearswith their wicked departures forgives their sin and comes to avengethem.] See now that I, I am thy Deliverer, and there is no god with me; Ikill and I make alive. I wound and Iheal; neither is there any that can deliverout of my hand, For 1 lift my hand toheaven and say 1 live forever. If I whetmy glittering sword and my hand takehold on judgment, I wil render vengeanceto mine enemies and will reward themthat hate me. * «= Rejoice Q ye na-tions, his people: for he will avenge theblood of his servants, and will rendervengeance to his adversaries, and will bemerciful unto his land, and to his people."THE BIBLE AGAINST WAB. 211la Isa. xxiv. tlie prophet speaks of thejudgments with wiiich God threatens thenations of the earth who have oppressedhis people, (though lie lias jiermitted them(o be oppressed because of their sins,)and after recounting his wonderful acts,e x c l a i m s :" O Lord, thou art viij God, I will exalt thee. 1 will jiraise Ihy name, for thouhas done wonderful things : Thy councilsof old arc faithfuiness and truth:'For thou" hast been a strength to thepoor, a strength to the needy in his distress. A refuge from tiie storm, a shadowfrom the heat, when tiie blast of the tei-rible ones is as a storm against the wall."Arguing from wliat he has done,lie showswhat lie will do in redeeming his people:and in pointing forward to the time whenby faith thcv will return fully to him hesays, "And it shall be said in that day,Lo ! this is our God. We have waited forHim, and lie will save us: this is theLord : we have waited for Him, we willyr2 THE BIBLE AGAINST WAE,be glad and rejoice in Ids salvation. * »In that day shall this song be sung in theland of Judah : We have a strong city;SALVATION will Gocl appoint for walls andbulwarks. Open ye the gates that therighteous nation which kcepeth the truthmay enter in; (such a nation,) with aheart stayed on God, Thou wilt keep inperleet peace, because there is trust inIhee. Trust ye in the Lord forever;for in the Loku Jehovah is everlastingstrength.Aftei again speaking of the judgmentse inflicts on the opj)ressors, and againacknowledging the justness of the punishment they themselves have received athis hands for their sin, he says, "Lord,J hou wilt ordain peace for us : for Thoua so ast wi ought all our works for us.O Lord our God, lords besides Thee havehad dominion over us, (but in future) byIhee only wdl we make mention of Thyname. ■ ^""ouble have thev visitedJhee, they poured out a praye'r whenTHE UIliLB AGAINST WAR. 2lSThy chastening was upon them." * ** " Come, my people, .enter thou into thychambers, and shut thy doors about thee:hide thyself as it were for a little momentuntil the indignation be overpast. Forbehold the Lord cometh out of his placeto punish the inhabitants of the earth fortheir iniquity: the earth also shall discover her blood and shall no more coverher slain. In that day the Lord withhis sore and great and strong sword,shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent."—(See Ps. Ixxiv. 14; and Ezek.xxix. 3.) And He shall slay the dragonthat is in the sea. In that day sing yeunto her, A vineyard of red wine. I theLord do keep it: 1 will water it every mO'ment: lest any hurt it I will keep it nightand day." See chap. xxv.; xxvi; andxxvii.) See also Isa. Ixiii. 1—3; Jer.xlvi. 10 ; &c. In view of such promisesand such revelations of the character ofGod, well may the Psalmist exclaim,2 1 1 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R ." Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills?whence shall my help come? My helpcomes from the Lord, who made heavenand earth. He will not suller thy foot tobe moved: lie that keepeth thee willnot slumber. Behold, He that keepethIsrael will neither slumber nor sleep.The Loud is thy keeper: the Lord isthy shade upon thy right hand. The sunshall not smite thee by day, nor the moonby night. The Lord shall preserve theeIrom all evil. He shall guard thy life.The Lord shall guard thy going out andthy coming in, from this time forth andforevermore."—Ps. cxxi." He that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto God the Lord belong theissues from death."—Ps. Ixviii. 20. For" The Lord will judge his people, and Hewil repent Himself concerning his servants."—Ps. cxxxv. 