THERE IS

NO SUCH

THING AS

JUST WAR

His Excellency

HADRIAN MÂR ÉLIJAH BAR ISRAËL

Nazarani Metropolitan

2

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS JUST WAR

© 2014 – Nazarani Foundation – All Rights Reserved

Author: H.E. Hadrian Mâr Élijah Bar Israël, D.Div.

Publisher: Nazarani Foundation charitable trust

Language: English

ISBN: 978-1-304-77470-5

Format: 9x6” Paperback

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PREFACE

Recently, a number of young Syriac speaking

“Christians” have taken up arms in Syria. They are

calling themselves the SLM. They have taken over

the ‘protection’ of churches, and claim that they

are ‘defensive’ fighters - however they have guns

and ammo and they train for combat operations, do

cadence drills, et cetera. They are clearly a pseudo-

militia that intends to fight and use lethal force

whenever necessary in order to maintain control of

the physical church properties.

The sacrifices that these young fighters aren’t

willing to make have inspired me to finally put

pen-to-age against the concept of “Just War”, on

the history and sources of Christian pacifism.

Even though these supposedly Christian “fighters”

in Syria have missed the mark as to what it means

to be a follower of Jesus, I ask that you pray for

them, that they have the protection of God and that

none shall kill or be killed; and that they be

forgiven for they know not what they do. (See:

Luke 23:34)

HADRIAN MÂR ÉLIJAH BAR ISRAËL

Nazarani Metropolitan

December 31st 2013

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THE PROPER ROLE OF THE

FAITHFUL

There is real confusion in our time about the role

of Christians in the police, military and in the

defence of nations, tribe and person. This

confusion stems directly from a wider problem

inside among the followers of Jesus, both

Christians and Nazarani.

To be clear, the first time anyone used the name

“Christian” was to describe the Greek speaking

catechumens who Paul and Bartholomew had

brought together in Antioch to learn about the

faith. (See: Acts 11:26) Before that all the

followers of Christ were known as Nazarani,

which is still the name which the Aramaic speaking

followers of Christ prefer to-day.

The two types of Christ’s followers share much in

common but also preserve subtle and sometimes

striking differences as regards theological

interpretation. While Christians use the Greek

redaction of the Holy Scriptures, Nazarani use the

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original Aramaic texts of the New Testament; and

while Christian theology is informed from Greek

pagan philosophy, Nazarani stick to a more or less

purely Semitic interpretation of the Bible - and

thus take very seriously the words of Jesus and His

Holy Apostles. What this means as regards just war

will soon be made clear.

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THE COMMANDMENT

All of the followers of Jesus have collectively

inherited the 8th, Commandment: לא תרצח - THOU

SHALT NOT KILL (See: Exodus 20:13,

Deuteronomy 5:17, Matthew 19:18, Mark 10:19,

Romans 13:9).

Jesus tells us that this Commandment, and the nine

others which Moses brought down from Mount

Sinai are still binding and effective on all of His

followers; "Don’t think that I have come to loosen

the law or the prophets, (for) I have not come to

loosen, but to fulfil. For truly I say to you that until

Heaven and Earth pass away, not one yod, not one

stroke of the Law shall pass until everything

happens". (Matthew 5:17-18*)

The early church father, Clement of Alexandria

asks,

Why do you call me Lord, Lord, He says,

and do not the things which I say? (See:

Luke 6:46) For the people that loves with

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their lips, but have their heart far away

from the Lord, (See: Isaiah 29:15) is

another people, and trust in another, and

have willingly sold themselves to another;

but those who perform the commandments

of the Lord, in every action testify, by doing

what He wishes, and consistently naming

the Lord's name; and testifying by deed to

Him in whom they trust, that they are those

who have crucified the flesh, with the

affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit,

let us also walk in the Spirit. (See: Galatians

5:24-25) He that sows to his flesh, shall of

the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows

to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life

everlasting (See: Galatians 6:8). (Stromata

7:3)

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RESPECT FOR LIFE

When the Christians began translating the Bible

into Greek in the late second or early third century,

they used Ἰησοῦς to translate the Hebrew name

which is also the modern English ,(y'hoshúa) יהשו

name “Joshua”. Breaking down the Aramaic word

into its constituents reveals that this name has יהשו

the literal meaning of הי (“YAH”) + ושוע (“saves”),

which means both “God Saves”, and “YAH is

Salvation” - whereas “YAH” is the proper name of

God. But “YAH” is a congnant of the word which

also means “Life”, and therefore respect for life is

equal to respect for God.

