Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

the, to, of, christians, god, jesus, in, paul, for, empire, while, romans, 13, about, post, navigation, howard, owens, late, stage, christianity, me, too, wouldn, have, been, possible, without, christ, vanity, posting, 10, commandments, public, schools, message, gullible, polytheism, universalism, transformation, from, violent, man, pacifist, let, not, hope, national, leaders, like, samson, war, by, will, or, ours, tension, resisting, submitting, authority, an, open, letter, hates, empires, virtue, silence, learning, ephesus, if, means, total, obedience, rest, scripture, is, meaningless, are, exiles, pledged, instead, upside, down, kingdom, grappling, with, timothy, 11, 15, main, menu, archives, recent, comments, meta,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (320), and (156), that (77), god (75), his (54), for (47), not (46), was (44), jesus (39), who (38), but (36), this (32), with (30), would (28), war (28), they (26), from (26), have (25), 2026 (24), reply (24), posted (24), own (23), hegseth (22), are (20), #howard (20), man (19), owens (18), you (18), when (18), about (17), christianity (17), than (17), one (16), all (16), power (16), just (15), august (15), those (15), january (14), were (14), there (14), even (14), paul (14), could (13), our (13), moral (13), what (12), july (12), 2003 (12), 2007 (12), 2008 (12), leave (12), violence (12), military (12), april (11), september (11), november (11), march (11), may (11), people (11), love (11), because (11), their (11), divine (11), life (11), pete (11), john (11), israel (11), name (11), acts (11), february (10), human (10), good (10), scripture (10), did (10), rather (10), temple (10), new (10), iran (10), more (10), your (9), should (9), october (9), 2025 (9), self (9), over (9), into (9), will (9), through (9), rome (9), christians (9), christian (9), cross (9), might (9), been (9), time (9), right (9), biblical (9), deuteronomy (9), june (8), 2006 (8), 2011 (8), authority (8), powerful (8), kingdom (8), any (8), out (8), which (8), tax (8), has (8), read (8), him (8), david (8), last (8), 2002 (7), december (7), 2012 (7), such (7), first (7), empire (7), never (7), some (7), far (7), had (7), can (7), isn (7), com (7), without (7), against (7), language (7), warrior (7), christ (7), great (7), samson (7), news (6), american (6), part (6), how (6), only (6), 2004 (6), 2005 (6), 2009 (6), 2010 (6), being (6), woman (6), culture (6), while (6), its (6), romans (6), point (6), also (6), most (6), means (6), world (6), see (6), peter (6), them (6), kings (6), earth (6), says (6), national (6), evil (6), political (6), said (6), battle (6), blessing (6), psalm (6), like (6), lord (6), use (6), days (6), commandments (6), modern (5), post (5), reading (5), men (5), status (5), times (5), roman (5), faith (5), babylon (5), down (5), politics (5), resistance (5), sacrifice (5), matthew (5), thing (5), bible (5), troops (5), told (5), www (5), armageddon (5), public (5), testament (5), come (5), coming (5), nation (5), sins (5), many (5), words (5), often (5), mercy (5), lede (4), 2015 (4), posts (4), going (4), creator (4), else (4), women (4), become (4), wisdom (4), especially (4), century (4), virtue (4), entire (4), then (4), timothy (4), revelation (4), where (4), empires (4), age (4), saying (4), try (4), wrong (4), too (4), rest (4), turns (4), corruption (4), corrupt (4), system (4), pay (4), both (4), watchdog (4), mar (4), gods (4), bring (4), prayer (4), breakfast (4), witness (4), tattoos (4), crusading (4), obsession (4), crusade (4), creation (4), yoder (4), messiah (4), force (4), describes (4), mark (4), crusader (4), before (4), way (4), spiritual (4), doesn (4), much (4), state (4), enemy (4), non (4), taught (4), does (4), act (4), humanity (4), justice (4), these (4), polytheism (4), universalism (4), victims (4), civic (4), take (4), lovers (4), less (4), another (4), made (4), old (3), history (3), journalism (3), business (3), publishers (3), 2013 (3), back (3), years (3), continue (3), higher (3), gain (3), influence (3), silence (3), jewish (3), speech (3), control (3), must (3), adam (3), hates (3), egypt (3), present (3), worship (3), command (3), government (3), historical (3), position (3), pastor (3), believe (3), obedience (3), resisting (3), standing (3), alone (3), ultimately (3), animals (3), priests (3), reject (3), considered (3), passage (3), well (3), asks (3), high (3), priest (3), within (3), set (3), teaching (3), later (3), plan (3), intended (3), feb (3), gerl (3), religious (3), hays (3), copan (3), warfare (3), desire (3), though (3), figure (3), zealots (3), save (3), law (3), end (3), others (3), among (3), mean (3), death (3), dying (3), same (3), away (3), bad (3), peace (3), himself (3), jerusalem (3), passages (3), individuals (3), make (3), story (3), each (3), yahweh (3), always (3), judgment (3), samuel (3), philistines (3), trust (3), strength (3), context (3), ancient (3), order (3), hebrew (3), music (3), leaders (3), calling (3), became (3), today (3), showed (3), protected (3), taken (3), word (3), person (3), gullible (3), false (3), posting (3), honor (3), sacred (3), vain (3), something (3), call (3), harvey (3), weinstein (3), legal (3), launch (2), local (2), lead (2), photo (2), barbershops (2), work (2), hard (2), aspiring (2), recent (2), 2014 (2), 2019 (2), archives (2), blog (2), older (2), navigation (2), property (2), wealthy (2), patrons (2), literature (2), restraint (2), lower (2), social (2), receive (2), instruction (2), created (2), eve (2), deceived (2), preserved (2), bearing (2), children (2), sanctity (2), assyria (2), jeremiah (2), becomes (2), poor (2), mutual (2), fed (2), sin (2), exiles (2), instead (2), upside (2), here (2), think (2), scriptural (2), other (2), injustice (2), sometimes (2), exchange (2), cited (2), reason (2), important (2), worth (2), publicly (2), discussing (2), further (2), total (2), open (2), lesson (2), apart (2), tables (2), sovereignty (2), revolution (2), caesar (2), belongs (2), court (2), cause (2), fishing (2), paid (2), annas (2), brought (2), jews (2), pressured (2), paying (2), two (2), avoid (2), strangers (2), meaning (2), era (2), rate (2), coins (2), regard (2), little (2), mission (2), money (2), submitting (2), surrendering (2), allegiance (2), second (2), period (2), fear (2), facing (2), enemies (2), james (2), dictionary (2), alleges (2), anadolu (2), urban (2), clermont (2), 1095 (2), fordham (2), brian (2), eternal (2), quotes (2), briefing (2), refusal (2), dev (2), rosen (2), armin (2), suhail (2), salam (2), lines (2), magazine (2), nov (2), 2024 (2), newlinesmag (2), essays (2), hegseths (2), america (2), network (2), secretary (2), speaks (2), facebook (2), freedom (2), richard (2), vision (2), interpretation (2), grand (2), rapids (2), baker (2), books (2), theology (2), exodus (2), study (2), tim (2), youtube (2), watch (2), sense (2), applies (2), commentary (2), put (2), prophecy (2), return (2), thought (2), rebellion (2), pharisees (2), trying (2), get (2), finally (2), long (2), filed (2), trump (2), service (2), across (2), began (2), commanders (2), invoking (2), justify (2), under (2), number (2), sound (2), signs (2), symbols (2), states (2), know (2), again (2), talk (2), pope (2), die (2), whether (2), land (2), neither (2), heaven (2), anybody (2), explaining (2), disciples (2), following (2), persecution (2), country (2), reality (2), returning (2), living (2), prior (2), loses (2), willing (2), reads (2), interesting (2), song (2), king (2), build (2), shed (2), blood (2), enough (2), called (2), initiative (2), 144 (2), shown (2), decisions (2), message (2), defense (2), pacifist (2), say (2), truth (2), brings (2), stage (2), constantine (2), church (2), didn (2), looking (2), posture (2), cloak (2), wasn (2), weakness (2), nature (2), gave (2), retribution (2), argues (2), ethics (2), theological (2), comes (2), based (2), trusting (2), eden (2), initiated (2), josiah (2), ahab (2), prophet (2), late (2), saul (2), patience (2), performed (2), sets (2), place (2), prostitution (2), child (2), judges (2), after (2), glory (2), nations (2), stop (2), near (2), cultures (2), air (2), midst (2), hubris (2), role (2), model (2), want (2), still (2), personal (2), between (2), greatest (2), let (2), hope (2), support (2), nonviolent (2), cain (2), yet (2), proud (2), verse (2), persecutor (2), violent (2), knowledge (2), find (2), tried (2), turn (2), wants (2), holds (2), oppressors (2), upon (2), don (2), every (2), bless (2), ambition (2), themselves (2), ane (2), eyes (2), churches (2), promote (2), kind (2), anyone (2), nothing (2), discussion (2), antichrists (2), bounded (2), hebrews (2), hour (2), heard (2), now (2), look (2), vanity (2), mandates (2), represent (2), third (2), commandment (2), ways (2), teacher (2), resurrection (2), real (2), fact (2), impact (2), spread (2), expectations (2), aristotle (2), unlikely (2), city (2), valued (2), lacked (2), concept (2), actress (2), crime (2), toward (2), changed (2), obligation (2), seen (2), viewed (2), necessary (2), dignity (2), millennia (2), exist (2), 000 (2), ago (2), arc (2), universe (2), loss (2), her (2), she (2), branded (2), class (2), violated (2), manipulation (2), institutional (2), skip (2), content (2), proudly, powered, wordpress, entries, rss, log, register, meta, review, discovering, michael, schudson, blogs, brief, readers, unbound, site, easy, steps, six, roles, job, duties, qualities, functions, reporter, singhlalon, bob, benz, foleymo, thebeforeitsnews, comments, 118, 119, 100, 136, 111, 2016, 2018, 2021, select, month, includes, 2022, large, gaps, currently, writes, mainly, grateful, things, equal, outranked, wealth, philosophical, tradition, mastery, reflected, discipline, praised, proverbs, sirach, demonstrated, true, ranking, company, quietly, submissiveness, allow, teach, exercise, remain, quiet, fell, transgression, grappling, learning, ephesus, ezekiel, isaiah, symbol, favor, rich, marginalized, distort, design, beneficence, sick, healed, steeped, idolatry, outstretched, arm, pledged, pages, hear, oppose, correct, start, off, assumption, correctly, inconsistencies, concede, logical, progression, map, goes, address, side, case, opposing, essay, started, response, communicate, during, shouldn, participate, anti, ice, protests, added, citations, email, issue, meaningless, letter, conforming, flips, asserts, confrontation, giving, relying, recognizes, flipped, gentiles, encouraging, advises, offense, knowing, provides, sovereign, instructs, subverting, animal, corrupted, sold, herd, families, defective, forcing, purchase, inflated, prices, sadducees, voluntary, tier, connected, everyone, kin, answers, purchased, remained, family, dynasties, questionable, provenance, tyrian, confronted, obtain, couldn, treasury, hence, judas, carrying, bag, earthly, dependence, easily, overlooked, deep, confronts, several, leads, crucifixion, tension, dan, white, debra, hirsch, monsters, befriending, healing, polarized, chicago, moody, hastings, york, charles, scribner, sons, 1909, 610, standard, tbsnews, net, 1377341, agency, ajansı, americas, 3849151, internet, medieval, sourcebook, university, sourcebooks, web, edu, source, urban2, 5vers, asp, kaylor, soldiers, publicwitness, wordandway, org, kirchick, outright, republic, newrepublic, 207564, thomas, architecture, 74th, annual, oneamericanewsnetwork, videos, 1436195738155266, center, street, 2020, fighting, liberty, quest, community, harpercollins, 1996, 248, 2nd, eerdmans, 1994, responding, skeptics, challenge, 2001, 167, longman, iii, desmond, alexander, rosner, downers, grove, intervarsity, press, 2000, 836, robert, bergen, csb, apologetics, ted, cabal, nashville, holman, 2017, wtc, why, withheld, tree, teaches, mackie, 2okhkbjaenc, monster, making, chapter, canaanite, 159, 188, esp, 170, cannot, defeated, presumption, however, play, rules, parties, day, frequently, fit, category, frustrated, delight, groups, misread, realization, humble, meanwhile, answer, foment, surely, judea, hand, action, subvert, desires, believed, follow, precisely, hasten, ready, savior, complaint, behalf, commander, telling, conflict, citing, president, anointed, light, signal, fire, 200, complaints, foundation, members, branches, since, strikes, alleging, seems, ranks, hal, lindsey, lahaye, theologically, daniel, controversial, topics, christendom, spend, careers, mapping, onto, machinery, locusts, helicopters, gog, russia, united, forget, realize, finely, tuned, gps, remark, straight, sea, pagans, shall, immediate, remission, grant, invested, nor, gates, confusing, legions, potential, cost, potentially, framing, baptizes, suggesting, achieves, solely, dust, submission, campaign, whoever, sake, gospel, lay, unit, finds, losing, adventures, indictment, initiatives, pick, psalms, wanted, exactly, spoke, fought, wars, house, sight, plainly, ideal, solution, wash, chron, particularly, meaningful, militarily, unstable, aid, heavens, send, forth, lightning, scatter, hint, striking, backdrop, used, capture, nicolás, maduro, ongoing, operation, plotting, combat, credits, training, hands, fingers, describing, fortress, stronghold, deliverer, boasting, martial, skill, explicit, attribution, capability, glorifying, acknowledging, quite, outsource, already, fallible, calculation, machines, cites, consistently, pairs, symbolism, rhetoric, presenting, blesses, demands, prefers, department, runs, friends, least, advertising, inks, deus, vult, wills, book, frames, involved, cultural, apocalyptic, holy, accommodation, helped, crusades, inquisition, bloody, battles, reformation, overwhelmingly, pacifists, committed, lions, burned, torches, colosseum, combination, politicizing, augustine, theory, meant, biblically, grounded, early, erode, constantinian, shift, radically, counter, jew, quote, preached, focused, leader, rode, donkey, foal, zechariah, argue, utopian, maneuvers, evaluated, skeptically, arrested, declared, servants, fight, prevent, arrest, stance, fundamentally, odds, mobilize, armed, execution, expression, voluntarily, answering, portrays, teachings, normatively, shaping, governs, drawing, similarly, fulcrum, sharpest, focus, suggest, gospels, sanction, starting, short, initiates, drove, genuine, approval, consequences, provoked, dismay, anger, listen, delivered, necho, died, shot, heart, archers, chronicles, decided, retake, ramoth, gilead, aram, reasoning, consulted, prophets, deliberately, avoided, knew, speak, outcome, killed, burnt, offering, waiting, justified, pressure, attack, condemned, disobedience, declaring, endure, keep, pattern, direction, results, forfeiture, pursue, plans, shows, rebellious, chariots, horses, strategy, torah, archetype, final, calls, smaller, commands, generals, reduce, idolatrous, leviticus, centuries, travail, demonstrate, obeyed, followed, repeatedly, fails, showing, schemes, fail, starts, garden, choosing, decide, fellowship, works, redeem, texts, eastern, hyperbolic, deeply, suffering, complicate, quick, charge, violating, difficult, dod, staff, sgt, madelyn, keech, https, flickr, photos, secdef, 54674702251, domain, ours, narrative, conceal, faults, consistent, fealty, full, gloss, ultimate, folly, hero, exemplify, fatally, flawed, doomed, lack, faithfulness, hardly, certainly, emulate, kills, gaza, partial, fulfillment, lasting, deliverance, generations, confront, break, philistine, benefit, vengeance, vindicated, destruction, dagon, commentators, suggested, perhaps, terrorist, displaying, judge, acting, spirit, maga, compare, donald, manly, view, nationalists, fixation, sort, faithfully, fulfill, begin, delivering, haunted, insecurities, driven, grievances, blurring, line, revenge, tragic, whose, liability, enabling, worst, impulses, sharp, rebuke, theobros, weaponize, explicitly, taking, beating, stoning, retaliation, transformed, deserved, road, damascus, killer, abel, punishment, allowed, live, flourish, admits, zeal, actually, fueled, overbearing, dominate, hurt, original, greek, hybristes, root, big, ego, referred, actively, uses, shame, mistreat, bully, incredible, lumps, blasphemy, letting, listing, three, actions, once, blasphemer, acted, ignorance, unbelief, comprehensive, reference, supporting, doctrine, transformation, universalists, embrace, loves, promise, disorder, win, receiving, crowns, sat, spat, universalist, meek, inherit, done, wipe, tear, mess, conspiracy, interest, grabbing, starves, abused, dies, soon, eat, poisoned, foul, water, dirty, claimed, divinity, killing, whom, desired, oppression, cosmic, anarchy, doing, flourishing, rain, fall, plants, grow, equally, getting, whatever, warning, guard, circles, assuredly, evaluating, ambitions, sign, excuse, narcissist, advantage, fooled, wonders, jannes, jambres, pharaoh, wished, deceive, moses, meets, criteria, lays, boastful, abusive, unforgiving, slanderous, lacking, treacherous, rash, conceited, pleasure, claim, deny, depraved, minds, aren, makes, clear, watchful, singular, mistake, terms, incarnation, connect, beginning, teachers, liars, dear, antichrist, help, understand, spoken, son, opens, terrible, deceiver, feeds, unthoughtful, unprepared, morning, celebrates, treating, tools, trivializes, text, takes, drafts, civil, governance, reduces, decoration, using, ideology, masquerading, drive, politically, motivated, thus, appropriating, identity, prop, partisan, agenda, properly, intent, clearly, manner, idol, raised, cuss, trivial, skirt, elevate, profane, value, lashav, worthless, deceitful, statement, groundless, required, schoolhouse, walls, violates, schools, lewis, liar, lunatic, explain, rapid, explains, throughout, known, risk, proclaimed, above, names, except, footnote, failed, subverted, despised, very, gatekeepers, legacy, socrates, plato, buddha, confucius, valuable, largely, conformed, itinerant, rabbi, written, chronicled, retell, credentialed, held, formal, degree, largest, walk, significant, global, scale, talking, laborer, backwater, province, region, produce, along, trade, routes, passing, progressive, hollywood, condemn, weinsteins, movement, young, nameless, hopeful, unthinkable, foundational, conviction, titan, low, harmed, vulnerable, entirely, downstream, metoo, gained, creatures, image, inverted, ethic, servitude, tribal, different, pray, persecute, resist, slap, grace, extra, mile, surrender, cruel, measure, define, cruelty, almost, exclusively, tribe, bloodline, strong, dominating, weak, natural, cosmos, famously, argued, slaves, classical, misericordia, pity, compassion, character, flaw, irrational, emotion, compromised, familiar, contemporary, trope, empathy, unwanted, infants, exposed, hillsides, slavery, merely, economic, unquestioned, default, east, gladiatorial, slaughter, treated, appease, legitimate, entertainment, maintaining, utility, four, birth, concepts, granted, equality, happened, negative, positive, consent, adultery, affront, male, spouse, although, disgraced, damaged, goods, society, infamia, repute, advocates, crush, particular, servant, accuse, senator, patron, destroyed, bend, progress, weren, elite, write, sentence, complained, protested, accused, wrongdoing, punished, celebrated, conduct, expected, applauded, exercising, legally, came, mind, wouldn, possible, generational, barriers, younger, hunger, itself, version, associate, hypocrisy, exclusion, fragmentation, divide, style, gender, sexuality, race, heat, reflection, therapeutic, individualism, reduced, comfort, success, esteem, psychological, warm, blanket, emphasis, costly, discipleship, confession, fidelity, sexual, abuse, scandals, financial, cover, ups, common, rarely, destructive, uncovered, headline, preservation, trumps, harm, consumerism, pastors, influencers, conferences, products, experience, divides, tribes, dissent, betrayal, ordinary, disagreement, photography, home, main, menu, search, secondary, primary,

Text of the page (random words):
ly wrong in the ane there was child sacrifice temple prostitution and kings who claimed divinity killing whom they desired in the modern world babylon is a conspiracy of self interest with each person of ambition grabbing what they can for themselves with little regard for who starves who is abused who dies too soon who can t get enough to eat or who is poisoned by foul water or dirty air and universalism wants to bless this mess to bless injustice and the oppressors universalism says the creator has no power over his creation rather than a god of love who loves his creation so that he wants to put it back to good order he holds out no promise no hope for the victims of disorder the oppressors will ultimately win by receiving the same crowns in heaven as the sat upon and the spat upon for the universalist the meek don t inherit the earth their kingdom never comes god s will is never done he has no power to wipe away every tear god tried to turn israel away from polytheism the universalists embrace it posted in christianity leave a reply paul s transformation from violent man to pacifist posted on july 3 2026 by howard owens reply my knowledge of the literature on christian nonviolent resistance is far from comprehensive but i ve yet to find a reference to 1 timothy 1 13 as a verse supporting the doctrine even though i was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man i was shown mercy because i acted in ignorance and unbelief this is an incredible verse paul lumps his violence acts 7 58 8 3 acts 9 1 2 acts 22 4 5 acts 26 9 11 in with blasphemy and persecution he isn t saying i was a persecutor of the church and letting it go at that he s listing these three actions as sins of rebellion against god in their own right in the original greek the word we re looking at is hybristes that is the root of our