Christians, Jews, and Muslims all share the fundamental belief that God is compassionate and just. So then, why do some members of those same communities believe that it is their moral obligation to wage aggressive holy war, even to annihilate innocent people in God’s name? Religious violence can take on a particularly intense and ruthless character, if the objects of that violence are seen as blaspheming or insulting God.
The problem of holy war is extremely difficult for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The idea of eliminating it from within is impossible because it’s so deeply rooted in their scriptural traditions. The same religious traditions that affirm God to be compassionate, merciful, and just, also include more disturbing claims that promote religious hatred and intolerance, and sadly have provided a rationale for aggressive holy war, and the atrocities that holy wars always engender.
Since the Hebrew Bible is considered sacred by all three traditions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), it makes a good starting point for a discussion on holy war.
The Mosaic commandment prohibiting murder is found in the book of Exodus 20:13. Why is murder wrong? Essentially because people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27, 9:6). From this, one might infer that no killing of persons would be allowed at all, that the concept of human beings as made in God’s image would entail strict pacifism, and an absolute duty not to kill people.
But that is not what the ancient Hebrews concluded, since many offenses were subject to capital punishment (Exodus 21-22). So in the Hebrew interpretation, all persons have a basic right not to be killed, but they can forfeit that right if they commit a serious enough crime. God demanded purity and strict obedience, and idolatry and blasphemy were punishable by death (Exodus 20:3, 5). This is inconsistent with punishing only those guilty of crimes (Deuteronomy 24:16) and limiting the use of deadly force to the defense of innocent others or oneself.
In the Islamic tradition, there is a similar mixture of values restraining war along with others promoting it. The Qur’an repeatedly refers to God as compassionate and just. It also says that “there is no compulsion in religion” (2:256): submission to God must be freely chosen, not forced (Ali). Furthermore, The Qur’an urges Muslims to use “beautiful preaching” to persuade people to accept Islam and to “argue nicely” with Jews and Christians who are seen as worshipping the same God as their own (16:125, 29:46, Firestone). And, this is probably the attitude of most Muslims today.
Anyone who infers a mandate to wage indiscriminate, offensive war from Qur’an 9:5, “Kill the idolaters wherever you find them,” could only do so by ignoring the particular historical context of that passage. There are many scriptures found elsewhere in The Qur’an that urge defensive and limited uses of force only. Such is the case in Qur’an 2:190, “Fight in the path of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits, for God does not love transgressors,” and numerous other verses praising patience in adversity and nonviolent preaching (Firestone).
Jesus Christ, in spite of the loving and peaceful tenor of his teachings, did occasionally show anger, like when he confronted the merchants in the Temple (John 2:13-16). Some New Testament passages also appear to accept the idea of a military, if not explicitly praise it: Roman soldiers who met Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul were not asked by any of them to abandon their vocation (Luke-Acts 3 and 7; 10 and 27). There’s even a passage where Jesus seems to permit his disciples to carry swords, and by implication to use them in some situations, though that passage appears only in Luke 22 and is very ambiguous. Jesus also claimed to have the authority to call on legions of angels to protect him. But Jesus held back because that action would have conflicted with his sacrificial mission (Matthew 26). Paul in Chapter 13 of his letter to the Romans declared, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” He who is in authority “is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.” This text was cited by many later Christians as divine justification for military force.
Here on SpiriutalTextsOnline.com, I’d like to offer some theological suggestions in response to holy war:
- Hold firmly to the idea that God is compassionate and just.
- Abandon the idea that God ever commanded or condoned the mass murder of innocent people.
- Consider the possibility that it is not blasphemous to believe that God’s actions are limited by objective moral principles.
- Let compassion temper our fury and restrain us from waging wars of annihilation.
- Lexter N. Gaines
