Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

Jesus'' View of Pacifism, by David Bivin

The idea that Jesus taught pacifism arose primarily due to the misunderstanding of a number of his sayings. When viewed from a Jewish perspective, the gospel passages on which pacifism is based point to a quite different conclusion.

Many people over the years have seen Jesus as a pacifist — and for good reason. Here was a man who apparently was willing to die rather than defend himself, a man who taught his disciples not to kill, not to resist evil, to love their enemies, not to fear those who kill the body, and that only those who are willing to lose their lives will be able to save them.^F1 Jesus' teachings seem very much like those of such popular pacifists as Tolstoy and Gandhi, and indeed, Tolstoy based his views on gospel passages.^F2

But did Jesus teach that it is wrong to defend oneself against attack? Did he really mean that we should not resist evil? Such a view seems to contradict what we read elsewhere in the Bible. In Romans 12:9, for example, Paul says that one should "hate what is evil", and in James 4:7 we read that we are to "resist the devil". It is clear from passages in Luke 22 that Jesus' disciples were armed,^F3 and Jesus himself advised them to purchase swords.^F4

These apparent contradictions may be reconciled by recognizing the Hebraic nuances of the gospel texts, and by developing a deeper understanding of the Jewish background to Jesus' words.

One verse that is commonly cited in support of Jesus' pacifism is Matthew 5:21 Although most recent translations of the Bible have corrected this mistake,^F6 the "kill" of the King James Version and its successors has strongly influenced many English-speaking Christians' views of self-defense.

Another saying of Jesus on which his supposed pacifism is based is found in Matthew 5:39a. It is usually translated, "Do not resist evil", or "Do not resist one who is evil". However, when Jesus' saying is translated back into Hebrew, it is seen to be a quotation of a well-known Hebrew proverb that appears with slight variations in Psalms 37:1,8

This Hebrew maxim is usually translated, "Do not fret because of evildoers" or "Do not be vexed by evildoers". Bible translators apparently have supposed from the contexts of this maxim in Psalm 37 and Proverbs 24, which emphasize that evildoers will be destroyed, that the righteous should not be concerned about evildoers or pay them any attention. This supposition is strengthened by the second half of Psalms 37:1 Furthermore, the two parallels to this verb in Psalms 37:8 Not "competing" with evildoers is very different from not resisting evildoers. Jesus was not teaching that one should submit to evil, but that one should not seek revenge. As Proverbs 24:29 has created a theological contradiction, but when Jesus' saying is correctly understood, it harmonizes beautifully with other New Testament passages: "See that none of you pays back evil with evil; instead, always try to do good to each other and to all people" (1 Thess. 5:15); or, as Jesus commanded, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Mt. 5:44).

Our response to evil does have to be resistance — it is morally wrong to tolerate evil. However, we also must continue to show love for the evildoer.

It should be noted that loving and praying for one's enemies in no way precludes defending oneself when one's life is in danger. One is morally obligated to preserve life, including one's own. Jesus never taught that it is wrong to defend oneself against life-threatening attack. However, he consistently taught his disciples to forgive and not to seek revenge against those who had attacked them. As Proverbs 20:22 counsels, "Do not say, 'I will repay the evil deed in kind.' Trust in the LORD. He will take care of it."

Our responsibility is not to respond in kind to belligerence directed against us. That only prolongs and perpetuates the evil. We are not to "be overcome by evil," but to "overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21 The sages taught that if one is in danger of being murdered, he should defend himself, even if there is a measure of doubt about the intention of the attacker. Furthermore, if another person's life is threatened, one is obligated to prevent that murder, if necessary by killing the attacker. The sages ruled that a person who is pursuing someone else with intent to murder may be killed. ^F11 In light of this, it is very unlikely that Jesus, a Jew of the first century, would have espoused pacifism.

When we examine Jesus' words from a Hebraic-Jewish perspective, we can see what has been obscured by mistranslation and lack of familiarity with Judaism. The passages construed to support pacifism actually condemn revenge rather than self-defense. It is not surprising that this interpretation is consistent with Jesus' other teachings and the rest of biblical instruction.

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Mt. 5:21F2: See Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God Is within You, trans. Constance Garnett (New York, 1894; repr. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984). In 1894 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, at that time a barrister in South Africa, read The Kingdom of God Is within You, which had been loaned to him by a Quaker. The book "overwhelmed" him, he wrote in his autobiography.
In 1906 Gandhi, struggling against racial prejudice in South Africa, launched a campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience. In 1910 he founded Tolstoy Farm for the families of men who were jailed in the struggle. Later, in India, Gandhi founded other such communities based on Tolstoy's ideology. In 1920 he proclaimed his program of nonviolent noncooperation with the British rulers of India that led to freedom from British rule.
F3: Lk. 22:38, 49F4: Lk. 22:36F5: In addition to the King James Version and its revisions, such versions as the New Jerusalem Bible, The Living Bible and The Amplified Bible render Mt. 5:21F6: Rendering Mt. 5:21F7: I am indebted to Robert L. Lindsey for drawing my attention to the connection between Mt. 5:39F8: See the entry סמןללסמןללחָרַהסמןללסמןלל chârah in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986); 5:171—176.
F9: "Wrongdoers" might be preferable to "evildoers." As the context, which mentions insults and lawsuits, shows, Jesus probably was not speaking primarily of confrontations with criminals or enemies on the field of battle, but of confrontations with ordinary acquaintances who have committed an offense.
F10: Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 72a.
F11: Mishnah, Sanhedrin 8:7.

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