- 期刊
從新約的角度探討「戰爭、和平與正義」
New Testament Perspectives on War, Peace and Justice
並列摘要
Whereas the Old Testament displays different views about war as a means to achieve justice, the New Testament is unambiguously opposed to it. Unfortunately the New Testament stance has played a subordinate role in the shaping of the church's attitude to war, peace and justice, often being completely displaced by the so-called ＂just war theory,＂ a philosophical construct with little basis in either Old or New Testament teaching. In the NT war is presupposed as one of the evils characterising the present age, its presence seen as a result of the fallen nature of humankind. The Gospels depict Jesus as the Messiah who fulfils his calling through suffering and not by conquering the enemies of God and his people. Jesus resolutely resists the temptation to establish his rule through any form of worldly power. He rejects violence as a means to enforce the will of God and he never uses force against people in order to push through his programme of renewal in Israel. The teach-ing of Jesus includes the same emphases: His followers must be servants and not lord it over others, they must be willing to suffer at the hands of worldly authorities, they are blessed when they are persecuted, they must be peacemakers, turn the other cheek and love their en-emies. When facing the people sent to arrest him he does not resist and he rebukes his disci-ples for taking up arms in his defence. He does not defend himself or call down God's angels to help him. He prays for the soldiers driving the nails into his body. The early church continues in the way of Jesus: The Book of Acts portrays the early Chris-tians as victims of violence, not perpetrators of violence. According to Paul's teaching, God takes the initiative to establish peace with his enemies; his justification goes counter to hu-man concepts of justice - the innocent dying in place of the guilty, so the guilty may be set free! Christians should rather be wronged themselves than to be in danger of wronging oth-ers! Christ's followers are called to the ministry of reconciliation - their vocation is to pro-claim God's peace-initiative towards humanity, not to fight God's battles for him! James evaluates wars and fightings completely negatively: they come from desires which are at war in the individual. In 1 Peter the church is called again and again to follow the example set by Jesus Christ through his own suffering. Finally, although the Book of Revelation is filled with images of war and extreme violence, the church never is the subject of such vio-lent action; it is either victim or helpless spectator. The God whom Jesus introduces as his Father, and whom Paul and the other apostles serve, is a God who does not use his overwhelming power to destroy his enemies in wrath, but who redeems them in love. Jesus provides his followers with a paradigm of total commitment to a cause, but without resort to violence. He fearlessly confronts injustice - but he does not take justice into his own hands. He fulfils God's justice by allowing himself to be crucified. We should not ask whether the NT vision of peace and reconciliation instead of war and vio-lence is a realistic option, but whether our preaching of the Gospel of Peace can be credible as long as we go along with the idea that war can be an instrument to achieve God's justice on earth.