Cross posted at Theologica
J. Daryl Charles, Assoc. Professor of Ethics and Culture at Union University, is something more than an acquaintance although we have not kept in close contact over the years. We have many things in common and many things on which we differ, but he is one of the few original thinkers I have met in my life. He never fails to intrigue me with the almost casual manner in which he advances ideas that open up alternate vistas from which to view important questions. As a true scholar he is more sympathetic to ideas from other traditions that I and that is both a strength and weakness in each of us. I seriously seek to understand how people arrive at other differing view points from mine, but do so with the idea of analysis and rebuttal always hovering in the back ground. Daryl seeks to discover new facets of truth and tends to be content with that. I love interacting with him on just about any subject.
Daryl has a wonderful essay in the current Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society reflecting on the ethical framework Christians should adopt toward the idea of "war" in general and specifically whether there are any occasions in which pursuing war is a Christian imperative.
He briefly but fairly comprehensively surveys the historical developments in Christian reflection on this topic and anyone wishing to gain an initial orientation and sense of the arguments involved would benefit from his scholarly recounting and comments.
Daryl concludes that Christians must regain a sense that there is a valid basis for war and that in some circumstances an imperative exists which necessitate pursuing it. He, following Jean Elshtain, whom he much admires, considers Christian "Just War" thinking as a necessary leaven in the political loaf which acts to guard the society from the abuses which would flow from the ideas that (1) war is a human endeavor which cannot be subjected to moral analysis and restraint or (2) there is never a moral basis on which war can either be waged or condoned. Therefore, with regard to "Just War". Christians should "acknowledge the necessity of self-defense and intervention against unjust aggression and gross oppression while refusing to legitimize imperialistic crusades and empire-building."
He concludes that "Christians will always have the challenging task of reminding society of what it means to be human, that is, reminding politicians and citizens of our anthropological dualism. ... we are simultaneously the crown jewel of creation and the scum of the earth. We dare not forget either." Now there is "critical realism" at work at its best.
Further, Daryl understands that we Christians, as "people of truth, have a responsibility in a world of lies, deception, and subterfuge to name things accurately." Amen, brother, preach it.
Daryl concludes with a timely exhortation, that we Christian pastors and leaders, "need to lead our churches to a place where they can astutely interpret culture and, as a result, responsibly address culture. Not merely being consumed with church growth, not merely being programmatic, not simply chasing after the latest publishing phenomenon, but developing a cultural fluency that allows the Christian community responsibly and authoritatively to speak to the culture...."
I agree. Well, done Daryl.
Now, to the thing that struck me most about Daryl's article. It's back to that way that Daryl has of throwing out a comment that opens up vistas on things and stimulates thought.
In the early sections of his essay, Daryl comments on the undue hesitation toward moral absolutism we see all about us these days, in Christians as well as secular folk. With regard to "Just War" he states that "many religious people... believe that war or the use of military force is intrinsicallya presumption against force rather than a presumption against injustice. immoral. Thus we have today..... " (emphasis his).
There it is. Though not with regard to "Just War" issues, that is exactly the general idea I have been trying to pin down in my own thinking for months. He hits the nail right on the head. What we Christians are missing in much of our thinking these days, and not just with regard to the activity of war, is the Christian imperative to ACT in the face of injustice.
Somewhere along the line, we Christians have fallen into the trap of considering "injustice" to be either impossible to actually define or else, one of those prevailing ills, like poverty, which will always be the character of our world and therefore, pessimistically, we do not have any real reason to try to do anything about it. Certainly we should not seek to address it if it means that we might have to pay large consequences in life and treasure in rectifying it.
We have reached the point in thinking that "counting the cost" in dealing with injustice means that "if there is any cost at all" then Christians must seek to cope with the situation rather than confront it. Yet, clearly Scripture calls for Christians to have a high regard for justice, a flaming antipathy to injustice and courage with regard to both. It is God's justice which demands our salvation on the basis that our sins have been purged and nailed to a cross. It is God's just nature which grounds our assurance and guards us against doubts that He may arbitrarily change His mind. Justice is both postive and negative. Injustice denies blessing even as it brings suffering.
We Christians should remember that the same Christ who taught us to turn the other cheek is also the One who cleansed the temple with a whip. There is no injustice greater than profaning God's name or the place of His abode, but that is not the only way that God can unjustly be profaned. Dishonoring the image of God through oppression or dishonoring the righteousness of God through despising the rule of law also meet the general criterion on which Jesus and we have ever right and the imperative, to act.
I would have appreciated Daryl spending a bit more time developing the idea of how the abstract notion of Justice should be the (a?) basis of all moral rectitude and particularly as an imperative to Christian action in all manner of things, including "just war." In today's world, abstraction is not highly regarded and "prudential pragmatism" carries the day. All that means, is that we Christians have to guard ourselves from such thinking and loudly repudiate it in others.
Sola Deo Gloria
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