14.Vengeance then, belongs to God ex-clusivehj ; for He alone is fully capable ofdetermining guilt and its desert. HenceTHE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 215the wofully blundering work generallymade in attempts to administer 7-e«ri6ii a v i d .David viewed tilings in tlie same light,when he said of Shimei, " Let him curse,because the Lord hath said unto him,curse David. Who shall then say,Wherefore hast thou done so ? * * Behold my son which came out of my bowels seeketh my life, how much more thisBenjamite. Let him alone, and let himcurse,/or the Lord hath hidden him:'—2 Sam. xvi. 10-12."Tnir TRIBUTE ALSO,GOD'S MINISTERS ATTENB-ENGn-NTINUALLV nPON THIS VERYFor the same reason also Paul insistsupon paying tribute, that is, because ofthe evil Of resistence, and from the consciousness that God will overrule all toT H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R . 2 2 9his glory; as rulers are merely his ministers, constantly accomplishing his pur-))Oses. This was a trying and grindingpoint especially with the converted Jews,many of whom were at Rome at thistime. Says Barnes," The Romans made all conquered provincespay this tribute, as an acknowledgment of subjection, and it had become a question whether itwas riglit to acknowledge this claim and submitto it. Especially would this question be agitatedby the Jews and Christians."Chr is t 's example.It was on this point that tiie crafty Jewsintended to entrap the Savior, when theysent spies to llim, who feigned themselves just men, "that they might takehold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the authority and poicer ofthe governor. And when they werecome they asked him, saying. Master, weknow that thou art true, that thou sayestand teachest' rightly, neither aceeptestthou the person of any, and carest for no2 3 0 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A B .man, for thou regardest not tlie person ofmen, but Icachcst ihe way of God in truth.Tell us therefore, what thinkest thou?Is it lawful to give tribute to Cesar or not?Shall we give or shall we not give ? ButJesus perceived their wickedness and said,knowing their hypocrisy. Why tempt yeme, ye hypocrites? Show me the tributemoney; bring me a penny that I maysee it. And they brought unto him apenny. And he sailh unto them. Whoseis this image and superscription? Theysay unto him, Cesar's. Then said he untothem. Render therefore unto Cesar thethings that are Cesar's, and to God thethings that are God's. And tiiey couldnot take hold of his words before thepeople. They marveled at his answer,and held their peace, and left him andwent away." (See Harmony of Matt. xxii.12-22; Mark xii. 13-17; Luke xx. 20-2G.)Had the Savior answered yes, theywould have accused Him of not being aconsistent Jew, and with teaching thingsT H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R . 2 3 1conti'ary to Moses. Had He said no,they would have arraigned Him as teaeh-ing rebellion against Cesar. They triedto charge upon Christ the things of whiclithey themselves in heart were guilty, andthe Savior answered them as He usuallyanswered cavillers, in a way designed toexpose their hypocrisy and condemnthemselves. He answered the fools according to their folly. Yet when the collectors came for the Jewish tax, he givesPeter to understand that it ought not tobe demanded, yet " lest we should offend,'"said he, "give unto them for me andt h e e . "So Paul urges the paying of tiibute, asan act of submission, carrying out theprinciple laid down by our Savior, inMatthew V. 40-42, if they take the coat,give the cloak, &c., and surely theirproperty would not be more sacred thantheir persons. He oflered for their consolat ion the fact that2 3 2 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .c o d ' s u a n d w a s t o b e r e c o g n i z e d i sE V E R Y T H I N G ,This is the marrow of the whole chapter. This comports witli the teachings ofthe whole Bible. It was this that movedJob to say, " Shall we receive good at thehand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil." Every experienced Christianfinds this a rich source of blessedness.Hence says Prof. Upham in speaking ofC a t h a r i n e a d o r n a ," She saw and recognized God, in the instru-.ments which He employs or permits to be employed, in distinction from and above the instruments themselves. ♦ * She saw God and lovedHim