IV.) The Reappearance of the Early Christian Hope
Hope for the earthly coming of Jesus and his Kingdom never died in the West. It flared up often among people who felt heavily oppressed by their churches and governments, and could hardly regard them as rulers of the millennium. Many of these people, as in the early church, hailed from the lower classes.
Some of these millennial movements took up arms to further their cause. So far as I know, nearly all of them were viciously persecuted and defeated. Other movements which were not mainly religious, but political and/or nationalistic, described themselves in eschatological terms and took up arms. Some of these overthrew governments, but afterwards they often portrayed their own rule in millennial imagery.
Still other movements anticipated the full, earthly coming of God’s Kingdom, which was not yet present, but like the early Christians they already lived by its teachings, such as non-violence, equality and sharing. Their lifestyle differed so greatly from European societies that it sharply critiqued them, as early Christianity had critiqued Roman society. Governments felt threatened, and often persecuted them as the Romans had persecuted early Christians, even though neither movement had a political agenda. Despite this, these groups inspired some social reforms. But can this early Christian hope offer any realistic guidance for today’s world, which is torn by many conflicts and threatened with global destruction?
Consider how the Soviet empire collapsed. One would suppose that so oppressive and scientifically sophisticated a system could be toppled only by bloody wars or revolutions. Yet most communist governments capitulated with hardly a shot being fired. When enormous numbers of citizens staged protest marches, work stoppages and simply refused to co-operate, they collapsed. Other oppressive regimes, like El Salvador’s, finally succumbed to courageous but non-violent opposition of large citizen groups. Quite recently, massive demonstrations brought down the Kingdom of Nepal.
I do not think that non-violent approaches will always succeed. Yet it is obvious that war, which is far more damaging and expensive, often does not work. Still, Christians who use only peaceful means do so not simply because these might succeed, but because Jesus teaches them. In closing, let me indicate several convictions central to his approach to conflict and war..
One conviction is that revenge, or punishing an enemy for harming oneself or one’s group, will never bring widespread, lasting peace. To be sure, when governments inflict punishments which are equivalent to the crimes committed,[20] these can promote justice and stability. But people who desire revenge often inflict far greater damage on their enemies. This enflames their enemies’ desire for excessive retaliation, and initiates an escalating cycle of wrongs avenged by greater wrongs, sometimes continuing for centuries. Enemies, Jesus teaches, will not attain lasting peace until they stop seeking revenge-- unless they stop returning evil for evil, even when it seems justified, and bless those who persecute them (Romans 12:14-21). For this to happen, at least three things are necessary.
First, enemies must search for creative, non-violent ways to resolve their grievances and problems. When Jesus told people oppressed by Rome to carry a soldier’s pack an extra mile, he was not advising passive suffering, but creative, loving response. When people are hit on one cheek and turn the other cheek, they do something unexpected. This can unsettle aggressors and stop the cycle of violence before it starts. Jesus said, in effect: when you are wronged, and your immediate impulse is to strike back... Stop! The Kingdom of God is at hand! There must be a better way to overcome evil. Search for it!
Second, people must often accept the pain of being wronged and injured, and forgive their enemies instead. Christians believe that Jesus did this when he refused to defend himself against his killers, but prayed for them. Christians believe that this kind of response does not end in defeat, but unleashes the power that raised Jesus from the dead. This power will begin to overcome injustice and violence already, in this life, and will finally raise everyone who has been wronged unjustly and establish God’s righteous kingdom forever.[21]
[1] God “will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth will yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil, and they shall know that I am the Lord....” (Ezekiel 35:26-27; cf. Isaiah 65:17-25)
[2] Isaiah 2:2-4; cf. Micah 4:1-4; Psalm 46:8-10; Zechariah 2:10-13. Notice also Isaiah 56:6-7:
“to the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord...
These will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar;
For my house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples.” (cf. Isaiah 66:18-21)
[3] “Listen, a tumult on the mountains, as of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering an army for battle.
They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole earth,
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty!” (Isaiah 13:4-6; cf. 34:1-4; Joel 3:9-15)
[4] The Messiah wages war in Psalms 2:9-11, 21:8-12, 89:23, 110:5-6; Isaiah 9:5 and possibly 1 Samuel 2:9-10. The Messiah does not wage war in Psalms 84:9, 132:10-17; Isaiah 32:1; Jeremiah 23:5, 30:9; Lamentations 4:20; Ezekiel 17:22-23, 34:23-31, 37:22-27; Amos 9:11-12; Micah 4:8; Zechariah 3:10, 4:1-6 and 10-14, 9:9-10.
[5] Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:14-15. Scholars agree that the main theme of Jesus’ ministry was the Kingdom of God.
[6] Jesus’ followers were often surprised or frightened when these appearances began (see Matthew 28:8-10, 17; Mark 16:5, 8; Luke 24:4-5, 11, 36-41; John 20:14-16, 24-28, 21:4-7).
[7] 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was also called the “firstfruits” (Romans 8:23) as were the earliest converts (Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:15, James 1:18, Revelation 14:4).
[8] For an explanation of this which includes the role of social forces, see Walter Rauschenbusch, A Theology for the Social Gospel (Nashville: Abingdon, 1917), 247-259.
[9] See N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), esp. 477-539; cf. 274-319, 446-474, 651-653; cf. Oscar Cullmann, Jesus and the Revolutionaries (New York: Harper, 1970).
[10] See John Driver, How Christians Made Peace with War (Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1988).
[11] Revelation 1:16; 2:12, 17;19:15, 21. Other passages which may possibly refer to Jesus destroying his enemies by force are Revelation 1:7; 2:23, 27; 6:16; 12:5; 14:10; 17:14; 19:11-21; 20:4 and 22:2.
[12] Revelation 12:11. Passages in Revelation which are sometimes said to show Christians harming their enemies are 2:27, 8:4-6, 11:5-6, 19:14 and 20:4. But I find such interpretations very unconvincing.
[13] His victory over Maxentius at the Milvian bridge near Rome, which gave Constantine rule over the Roman Empire’s western half. On the night before the battle a promise of victory conveyed by Christian symbols appeared to him.
[14] In 381 C.E. the Emperor Theodosius raised Christianity to the official and the only legal religion in the Empire.
[15] Eventually a third possibility emerged: individuals who were Christians, but still committed many sins, were assigned to “Purgatory:” an experience of being cleansed or purged from their sins. Only afterwards would they finally enter heaven. This experience of purgation, however, was often pictured as fiery torment, not much better than Hell.
[16] St. Augustine, The City of God (Middelsex, United Kingdom: Penguin, 1984) Book 20, Chapter 6:3-29.
[17] “If at this juncture we can rally sufficient religious faith and moral strength to snap the bonds of evil and turn the present unparalleled economic and intellectual resources of humanity to the development of a true social life, the generations yet unborn will mark this as the great day of the Lord for which the ages waited....” (Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis [New York: Harper and Row, 1964], 422).
[18] H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in American (New York: Harper and Row, 1937).
[19] Such as the Anti-Christ (1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3, 2 John 7), the beast with seven horns and ten heads (Revelation 13:1-8), etc.
[20] The Torah’s formula for this is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21).
[21] In western Christianity, however, wealthy and powerful people have often told those who serve them to routinely accept wrongs, and expect a reward in heaven. Jesus did not have this kind of passive suffering, which justifies oppression, in mind. Though his way can lead to suffering, it is the way of active, creative love, which opposes oppression. Suffering is not good in itself, but only when it expresses God’s forgiving, renewing love.
