#Marye's Heights
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The 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the attack on Marye's Heights - Battle of Fredericksburg
December 13, 1862
On this day, Union forces under Major General Ambrose Burnside make futile attempts to capture Confederate positions on Marye's Heights. The assault on these positions was only a part of the greater battle of Fredericksburg, which raged on from December 11 to 15, 1862.
The Confederate position at Marye's Heights was strong, with a large number of rebel troops being positioned at a sunken road that was protected by a stone wall. Union brigades would be sent out to capture this position, but would be pushed back with each attempt.
Eventually the 20th Maine Regiment, under Stockton's brigade, would make the charge against the wall. After failing to take the position, and suffering casualities from enemy fire, the brigade would lay prone at the field in front of the Confederate line, exchanging shots against the defenders. They would hold this position all throughout the night, until they were ordered to fall back.
In the end, the battle of Fredericksburg was a disaster for Union forces and would fail to achieve its goal of marching down to Richmond and ending the civil war.
#Art#Random Art#Cream Cake#Rooster#Silver Wing#MLP#My Little Pony#MLP Art#My Little Pony Art#Earth Pony#Pegasus#Pegasi#Digital Art#OCs#Ponysona#History#US History#American History#American Civil War#Battle of Fredericksburg#Marye's Heights#20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment
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Battle of Fredericksburg. December 1862. Confederates mowed down Yankee invaders on Marye’s Heights.
#civil war#southerners#confederate#states rights#fredericksburg#history#robert e lee#burnside#virginia#gravestones#confederacy#Georgia
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Field Notes: touring Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville battlefields, driving to my internship.
30.05.2023.
Battlefields are always strange. The land has been preserved; set aside; designated as hallowed ground. Often, they are beautiful, maintained with landscaping and paths while strip malls and highways encroach at the edges.
The air is sweet with the smell of freshly cut grass. Birds are singing. I am walking on a tidy gravel path that is bordered by a low stone wall. The scene couldn’t be more picturesque if it tried. It’s hard to believe that 160 years ago, thousands of Union soldiers flung themselves at this wall only to be slaughtered by the Confederates lined up behind it.
This is Marye’s Heights, and it’s where much of the memorialization efforts of Fredericksburg have been focused. Terraced rows of the dead line the hill overlooking the town (this is the Federal cemetery, the Confederate dead are buried elsewhere). Reading plaques about Lee and Jackson’s victory is a little disconcerting when there are Union ghosts looking over your shoulder. Maybe that’s the point.
In the town of Fredericksburg itself, I see my first Confederate flag bumper sticker. It’s small—not much larger than a deck of playing cards, but it’s there. At least it makes more sense here than the ones I’ve seen in Michigan.
For lunch, I go to Benny’s on a friend’s recommendation and get a slice of pizza larger than my head for around $6. Since the money from my stipend hasn’t been processed yet, it will do some double duty as part of my dinner (since my car is so full, it does the remainder of the journey riding in the passenger footwell, but don’t worry—it was in its own bag).
Visiting just Fredericksburg seems silly when there are so many other battlefields nearby. Only Chancellorsville has its own visitor center, which holds the interpretation for its eponymous battle as well as the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse. That’s a lot of death to pack into one building, but they do a decent job. When I ask the ranger working there, he tells me that they updated the visitor centers for the two battlefields back in 2014. (This was their first update since their opening in the 1960s. Yikes.)
This visitor center also has to compete with the little walking trail memorializing the fatal wounding of Stonewall Jackson. Various stone markers are scattered across the grounds like so many poisonous mushrooms.
Much like Fredericksburg, the Chancellorsville battlefield is beautiful. At the ranger’s advice, I spend most of my time at stops 3, 9, and 10 on the self-guided walking tour. Stops 9 and 10 are opposite placements of an artillery duel between the two armies. The earthworks (called lunettes, the sign informs me) from the Union position are still visible under neatly trimmed grass.
At stop 10, there is a meadow covering what used to be a field hospital (emphasis on field, not so much on hospital) where wounded Union prisoners were left to the elements for several days until doctors could arrive from Washington. Signs talk of the screams and the smell, but it’s almost impossible for me to conjure up a mental image of such suffering in such a lovely place. If I died a horrible death, would I want the area to smooth over the suffering with time? Yes. Yes, I think I would.
The interpretation at these two battlefields definitely skews Southern. The monuments are, by and large, Confederate. The plaques are about Confederate army movements. When the Union army is mentioned, it’s usually because Lee or Jackson are doing something to hapless Burnside and Hooker. One gets the impression that the blue exists as a foil for the grey.
These are Southern victories on Southern land, and credit where credit’s due, they’ve turned down the Lost Cause dial quite a bit. The fact that Lee came away from both confrontations victorious leads itself towards a narrative that matches his brilliance against the blunders of his Union counterparts, and I don’t feel like the parks have done enough to counter that. Slavery is talked about, but nowhere is it explicitly condemned. Ultimately, National Parks have to lean towards the middle ground while also making do with whatever funds they’re given. The ranger said that they were allotted something like one third of the budget they asked for in 2013, and that’s certainly a limiting factor. I’ll be paying close attention to how the signage compares to that at Gettysburg when I return there later this summer.