Respect for life therefore is fundamental to our

faith and to our expression of our love of God.

Without respect for YAH (“Life”) there is no faith

in He Who Has come as our Messiah. If we don't

have respect for life, then we don't respect Jesus,

or His Name, or Christianity and are merely paying

lip service to Christ while working for the

Deceiver.

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Lack of respect for life is brought on by the

passions, by fear, anger and the other demonic

influences of the Deceiver and is contrary to God’s

plan for our world.

The Prophet Isaiah, in prefiguring the future

Messiah, spoke saying that

For the law will go forth from Zion and the

word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He

will judge between the nations, and will

render decisions for many peoples; And

they will hammer their swords into plow

shares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

And never again will they learn war. (Isaiah

3:3-4 PTT)

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IN THE SCRIPTURES

What the New Testament actually say about

violence, self-defence and war is quite telling and

specific, and is addressed in only a few concise

verses.

Jesus asks,

"Have you hear it said that an eye for an eye

and a tooth for a tooth? But I say to you

(that) you should stand against evil, but

who hits you upon your right cheek, turn to

him also the other." (Matthew 5:38-39 *)

Saint Paul writes to the Romans saying,

Bless those who persecute you, bless and do

not curse them… Do not repay anyone evil

for evil; be concerned for what is noble in

the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live

at peace with all. (Romans 12:14 KJ21)

"Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but

leave room for God's wrath, for it is written:

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"It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the

Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is

hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him

something to drink. In doing this, you will

heap burning coals on his head." (Romans

12:19-20 NIV)

In short that we should stand against evil, but not

let us ourselves be drawn into evil. That we should

have no fear or reason for revenge, because ‘wrath’

properly belongs to God and not to us.

To some, this concept of non-violence seems

contrary to the Old Testament. This is for good

reason, considering the violence which is often

depicted there. These same ask whether the God of

the Old Testament and the God of the New

Testament are in fact the same God.

The same questions that are being asked now were

asked by others in centuries past and have long ago

been answered. Back in the 2nd Century, in the

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same section that he addresses his view of absolute

non-violence, the Church father Irenaeus

addressed this very question in his book Against

Heresies. He says,

Such are the arguments proper [to be used]

in opposition to those who maintain that the

prophets [were inspired] by a different

God, and that our Lord [came] from

another Father... I may restrain them from

such great blasphemy, and from insanely

fabricating a multitude of gods. (Irenaeus

4:34:5)

But even in the Old Testament we find that God

says,

Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord

GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the

wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from

his ways and live. Turn back, turn back from

your evil ways! (Ezekiel 33:11 PTT).

Jesus came and thus YAH was born on Earth in

order to fully understand His own Creation, and by

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His death and Resurrection saved us and created a

new paradigm, hence a “New Testament”. The

relationship between God and man has changed as

a direct result of His sacrifice. No longer are we a

warring people, no longer are we to seek

vengeance for God, but instead we have become

the new temple upon which God’s worship is

given. A higher and more exalted role for man,

which exempts us from violence.

That non-violence would be the Messiah’s goal for

His people and a purpose of His coming was

expounded by the Prophets Isaiah and Micah in

nearly identical words, saying:

And many peoples will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the

LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob;

That He may teach us concerning His ways

And that we may walk in His paths." For the

law will go forth from Zion And the word of

the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will

judge between the nations, And will render

decisions for many peoples; And they will

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hammer their swords into ploughshares and

their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will

not lift up sword against nation, (Isaiah 2:3-

4, Micah 4:2-3) And never again will they

learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us

walk in the light of the LORD. (Isaiah 2:5)

Each of them will sit under his vine And

under his fig tree, With no one to make them

afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts

has spoken. (Micah 4:4)