m those painful instrumentalities, whichhave their origin in a source the most remotefrom that which is divine. ♦ + She never suffered an injury, * * without distinguishing between the agent who inflicted tlie bfow, and theGod wlio permitted the infliction. And knowingtliat in every permission of this kind, her heavenlyFatlier contemplates, in connection with themanifestation of the character of the atrent, thegood of the' sufferer, she felt that such occasionaas well as the opposite occasions, demanded theprompt and full returns of gratitude and love."THE Bl iSLE AGAINST WAR. 233In view of this my dear friend, J. W.Hall, wrote me soon after my return fromNashville, as follows:"I feel exceedingly thankful that God hasj)roserved your life, and it has been my prayerthat your atllictions may be sanctified to you.Depend upon it they are intended for your good.God never would have permitted you to have suffered as you did, without some wise and graciouspurpose; and it will be your aim doubtless, to decipher the handwriting of his providence, andimprove by it."O n i G I N A L T E X T iThis view of the subject is confirmedby the original. The term translatedministers, is " liturgoi," which accordingto Bloomfield," is applied in the Scripturesto the public offices of religion, Ist. Thatof the priests and Levites under the Mo'Baic law ; and 2d. That of Christian ministers of every sort under the Chnstiandispensation." In every instance in theBible, it is used religiously, not politically.(See Heb. i. 14; and x. 11.) The reasonthen, why the Christians at Rome were2 3 4 T H E b i b l e a g a i n s t W A l l .to pay tribute, was because it was demanded. Tbe reason why tliey were todo it cheerfully was because tiie rulerswhom they thus supported, were, thoughunwittingly, accomplishing God's purp o s e s ."Render therefore to all their dues,tribute to whom tribute is due, custom towhom custom, fear to whom fear, andhonor to whom honor." " Render therefore unto Cesar the things which areCesar's, and unto God the things whichire God^s."These seven verses are all that areusually urged as authority for the use ofthe sword. I must say I need a commission mnch more definite and explicit before I can—directly in the face of manyother plain injunctions—mhxm my handin my brother's blood.The usual construction teaches obedience to and support of al human governments, under which the Christian maybe placed, as creatures of God's appoint-THE ElELE AGAINST WAR. 235nient and approval. This necessitates somany exceptions as to make the directionsof no efl'ect. Especially when applied tothe Christians at Home, if not nugatory,they were worse than nugatory.2. That God has appointed magistratesto act as avengers in his stead, and Christians are to look to them for vengeanceand protection. Tliis is in face of allGod's word, and of historical facts. Hereas in other places in Scripture, rulers arespoken of as instruments, and not asaccents. Precisely the same expressionsare used in speaking of Babylon, andother heathen hations, as are used m thischapter. They are to be understood asteachiiif^ the same in each case, unless thecontext" forbid. The context not onlydoes not forbid the same construction,but it requires the same. And j et otpunished Babylon, Egypt, &c., his avengers upon Israel, for the very acts o wolence by which Israel was chastised, aothis be reconciled with his justice, i t ejw23G THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR.were acting as liis regularly appointedagents ?3. It assumes that the sicord is necessary for the protection of Christians.God says, "I will have mercy upon thehouse of Judah, and wil save them by theLord their God, and I will not save them^ how, nor by sword, nor by battle, byhorses nor by horsemen." It thus overlooksthe glorious truth that " God is our Refugeand Strength, a very present Help introuble," and that we are to be savedtrom " violence" and " the hand of allthat hate us," by faith in Jesus Christ.VVehave seen what kind of protectionle swoid has given. If the Christianr no otiei, his case is indeed hopeless.Hie representation of the Bible is, thatby patient enduring, ye shal save voursouls," while " they who take the swordshal perish by the sword;" and it speaksof the ";nz5-;,,y,vhich are gone down tohell with their weapons of war." Eze/c.xxxii. 