When 3 o’clock hits, I climb back in my car and hit the road. This part of the drive is where we get into the Blue Ridge mountains, which are beautiful but also come with reduced speed limits. There are still some cars that think we should be going 90, but as a Midwesterner used to the flatlands, I stick to the right hand lane and let them do their own thing.
It starts to mist as I near my final destination. Even though it’s not that hot outside, it’s so humid that I have to have the AC on. The mountains are steaming as I pull into town. And wow, the mountains really are blue, verging on purple. Country Roads isn’t playing on the radio, but it should be.
So my first year of grad school was bracketed by rain and Civil War battlefields (if my life were a movie, they would call that a cinematic parallel). What this internship has in store for me, I don’t really know. That—along with some grocery shopping—is a problem for Tomorrow Reid.
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History
December 13, 1545 - The Council of Trent, summoned by Pope Paul III, met to discuss doctrinal matters including the rise of Protestantism.
December 13, 1577 - Francis Drake departed Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind on his voyage around the world.
December 13, 1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company.
December 13, 1862 - During the American Civil War, the Battle of Fredericksburg occurred in Virginia as the Union Army of the Potomac under General Burnside suffered a costly defeat, losing 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights. "We might as well have tried to take hell," a Union soldier remarked. Confederate losses were 5,309. "It is well that war is so terrible - we should grow too fond of it," stated Confederate General Robert E. Lee during the fighting.
December 13, 1937 - The beginning of one of the worst atrocities of World War II as the Chinese city of Nanking (Nanjing) was captured by the Japanese. Over the next six weeks, the Rape of Nanking occurred in which Japanese soldiers randomly attacked, raped and indiscriminately killed an estimated 200,000 Chinese persons.
December 13, 1981 - In its struggle to maintain Communism, the Polish government imposed martial law and took steps to stifle the growing power of the pro-democratic trade union Solidarity.
December 13, 1991 - North and South Korea signed a treaty of reconciliation and nonaggression which also formally ended the Korean War, although actual fighting had ceased in 1953.
Birthday - German writer Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was born in Dusseldorf. Best known for his statement made a hundred years before the advent of book-burning Nazis in Germany - "Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too."
Birthday - Mary Todd (1818-1882) was born in Lexington, Kentucky. She became the wife of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President.
Birthday - American clergyman and composer Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics for the popular Christmas Carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem.
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Samuel K. Zook was born in Pennsylvania on March 27, 1822 and grew up playing soldier on the earthworks of Valley Forge. He joined the New York militia in the 1850’s, at the same time becoming a pioneer in telegraphy. Zook eventually became superintendent of the Washington and New York Telegraph Company. He was Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th New York State Militia when the war began.
After the three month enlistment term of the militia expired in October of 1861 he became colonel of the 57th New York Infantry Regiment . He fought in the Peninsula, but missed Antietam due to medical problems. At Fredericksburg, Zook took his brigade as far as any in the attack on Marye’s Heights, earning promotion to brigadier general.
General Zook commanded the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division of the 2nd Corps at Gettysburg. He was badly wounded on July 2nd as he led his brigade on horseback in an attack into the Wheatfield. Zook was moved to a tollhouse on the Baltimore Pike, then moved further down the road when it was feared that the Confederate attack might succeed and he might be captured. He died on July 3rd and is buried in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
#american civil war#samuel k zook#us civil war#gettysburg#history#acw#going to valley forge all the time?? same zook same#it's a lovely place!
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The Angel of Marye’s Heights: The Heroic Compassion of One Confederate soldier
Richard Kirkland’s story is a courageous example what one man is willing to risk in order to help his fellow man.
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#FreeDixie #NoMoreReconciliation #DeoVindice #TheSouthWasRight
Help Dixie Defeat Big-Tech Censorship! Spread the Word! Like, Share, Re-Post, and Subscribe! There’s a lot more to see at our main page, Dixie Drudge!
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Events 2.14 (before 1930)
748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
842 – Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
1014 – Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.
1130 – The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals.
1349 – Several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg.
1530 – Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.
1556 – Having been declared a heretic and laicized by Pope Paul IV on 4 December 1555, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is publicly defrocked at Christ Church Cathedral.
1556 – Coronation of Akbar as ruler of the Mughal Empire.
1613 – Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate at Whitehall Palace, London.
1655 – The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.
1778 – The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.
1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis, (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
1804 – Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
1831 – Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
1835 – The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.
1855 – Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
1859 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
1879 – The War of the Pacific breaks out when the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
1899 – Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.
1900 – The British Army begins the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
1903 – The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
1912 – Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state.
1912 – The U.S. Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.
1918 – Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.
1919 – The Polish–Soviet War begins.
1920 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
1929 – Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago.
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National Museum of the Civil War Soldier - Battle of Fredericksburg & Marye's Heights
Here’s Frank O’Reilly, the Chief Historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, giving an excellent presentation on the Battle of Fredericksburg.