Jesus specifically forbade violence, when Peter cut

off the ear of the high priest:

"And behold one of those who was with

Jesus stretched out his hand and drew a

sword and attacked a servant of the high

priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to

him, "Return the sword to its place for all of

them who take up the sword, will die by the

sword." (Matthew 26:51-52*, and see also:

John 18:10)

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THE CHURCH FATHERS

There is no question that the pre-Byzantine church

taught absolute non-violence. In fact, for a time,

the entire western paradigm of what it meant to be

a “Christian” was to surrender oneself totally,

through martyrdom. How many tens of thousands

of Christians voluntarily surrendered themselves

for execution by the state is unknown, but their

prayers remain a great help to us even now.

The International Encyclopedia of the Social

Sciences says that "During its first three centuries

of existence, the Christian church was opposed to

war and others forms of violence. Christian

opposition to war early expanded into a denial of

rightness of all coercive action on the part of the

civil power. Thus arose that form of conscientious

objection which has been designated as political

non-participation." (page 210)

This fact becomes obvious in the writings of

Aristeides, Arnobis (300 A.D.), Clement of

Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage (250 A.D.),

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Irenæus (180 A.D.), Justin Martyr (150 A.D.),

Justinus (150 A.D.), Lactantius (300 A.D.),

Lucifer bishop of Calaris (291 A.D.), Origen (240

A.D.), Tertullian, to name but a few whose works

have survived the centuries. In fact there is not

even one voice opposing in all of the time prior to

the reign of the Emperor Constantine. But instead

the universal Church taught non-violence and

denied military service and conscription, which

was specifically forbade by the Canons of

Alexandria. (See: Ferrero page 382)

"The new covenant that brings back peace

and the law that gives life have gone forth

over the whole earth, as the prophets said:

"For out of Zion will go forth the law, and

the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and

he will instruct many people; and they will

break down their swords into ploughshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks, and

they will no longer learn to make war."

These people formed their swords and war

lances into ploughshares,” that is, into

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instruments used for peaceful purposes. So

now, they are unaccustomed to fighting, so

when they are struck, they offer also the

other cheek." (Iranaeus 4:34:4)

The Roman author Aristeides says of the

Christians that ‘They appeal to those who wrong

them and make them friendly to themselves; they

are eager to do good to their enemies; they are mild

and conciliatory.” (See: Cadoux, page 73)

Saint Justin Martyr said, that,

From Jerusalem there went out into the

world, men, twelve in number, and these

illiterate, of no ability in speaking: but by

the power of God they proclaimed to every

race of men that they were sent by Christ to

teach to all the word of God; and we who

formerly used to murder one another do not

only now refrain from making war upon our

enemies, but also, that we may not lie, nor

deceive our examiners, but willingly die

confessing Christ. (First Apology 39:4)

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The Testament of Our Lord, a Nazarani book of

church discipline written in Syriac in the middle of

the Fourth Century says:

If anyone be a soldier or in authority, let

him be taught not to oppress or to kill or to

rob, or to be angry or to rage and afflict

anyone. But let those rations suffice him

which are given to him. But if they wish to

be baptized in the Lord, let them cease from

military service or from the [post of]

authority, and if not let them not be

received. Let a catechumen or a believer of

the people, if he desire to be a soldier, either

cease from his intention, or if not let him be

rejected. For he hath despised God by his

thought, and leaving the things of the Spirit,

he hath perfected himself in the flesh, and

hath treated the faith with contempt.

(Cooper, page 118)

"The many early Christians accepted the

injunctions of the Sermon on the Mount quite

literally is certain and their attitude brought them

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into much the same kind of conflict with the

Roman authorities...” (Macgregor) Young

Christians were doubly taxed, and still they did not

join in Roman military service, a fact that led to

multiple persecutions against them.

Instead early Christians were similar to the

Nazarani in their:

Enjoining love for all, including enemies,

and forbidding retaliation upon the

wrongdoer, and the close and literal way in

which they endeavoured to obey them. This

view and this obedience of those first

followers of Jesus are the best commentary

we can have upon the problematic teaching

in question, and the best answer we can give

to those who argue that it was not meant to

be practiced save in a perfect society, or

that it refers only to the inner disposition of

the heart and not to the outward actions, or

that it concerns only personal and private

and not the social and political relationship

of life. (Cadoux, page 67)

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MARTYRDOM

A follower of Jesus should never defend himself.

