And another nice graphic (from Sustainable Traditions)
Tag Archives: Evangelicals and war
Note to Followers of Spurgeon on War
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“The thought of slain bodies and of murdered men must always harrow up the soul…if we should see at our doors the marks of carnage and bloodshed; then should we more thoroughly appreciate what war means.”–C. H. Spurgeon
*You who follow do not receive many notices as this is more of a resource page of key quotes from Spurgeon on War And Christians, rather than a blog of regular postings. Farming makes it hard for me to look for opportunities to share this blog during the summer and fall. For those who care about this topic, your help is needed in keeping this alive.
Thank you to all who are able to help. Blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ.
*[For opportunities to share: search key words on facebook and twitter, such as #Spurgeon, #Christiansoldiers #evangelicals #pacifism #war #Gospel …and then look for posts where this bears on the conversation, or, in the case of Spurgeon fans, directs them to these little known quotes. On facebook, many Christian organizations are open for comments. ]
Great Summary on War a la Spurgeon
“We are up to the hilt advocates for peace, and we earnestly war against war. I wish that Christian men would insist more and more on the unrighteousness of war, believing that Christianity means no sword, no cannon, no bloodshed, and that, if a nation is driven to fight in its own defence, Christianity stands by to weep and to intervene as soon as possible, and not to join in the cruel shouts which celebrate an enemy’s slaughter. . . . Today, then, my brethren, I beg you to join with me in seeking renewal.”
From An All-Round Ministry, (Charles Spurgeon’s Annual Conference Addresses at the Pastors College), “A New Departure.” [SIXTEENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, Spring 1880]
“Mr. Spurgeon always regarded the Conference week as one of the most important of the whole year; and he devoted much time, and thought, and care, and prayer to the preparation of his Addresses to the hundreds of ministers and students…”
Few have seen these ‘Lost Quotes’ of Charles Spurgeon. Please Share!
[Apologies for the “Lost” hype. Not actually Lost, but Censored by Spurgeon’s Overlords, following in the footsteps of Twitter Jack and Zuckerberg]
SCROLL DOWN for more Key Quotes from Spurgeon
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[A new, ‘stand alone’ web page has been put up for my book on Christian Pacifism (link), the journey of a twenty-something Christian and Marine.]
Top Twitter comment:
@textsincontext Wow-this is REALLY cool. I had never read Spurgeon on war!? I actually DO wish this would break the internet :)
C. H. Spurgeon: “…nothing can be more abhorrent to the Christian man than wholesale slaughter.”
Hiroshima After the Bomb, 1945; 75th Anniversary, August 6, 2020
I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives.—Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (to Sec. of War before the dropping of the bomb)
The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan.
— Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
The atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war at all.
— Major General Curtis LeMay
The first atomic bomb was an unnecessary experiment … It was a mistake to ever drop it … [the scientists] had this toy and they wanted to try it out, so they dropped it …
— Fleet Admiral William Halsey, Jr
Living our Resurrection Faith, Following our King
How shall we know to which king an army belongs unless we can see the royal standard? –Charles Spurgeon
First Published by Friends United Press
For more see the ‘look inside’ feature at:
For Nook or PC
$3
A Biblical view, a journey from U.S. Marine to Christian pacifist…
[Note: Both Barnes and Noble and Amazon have a free “look inside”/”read sample” feature. Follow the link/s above]
Other reviews on Amazon Kindle Books
[Originally published by Friends United Press (currently out of print, ebook ony, link/s above, some used print version copies can be found). This is my personal testimony to the change wrought in my life when I began to examine it as I struggled to align my path with that narrow way charted by Scripture. Aside from the obvious teachings of Jesus, there were many surprises in the Old Testament.