The video’s description reads, “Historian Frank O’Reilly discussed one of the most one-sided battles of the Civil War, the first battle of Fredericksburg & Marye’s Heights. The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in…
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GO WHERE GLORY AWAITS YOU
#clear the way#december 13th 1862#battle of fredericksburg#marye's heights#american civil war#metal#iced earth#today in history
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Looking Towards Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Andrew Joseph Russell, 1864, Metropolitan Museum of Art: Photography
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/267900
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Title: Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Virginia, killed during the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, by Capt. Andrew J. Russell, 1863
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1862 12 13 Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights - Valor in Gray - Mort Künstler
They faced the most powerful army in America. Advancing in battle lines up the hill toward them was the mighty Army of the Potomac - more than 115,000 strong - composed of courageous, well-trained combat troops under the command of General Ambrose E. Burnside. For half a year, General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had been persistently hammered by this great army, led by one Northern commander after another. Back in autumn at Antietam, the men in gray had escaped destruction by this same blue-uniformed host. Now they faced them again on the field of battle at Fredericksburg.
This time, however, they had a formidable advantage. They held an almost impregnable line of defense, which was anchored in a sunken road behind a stone wall on Marye’s Heights. The Northern troops advancing on them now in a mighty mass had to assault uphill over a long and open plain. Defending the Sunken Road were troops from Georgia, North Carolina, and Kershaw’s Brigade of South Carolinians, commanded by Brigadier General Joseph B. Kershaw. Descended from a prominent Southern family, Kershaw had been orphaned as a boy and had worked his way through life with remarkable success as a self-educated lawyer, a local militia officer, a Mexican War veteran, and a Confederate officer distinguished by a rapid rise in rank to brigadier general. Despite the numerical superiority of the men in blue at Fredericksburg, Kershaw held his brigade steady and poured forth a terrible fire from behind the stone wall.
Kershaw demonstrated “great coolness and skill,” observed a fellow officer, and helped transform the gigantic Federal assault into one of the North’s worst defeats. While Southern forces in the road and along the ridges behind it would lose a thousand men, the assaulting Northern forces would lose almost eight thousand. Finally, after making one courageous charge after another, the men in blue would give up. The Battle of Fredericksburg would be heralded as one of Robert E. Lee’s greatest victories - due in great measure to the valiant defense made by these sons of the South. It would long be celebrated in the Southern homeland as a triumph of valor in gray.
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Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Virginia, killed during the Chancellorsville campaign (the Second Battle of Fredericksburg), May 1863. Photograph by A.J. Russell.
#american civil war#civil war#civil#war#fredericksburg#virginia#confederacy#confederates#confederate states of america#chancellorsville
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History
December 13, 1545 - The Council of Trent, summoned by Pope Paul III, met to discuss doctrinal matters including the rise of Protestantism.
December 13, 1577 - Francis Drake departed Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind on his voyage around the world.
December 13, 1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company.
December 13, 1862 - During the American Civil War, the Battle of Fredericksburg occurred in Virginia as the Union Army of the Potomac under General Burnside suffered a costly defeat, losing 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights. "We might as well have tried to take hell," a Union soldier remarked. Confederate losses were 5,309. "It is well that war is so terrible - we should grow too fond of it," stated Confederate General Robert E. Lee during the fighting.
December 13, 1937 - The beginning of one of the worst atrocities of World War II as the Chinese city of Nanking (Nanjing) was captured by the Japanese. Over the next six weeks, the Rape of Nanking occurred in which Japanese soldiers randomly attacked, raped and indiscriminately killed an estimated 200,000 Chinese persons.
December 13, 1981 - In its struggle to maintain Communism, the Polish government imposed martial law and took steps to stifle the growing power of the pro-democratic trade union Solidarity.
December 13, 1991 - North and South Korea signed a treaty of reconciliation and nonaggression which also formally ended the Korean War, although actual fighting had ceased in 1953.
Birthday - German writer Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was born in Dusseldorf. Best known for his statement made a hundred years before the advent of book-burning Nazis in Germany - "Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too."
Birthday - Mary Todd (1818-1882) was born in Lexington, Kentucky. She became the wife of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President.
Birthday - American clergyman and composer Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics for the popular Christmas Carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem.
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I’d been playing at 80% graphics in Dragon Age Inquisition this whole time so I just raised the graphics to see how my characters look. It’s great.
Maya Lavellan, my angry yet friendly two-handed weapon warrior elf.
My so far favourite playthrough / only actual finished to Trespasser playthrough human mage who wants everyone to be happy, Marye Trevelyan-Rutherford
My sweet girl qunari mage who has never done anything wrong in her life Marah Adaar
My frankly supermodel-esque Rogue dual-wielder qunari who’s in a romance with Dorian but accidentally fell in love with Solas, Malakas Adaar
And my lovely dwarf archer rogue who’s still quite new and I’m still figuring out her personality, Mera Cadash (also the lighting for her in customisation is very bad, probably because the light source is too far away from her at her height)
I love my M-Quisitor crew, they’re all beautiful
#they're all beautiful and look like they're related#muchy plays DAI#Dragon Age Inquisition#inquisitor#inquisitors
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THE CHRISTIAN AND WAR
William D. Barrick
Professor of Old Testament
Answering the question, “Should a Christian be a member of the military?” is the best way to elaborate on “The Christian and War.” On the positive side, the military emphasizes the importance of moral character for its leaders. On the negative side, the military is a profession in which killing may be a part of one’s responsibility. Four possible positions to take regarding this difficult issue are nonresistance, Christian pacificism, just war, and preventive war. Also at stake is the Christian responsibility to submit to governmental authority as indicated in Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17. New Testament analogies comparing responsibilities of Christian living with being a good soldier seem to point to the legitimacy of Christians being part of the military endeavor of their country. That plus other factors support a Christian’s being involved in military service. Yet the conscience of each Christian must prevail in making this difficult decision about the issue, “Should a Christian be a member of the military?”