It is the demons who command us to defend

ourselves, our egos, our anger, our jealousy, our

pride, our envy, our rage and even our despair;

because these are the foods they need to eat in

order to survive. And so they cultivate us like so

many rows of vegetables and fertilise us with fear,

coaxing us gently into making their feast. They are

the source of our fear, and it is they who make us

struggle, and thrash around in this life, rather than

be calm and love God. By warring against our

fellow man, by even so much as defending

ourselves, we are feeding these demons and

spreading their lies. Blessed is he, who having no

fear at all, honours God’s kindness and loving

mercy.

We should not fear persecution, for Jesus said,

"When they persecute you, flee from this city and

go to another, for truly I say to you that you will

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not see all of the cities of the House of Israel before

the Son of Man returns." (Matthew 10:23 *) And

so we should wisely avoid our enemies, but at the

same time not have any fear whatsoever of death.

The ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom is an honour

for Christians and not something to fear.

Eusebius of Caesarea says,

Those Holy Martyrs of God, who loved our

Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, and God

supreme and sovereign of all, more than

themselves and their own lives, who were

dragged forward to the conflict for the sake

of religion, and rendered glorious by the

martyrdom of confession, who preferred a

horrible death to a temporary life, and were

crowned with all the victories of virtue, and

offered to the Most High and supreme God

the glory of their wonderful victory,

because they had their conversation in

heaven, and walked with him who gave

victory to their testimony, also offered up

glory, and honour, and majesty to the

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Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy

Ghost. Moreover, the souls of the martyrs

being worthy of the kingdom of heaven are

in honour together with the company of the

prophets and apostles. (See: Cureton, page

1)

If we as followers of Jesus, and we defend

ourselves, then we are not only refusing to obey

Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek, but we are

also disgracing the Saints who gave their lives

willingly for eternal Life.

Tertullian (160 – 225 AD) famously wrote in his

Apologeticus, that "the blood of martyrs is the seed

of the Church”. He goes on to say that “it is quite

true that it is our desire to suffer, but it is in the way

that the soldier longs for war… Yet the man who

objected to the conflict, both fights with all his

strength, and when victorious, he rejoices in the

battle, because he reaps from it glory and spoil. It

is our battle to be summoned … under fear of

execution, that we may battle for the truth. But the

day is won when the object of the struggle is

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gained. This victory of ours gives us the glory of

pleasing God, and the spoil of life eternal.”

(Chapter 50:1-2)

The Romans had hoped that the gruesome public

spectacle of Christian deaths would earn societies’

unanimous condemnation of the Christian’s

behaviour, and frighten others into peaceful

compliance with the state. However, by watching

the martyrs of the early Church stride joyously to

their deaths in the Coliseums of the Empire - the

Romans got to experience the real God for the first

time… A God more powerful than death; a God

they did not expect to see reflected on joyous,

praying faces.. In fact the public executions of the

Christian martyrs caused the Romans to reconsider

their realities (See: Salisbury Page 20), and as a

consequence over time, more and more Roman

citizens became followers of Jesus, even though

that meant almost certain death.

The confessors, being those who survived the

maulings, and other exquisite tortures of the age,

as some people did, displayed their scars as living

25

testimony to others that there is life even in the face

of death itself. It is the nature of things that we live

and we die. This cannot be avoided. But to die with

God’s name on our lips is the highest honour which

we as mere mortals can have. It is our only true

valour.

There is nothing which the faithful servant has to

fear from death, for to willingly die for God is the

greatest glory. To act in imitation of Jesus, is to

understand His Sacrifice for us fully. To accept

God’s test of our willpower to be and remain His

servants, is to stand up taller than most people in

this life can or will.