27. See the whole chapter.tue bible against war. 237It is not by usiiig the sword, but fromsuffering by tlic sword, that the Christianenters the portals of heaven with his■" white robes, to rest from his labors,"" where the wicked cease from troublingand the weary are at rest."—Rev. vi.9 - 1 1 .4. This construction is opposed to theprecepts and practice of Christ, of insapostles, of the early Christians and altrue reformers. They have uniformlybee?i subjccl, tiough they have refusedto obey and support wicked rulers. Itmakes Taul guilty of preaching one thingand praeticing another.5. It does not meet the exigency of theRoman Christians to whom Paul waswriting, whereas the literal constructiondoes exactly meet their case and corn-ports Avith other teachings of the Bibleon the same subject.6. This construction does violence tothe plain and literal meaning of the text,and could never have been resorted toJ *23S T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .but for the support of a pre-establishedtheory.7. But lastly, this construction is atvariance with the gist and marrow of thewhole gospel." God commendeth Ids love to us inthat while we were yet sinners, Christdied for us."—Rom. v. 8. He died forall, that they who live should not hence-orth live unto themselves, but unto Himwho died for them and rose again."-^ Cor. V. 15. « For it becometh Him forw lom are all things and by whom area tungs, in bringing many sons untog'ory, to make the Captain of theirthrough suflering, * *au hor (of theplan) of eternal salvationunto all them that obey ii..O.andv^O. .Ho „asinonth ; He ,s brought as aW to (festaugiler, and as a sheep before hershearers is dumb, so he opened not hisTHE B IBLE AGAINST WAR.moutli. * * And He made his gravewith the wicked, and was with the richin his death, because He had done no violence, neither was there deceit in hismouth."-/«i. liii. 7, 9. -W beloved," even hereunnto are ye called.cause Christ also suffered for you leavingyou an example that ye should folow lassteps' '" " Hereby have we a true manifestation of love. Because He hath laiddown his life for us, and we ought to laydown our lives for the brethren."-! Jno.ii. IG. The sun by which this dark woild isto be cliphlencd. arose from behind thecross. The Christian as crucified with Uhnstis called to refiect the same glorious light.Self-sacrifice for another's good, and thevoluntary surrender of personal rights, mconnection with faith in Jesus Christ asour refuge, is the life giving piucip e'othe gospel. It is this that distinguis lesit from all other systems of religion. Thiswas the doctrine in which Paul gloiie(2 Cor. xii. 9, 10.) This is the duty he240 THE BIBLE AGAINST TTAR.is urging upon the churcli at Rome.How tender and soul huinbling his ins t r u c t i o n s :Dearly helovedy avenge not yourselves,but rather give place unto wrath: for itis written, Avenging is mine, 1 will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thineenemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, givehim drink ; for in so doing thou shalt heapcoals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.Let emn/ soul be subject to sujieriorpow ers; lor their is no power but of God.' ven the existing authorities are orderedLor controlled] of God ,• so that he whouiajs himself against the power, opposesthe arrangement of God. (And tliosev^ho oppose shal receive to themselves[o.r by themselves,] the punishment.) Forrulers are by no means the fear of goodworks, but of evil. Desirest tbou not tofear the power? Do good, and thouShalt iiave praise of the same. For he isthe minister of God to thee/OT-^ w. ButTHE BIBLE AOAIN3T WAR. 24fif thou docst evil, fear; fornot withoutcause does he then bear tiie sword; forhe is God's minister, an avenger in wrathunto iiim tiiat doeth evil.Hence the necessity of being subject notonly on account of wrath, but even forconscience' sake. For the same reasonalso pay ye tribute. For as God's ministers they arc constantly accomplishing hispurposes. Bender therefore to all theirdues—tribute to wliom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear."{Matt. X. 2S—31 ; and Luke xi. 4 7,)honor" to whom honor. You owe no oneany thing, but to love one another; forhe who loves another fulfills the law. Forthe commandment,' Thou shall not com-mit adultery, thou shall not murder, thoushalt not steal, thou shalt not give falsetestimony, thou shalt not covet; andwhatever other commandment there majbe, it is summed up in this one precept,that is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor asthyself." DCT Love does not INJURE A2 4 2 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A B iNEiGiiiioB. Tlierefore LOVE is the fullnessof the law. And obey this command,{especially at this time.) Knowing thatthis is a critical season,* that it is time wewere already awake from sleep, for nowis our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night has advanced: the dayhas approached. Let us therefore layaside the works of darkness, and let usput on the whole armor of light, {Eph. vi.10—18.) As in day light, (when allare looking at us) let us walk becomingly,not in revels and intemperance, not inadultery and licentiousness, nor in contention and strife. But nCf Eut on theLord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the body to gratify its lusts."—DZr' See James iv. 1.CONCLUSION.We find then that the thirteenth chapter of Romans, is in harmony with otherparts of the Bible. Interpreted in the* Translation of Dr. BloomfieldTUE BIBLE AGAINST WAR. 243light of the context, the circumstanceswhich called it forth, and by parallel passages, it not only does not give authorityfor the use of the sword, but it positivelyforbids its use. It is not only not a stronghold for the advocate of war, but it is astronghold for the advocate of peace : weneed no stronger. The apostle insteadof teaching us to use the sword, is urging" passive submission," or the patient enduring of evils resulting from its use.OBJECTION : " CHRIST COMMANDED HIS DISCIPLES TO BUY SWORDS."—Luke xxi. 38.With an air of triumph it is asked," Why purchase swords if forbidden touse them ? An important inquiry, I admit. But in turn permit me to ask, Ifdesigned for use, how could tioo suffice forthe whole? Yet when they say, " Hereare two swords," the Lord replies " It fsenough." Is this being "armed andequipped as the law directs ?" Weresome favored two to be selected as body2 1 1 T H E B I B L E A G A I N S T W A R .guards for the twelve? Or -were theyeach iu turn to use them till exiiausted, thenrest while his fellow was doin57and it was soon added to the report, thatI had l)ecn posting up handbills about thecity, inviting an insurrection of the slaves.Knowing all the charges tube false, feeling unconscious of any evil intention, andtherefore fearless of danger, I continuedthe sale of my Bibles, in and around thecitys till Saturday, tiie ISth of the monthtwhen as I was preparing to leave town toattend a camp-meeting, held some eightor ten miles distant, a Mr.Estell, formerlyan auctioneer and vender of slaves atpublic outcry, in Alabama, met me at thedoor, and demanded 'Hhose aholilion (.ocwmcnts" T had in my possession. I rei liedhe should have them, and proceedul toget them for him. When he made thedemand he was under the influence ofvery highly excited feelings—his wholeframe indicating agitation even to trembling. On presenting the pamphlets, Irequested him to read before he condemaedthem. This seemed greatly to inci\ asehis rage.2 5 S N A U R A T I V r .I ihcn i)rocce(lcd to llie cnmp giound,AvliLrc about two hours alkT niy arrival,I was taken in ciiargc by jMr. I'laugii'.oii,ill j)rincipai cily olliccr. I lake | iea.-urohc.e in stating of iMr. 15., that aiiuwinghi coiiduet to be strictly oHicial, he cx-hil itcd to ine througb.out the whole ofthi; inelanciioly aflair. the kindest andmi St (lelic.ate deportment. 1 immediatelyaci cmpaiiied him to town, whei-e, on ar-ri\ingat my hoarding house, I found theMayor, Mr. John P. F.ruiti, waiting foru'. lie remarked he was afraid 1 had gotmyself into didiculty, and wi.-hed me toap .ear betore the Committee of Yigilnnce.'I't this I replied it would give me plca-suk: to do so, aj 1 wished it understoodjus! what 1 had done, and what 1 had notdo.ie. lit; then asked me if 1 had anywi ncsses I wished to have called. i\]vjy was, 1 knew nut what need I hadof vvitnesses, till I heard tlie chargop,, light against me—that 1 supposed it%v( uld be necessary to prove me guilty ofN A K U A T I V E . 