word hubris here it doesn t just mean big ego it referred to a person who actively uses power and position to shame mistreat and bully others paul admits that his religious zeal was actually fueled by a proud overbearing desire to dominate and hurt others yet god showed him mercy god showed cain mercy he gave the killer of abel a mark so that he would be protected against retribution god could have just taken cain s life as punishment but he allowed him to live and flourish and paul s sins deserved death but god as he does for all of us showed him mercy on the road to damascus paul was transformed from a man of violence to a man of peace we see in acts that paul turns from violence to nonviolent resistance even to the point of taking a beating or a stoning without retaliation acts 16 35 40 acts 21 37 22 21 acts 23 1 5 acts 9 23 25 acts 14 5 7 19 20 acts 17 5 15 this is a sharp rebuke of today s theobros those christian men who try to weaponize christianity to support the use of violence paul is explicitly calling out those who would try to justify the use of violence in the name of jesus posted in music leave a reply let s not hope for national leaders like samson posted on april 25 2026 by howard owens reply i ve come across maga christians who love to compare donald trump to samson the manly warrior in their view christian nationalists have an interesting fixation on samson as some sort of role model the man who did not faithfully fulfill his calling to begin delivering israel from the philistines was haunted by his own insecurities driven more by personal grievances than by divine blessing blurring the line between justice and revenge a tragic figure whose greatest strength became his greatest liability enabling his worst impulses many commentators have suggested samson is perhaps more of a terrorist rather than displaying the wisdom of a judge acting in god s spirit in the end samson kills himself and many philistines in a temple in gaza this may be a partial fulfillment of his calling but it does not bring lasting deliverance generations later david still has to confront and finally break philistine power if there is any benefit to god in his act of vengeance it is that god s name is vindicated in the destruction of dagon s temple the biblical narrative doesn t conceal any of samson s faults consistent with scripture s fealty to a witness to people s full humanity there is no gloss because the ultimate story is about god s glory in the midst of man s folly far from a hero especially a warrior to exemplify samson is fatally flawed doomed by his own hubris and lack of faithfulness he s hardly a role model and certainly not anybody we would want our national leaders to emulate posted in music leave a reply war by god s will or ours posted on march 12 2026 by howard owens reply defense secretary pete hegseth dod photo by u s air force staff sgt madelyn keech https www flickr com photos secdef 54674702251 public domain the war passages in the hebrew bible are among the most difficult in scripture copan argues that the old testament s warfare texts must be read in their ancient near eastern context where hyperbolic battle language divine judgment on deeply corrupt cultures and god s long suffering patience all complicate any quick charge that god is violating our modern sense of moral order 1 the most important context starts in the garden of eden where humanity first turns on god choosing instead to decide good and bad apart from fellowship with its creator 2 the sets up the rest of story as god works through history to redeem his creation many centuries later after much travail israel is called to be a kingdom of priests who might demonstrate god s glory to all the nations that he alone should be obeyed and followed but israel repeatedly fails showing us time and again that when we stop following god our own schemes often fail exodus 19 5 6 deuteronomy 4 5 8 deuteronomy 6 4 5 13 15 deuteronomy 26 18 19 judges 2 10 15 deuteronomy 28 15 25 jeremiah 2 17 19 the war passages act in the torah as an archetype for god s final judgment 3 when god calls his people to war always as the smaller force often god commands kings and generals to reduce the number of men going into battle 4 it is against an idolatrous and corrupt people there is great evil in the land such as temple prostitution and child sacrifice deuteronomy 