Martyrdom eventually faded away in the

Byzantine Empire though. According to Gaddis,

By the fourth century, it seems, a consensus

had emerged among leaders of the

mainstream church that emphasized a

cleric's duty to his congregation in

preference to individual zeal: accept

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martyrdom when the time comes, but do not

seek it out." (Gaddis, Page 39)

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TODAY’S CHRISTIANS

Looking a little less far back, at our recent history

so far removed from the time of the Apostles, many

Christians have become enamoured with violence,

serve in the military, bless troops, and tanks and

cannons, spray holy water on guns, and even

sometimes incite people to violence. To such a

point that they no longer seem to remember even

the words of Christ, let alone the writings of the

fathers. What happened to cause this view of war

and violence to change?

So if this is not the message of Jesus, how did it

come to be accepted into “Christianity”? There are

three men who are mostly responsible for this, they

are the Saint Emperor Constantine, Saint

Augustine of Hippo and the Blessed Pope Urban

II, all of whom have been canonised by various

branches of the Christian church as either “saints”

or “blessed” (a step towards canonisation), and

whose lives they consider worthy of emulation.

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Well expressing the official position of the church,

one Catholic author wrote,

“A saint is always someone through whom

we catch a glimpse of what God is like—and

of what we are called to be. Only God

"makes" saints, of course. The church

merely identifies from time to time a few of

these for emulation. The church then tells

the story. But the author is the Source of the

grace by which saints live. And there we

have it: A saint is someone whose story God

tells.”. (Woodward, page 13)

We mention their canonisations because by the act

of glorifying these men, the western churches have

declared their actions, beliefs and interpretations

worthy of emulation. Which is a central point to

how Christianity has become distorted in the

western world.

It should be pointed out that Nazarani love all of

the saints of the entire Church, not just our own

blessed ones. We honour well their many

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contributions to our faith, our lives and to the world

we live in, and regard the saints as a source of

revelation whereby the men, women and children

of today may learn from their lives, and thus follow

their example. Officially speaking, we regard

canonisation by any of the many valid apostolic

churches as sufficient evidence of godliness.

However, there is one single exception to this rule

- in that that Nazarani do not consider as a Saint

anyone who has committed, incited or incited

killing, murder or genocide.

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OUR MISSIONARY HISTORY

During the First Century A.D., the Greek speaking

Christians travelled west into Europe and south

into Egypt and possibly as far as Nubia and

Ethiopia; while Nazarani missionaries led by the

apostles Thomas, Adai and Mari, travelled as far as

China and Korea, as far south as India, and were

revered by the nations they visited, for their peace,

non-violence, respect of nature, and their love of

all people as children of God, deserving of life.

Jesus says,

Blessed are they who make peace, because

they will be called the sons of God.

(Matthew 5:9 *)

Clement of Alexandria says,

They also are peacemakers, who teach

those who war against the stratagems of sin

to have recourse to faith and peace. And it

is the sum of all virtue, in my opinion, when

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the Lord teaches us that for love to God.

(Stromata, 4:6)

Although both sets of Jesus’ followers, Nazarani

and Christians alike originally stood for peace and

non-violent pacifism, a set of events occurred in

the western churches which forever changed

Christian views and their subsequent

interpretations of the Scriptures toward support of

war, violence and death. These changes, acted out

over time have created a lasting legacy from which

all of the followers of Jesus now suffer.

It is impossible to distance ourselves from the

crimes of our brethren without resorting to history

to show us what went wrong...

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CONSTANTINE

The first time that Christianity, its symbolism or

it’s teachings were used to justify any homicide

was 312 A.D. As the king of the western provinces,

Constantine, a devout pagan, sought to overthrow

his brothers and thus reunite the empire under his

own tutelage, thereby destroying the Tetrarchy

(Greek = “Rule by Four”) system which had been

in place since the Emperor Diocletian had declared

it in 293 A.D.

While waiting to invade Rome at the end of

October 312 A.D., Constantine saw what is most

probably a perihelion in the form of a cross, and

interpreted it as an omen that the Christian God

would grant him favour to kill his brother

Maxentius. Painting the labarum (☧) on his

soldier’s shields, he not only invaded Rome, but

won the battle that ensued and did in fact kill his

brother Maxentius.

This barbaric and entirely unchristian act allowed

him to crown himself as the 57th Emperor of the

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Roman Empire and “Sol Invictus”, which in Latin

means “the unconquered Sun”. Sol Invictus was

the patron god of Roman soldiers as well as the

officially proclaimed Sun God of the later Roman

period, as embodied in the person of the emperor.

He then erected a statue in Rome of him holding a

labarum, in place of a statue of Maxentius which

he had torn down.

In the year 321 A.D. Constantine co-signed the

Edict of Milan, during a temporary truce with his

pagan co-emperor (and brother) Licinius, in order

to make peace with the Christians of the empire.

As an act of kindness to them for the favour

granted him by their god, he proclaimed an act of

toleration, known as the Edictum Mediolanense

(“Edict of Milan”) giving Christians full

citizenship in the Empire.

This of course was a monumental act, for up until

that time Christians had been officially persecuted,

were denied citizenship, and were even murdered

en masse. This violence against Christians had

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been a regular part of Roman life and culture for

around three hundred years, from the stoning of

Stephen as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles

7:54-60.

The Edict of Milan was the turning point. Suddenly

Christians (i.e. the Greek speaking followers of

Jesus) were no longer outcasts, but instead

mainstream citizens of the empire, expected to

contribute militarily to Constantine’s many

campaigns.

In 324 AD Constantine murdered his brother

Licinius and thus became the sole ruler of the

Roman Empire, and thus the entire western world.

At this moment the “Empire” ceased being the

Roman Empire and became instead Byzantium - a

“Christian” dynasty that would rule for almost a

thousand years, with the Church firmly in the seat

of state.

However oddly, Constantine himself was not yet a

Christian. He accepted to become a catechumen

for three days, during which time he busied himself

35

not with spiritual matters, but with planning an all-

out-invasion of the Persian Empire. Then

attempting to return to Constantinople, but making

it only as far as Nicomedia a town in the suburbs,

he summoned the state bishops, and told them to

prepare for his baptism to take place in the River

Jordan, on his way to destroy Persia. Preparations

were made, but his health deteriorated more

quickly than expected and he never made it.

Constantine was finally “baptised” by Eusebius the

Arian bishop of Nicomedia (See: Lenski, Page 82)

then later, promising to live a Christian life should

God allow him to live through his illness.

It is an interesting point that due to the

deterioration of his health, it was impossible to

submerge the Emperor in water according to the

rules of baptism prevailing at that time, and so the

rules were changed, so that water could merely be

sprinkled on his forehead. (See both: Finn,

Rousseau).

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God put an end to Constantine’s planned invasion

of Persia, and thus the second longest serving

emperor in Roman history died on 22 May 337

(Eusebius 4:64, Fowden, page 82).

Later on in its history the church that embraced

Constantine as its leader solidified an elaborate

doctrine of just war, under the leadership of the

western theologian, Augustine of Hippo. The

concept of just war in its essence is the idea that if

a nation is attacked, then morally speaking lethal

force may be used in defence of its

sovereignty. But this is not Christianity; it is not

what the Messiah Jesus Christ taught or expected

of His Kingdom! It is a perversion, established by

men, to justify their own desire to kill and conquer.

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AUGUSTINE

In the 5th Century, the former Manichean, and

great saint of the western Church, Augustine,

Bishop of Hippo, was the first to spawn the idea of

“just war”, which has been used as the justification

for nearly every war in the western world since

Augustine’s own time in the 5th Century. It is the

idea, very much like the Islamic concept of Jihad,

that if a nation or people are threatened, then

violence is justified, and in fact encouraged by

God.

Augustine says that "They who have waged war in

obedience to the divine command, or in conformity

with His laws, have represented in their persons the

public justice or the wisdom of government, and in

this capacity have put to death wicked men; such

persons have by no means violated the

commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." (See: Schaff)

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POPE URBAN II

Born in France Pope Urban II was enthroned as

Holy Roman Pontiff in exile on March 12, 1088.

(Riley-Smith). He was a monastic, first and

foremost and had a vision of life that saw struggle

and mortification of the flesh as the means to a holy

life. He is best known however as the man who

started the First Crusade.