This book gives an overview of my journey and those Scriptures that confronted me. For an academic work on Scripture and war, see Dr. Preston Sprinkle’s new book, Fight, published by David C. Cook, and the classic, Yahweh is a Warrior by Mennonite scholar Millard Lind. ]
To believe the promise of Jesus that his followers shall possess the earth, and at the same time to face our enemies unarmed and defenseless, preferring to incur injustice rather than to do wrong ourselves, is indeed a narrow way. – Dietrich Bomhoeffer (The Cost of Discipleship)
Jesus’ kingship is not something that remains in the future. Christ is King right this minute. —R.C. Sproul
Now don’t be fooled again, if you hear of the English conquering in China, don’t go down on your knees and thank God for it, and say it’s such a heavenly thing for the spread of the gospel — it just is not….Hush thy trump, O war; put away thy gaudy trappings and thy bloodstained drapery, if thou thinkest that the cannon with the cross upon it is really sanctified, and if thou imaginest that thy banner hath become holy, thou dreamest of a lie. God wanteth not thee to help his cause. “It is not by armies, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord” (“Independence of Christianity”)
American Evangelicals and War
Christian militarism is a betrayal of Christ
–from Washington Times, Wednesday, January 9, 2013 – Higher Things by Vasko Kohlmayer
Washington Times links above no longer work. Published also, HERE
Christians, Truth, and War’s Fruit
“..the truth as to war must be more and more insisted on: the loss of time, labour, treasure, and life must be shown, and the satanic crimes to which it leads must be laid bare. It is the sum of all villainies, and ought to be stripped of its flaunting colours, and to have its bloody horrors revealed; its music should be hushed, that men may hear the moans and groans, the cries and shrieks of dying men and ravished women….”
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Charles Spurgeon: Quotes
If there is anyone who should be opposed to strife and bloodshed it is the man that names the name of Christ. Spurgeon considered the spirit of war to be absolutely foreign to the spirit of Christianity….
Modern conservative, fundamentalist, and evangelical Christians, all of whom might claim him as one of their own, have much to learn from Spurgeon, not only for his example of an uncompromising and successful Christian minister, but also for his consistent opposition to war and Christian war fever.--Laurence M. Vance [extended quotes and citations]
Spurgeon Speaks to Today’s Christian:
1) The Lord’s battles, what are they? Not the garment rolled in blood, not the noise, and smoke, and din of human slaughter. These may be the devil’s battles, if you please, but not the Lord’s. They may be days of God’s vengeance but in their strife the servant of Jesus may not mingle. (“War! War! War!” May 1, 1859)
2) Long have I held that war is an enormous crime; long have I regarded all battles as but murder on a large scale. [“India’s Ills and England’s Sorrows,” September 6, 1857]
3) Christ’s church hath been also miserably befooled; for this I will assert, and prove too, that the progress of the arms of a Christian nation is not the progress of Christianity,
4) Why does a peaceful nation bluster and threaten for a few months, and even commence fighting, when in a short time it sighs for peace, and illuminates its streets as soon as peace is proclaimed? The immediate causes differ, but the abiding reason is the same — man is fallen, and belongs to a race of which infallible revelation declares “their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known.”
5) The Christian soldier hath no gun and no sword, for he fighteth not with men. It is with “spiritual wickedness in high places” that he fights, and with other principalities and powers than with those that sit on thrones and hold sceptres in their hands.
6) The church, we affirm, can neither be preserved nor can its interests be promoted by human armies. We have all thought otherwise in our time, and have foolishly said when a fresh territory was annexed to our empire, “Ah! what a providence that England has annexed Oude,” — or taken to itself some other territory — “Now a door is opened for the Gospel” (“Independence of Christianity,” August 31, 1857) [This was also said by some American evangelical leaders** who endorsed the invasion of Iraq. Quotes Now, linked here and here ]
7) Our kingdom is not of this world; else would God’s servants fight with sword and spear. Ours is a spiritual kingdom, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual, and mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds
8) A war against falsehood, a war against sin, is God’s war; it is a war which commends itself to every Christian man, seeing he is quite certain that he has the seal of God’s approval when he goes to wage war against God’s enemies. Beloved, we have no doubt whatever, when we lift up our voices like a trumpet against sin, that our warfare is justified by the eternal laws of justice.
[** In the Baptist Press ‘…a missionary wrote that “American foreign policy and military might have opened an opportunity for the Gospel in the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob….
‘…, both Franklin Graham, . . . and Marvin Olasky, the editor of the conservative World magazine and a former advisor to President Bush on faith-based policy, echoed these sentiments,’
The end result is that one of the oldest Christian populations in the world has been decimated. ]
Charles Spurgeon: On War and Christians 