9 4 5 deuteronomy 18 9 14 judges 7 2 7 deuteronomy 20 1 9 deuteronomy 23 17 leviticus 18 21 20 1 5 deuteronomy 18 9 10 israel was to trust in god not in its own strategy or the nation s own strength as psalm 20 7 reads some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the lord our god rebellious kings when kings pursue their own war plans the biblical witness shows it didn t go well for israel in 1 samuel 13 when samuel is late saul loses patience performed a burnt offering himself rather than waiting for the prophet an act he justified by military pressure and fear that the philistines would attack samuel condemned this as disobedience declaring that saul s kingdom would not endure because he did not keep the lord s command this sets the pattern human initiative in place of divine direction results in the forfeiture of blessing in 1 kings 22 ahab decided to retake ramoth gilead from aram based on his own reasoning and though he consulted prophets he deliberately avoided the one prophet he knew would speak against him the outcome ahab was killed in battle in 2 chronicles 35 when josiah did not listen to god s command delivered through necho of egypt josiah died in battle shot through the heart by archers each genuine yahweh war was always initiated by the lord and never israel when israel initiated war without divine approval the consequences provoked god s dismay if not anger and judgment 5 in other words short of divine revelation any nation that initiates war is not trusting god but trusting in its own wisdom the same desire for control that drove adam and eve from eden peace on earth so when does god sanction a nation starting a war i suggest based on the witness of jesus christ in the gospels never john howard yoder argues in the politics of jesus 6 that the new testament portrays jesus life teachings and especially his cross as normatively shaping christian ethics and politics the way of the cross then governs how we read the rest of scripture richard hays drawing on yoder similarly describes the cross as the theological fulcrum of new testament ethics the point at which the biblical story s moral vision comes into sharpest focus 7 at the cross jesus voluntarily gave up his life so that we might have life that is the way of non violence non resisting not answering evil with evil jesus taught enemy love not retribution john 10 10 11 17 18 matthew 5 38 39 romans 12 17 21 when arrested jesus declared that my kingdom is not of this world explaining that if it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest john 18 36 this stance is fundamentally at odds with the use of military force his refusal to mobilize armed resistance even when facing execution wasn t weakness but the expression of the upside down nature of god s kingdom for those who might argue that is a utopian posture for a nation you re not wrong but it is individuals who make those good and bad decisions about military maneuvers and individuals who cloak their own wisdom in biblical language should be evaluated if yoder and hays are right and i believe they are skeptically jesus was radically counter culture for a first century jew he didn t quote war passages from scripture he preached non violence and cited scripture focused on love and obedience to god while most jews of the era were looking for a messiah who would be a great military leader jesus rode into jerusalem on a donkey s foal matthew 5 38 44 matthew 22 37 40 john 14 15 zechariah 9 9 matthew 21 1 5 john 12 14 15 john 10 11 18 romans 12 17 21 the constantinian shift prior to constantine christians were overwhelmingly pacifists and committed to non violence and enemy love even as they were being fed to lions and burned as torches in the colosseum a combination of constantine s politicizing christianity and augustine s just war theory meant that biblically grounded culture of the early church began to erode over time that accommodation to state power helped set the stage for the crusades the inquisition and the bloody battles of the reformation which brings us to pete hegseth the man who prefers war to defense for the department he runs my pacifist friends say at least that s truth in advertising and inks himself with crusader symbols the jerusalem cross and deus vult god wills it 8 in his book american crusade hegseth frames american christianity involved in not just a