War, Christianity, and the State

June 25th, 2013

Peter Nolan

Recently
by Laurence M. Vance: Dumb
Law, Dumber Preacher

Introduction
to Laurence M. Vance, War,
Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian
Militarism (Vance Publications, 2013), 416 pgs., paperback,
$19.95.

These essays,
although organized under four headings, have one underlying theme:
the relation of Christianity to war, the military, and the warfare
state. If there is any group of people that should be opposed to
war, torture, militarism, and the warfare state with its suppression
of civil liberties, imperial presidency, government propaganda,
and interventionist foreign policy it is Christians, and especially
conservative, evangelical, and fundamentalist Christians who claim
to strictly follow the dictates of Scripture and worship the Prince
of Peace.

These seventy-six
essays also have one thing in common – they were all published
on the premier anti-state, anti-war, pro-market website, LewRockwell.com,
during the period from October 29, 2003, to March 28, 2013. The
vast majority of them first appeared on and were written exclusively
for that website. LewRockwell.com is the brainchild of Lew Rockwell,
the founder and chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn,
Ala., and a leading opponent of the central state, its wars, and
its socialism.

Thirty-five
of the essays contained in this work originally appeared in the
second edition of the author’s book Christianity
and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State, published
in 2008. Four of them appeared there and in that book’s first edition,
published in 2005. In addition to essays relating to Christianity
and war and Christianity and the military, that book also included
essays on war and peace, the military, the war in Iraq, other wars,
and the U.S. global empire. Although a third edition was planned,
two things served to redirect my intentions.

Because the
second edition had already grown in size to seventy-nine essays
in 432 pages and I had written so much on these subjects since its
publication early in 2008, a third edition would just be too large
of a book if I tried to include everything I had written on these
subjects since the publication of the second edition. Additionally,
since one part of the book and much additional material consisted
of essays with a decidedly Christian theme, while the other part
of the book and much additional material was more secular in nature,
it seemed best to organize the existing and new material along these
themes. So, instead of issuing an unwieldy one volume third edition,
I opted to collect all of the former material into War, Christianity,
and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian Militarism,
and issue the latter material in a companion volume titled War,
Empire, and the Military: Essays on the Follies of War and U.S.
Foreign Policy.

Each essay
is reprinted verbatim, with the exception of the correction of a
few minor errors. It should be noted, however, that the original
spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are followed in all quotations.
Because they were published on the Internet, most of the essays
originally contained numerous links to documentation and further
information on the Web that the reader could click on if he desired.
Because this feature is not possible in a printed format, the reader
is encouraged to consult the online versions of each essay at LewRockwell.com
where they are archived. Many of the essays also originally included
pictures, which, for space considerations, are not included here.

Although many
of these essays reference contemporary events, the principles discussed
in all of them are timeless: war, militarism, the warfare state,
and especially the proper Christian attitude toward these things.
The essays in each chapter are listed in their order of publication.
Each chapter as well as its individual essays can be read in any
order.

In chapter
1, “Christianity and War,” Christian enthusiasm for war
and the military is shown to be an affront to the Saviour, contrary
to Scripture, and a demonstration of the profound ignorance many
Christians have of history. In chapter 2, “Christianity and
the Military,” the idea that Christians should have anything
to do with the military is asserted to be illogical, immoral, and
unscriptural. In chapter 3, “Christianity and the Warfare State,”
I argue that Christians who condone the warfare state, its senseless
wars, its war on a tactic (terrorism), its nebulous crusades against
“evil,” its aggressive militarism, its interventions into
the affairs of other countries, and its expanding empire have been
duped. In chapter 4, “Christianity and Torture,” I contend
that it is reprehensible for Christians to support torture for any
reason.

The books listed
at the close under “For Further Reading” include not only
some of the more important books referenced in the essays, but other
recommended works that relate in some way to Christianity and war,
the military, and the warfare state. Most of them are available
from Amazon.com. The inclusion of any book should not be taken as
a blanket endorsement of everything contained in the book or anything
else written by the author.

It is my desire
in all of these essays to show that war and militarism are incompatible
with biblical Christianity.

June
25, 2013

Laurence
M. Vance [send him mail]
writes from central Florida. He is the author of King
James, His Bible, and Its Translators, The
Revolution that Wasn’t, Rethinking
the Good War, The
War on Drugs Is a War on Freedom, and Social
Insecurity. His latest book is War,
Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian
Militarism. Visit his
website.