* * * * *
Introduction
The issue of war and Christian involvement in military service is so extensive that it is necessary to limit the scope of this study of “The Christian and War.” Its literature dates from the earliest years of church history,1 with a history too vast even to be summarized here. Obviously, biblical exegesis and Scripture rightly interpreted must inform any resolution of the issues. Therefore, at least to look at what the Bible has to say about the topic is imperative. A focus on one basic question is the best approach: “Should a Christian be a member of the military?”
Since the question deals with “a Christian,” the emphasis should be upon what the NT has to say about the matter. However, the question itself did not originate with the Christian church. Indeed, the issue predates the Christian era. Even in OT times believers faced the problem of involvement in war. Certainly Abraham had given some consideration to the issue prior to commencing armed action against Chedorlaomer’s coalition of kings (Genesis 14). He engaged the kings in battle in order to free his nephew Lot and his family.2 Since both testaments are the inspired Word of God and “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,” 3 a consideration of the teaching of the whole of Scripture on this issue is in order. “If Christians are to have clear attitudes towards war, they must first come to some understanding of the subject in the Bible, including the Old Testament.”4 However, in order to keep within the length restraints of this article, the study will limit itself to what is revealed in the NT. The OT has much to say about war, but it is not often directly pertinent to the specific question upon which this study will focus.
Military service is a brotherhood of sorts because a fighting unit must be as one if it is to succeed under fire. It is a strange brotherhood since, in the passing of time, even enemies will regard themselves as having a bond forged in the horror of battle. That is why American and Japanese veterans can meet at Corregidor or Iwo Jima and British, American, and German veterans congregate on the beaches of Normandy fifty years after the fact and shed tears together for departed comrades in arms. Such a brotherhood, however, is not the supreme brotherhood that believers enter through the gospel of Christ.
Military service involves keeping faith with a vision for a nation’s freedom and greatness. Nothing less than total commitment is required of a soldier. Semper fi is more than a motto for the United States Marine Corps, it must be a way of life—and death. Without total commitment, a man or woman cannot serve as a good soldier in any army.
It is the modern military that finds new slogans that emphasize personal development and individual potential. “Be all that you can be” does not focus on selfless commitment to one’s nation. Such a trend is not unlike the transition experienced in churches that offer a need-based ministry rather than upholding selfless commitment to the Word of God and the cause of Christ.
This push for personal development is associated with a renewed emphasis upon core values and ethics in the military. Every member of the United States Army carries a laminated card entitled “Army Values.” On it are the following words:
Loyalty: Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other soldiers.
Duty: Fulfill your obligations.
Respect: Treat people as they should be treated.
Selfless-Service: Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own.
Honor: Live up to all the Army values.
Integrity: Do what’s right, legally and morally.
Personal Courage: Face fear, danger, or adversity (Physical or Moral).5
Both of my sons serve in the American military. Nathan is now a major in the Army and Timothy is a captain in the Marine Corps. Both have made it clear that moral character is vital to proper military leadership and that values-training in the current military is something that committedChristian officers are uniquely qualified to teach. General John A. Wickham, a past Army Chief of Staff, wrote about the importance of moral character for military leaders. He noted that “one does not develop character in the heat of battle or a moment of crisis. Character grows out of the steady application of moral values and ethical behavior in one’s life.”6 The Christian home and Bible-teaching churches are the best institutions for producing individuals with high moral values and consistent ethical behavior.
If moral character were the only issue, Christians would find military service a simple decision. However, the challenge is far more complicated than that. A number of arguments for a Christian to stay out of the military are as follows:
The military is a profession in which killing people may be a part of the job description.
The military can be a very worldly environment in which Christians can face all kinds of temptations. . . .
Jesus said to love your enemies. . . . In contrast, the military is about hitting the enemy before he hits you.7
Some of the hard things about being a Christian in the military include:
Family separation during deployments can make it tough on the family.
Family separation can be a source of temptation. . . .
It’s hard to be an evangelical witness on the job. . . .
There is a lot of peer pressure to drink alcohol, curse, and party “on the town” in places of ill repute.
You have to be politically correct. . . .
I might have to kill someone someday. . . .8
War is violent and terrible. During the American Civil War in 1862, Confederate troops held a low ridge called Marye’s Heights near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Union troops sent to assault Marye’s Heights had to cross exposed ground. Wave after wave of Union troops charged but were cut down before they could reach the Confederate lines. Over 12,000 were slain. Watching the battle, Gen. Robert E. Lee turned to Gen. James Longstreet, whose men were holding Marye’s Heights, “It is well that war is so terrible; else we would grow too fond of it.”9 Any man, woman, or child who has experienced the horrors of war firsthand knows how awful the toll of war can be. That toll is perhaps the strongest argument (outside Scripture itself) for devoting time to an examination of the Christian’s involvement in the military.
The violence of military conflict creates a natural tension with the normally peaceful nature of Christian living. One must not forget the significance of nonviolence in Christian character and behavior, but must remember the following biblical truths:
Non-violence is preferable to violence (cf. Rom 12:17-21).
