The early church and the military
I hate back-and-forth blog references, but I thought I’d share this. Commenting on one of my recent posts, Andrew offers a correction of the following point I made:
Of course, for the first few centuries of its existence, Christians were not permitted to join the military. After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire, one could not join the military unless one was a Christian. How far we’ve come from the originating impulse of the first Christians, and how far away we remain.
He replies:
To be fair, the early Christians were forbidden to serve in the Roman military because it typically involved making occasional sacrifices to pagan gods, not because of an objection to the military service itself. Indeed, we have early saints such as St. Maurice…, a Catholic African who served in the Roman military, and of course St. Alban as well.
And his suggestion? That more, not less, Catholics should serve in the military, basing this view, in part, on the following frequently parroted passage from the Catechism:
Those who are sworn to serve their country in the armed forces are servants of the security and freedom of nations. If they carry out their duty honorably, they truly contribute to the common good of the nation and the maintenance of peace. (#2310)
To really be fair, the early Christians did not serve in the military for both reasons: they abhorred its violence as well as the idolatry involved. These two reasons are not in competition, as many assume when they argue for one over the other as an explanation for their refusal to serve. Rather, both realities—violence and idolatry—were intimately related. The religio of the empire demanded sacrifice: that soldiers kill and be willing to be killed.
The same idolatry exists today in our own imperial reality. The Catechism passage he quoted is nice, but it says nothing about the conditions under which it would be impossible for a Catholic to serve in the military. Surely the Church is not teaching us that it is always and everywhere honorable to serve in the military. I think we need to ask the hard question of whether it is really honorable to serve in the united states military as it exists in the present rather than relying on universal teachings such as the one quoted which give no concrete guidance for Christian discipleship.
I seem to recall an objection to war on Catholic grounds, something along the lines of modern industrial/technological weaponry making it impossible to go to war on ‘just war’ principles, because of what is euphemistically called ‘collatoral damage’. If this is so, that it is no longer possible to engage in just war because of ANY modern war’s destructive power, then a Catholic could no longer join or remain in a modern military force or they would otherwise be party to engaging in slaughter. Is this not so?
Chris, I think you’re right. Especially because in the U.S. soldiers are not allowed selective conscientious objection.
as a conscientious objector, i believe that there is no question that the early church saw the violence as well as the idolatry and rejected military service. today there is not much difference, however. there is certainly still the violence. but playing the devil’s advocate, what if the early church was only rejecting the service because of idolatry??
even still, there is an idolatry in our service, the USA. yes, that sounds funny. how can it be idolatry you may ask?
i (and all members of the armed forces) made a commitment to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. we committed to protecting USA. we put the USA first. we defend the USA against ANY enemies. what happens if as bob dylan says, “we [dont] have God on our side.” what if we do have God on our side, but it is like God using Babylon to judge Israel? i do not believe it is possible to make a commitment to defend USA from anything, because that is placing the USA in the place of God alone. i will not fight God to “defend” USA.
anyway, there is much more to non-violence than this, however, i believe modern militaries are just as much of an idolatry as the roman army of the past.
peter
Peter, I agree with you about the idolatry of modern militaries, especially the U.S. military. I think the argument that the early Church opposed military service only because of idolatry is weak, simply due to the sheer volume of texts in which violence is condemned.
M, thanks for the comment. It appears to me that the State as we know it today is Antichrist, gestating ever since the tragedy of Anagni (the outrage against Pope Boniface VIII) and any true soldier and true Catholic would do well to refuse service.
As a Mennonite, I believe that violence is an impossible element in the process of forgiveness and reconciliation, two chief marks of the church which should stand to judge the validity of all actions by all said disciples-of-Jesus. The very honorable sentiment which I find in friends which decide to join the us military, is a concern in protecting their family. Those said disciples who begin by wanting to protect the USA, I think, cannot even begin to justify a truthful deduction of their reasoning, without the protection of their family involving an idolatrous replacement of the sovereignty and divine rule of God, with the protection of the us state as it remains, and the inevitable consequences that follow (without Guantanamo, my family will not be safe. if we do not bomb them, how can my family be protected?.) Every step on the ladder leads to further justifications for military blunders, but the step is taken, because “this is what it takes for my family to be protected.” If indeed, Christian academics are to stimulate the imagination and truthful dialectical/prayerful spirit of thinking Christians who contemplate the us military, perhaps the characteristics of God through the history of the Jewish people should be the point of departure. The origins of the state in the Hebrew Scriptures are a disobedience against God, which I find hard to get around. Paul’s writings, by most pro-military theological standards, by their nature, authorize the existence and actions of any ruler, simply because God is in charge of history.
Anyone who reads this blog is well aware of the contradictions involved in violence. But those who justify it, doubtlessly, seem to be unmoved by propositions. The regeneration of the heart in and through the lives of the weak and wretched is a seemingly impossible thing to propositionalize and sell. There is nothing appealing about it, but for those whose hearts are close to Christ. Sobrino calls it the principle of mercy—involved and interwoven in everything relating to the life and actions of Christ.
Propositions have their place, but we must all remember that it is the mysterious, inscrutable presence of the whisper of God’s spirit in those who have not felt or known it before, that change people. Only literature can even come close to describing it. All of our ideas and indignations, doubtless, fall to sand in the midst of the mysterious presence of God’s visitation in places he has not been let in before.
To make sure I finish this in a way which is more intellectually honest: The human heart needs God to move it to a place where it can reconcile propositions with its experience.
Michael,
As a gay Catholic and part time liturgist, I think you have nailed it. I don’t see how service in our present military system can be honorable at all, especially when it espouses demeaning practices such as “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Sure there may be isolated “heroics” here and there, but I think they pale in comparision to the INJUSTICE gay service members suffer on a daily basis.
I am a Christian and am in training to become a minister at my church
THIS IS WHAT GOD THINKS OF ARMIES
Isaiah 34:2
The LORD is angry with all nations;
his wrath is upon all their armies.
THIS IS WHAT GOD THINKS OF WAR
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
For though we live in the world,
we do not wage war as the world does.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
Isaiah 2:4
... Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
In true love always your Christian brother
David