Perhaps many of you don’t remember much (or anything) about Martin of Tours. But he is a man worth recalling, and his commitment to non-violence is commendable for people of all ages to consider and to emulate.
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Martin of Tours was born around 316 A.D. in what
today we call central Europe. He was the son of a Roman military officer. Like
his father, he was compelled to serve in the Roman army. Even though a soldier,
Martin was drawn to the Christian faith, still relatively new and sometimes
suspect within the Roman Empire.
When he was still under 20 years of age, he
encountered a poor, shivering beggar on a bitterly cold winter day. Moved by
compassion but having nothing else to offer, Martin cut his heavy military
cloak in half with his sword and gave one part to the beggar, keeping the other
for himself.
That night, Martin had a vision or dream in
which Jesus appeared to him wearing the half of the cloak he had given away.
Jesus said to the angels around him, “Martin has clothed me with this garment.”
This story may have been embellished with dramatic details, but it captures the essence of Martin’s compassionate character.
This vision deeply affected the young man,
leading him to be baptized soon afterward. For two decades or so, however, he
continued to be a Roman soldier. But when he was about 40, Martin finally decided
he could no longer remain a military man.
According to some sources he had another dream
or vision which convinced him he could no longer be a soldier. Julian, the
Roman emperor, prepared a military campaign in which Martin’s unit was expected
to participate. But before the campaign began, Martin stepped forward and
declared, “I am a soldier of Christ; I cannot fight.”
The emperor interpreted Martin’s words not as
a matter of conscience but as cowardice, accusing Martin of seeking to avoid
battle. Martin replied that his refusal was based on his Christian faith, not
fear. This was the beginning of conscientious objection to warfare, embraced by
only a minuscule percentage of Christians in the following centuries
The Waldensians, who began in France late in
the 12th century, is the only Christian group that practiced
pacifism/non-violence before the beginning of Anabaptism in 1525. But it was challenging
for even them and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), which began in
England in the mid-17th century, to maintain that practice.
In the U.S., conscientious objection to
military service was not recognized as valid until World War II. (See my May 20,
2017, blog post about conscientious objectors).
Diana Butler Bass is a well-known and
respected public theologian. She posts meaningful articles on Substack
twice a week. Her November 11 post was the second one this year about Martin. I decided to write about him after reading “The Warrior Ethos,” her September
30 post about Martin (see
here).
The latter was largely Bass’s criticism of Pete
Hegseth, who from 2001 to 2021 served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army
National Guard. On January 24, Hegseth (b. 1980) was confirmed as a member of the
POTUS’s Cabinet. On an official U.S. government website, he is now identified
as “the secretary of war.”
In late September, Hegseth called a surprise
meeting at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, to deliver a strong speech to
several hundred top military generals and admirals about reviving “the warrior
spirit” or “warrior ethos” in the U.S. military.
As Bass wrote, “Hegseth is probably the most
openly Christian nationalist true believer in the entire Trump administration ….
He always brings Jesus to the war party. Because, of course, in the theology of
Christian nationalism Jesus is a Warrior.” In contrast, Bass goes on to state,
No early Christian — not a single church leader, pastor,
or theologian —
in those first decades after Jesus lived, taught, died, and rose again would
have ever considered their God to be a warrior.
Except in the most metaphorical sense of being a warrior
for Love.
So, whose example and words do we choose?—those
of Martin of Tours or of the current U.S. Secretary of War? For those who
are true followers of Jesus, it seems like a “no-brainer.” What do you think?
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Yep! A no-brainer. It's long been documented that the early church was pacifistic for a couple of centuries.
ReplyDeleteIt's fairly easily argued that one of the greatest corruptions of the Xn Church was identification with a political empire. However, Christians were fighting over doctrine even before that. Overall, church history is not a pretty history. I haven't adopted the traditional Calvinist doctrine of the total corruption of human becomings, but these days, I'm finding that doctrine coping into my thoughts about humanity.
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