Non-violence is more consistent with Christian morals (cf. Matt 5:9, 38-48; 1 Tim 3:3)
However, the Scriptures themselves do not allow the believer to seek peace at any price (cf. John 2:13-17; Acts 23:1-10; 1 Cor 4:19-21; Gal 2:5-14; Eph 5:11; 2 John 9-11; 3 John 9-10). Granted, the situations to which Scripture passages refer are nonmilitary in nature. However, there is a line to be drawn when standing up to the forces of evil. There are occasions in the course of Christian life when there cannot be peace—when it would be unchristian to compromise or to fail to act unpeaceably toward someone. Sometimes Christians shun confrontation while using Christian love, compassion, and mercy as an excuse. That can result in direct disobedience to Scripture—as in the matter of exercising church discipline against a sinning brother or sister in Christ.
Francis Schaeffer declared that “to refuse to do what I can for those under the power of oppressors is nothing less than a failure of Christian love. It is to refuse to love my neighbor as myself.” 10 He went on to say that was why he was not a pacifist: “Pacifism in this poor world in which we live—this lost world—means that we desert the people who need our greatest help.”11 Peace at any price is never right, whether it is in the realm of spiritual warfare, church discipline, or government.
Does a posture in defense of truth and morality include military action? Christian apologists have offered four major views in the search of answers to this question.
Four Views
Nonresistance.
The title chosen for this view reflects the words of Matthew 5:39: “Do not resist him who is evil.”12 However, although physical force may not be employed to resist evil, spiritual means may be enlisted to combat evil (cf. Luke 6:27-36; Rom 12:21; 2 Cor 10:3-4; 2 Tim 2:1-2; Jas 4:7; 1 Pet 5:8-9). In this view the Christian is dedicated to the work of the gospel as his/her highest priority as a citizen of a heavenly kingdom. One may pray for peace and must support the government, but must never be involved in any action that takes the life of another human being. If the unbelieving government needs to fight a war to fulfill its obligations to defend its citizens, let it do so, but no Christian should be an active member of combat troops.13 Christians holding this viewpoint ought to request non-combatant status when fulfilling a military obligation.14
Christian pacifism.15
The basic philosophy undergirding the nonresistance view is also foundational to the Christian pacifist viewpoint. The key difference is that the Christian pacifist will not serve in the military in any role. Whereas the nonresistance adherent may serve in a non-combatant role, the Christian pacifist must be a conscientious objector.16 Views that tend to pacifism rest upon texts in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matt 5:9, 21-26, 38-48). This viewpoint also relies on the Scriptural background of Matthew 5:21 in Exodus 20:13/Deuteronomy 5:17.17 The Christian pacifist believes that Christians are called upon to counteract this world’s warlike tendencies by promoting the spiritual love and peace which Christ exemplified.
Just war.
Adherents to the just war viewpoint have sought to establish guidelines to ensure the exercise of the military option in a just fashion. Those criteria include the following:18
A just cause is basically defensive in posture, not aggressive.
The intent must also be just—the objectives must be peace and the protection of innocent lives.
War must be a matter of last resort when all attempts at reconciliation or peaceful resolution are exhausted.
A just war must be accompanied by a formal declaration by a properly constituted and authorized body.
The objectives must be limited. Unconditional surrender or total destruction are unjust means.19
Military action must be proportionate both in the weaponry employed and the troops deployed.
Non-combatants must be protected and military operations must demonstrate the highest possible degree of discrimination.
Without a reasonable hope for success, no military action should be launched.20
Although the just war position may seem fairly straightforward, it is, in reality, a very complex matter. Consider the possible combinations and interrelationships of the factors: (1) unjust cause and just means; (2) just cause and unjust means; (3) unjust cause and unjust means; and, (4) just cause and just means. Remember, too, that all of these possible combinations apply to at least two different sides in the conflict: friend and foe.21 How should each of the criteria apply to each side in the conflict? “Since human beings of a mind and will are involved on both sides of a conflict, it is often hard to determine what is the just cause in asserting or shunning a ‘just’ hegemony.” 22 War is never simple. It is always complex. It is not a blackand-white matter, nor even gray—if anything, it is blood red.
Preventive war. This view is an extension of the just war position. It supports preemptive action or first-strike options (even with nuclear weapons, when necessary) if an enemy’s aggression is thought to be imminent and unavoidable. Preventive war adherents also advocate the use of military force to recover territory unjustly seized by an aggressor.23 Indeed, such aggressors may be struck without warning while they are residing in their conquered territory in apparent peace.
Governmental Authority in the New Testament
Just war advocates normally base their position on passages revealing the divine origin and approval of government and its functions. Romans 13:1-7 is the cornerstone of this viewpoint. Consider a question in regard to this important text: May Christians wield the government’s biblical sword? The apostle Paul represents the government as a divinely constituted authority (vv. 1, 2).
