Why do Christians fight wars?

©Shawn  Murphy, Hamilton Bermuda, 2001

 

Jesus’ highest commandment is; “Love your neighbor as yourself and God above all.” So how can someone who calls himself a Christian (a believer in Jesus Christ) also support war? The answer to this question lays of course in the Old Testament, but only in the modern interpretation of it. Let us examine this issue at the character in the Old Testament who binds together Christianity and Judaism with Islam: Abram.

Recent archeological findings have dated Abram’s life to the 22nd century BC. That is a full millennium before Moses. Although Abram was a very good man, (he is also categorized as a Prophet) he did not have access to the many teachings of Yahweh to Israelites, including the Ten Commandments. Therefore, when god told him to sacrifice his son Isaac, he would have not readily known that this violates God’s Law. How could God, who is All-Loving, All-Knowing, All-Wise and All-Logical have told anyone to violate one of His Laws? This would be illogical and out of character. We know, just by observing God’s creation, that its Creator could not possibly be illogical, having created such perfect physical laws. Exactly as the physical laws that He created, His Spiritual Laws do not change over time. You see, just because Abram did not know the Ten Commandments, does not mean that they did not exist in principle. It was just as wrong when Cain killed Abel, as it was when 19 terrorists killed over 6000 on 11 September 2001.

So if God did not tell Abram to kill Isaac, then who did? And more importantly, what else did he tell Abram to do? First we must closely examine all of the times that “God”, “the Lord” or “an Angel of God” talked to Abram and see if there could have been other times that Abram was misled. Since God’s Laws are universal, they CANNOT change over time. So, anything that Jesus taught about God’s Laws has been valid from the beginning of time. We can, therefore, use Jesus’ teachings to test anytime that God, the Lord, or an Angel of God spoke in order to determine if this message truly came from God.

I will not go through all of the many occasions in detail, but there are three in which it is highly unlikely that Abram was talking to God. In Genesis 17:1-23, there are two things that are uncharacteristic of God and Jesus: name changing and circumcision. In an age where people change their names like they change their bed sheets, it does not seem to be important that the lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. Contrary to modern belief names are of enormous importance. They are so important, that an Angel of God appeared to both Mary and Elizabeth to tell them what name to give to their children before they were born. Such names are not changed lightly! Yahweh called her Sarai, which means “My Princess” and this lord changed that to Sarah, meaning just “Princess”. This lord also defiled God’s creation of man. If God had wanted man to be circumcised, He would have done it in the first place. In addition, Jesus never asked for a physical sign of belief, ever.

As previously mentioned, in Genesis 22:1-2 this lord tells Abram to physically sacrifice his son Isaac, strictly defying the Sixth Commandment and the teaching of Jesus Christ. Some say that God was testing Abram. In a way He was, but Abram failed God’s test and an Angel of God (Jesus/Yahweh) had to intervene at that last moment to stop Abram from killing his son, thus foiling this lord’s interference with God’s plan for Isaac.

Genesis 18:1-33 provides a very enlightening piece of the puzzle. Abram sees three travelers, one of which is spoken to as “lord”. During the whole time that these three are with Abram, he acts strange. First of all, if the Lord God had arrived, why would he not be anxious for his wife to come and see Him? Instead, he actually tries to keep her hidden in the tent. Secondly, Abram says he will offer a few morsels of bread, but actually slaughters this best calf and prepares a huge meal for only these three. This meal is very much like the sacrificial meals eaten by priests in Egypt and at other pagan temples. Jesus never needed to be so well fed and He always invited everyone to partake His meals. Thirdly, why would Abram belligerently interrogate the Lord God or an Angel of God in the way he did from verse 22 to 33?

Is it possible Abram recognized these three visitors as not being Angels of God? Pagans have worshiped three gods for tens of thousands of years, and it is extraordinary that three Angels would appear at the same time. The Canaanites worshiped Baal, Astarte, and Anat. The three gods of the Egyptians, Amon (lion/sphinx), Horus (falcon), and Hathor (cow), have been the most prominently preserved in stone and hieroglyphics. The Greeks saw these gods in a number of different roles. Poseidon, the ruler of the bitter sea and Hercules depicted wearing a lion’s skin are two illustrations of the same under-world ruler Baal. Aphrodite and Athene were his trusted helpers. Neptune, Venus, and Minerva reigned over the Romans. Is it possible that the lord speaking to Abram in these versus is Baal and that Astarte and Anat are accompanying him? It is conceivable, at this late stage of Abram’s life, that he finally sees the lord who had spoken to him numerous times in the past for who he really is? This would explain why Abram was extremely scared for himself and his family, when he realized that all three of the pagan gods had arrived to tempt him.

Through this analysis, we have narrowed down the candidates for this mysterious lord to only one likely candidate. He is the one with many names, whom we first encounter in Genesis 2:9 as “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. The one who has been tempting mankind from the time of Adam and Eve. Baal, Amon, and Poseidon are just a few of Lucifer’s many names.

Christians tend to ignore his existence, but a holistic analysis of the Old Testament, as I have attempted to show a framework for, illustrates how the battle between Good and evil has been fought. This explanation eliminates many contradictions within the Old Testament when you realize that God was not the source of blood shed and physical sacrifice, but rather how He was there to support His followers who were subject to it.

Abram, Moses, David and Jesus all led exemplary lives. But when you look closely, only Jesus led a perfect life, living exactly as He preached. The others did many great things, but Lucifer fooled them all into doing things that were not the Will of God. I specifically used Abram in this example because he is the common character in the Torah, the Koran, and the Christian Bible. We all must recognize where these failures occurred before we use the Old Testament (also Torah and Koran) to interpret His Will and His Laws.

Jesus/Yahweh, Who’s Kingdom is not of this world, asks for spiritual sacrifice and encourages us to fight spiritual battles of Good versus evil.

The one, whose kingdom is of this world, asks for blood sacrifice and encourages us to fight earthly battles based on hate, greed, envy and prejudice.

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Citable publication date: 5 October, 2001
Page last updated on 10 January, 2005