WAR AND CHRISTIANITY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 210, 5 September 1871, Page 2

WAR AND CHRISTIANITY.

An Address from the Religious Society of Friends in Great Britain on the Present War. The present is a solemn crisis in the history of the world. Our hearts are filled with grief at the appalling waste of human life, at the amount of wretchedness and woe, which, within the brief space of a few months, two of the principal nations of Europe, in the face of professing Christendom, have deliberately inflicted upon, each other. The awful couflict is still going on between men acknowledging the same Father in Heaven, and who still avow allegiance to Him who said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." — John xiii. 35. When we think of all the agony of this mutual slaughter, and of the sufferings of thousands of the aged, the widows and the fatherless, consequent upon it, whose property has been ravaged or destroyed, and whose homes have been made desolate, as some amongst us have witnessed to our deep sorrow, we are ready to exclaim, Is this Christianity ? Is it for this that the counsels of infinite love have been working for ages, and that the Son of God suffered and died ? And if the strongest possible negative must be given to these questions, the inquiry may well arise, Upon whom does the guilt of these tremendous iniquities fall ? It is not for us to pass judgment upon the actors in this vast tragedy. Their responsibility can only be .measured by the Great Searcher of Hearts. But we would, with the earnestness which the gravity of the subject demands, invite all who profess the name of Christ seriously to examine how far they are themselves -sharing in that responsibility, by upholding or sanctioning a course of practice which makes such, a state of things possible. For remainder of news see fourth page.

We would not here enter upon the question whether war may be justified on grounds which might have been consistently taken by heathen nations. Our present inquiry is a very simple one : Is war consistent with the spirit or the obligations of Christianity ? The promise to the Patriarchs which, as Christians, we believe to be fulfilled in and through our Lord Jesus Christ, is one of blessing for " all the families of the earth." And as it becomes more distinctly defined in the predictions of David, of Isaiah, and of . the other Hebrew , prophets, " peace " — even "abundance of peace " — is again and again associated with the Messiah's universal and perpetual dominion. (Ps. lxxii. 7, 8.) He is declared to be " the Prince of Peace, of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end." The promise is not for individuals or for churches only. Out of the mouths of : two inspired witnesses, and in almost the same language, peace under the Messiah, is proclaimed to the nations of the earth. " They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Mic. iv. 3; Isa. ii. 4.) Are these reiterated assurances without meaning ; or does not the promise imply corresponding obligations, affecting not merely the conduct of individuals, but that of nations also ? And wheD, after long years of waiting, the fulness of time was accomplished, an anthem burst forth at the announcement of the new Dispensation which proclaimed "peace on earth, goodwill toward men," as a theme ministering even to the joy of heaven, and as inseparably associated with " Glory to God in the highest." He, the long-expected Messiah was at length come; but not as one of earth's mighty conquerers, ascending to the summit of wordly greatness amidst desolation and slaughter. He came with the message of mercy and reconciliation, "not to destroy men's lives but to save them." Upon the cross He prayed for his enemies. His whole life, crowned by suffering and by death, was one continued manifestation of compassion, patience and love. "We beheld his glory," saith the Apostle, " the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." His Deity authenticates the -testimony of his manhood. He, and not Cassar, or any other of the world's conquerers, is " the entire, the perfect man." He is the Divinely -appointed exemplar of all righteousness. Against his authority there can for the Christian be no appeal. When He enjoins love upon His followers, how shall they hate ? In the face of His express command to love even enemies, how shall the Christian, or any Christian Church, without disclaiming His example and authority, countenance war ? Again, if we duly consider the passions which war arouses, and without which ii; is difficult to conceive that it can be carried on, the argument against it becomes no less convincing. War tends to foster anger, wrath, revenge, ambition, cruelty, and even a thirst for blood; to say nothing of the other passions which too often follow in its train. Christianity ii on the contrary commands and requires ; the exercise of. compassion, forgiveness, mercy, long-suffering, and love. . The two classes of motives appear to be irreconcileably inconsistent. If the one be cherished, the other must be to that extent excluded. To expect war to be . carried on under the influence of. compassion, mercy, and forgiveness, involves a practical contradiction. But it has been said that war is the great instrument of international justice. Is that justice which appeals, not to right or to reason, but to force; and which, in its execution, constantly confounds the innocent with the guilty ? There are multitudes who admit the authority of the teaching and the example of Christ, who yet allow themselves to postpone the full application of them to an undefined and uncertain future, upon the plea that they are impracticable in the present state of the world. We would, with, the love and respect of Christian brethreuj call upon these eerioußly to consider the imputation ■which they thus, iti^may; be ' almost unconsciously, cast upon our ' Lord and Master. Was He who "knew, what; ■was/in man," and who looked through' futurity, incapable of judging of that which is practicable, or did He command ■ impossibilities ? and shall His commands be disregarded with impunity ? How, in-; deed,, consistently with man's free-agency, are the prophecies to be fulfilled^ ami the purposes of Christianity to be accomplished, but through voluntary subjection; H -to these' coinmari ds pn the/part both ,,of in■•i*diTi^aaliii!iiid |tl ßfj ) > .&t»<>n f ß?'' To' assert that c; obedience to His jaw ia to be postponied until all $h.#hav^\pab;iaiittecl to it, is [to frustrated .that r \w, T/by^suspeuding its obligation^ until fhall have become irapofisible. For how can the in-