Jerusalem had been in the hands of the Moslems

since 638 AD, and it was against them that the

Crusades were, at least nominally, directed. Parts

of Spain and Sicily had been under Muslim control

since the 11th century and the concept of a

“crusade” had come into being as a result of

organised Christian forces fighting the Muslims in

those regions.

In the first week of March 1095, a

delegation from the Byzantine emperor

Alexius I Comnenus presented Urban with

a request for help against the Turks. Pope

39

Urban II's response was to preach the First

Crusade, starting on November 27, 1095, at

the Council of Clermont. This first

preaching was geared explicitly to the

French, those all others who wished to

participate were encouraged--unless of

course, they were from Spain. (The Spanish

were encouraged to fight the Muslims in

Spain instead of in the Middle East.) (See:

Michigan)

Urban II famously gave a speech, which has been

recorded in several versions which do not

necessarily agree on the details. In essence though,

his speech said that It was God’s will that they

attack their “enemies” in armed conflict, and that

God would forgive their sins if they killed their

enemies in war, because it was His will that they

kill the infidels.

Robert the Monk quotes Urban as saying,

Most beloved brethren, today is manifest in

you what the Lord says in the Gospel,

40

`Where two or three are gathered together

in my name, there am I in the midst of them';

for unless God had been present in your

spirits, all of you would not have uttered the

same cry; since, although the cry issued

from numerous mouths, yet the origin of the

cry as one. Therefore I say to you that God,

who implanted is in your breasts, has drawn

it forth from you. Let that then be your war

cry in combats, because it is given to you by

God. When an armed attack is made upon

the enemy, this one cry be raised by all the

soldiers of God: 'It is the will of God! It is

the will of God! … undertake this journey

eagerly for the remission of your sins, with

the assurance of the reward of

imperishable glory in the kingdom of

heaven.. (See: Robert)

None of this was particularly out of line with the

teaching and justification of Augustine, and thus

anyone whose voice may have protested that this

41

was not acceptable in light of the teachings of

Christ.

In the Midst of the Crusades, the Catholic Saint,

Thomas Aquinas, (1225 – 1274) also expanded on

Augustine’s “Just War” doctrine, which further

obfuscated the actual meaning of Christ’s words

and Biblical teachings and pulled the Christian

church further and further into darkness.

42

CONCLUSION

Regardless of this teaching holding a favoured

place in the heart and history of western

Christendom, Nazarani see no justification for

violence, and find no justification for war in the

teachings of the Jesus or His Holy Apostles. True

apostolic faith does not allow its adherents to

incite, or participate in murder, regardless of

whatever justifications may be found for their

actions. In conclusion, for the Nazarani there can

be no such thing as “Just War”.

Instead, we believe that the concept of Just War

was created by ungodly men who wanted to cover

up their own sins and the sins of others. The fact

that now some Christians believe these men

worthy of emulation is itself contrary to the 8th

Commandment, not to kill.

Unlike the Christian followers of Jesus, the

Nazarani have never declared war, or fought back

when persecuted. The Islamic invaders took Syria

and Palestine in 781 A.D., but left the Syriac

43

monasteries in place because we armed ourselves,

not with weapons, but with knowledge and

learning that the invading forces required in order

to sustain a civilised rule over their territories. That

learning was cherished by the Caliphs, and so

Syriac monks and nuns, trained their sons and

daughters in the universities, which we founded. It

was the shield of prayerful life and knowledge of

science that guarded the monasteries from

destruction; not swords, not guns, not violence and

certainly not military prowess or any kind of

defence.

It is focused through the lens of this same wisdom

that our church sees the future of peace, the future

of humankind; learned from the difficult lessons of

our past. In short, Nazarani do not believe in, and

cannot support armed conflict, anywhere, or at any

time. As Nazarani, it is our duty to let our leaders

know that war is wrong; that diplomacy,

understanding and knowledge are the real answers

available to those who do not want bloodshed.

44

45

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49

SCRIPTURAL QUOTES

* indicates the author’s personal translation of the Holy

Scriptures from Hebrew or Aramaic into English.

KJ21 - 21st Century King James Version, Deuel

Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD., 1994.