It was to Paul a matter of little importance whether the Roman emperor was appointed by the senate, the army, or the people; whether the assumption of the imperial authority by Caesar was just or unjust, or whether his successors had a legitimate claim to the throne or not. It was his object to lay down the simple principle, that magistrates are to be obeyed.24
Even though the civil and military assets of the Roman Empire would be employed to slaughter Christians, the Holy Spirit directed the apostle to instruct believers in Rome to submit to the Roman government. Even though the emperors of Rome lived profligate livessteeped in immorality and debauchery, their authority was legitimate. Every believer was to submit to that authority unless the demands of that government directly contradicted divine command (cf. Acts 5:29). All other “resistance is a violation of God’s law and meets with judgment.”25 According to Everett Harrison, the seeming contradiction of Romans 13:1-2 and Acts 5:29 might be handled in two different ways: (1) assume that the apostle merely presents the norm stripped of any possible biblical exception26 and (2) apply the principle of Romans 8:28, trusting that God eventually will “bring good out of apparent evil.”27
The text is also explicit on the role of God-ordained governmental authority: the sword is to be employed in avenging28 wrong (vv. 3, 4). As John Murray explains,
The sword is so frequently associated with death as the instrument of execution (cf. Matt. 26:52; Luke 21:24; Acts 12:2; 16:27; Heb. 11:34, 37; Rev. 13:10) that to exclude its use for this purpose in this instance would be so arbitrary as to bear upon its face prejudice contrary to the evidence.29
Government cannot be passive nor can it avoid actions that might involve the taking of life in order to accomplish its Scriptural mandate. “The Biblical state protects against tyranny from within (crime) and tyranny from without (invasion).” 30 Interestingly, this fact is recognized by all four major views concerning Christian involvement in the military. For some, however, the Christian must not take part in any avenging action, although they would allow non-Christians in the government to do so.
Subjection to governmental authority is not just to avoid punishment for civil disobedience. Subjection is a matter of maintaining a good conscience with regard to one’s obligation to God (v. 5).31 This involves active monetary support for the government by all legitimate forms of taxation (v. 6). Not even the Christian pacifist is given the option of refusing to support the government financially in its military actions.32 Whether the Christian is on the front lines of battle pulling the trigger or serving as a non-combatant or remaining at home as a conscientious objector, each must pay the taxes for that war. By those taxes, every Christian is a participant in that war and the killing that takes place in its progress. An interesting fact is that the very taxes that Paul exhorted the Roman Christians to pay eventually financed Paul’s own execution.
Paul was not the first to experience this irony. Christ Himself ordered the payment of taxes to Caesar and was put to death by Roman soldiers paid by those taxes. Historically, the church has carefully defined a balance of duty for Christians in these matters. Augustine’s statement is representative:
So if anyone thinks that because he is a Christian he does not have to pay taxes or tribute nor show the proper respect to the authorities who take care of these things, he is in very great error. Likewise, if anyone thinks that he ought to submit to the point where he accepts that someone who is his superior in temporal affairs should have authority even over his faith, he falls into an even greater error. But the balance which the Lord himself prescribed is to be maintained: Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s but unto God the things which are God’s (Mt 22:21).33
First Peter 2:13-17 lends support to the submission so carefully delineated in Romans 13:1-7. Peter states quite clearly that such submission is the will of God (1 Pet 2:15). The one who rebels in this area rebels against God. Although this study focuses upon the matter of military service, recognition that the role of the civil police in society is also a function of the avenging arm of government is relevant. If a Christian must avoid military service, neither must that Christian be a police officer. Christian pacifists sometimes attempt to distinguish between police action and military action, allowing the former while denying the legitimacy of the latter.34
Does the NT give any examples of Christians acting as officers of government who bear the responsibility of wielding the avenging sword of Romans 13:4? Are they approved or disapproved? Were converts required to resign from such positions when they entered the early church? Consider the following:
Cornelius was a centurion, a military officer of high rank in a battalion of Roman fighting men (Acts 10:1). Although he was a soldier on active duty, he is described as “devout” (,ÛF,$ZH, eusebs, v. 2), a term that, at the least, describes a man of high moral character and piety. He became a convert to Christ and was baptized publicly (v. 48). The Scripture is silent about his status from that point on.
Sergius Paulus was a proconsul in the Roman government in Cyprus (13:7). A proconsul’s (a Roman provincial governor) authority included ordering the execution of criminals and deploying Roman troops in battle when needed.35 He became a believer (v. 12). The Bible gives no record of any resignation from his office upon becoming a Christian.
Erastus (Rom 16:23) was an active city treasurer even after his conversion. As a government officer he managed the funds that would be utilized in the execution of criminals and the payment of police. As an active official, he could be called upon to wield the Roman sword of authority both figuratively and literally.
Zenas (Titus 3:13) was an active Christian lawyer. In the Roman system of the courts, he played a role in the application of the avenging sword—the application of capital punishment.
Somewhat related to the matter of Christians bearing a sword is the instruction Jesus gave to His disciples for taking prudent measures for self-protection in Luke 22:36. Although it might seem at odds with His teaching in Matthew 26:52, it should be obvious that the two are not mutually exclusive. Luke 22:36 “more likely indicates, not a reversal of normal rules for the church’s mission, but an exception in a time of crisis (cf. ‘but now,’ alla nyn). Jesus is not being ironic but thoroughly serious.”36 In regard to this passage, Loraine Boettner declared, “If we lived under such conditions we would have occasion to become much better acquainted with weapons than we now are.”37
On the basis of the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus, a number of arguments supporting the believer’s participation in the military are the following:38
Jesus’s approval of a king who waged war against wicked people (Matt 21:33-41).
After Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest (John 18:11), Jesus did not tell him to rid himself of his sword, merely to resheath it—for future use?
In John 18:36 Jesus stated that it would have been proper for His disciples to defend His kingdom with swords if it had been an earthly kingdom.
New Testament Analogy
Throughout the Bible the Holy Spirit led the writers in the choice of legitimate metaphors for describing both the character of God and the character of the believer. It is axiomatic that inherently evil vocations or activities are not employed for such descriptions. The simile of the thief (1 Thess 5:4; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15) in eschatological judgment is not an exception to this principle. The text does not say that the Lord is a thief, only that He will come as a thief comes (viz., unexpectedly). The metaphor of a thief is reserved for one who is anti-Christ (cf. John 10:1, 10).
The metaphor of warfare, armor, and the soldier himself is common throughout the NT. The Christian puts on the armor of God (Eph 6:10-20). Each believer is to be a “good soldier” (2 Tim 2:3-4). Believers are to be active participants in waging spiritual warfare (2 Cor 10:1-6). If being a soldier was as inherently wicked as being a prostitute, a thief, or a murderer, the Holy Spirit would not have permitted the writers of the NT to employ that metaphor.
It is hardly conceivable that the Scriptures should present the Christian life under a symbolism having to do so distinctly with soldiering and warfare and at the same time repudiate the reality for which that symbolism stands as always and everywhere wrong.39
In addition, that Christ Himself will engage in actual, blood-shedding, lifetaking warfare when He returns to set up His kingdom (Rev 19:11-21) is significant. He cannot be the Righteous One, the Holy One, if war is inherently evil and the combatant’s role satanic. When He comes, the Lord will instruct His people to engage in that future warfare (cf. Obad 15-21). Would He demand His people to commit sin? Of course not! Therefore, warfare cannot be inherently sinful.
Christians in Military Service
Why should a Christian serve in the military?40 Are there any positive points to be advanced for such service? Soldiers at war are serving in a situation that can only be described spiritually as desperate. Men occupy a position where death is a real possibility for them to experience—a horrible and agonizing death by violent means. Such men are in desperate need of the gospel and the ministry of Christians. War itself creates an atmosphere of destruction and inhumanity. Violent deeds may bring out the very worst of the sinful nature’s traits. Christians may need to stand in the gap in order to maintain decency, order, and just action.
Such a thing as a just war may also occur. World War II could very well make the claim of being a just war.41 Doubtless, there are others and will be others. War is the result of sin (cf. Jas 4:1-2), but war itself is not necessarily sin. “The one who takes original sin seriously knows that life is lived on a descending escalator and that it is a tough job even to stand still.”42 It becomes all too clear to any sound theological thinking that the rejection of the employment of force might be a recipe for anarchy or tyranny attended by multiplied suffering and death for many innocent people. That is why all four major views of Christian involvement in war uphold the right of a state to maintain a standing army and to order it onto the field of battle. The issue is the degree of individual Christian involvement. “All violence is caused by sin, but not all violence is necessarily sinful—it may even be the occasion of virtue when it calls for courage and self-sacrifice.”43 In short, the need is for men who will stand for God and for His Word in the world—including in the military among soldiers who need the gospel.
The Christian’s Conscience
Certain principles of Christian action apply even to considering participation in the military. Each believer is accountable to God (cf. Acts 5:29). No believer can leave this decision to someone else. Each Christian has liberty to determine the will of God for his or her life (cf. Romans 14). Part of that determination must take into account the dual citizenship of the Christian as being in the world while not being of the world (cf. John 15:19; 17:11).44
Consider the matter of prayer. Do Christians pray that the Lord Jesus will return soon? In point of fact, we are praying that
the whole pitiless machinery of war may go forward to bring, if possible, a speedy conclusion. It is mangled bodies, tortured minds, orphaned children that we are concerned with. There will be unstable children growing up to be parents of unstable homes, till the third and fourth generation, as a result of our war.45
Do Christians pray for the deliverance of Christians from persecution in places like China, the Sudan, and Pakistan? Do Christians pray for the release of the missionaries held hostage in Colombia? What will be the outcome if those prayers are answered by God? Christ eventually will come to judge those who have rejected Him and the gospel concerning Him. God may choose, in the meantime, to utilize war in China, the Sudan, or Pakistan to accomplish the deliverance of His people from persecution. The answer to these prayers may be war. Do believers know what they are praying? Any who have prayed these prayers cannot claim to have hands free of blood just because they have refused to be a soldier in their nation’s military.
Christians should not too hastily claim the role of “peacemaker” (Matt 5:9). Such a role is not necessarily antagonistic to the role of a warrior. Christ’s employment of the Greek term (,ÆD0<@B@4`H, eirnopoios) is the only Scriptural occurrence. Outside Scripture it is found only as a description of Caesar who wielded the sword of military might to produce the pax Romana. 46 A true peacemaker will not make peace at any price nor will he or she shun the employment of legitimate force to produce that peace.