junction to love enemies be obeyed when all strife shall have ceased, and there are no enemies to love ? With the Apostle we disclaim the expectation of any other Gospel. We accept the .religion of the New Testament as the absolute .Revelation of the will of God to man. " It is the dispensation under which we are now actually living, and to which, as Christians, we are ibound to believe that the commands of Christ were designed ;to be especially appropriate. We have no warrant for assuming that some future period will be more favorable than the ; present for^ the manifestation, of Christian heroism in a course of faithful allegiance to our Divine Master. . It is now,, in the midst of this tossed and sin-stricken world, that Christ is to be glorified by the keeping of His commandments; and it is by the weapons of faith" and prayer that the true victory is to be won. : " .Were we not assured that "the Lord reigneth," and that His Truth must at last prevail, the existing circumstance's of Europe might well awaken melancholy foreboding. If the same zeal, energy and skilly and the' same expenditure of time and money as have been lavished upon the present war, had been on either side sedulously devoted to the promotion of love and goodwill upon the basis of Gospel Truth, how much, carnage and misery might have been spared. And instead of the bitter hate and appetite for revenge now, it is to be feared, aroused between two of her mightiest nations, Europe might have rejoiced to see them clasped in a firm confederacy, supported by all that is true and, noble in the character of the two peoples. Let it be fixed in our minds that it is not by war, or military renown, or the -arts of mutual slaughter, that the progress of civilisation, 01 the sum of human happiness, can be advanced. It is rather by the promotion of sound knowledge, virtuous habits,, and moral and religious improvement, grounded on a living practical faith in Christ amongst the great masses of the people; by training and encouraging them in all that is j list, and good, and -by the : maintenance of harrooDy and gool feeli&g, between man and tnan, and between the various nations of the earth. When difficulties arise between individuals, whether from passion or mistake, these are no longer decided as of old, by an appeal to physical force, but by law, administered upon principles of general application. . Can we doubt that the happiness of the world would be promoted, anda vast mass of misery and ruin averted, if a similar method were applied to questions arising between nations ? The inevitable tendency of war is to stimulate and beget war ; and to refer differences between nations to such an arbitrament, is as unpractical as it is irrational and unchristian. In view of the solemn events passing around us, we would plead with our fellow-Christians earnestly to lay to hearts their responsibilities in connection with this great question . If war be opposed to human progress; if its continuance be essentially a backward movement in all that is civilising and good and holy; if it be, in its varied aspects and in its entire spirit, opposed to the teaching and to the example of the Lord Jesus Christ; is it not the duty of all who bow with reverence at that sacred name, to pray that they may be themselves thoroughly redeemed < from the war spirit; and to seek, as far as in them lies, to discountenance it in others, whether in word or deed ? And if such be the obligations incumbent upon every true follower of Jesus, how can any who are the ministers of the Gospel do otherwise than maintain,, on all fitting occasions, our Lord's authoritative prohibition of all war ? In speaking thus plainly in the love of Christ, we believe that our appeal will not, be altogether in vain., High as is the standard, it cannot be lowered without damage to our just conception of the ends after which, as Christians, we ought to strive. The promotion of harmony" amongst nations, the prevention of . war, with its attendant misery, and crime, may; be surely classed amongst these blessed ends. The prayer which our Lord taught His disciples points to the accomplishing of the will of God, not in. heaven only, but upon earth also.' / 'Sueh "a pjayer 'implies more than the .bare possibility of ; jtts ; , fulfilment.. ; The. .disciple; of >• Christ rests in the assurance 'that 'the purposes of infinite wisdom, and gr.ace corre'sporid 1 with Ihe petition. j-rHe knows that the kingdom of which he is a. citizen. is "righteousness , and. peace and joy;" and that as often as tie truly prays' '£Xby kingdom come," he confesses not. , only the, duty of his own present,,, i s l ubje9 i iioft >i t9 2r it^ bu^'the,.obHratj|Q^/r^Bt^ng*UD^,him, to ,do> all in WjdwV f&iiOni versMjeßtaolisftjj|nt. )M ommil /iii'J&reat Britain, heldTinTliondonfebn the 6th of the First 1871', and^n and on behalf thereof Bignßdlbyr .T B |< ■, ;, Clerk. I