cultural war but as apocalyptic crusader like holy war 9 even when hegseth speaks of christ dying for our sins and cites john 3 16 he consistently pairs that message with crusader symbolism and war like rhetoric presenting a jesus who blesses american military power rather demands peace on earth 10 11 he s also shown he s quite willing to outsource war s moral decisions the already fallible human calculation over good and bad to machines 12 psalm 144 it s striking that in this backdrop hegseth used psalm 144 as a blessing for both the mission to capture nicolás maduro and the ongoing operation in iran 13 david s song isn t about israel s king plotting combat under his power rather david credits god with training his hands for war and fingers for battle describing god as his fortress stronghold and deliverer this isn t david boasting about his own martial skill it s an explicit attribution of military capability to divine instruction david isn t glorifying war or blessing violence he is acknowledging god s sovereignty the psalm was particularly meaningful to exiles returning from babylon living in a militarily unstable state as they called to god for his aid david asks god to part your heavens and come down and to send forth lightning and scatter the enemy there isn t a hint of self initiative in the psalm it s interesting that hegseth would pick one of david s psalms the song of a warrior king who wanted to build a temple but god said no exactly because he was a warrior the lord spoke to david you have shed much blood and have fought many wars you are not to build a house for my name because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight 1 chron 22 8 god says plainly enough war isn t his ideal solution to wash away man s sins rather than blessing hegseth s military adventures the psalm reads like an indictment of his own initiatives losing one s life prior to the campaign against iran at the national prayer breakfast hegseth read from mark 8 whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel s will save it and then said the warrior who is willing to lay down his life for his unit his country and his creator that warrior finds eternal life mark 8 34 38 14 hegseth is confusing the kingdom of god with his own kingdom jesus is not blessing the roman legions or even jewish zealots he is explaining to his disciples the potential cost of following him that could mean persecution even potentially to the point of death hegseth s framing baptizes military service with christian language by suggesting that dying for country achieves the same spiritual reality as dying for christ in the name of the good news further life in this passage doesn t mean solely returning to dust it means surrendering your entire self to jesus and living in total submission to him hegseth s remark is straight up crusader talk in 1095 before the first crusade pope urban ii at clermont said all who die by the way whether by land or by sea or in battle against the pagans shall have immediate remission of sins this i grant them through the power of god with which i am invested 15 neither the pope nor hegseth has the power to open the gates of heaven to a warrior or anybody else armageddon one of the most controversial topics in christendom is end times prophecy there are christians who spend entire careers trying to read the signs mapping biblical symbols onto modern machinery or nation states locusts become helicopters gog becomes russia or is it the united states i forget there are others among us who know jesus is coming again but realize that scripture was never intended to be read as a finely tuned gps it seems that under hegseth the military has a number of commanders in its ranks who have read more hal lindsey and tim lahaye than they have a theologically sound bible commentary on daniel and revelation there have been more than 200 complaints filed with the military religious freedom foundation from u s service members across all branches since the iran strikes began alleging that commanders are invoking biblical end times language to justify the war 16 one complaint filed on behalf of 15 troops describes a commander telling them the conflict is all part of god s divine plan citing revelation and armageddon and saying president trump was anointed by jesus to light the signal fire in iran to cause armageddon and mark his r...