Conclusion
The issue is not one that can be decided quickly nor easily. No believer dare take the matter lightly. It is a difficult matter that involves the conscience of believers and perhaps even their Christian liberty. Note John the Baptizer’s response to the soldiers who inquired what they should do as works that would appropriately result from repentance:
And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.” 47
They were not told to resign from their vocation as soldiers, but to be content in that position with the wages it paid. Their behavior was to be just and honest—even while remaining soldiers. They were not instructed to resign, the life of a soldier not being viewed as inimical to true repentance. Ultimately, however, John’s instruction must be recognized as a pre-Christian declaration. Also, it was directed at those already in the military, not to those who might consider joining. These tensions have been recognized since the earliest centuries of the Christian church.48 The passage is offered here as a catalyst for further study. Has its teaching been revoked or revised by Christ or the apostles? What are its logical and theological implications in the context of all the rest of Scripture’s teachings on this subject?
The issue of war might be ignored for a time, but every individual must, at some time, come to grips with it personally. Peter Craigie described his encounter with the issue in the following way:
When I was a theological student, I worried about the “holy war” problem in the OT and sought the advice of a professor for further reading. He recommended one or two commentaries and von Rad’s Der heilige Krieg im alten Israel (“The Holy War in Ancient Israel”). I went off to study and found a mass of material of linguistic, historical, and cultural interest. But I found nothing which spoke to my problem, the theological anxiety I had about the identification of God with war. One cannot generalize from a single experience, yet I have met a large number of clergy since that time who experienced the same problem in their theological training.49
It is up to each believer to go to the Word of God in order to study this issue for himself/herself. Each believer’s good conscience is at stake in the decision. It is the opinion of this writer that the just war viewpoint offers the greatest consistency with the overall view of both the OT and the NT. Such a viewpoint ought not to be imposed on any individual believer, however. Perhaps the Scripture’s silence about any resignation from military service by converted soldiers on active duty is but an indication that the matter falls in the realm of freedom of conscience rather than the realm of absolute morality. That is the best answer to the question, “Should a Christian be a member of the military?”
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1 An excellent compendium of key discu ssion s in the pa st is to be fou nd in Arthu r F. H olmes, ed., War and Christian Ethics (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1975). The volume includes declarations of pagan philosophers as well as le ade rs in Christen dom (Plato, Cicero, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius, Ambrose, Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Erasmus, Menno Simons, Francisco Suarez, Hugo Grotius, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, G . W. F. Hege l, Lyman Abbott, Reinhold Niebuhr, Robert Drinan, and Paul Ramsey). Cf. Roland H. B ainton, Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace: A Historical Survey and Critical Re-evaluation (Nashville: Abingdon, 196 0). See als o A dolf Harnack, Militia Christi: The Christian Religion and the Military in the First Three Centuries, trans. by D avid McInnes Gracie (P hilad elph ia: Fortress, 1981), a work first published in German in 1905.
2Cf. Robert A. Morey, When Is It Right to Fight? (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1985) 23-25. In regard to the example of Abraham in Genesis 14, Lot and his family w ere not descendants of Abraham, therefore the action cannot be legitimized by appealing to the Abrahamic Covenant. Likewise, for those who would point to the uniqueness of Israel’s situation in the OT with regard to war, Genesis 14 was prior to Israel’s existence.
3 Second Timothy 3:16— all Scripture quotations are from the NASB unless noted otherwise.
4 Peter C. Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 16. This volume provides an outstanding study of the issue in th e OT in order to encourage a resolution to the problem of Christian involvement in militarism and war.
5 Headquarters, Department of the Army , “Army Values,” http://www.hqda.army.mil/ocsa/values.htm (30 Jan. 20 00).
6 John A. Wickham, Jr., “Leading—A Commentary,” Army Organizational Effectiveness Journal 1 (1985):6.
7 Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general, was reminiscing with Gen. John Hunt Morgan about their exploits in Tennessee and Kentucky in the summer of 1862. Morgan wanted to know how Forrest had captured the garrison and stores at Murfreesboro in spite of federal forces filling the surrounding countryside. Forrest replied, “I just took the short cut and got there first with the most men.” His answer has been enshrined as “I got there fustest with the mostest.” Cf. Clifton Fadiman, ed., The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1985 ) 214. Forrest’s statement aptly describes the nature of military engagement and the concept of preemptive strike.
8 Capt. Timothy Edward Barrick, personal communication, 7 Feb 2000. The downing of Iran Air 655 by the USS Vincennes on July 3, 1988, is an illustration of the final point made by Capt. Barrick. In the midst of a firefight with Iranian gunboats, the Vincennes mistook the civilian airliner for an attacking military aircraft and s hot it d own with surface -to-air missiles ta king the lives of 290 civilians from six nations.
9 Fadiman, ed., The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes 348.
10Fran cis A. Schaeffer, “The Secular Humanist World View V ersus the Christian Wo rld View and Biblical Perspec tives o n M ilitary Prepa redn ess,” in Fran cis Schaeffer, Vladimmir Bukovsky, and James Hitchcock, Who Is for Peace? (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983) 23.
11 Ibid. Schaeffer uses the illustration of the obligation of Christian love to stop (by any means necessary) a big man from beating a tiny tot to death, if one were to come upon such atrocious conduct (23-24 ).
12 Matt 5:39 is best interpreted as a reference to personal interaction with other individuals in daily conduct, not interaction between armies or governments in a time of war.
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