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Love your enemies
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<blockquote data-quote="ViaCrucis" data-source="post: 76486356" data-attributes="member: 293637"><p>This is lay at the heart of Christian ethics. In Christ, God came loving those who were His enemies--a world of hostile sinners that ultimately put Him to death. So when Christ commands that we love our enemy, He means what He says. St. Paul elaborates further in Romans ch. 12 that if our enemy is hungry, give them food, if our enemy is thirsty give them drink.</p><p></p><p>Violent retaliation is not permissible for the Christian.</p><p></p><p>There may be arguments to be made where the evil of violence is necessitated by a far greater evil.an obvious, and arguably cliche', example would be the response to Adolf Hitler. For example Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was devoutly committed to Christian non-violence; and yet ultimately partook in a plot to kill Hitler (for which he would later be hanged). Bonhoeffer writes that there may be times when the clear course of ethical action is not clear, and in these instances all one can do is make a leap of faith, know that we shall be judged righteously on the Last Day, and trust in God's grace which is ours in Christ.</p><p></p><p>Bonhoeffer, when he partook of the plot, did not partake of it lightly, but he regarded allowing Hitler to continue living, and the continuation of the Nazi regime, to be a far greater evil than the use of violence to exterminate Hitler and cut off the head of the beast.</p><p></p><p>The reality of evil does not itself justify further evil through violence; but there may be times when in order to minimize, lessen, or reduce suffering that a violent course of action may be necessitated. This should never be considered in itself "good", but rather justified by circumstance out of the true conviction that the most minimal amount of violence may be necessitated to curb evil and preserve safety and security for our neighbor.</p><p></p><p>Is there an easy, one size fits all solution to every issue and circumstance? It's unlikely. The world is far too complicated and messy for that. At the end of the day the primary concern must always be the well-being of our neighbors--and that includes our enemies.</p><p></p><p>-CryptoLutheran</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ViaCrucis, post: 76486356, member: 293637"] This is lay at the heart of Christian ethics. In Christ, God came loving those who were His enemies--a world of hostile sinners that ultimately put Him to death. So when Christ commands that we love our enemy, He means what He says. St. Paul elaborates further in Romans ch. 12 that if our enemy is hungry, give them food, if our enemy is thirsty give them drink. Violent retaliation is not permissible for the Christian. There may be arguments to be made where the evil of violence is necessitated by a far greater evil.an obvious, and arguably cliche', example would be the response to Adolf Hitler. For example Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was devoutly committed to Christian non-violence; and yet ultimately partook in a plot to kill Hitler (for which he would later be hanged). Bonhoeffer writes that there may be times when the clear course of ethical action is not clear, and in these instances all one can do is make a leap of faith, know that we shall be judged righteously on the Last Day, and trust in God's grace which is ours in Christ. Bonhoeffer, when he partook of the plot, did not partake of it lightly, but he regarded allowing Hitler to continue living, and the continuation of the Nazi regime, to be a far greater evil than the use of violence to exterminate Hitler and cut off the head of the beast. The reality of evil does not itself justify further evil through violence; but there may be times when in order to minimize, lessen, or reduce suffering that a violent course of action may be necessitated. This should never be considered in itself "good", but rather justified by circumstance out of the true conviction that the most minimal amount of violence may be necessitated to curb evil and preserve safety and security for our neighbor. Is there an easy, one size fits all solution to every issue and circumstance? It's unlikely. The world is far too complicated and messy for that. At the end of the day the primary concern must always be the well-being of our neighbors--and that includes our enemies. -CryptoLutheran [/QUOTE]
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