2 5 0soniD misdemeanor, and not that it sliould1)0 upon me to prove, that I liad broken nolaw. To liis demand, if I was ready fortrial, I answered, I wished it to take placeimmediately, as 1 was anxious to return tothe camp n;round.We repaired to the court room, whichxvas at once crowded full to overflowing.The roll of the Committee, (sixty in number,) was called, and the names of the absentees [)roclaimcd.The meeting being called to order, the■Mayor stated, that he Jiad caused me tobe arrested, and brought before the Committee, in eonscqucuce oi the excitement])rodue.ed by the periodicals known to havebeen in my jio-ssession ; and that he iiadalso taken into his charge my trunk,which he had delayed opening till my return. 'J'he trunk was then produced before the Committee, and a motion madeand carried, that I should be interrogatedas to its contents before opening it. Onbeinrr interrogated accordingly, 1 replied,2 6 0 N A U R A T I V E .as the trunk was before tliem, I preferredthey should make the examination forthemselves. It was then resolved, (thewhole house voting,) that my trunk shouldbe examined, Tlie officer finst laid before the Committee a jiile of clothing,wdiich was examined very closely: thenlollowed my books, among wdiich wasfound, one co|)y of the " Oasis," one of"Rankin's Letters on Slavery," and oneof " Bourne's Picture of Slavery in theUnited States." These, I informed theConiiiiittee, I had put in my trunk for myown perusal, as I wished to compare w hathad been written with the result of myown observation wbile in the slave slates,and that no individual had seen them besides myself. A careful inspection wasmade of the books also. Then was presented my business and private letters,w'hich were read with eagerness, andmuch interest. Extracts were read aloud.Among them was one from a letter received from a very aged and venerableN A R R A T I V E . 2C1lady, rmining tliiis: " Prciiclicd a streamof Abolition, two hundred and fifty mileslony," in travcliini: f.om Ciiicinniiti toClevcdand. Great importince was at-laclicd to tlii;. Another spoke of the in-consi;,teiK;y of celebrating the 4th of July,while so inanv amoner us were literallv inbondage." Another, from a letter of Mr.I'hisign, (a gentleman well known to entertain no very favorable sentiments forAbolitionism,) which, after urging me todiligence in the sale of my Bibles, (obtained from him,) jestingly concluded, " i\o\vdon't spend more than half your timeamong the niggers." This was cheeredby the crowd. The last was Irom theletter of a friend of mine, a minister of thegospel, who remarked that on visiting hisfriends at the East, Abolition had beenthe principal topic of conversation thatday, and he had preached on Slavery atnight!Great stress w.as laid on these extracts,and 1 was questioned very minutely as to2 G 3 N A R R A T I V K .the authors of the letters. They laboredmuch to prove 1 was sent out by some society, and that i was uudcr the guise of areligious mission, performing the odiousoflice of an insurrectionary agent.My journal was next brought in review, but as it had been ke))t ])artlv inshort hand and in pencil mark, the memoranda short and hastily written, it servedthem very little purpose. It was laid,down again by the Mayor who had attempted to read it aloud, with this remark, " It can not be read, but it is evidently very hostile to slavery."A witness now was called forward bywhom itwas proved, that an Anti-Slaveryperiodical of sojne kind had been left bysome individual on the counter of theNashville Inn. That it was left with acopy of the Cottage Bible, at the time Iarrived. On being questioned by me, itturned out to be a number of the Emancipator, used as an envelop or wi'appcr tothe Bible. Other witnesses were called,N A U R A T I V E . 2G3but this is the substance of all they provedagainst me.It was coiicccled without hesitation oniny part, that I had sold a copy of" Rankin's Letters-," in ISnmncr counly,and thatI had read to Mr, Cayce, at his requestjthe number of tlie "A. S. Record" beforementioned, which lie said contained notiuing that any candid man, and especiallyany CZ/c/s/nn; could gainsay. The Chairman of the Committee asked me if I remembered the places wiiere I had circulated Anti-Slavery tracts: thus by theform of the question, as well as by hismanner, making the imprcsdon that I hadtarculatcd them xmncichere, and that thefact of mv having done so was known tothe Committee. To this 1 replied thatwhat 1 did, 1 did openly,—that I liad notdistributed any Anti-Slavery publicationsWhatever in Tennessee, except the oneabove mentioned, and that, il ally hadbeen found undercircumstancescalculatedto throw susjiicion on rnc, it was a device2 C 4 K A R H A a i V E .of my enemies. On being interrogated as tomy former connection with Iranc Seminary, I inlormed the Committee that Ihad been a member of that Institution aswell as of the A. S. Society, formed theremore than a year before ; and that I hadvolnntarily witlidrawn, and had receivedan iionorable dismission from tlie same.A handbill was next produced, and Iwas asked il I had ever seen it. Afterhaving examined it, I replied I never iiad.I was then asked with a strongei" emphasis, it 1 was sure I had never seen a copyot it. I again replied, I was swe I ncrcrhad. I was asked a third time, with aprovoking and still stronger emi)basis, ifI was positively sure I had never seen anything of the hind. I again took it intomy hand, and after examining it moreminutely, again replied 1 teas positivelysure I had never seen any thing of thehind. The tiia! continued from between4 and .5 o'clock, P. M , till 10 o'clock,when I was called upon for my defense.N A R U A T I V E . 2 : 5Tlic perplexity I must have felt in mnkingit may well be imagined, when it is recollected that 1 was charged not with trans-grcssintr any law of \hc state, or ordinance of the city,—but with conduct, towhich, if the law had attac'hed the penalty of crime, its fornr, wore totally dis-regartlcd, and this too, before an array of])ersons banded together in contraventionof law, and from whose mandate of execution tlurc was no appeal. HoweverI took the opimrtunity thus offered to declare my sentiments fully on the subjectof slavery. Whilst I told them 1 believedslaveholding to be inconsistent with thogospel, and a constant transgression ofGod's law, I yet said that in bringingabout emancipation, the interests of themaster were to be consulted as well asthose of the slave. And that the whole.scheme of emancipation contemplatedthis result, that the .-lave should be put inpossession of rights whii-.h we have declared to be inalienable fiom him as a2 6 0 N ' A U R . V T I V E iman ;—tliat he slioulil be considered as animmortal fellow Ijcinii, entrusted i)y iiismaster with the custody of his own iiap-piness, and accountable to him for liiecx-erci-;e of his j)Owers;—that he should betreated as our neighbor and brother. InI'eference to my demeanor toward: theslaves, that in tlie few inst:inccs in which Ihad casually conversed with theiUi I hadrecommended (luictness) ]>atience, submission ; teaching them to " render goodfor evil," and discountenancing everyscheme of emanci])ation, which did not,during its process, look for its success inthe good conduct of the slaves whilst theyremain such, and to the influence of argument and persuasion addressed to theunderstandings and consciences of slaveholders, exhorting them to obey God indoing justice and .showing mei'cy to theirfe l low men.After my remarks were ended, thecrowd were requested to withdraw whilstthe Committee delihei'ated on the case.N A n R A T l V E . 2 6 7In company with a friend or two I wasdirected to a private room, near at iiandto await their decision. Up to this periodduring the wiiole proceedings my mindwas composed, my spirits calm and un-rufllcd ; nor did 1 entertain the most, distant apprciicnsion there would be so flagrant a violation of my rights as anAmerican citizen, and so deliberate an attempt to dishonor me as a man.In this confidence I was strengthenedby the consideration of all the circumstances of the case. What I had done, Ihad done oiicnly. There teas no law for^bidding what I hud. done. I had contracted no guilt that the law consideredsuch—my intentions had been those ofkindness to all—I had no secret feelingsof guilt, arraigning me before the bar ofmy conscience, for any mean or clandestine movement. In addition to this, too,among my triers, there was a great portion of the respectability of Nashville."Nearly half of the whole number, profes-2 C S N A R U A T I V E .rors of Christianily, tlie reputed Slav ofthe rhurch, f upporters of the cause of benevolence ill the form of Tracti and Mis-siona.y Societies and Sabbath Sciiools,several members and most of the eldersof the Ib-esbyterian church, from whosolianiis but a few days before, I had received ihe emblems of the hroben body andshed blood of our blessed Savior.My expectations, however, were soonshaken by Mr. Biiiughton's saying, onentering the room where 1 wis, that hefeared it would go hard with me,—that,whilst some of the committee were in favor of thirty-nine, others were for indicting one hundred and two hundred la hes,whilst others still thought mo worthyo f d e a t h .I repeat, till this moment my mind hadbeen kept Linrnflied. But when it wasannounced tliat my lil'e was demanded,for an instant rny whole frame was a of Eos-ton, Mass., who accompanied Mr- Huntto the Southern states, that on their firstsight of .>.13very, Mr. Hunt was so shockedby the cruelties and barbarities which hiseyes saw and his ears heard, that he againN A R R A T I V E . 2 7 3and again repeated that he must returnto Now England. lie could not live andbe obliged to witness such shocking abom-i n a t i o n s ." Vice is a monster of so hideous mien,That to be hated needs but to be seen;Ihit seen too oh, familiar with her face,AVc first endure, then pity, then embrace.]"I entered the ring that had been form-ed; tl>e chairman, (accompanied by thecommittee) again called for an expressionof sentiment in relation to the sentencepassed upon me; again the vote wasunanimous in approbation ot it, and againdid he express his gratification at thegood order by which the whole proceeding had been characterized. While someof the company were engaged in strip,ping me of my garments, a motion wasmade and seconded that I be exhonera-ted altogether from the punishment. Thisbrought many and furious imprecations onthe mover's head, and created a commotion which was appeased only by the2 7 4 N A R I t A T l V i : ,sfiuncJ of the ins lnnncnt of to i turc : i ih1cli-sgrnrx' upon my mikt-cl body.1 knelt to receive the puni.-hmciit,whieii was infiiclcd by Mr. Biatxiiton,the city oliiecr, with a heavy cow .skin.It was now tiie same hour of the niglitin wiiich " I'aul and Siins ]ira vcd an J .sangpraiics to God," an:l I fdt that "thefuundalion.sof the piiscm wall.-; [ufslaveryjwere shaken . " The Sabba th—eml j lem o ftiiat rest that rcmaineth for the people ofGod, was just commencing. Nearly one-h a l f o f t h e C o m m i t t e e w h o c o n d e m n e di n e w e r e m e m b e r . s o f t h e d i f f e r e n tc i i u r c h e s i n N a s h v i l l e . T w o o f t h e r nwere preachers, (one a j\Iethodist, theother a Disciple,) a large number of tbernwere members of the Presbyterian church,with whom I satat the communion tableabout three weeks before, seven of themelders of that church f:om whose hands Ireceived the bread and the cup in remembrance of the sufferings ol Christ; and oneof tho5je ciders now stood and field myN A U R A T I V E .clolltcs wliilc I Avas scourgpd. These circumstances, together witli the calm serenity of the midnight Itoiir, and tliothought of meeting that immense crowdat the far of Cod, gave feelings betterimagined than described. To give ventto these feelings I attempted to raise myAoicc to iicaven in pi'ayer. The deathlike silence tiiat j revailed for a moment,was suddenly broken with loud exclamations, "G—,1 d—a him, stop his])raying." I was raised to my feet byhli-. Braughton, and conducted by him tomy lodging, where it was thought safefor me to remain but for a few moments.And though most of my fncnds wereat the camp ground, 1 was intioduccd intoa family of entire strangers, from whomI i-eccived a warm reception and theanost kind and tender treatment. Theywill ever be remembered with gratefule m o t i o n s .On the ensuing morning, owing to thegreat excitement that was still prevailing,2 7 6 N A U H A T I V E .I found it necessary to leave the jjlace indisguise, with only what clothing I hadabout my person. Leaving unsold property to the amount of nearly three hundred dollars, and sacrificing at least twohundred on my barouche, horse, &c.,which I was obliged to sell. Of my effects at Nashville, I have heard nothin"since my return, though I have frequentlywritten to my friends concerning them.AMOS DRESSER.Cin., Aug. 25,1835.

The Bible against War

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The Bible against War

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