Category Archives: Faith

Electing Faithfulness: Part 2: Yep, Still Riding the Ron Paul Revolution

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[Part 1: Considering Third Roads]
“I’m Still Riding the Ron Paul Revolution”

or
“An endorsement for Congressman Paul as President by a citizen fully aware that he is not running”

(and why Caleb Coy would like for you to write in Ron Paul, though he fully respects your right to choose and wishes to clarify that he is not telling you what to do as prescribed to him by a pulpiteer or denominational edict, but offering what he has to say in a public forum)
(and yes, I know he’s not running, but that’s not the point.  If democracy works the way it says it does, someone who gets more write-ins than votes still wins.  If he does not, this only proves the system doesn’t work in the first place)

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_Not Worth Fighting For_ Review: Part 11

Posted by Caleb Coy on

The last chapter discussed what Jesus meant by “bringing a sword”.

In Chapter 11, Andy Alexis-Baker looks at the case study of a Roman Soldier: “What About the Centurion?”

The argument has gone that since the centurion showed great faith, and that Jesus commended him, and did not tell him to leave the service, that it was ok for the centurion to be a soldier, and thus it’s ok for Christians to war.

But if you grew up with the heritage of faith that I did, you are very very familiar with how the whole “making arguments from silence” thing works.  I’ve seen whole debates on whether silence is permissive or prohibitive (or either of these exclusively).  Baker says “Jesus’ silence on the centurion’s profession has become a tacit endorsement of Christians becoming involved in state-sponsored killing.”

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_Not Worth Fighting For_ Review: Part 10

Posted by Caleb Coy on

The last chapter dealt with what it meant for “every soul to be subject to governing authorities“.

Chapter 10 Samuel Wells deals with a puzzling statement made by Jesus.  Now we ask, “Didn’t Jesus say he came not to bring peace, but a sword?”

Matt. 10:34-39 is the central text in this chapter.  Jesus did in fact say these words: “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

The irony Wells points out is that nearly every Christian will tell you Jesus didn’t “come to bring the sword”, and yet so many Christians act as if he did, whereas he said he did “come to bring the sword”, and yet his life and the lives of his followers after his ascension show the opposite.  So something’s strange here, right?

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Announcing: The Caleb Coy Election Frenzy Series?

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Aren’t you tired of those messages telling you about what your Christian duty to vote entails?

I’m going to be honest with you and tell you that I am personally interested in sharing with you how I feel about political issues, why I feel the way I do, and why I am genuinely interested in what I share with you affecting the way you perceive them.  If you are not interested in sharing that kind of thing, this next series of blog posts may not be for you.
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_Not Worth Fighting For_ Review: Part 9

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Chapter 8 addressed the violence in the Old Testament and how we reconcile that with Christian nonviolence.

Chapter 9 deals with a single passage that gets abused quite a bit: “Let Every Soul be Subject”.  Lee Camp tackles what this passage means in context, instead of in the absurd isolation in which it is often quoted, violently ripped from God’s word in order to serve agendas of violence.

If you read the entire passage of Romans 13, you realize that this one phrase was never meant to be a military mantra.  We are to “present [our] bodies as living sacrifices” before God, and commanded not to “conform to the age” (often translated “the world”).  Since we are a new creation, we live according to a new age.  So whatever authorities we are under, they’re not ours.
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_Not Worth Fighting For_ Review: Part 8

Posted by Caleb Coy on

In the last chapter Greg Boyd argued that God expects all Christians to “turn the other cheek,” but he may not necessarily hold nations to a standard only held within a covenant with him.

Chapter 8 begins the other side of the book.  Before, we looked at “practical” questions that apply scripture to situations.  The second half deals more with interpreting and understanding what scripture says on the matter, beginning with Ingrid Lilly’s question “What About War and Violence in the Old Testament?”

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_Not Worth Fighting For_ Review: Part 7

Posted by Caleb Coy on

I remember one time we were with some friends watching How to Train Your Dragon with some friends who had children.  I said, “I wonder if there’s some critics who say this film is bad because it’s telling us to love terrorists or something.”  The guy said, “yeah, can you believe people actually believe that?”  I think he meant the loving terrorists thing.  Of course the whole point was that the dragons weren’t the real enemy, but the monster they were serving.  So is there a kind of person we are not called to love?

While the previous chapter focused on soldiery, in chapter 7 Greg Boyd asks, “Does God Expect Nations to Turn the Other Cheek?”  We actually may be surprised by his answer.  I had previously read Boyd’s book The Myth of a Christian Nation, a terrific read that asks us to reconsider the naive notion that America is “Christian” in any tangible sense, by looking at scripture.

He reminds us that Jesus’ instructions are unconditional, and that God has even the worst, most violent of our enemies in mind, not just meanies down the block, in Matt.5:38-48; Luke6:27-36; Rom.12:14-21; 1 Peter 3:9,14-18.  Imagine, he says, that Al Qaeda ruled America, and you will know the animosity the Jews felt toward Rome.  But since what Jesus did for isn’t just what he did, but reflects what he wants us to do (be willing to die innocently loving our enemies and not harming them), Christians don’t have the right to choose who they will and won’t love, will and won’t show loving action toward.
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_Not Worth Fighting For_ Review: Part 6

Posted by Caleb Coy on

“They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.” -Revelation 12:11

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” -John 8:36

Happy International Peace Day, everyone.  A day we should all celebrate.  In part 5 of the review we looked at the difficult question of how to be or work with policing in a peace community.

Chapter 6 is a message easier for me to accept up front, and is a conclusion I have already drawn.  Justin Bronson Barringer asks, “What About Those Men and Women Who Gave Up their Lives so You and I Could Be Free?”  A question which he feels “seems an attempt to shame the one to whom it is directed as one who dishonors soldiers.”  As if to say that the people who don’t love soldiers are the ones who want them to come home, not the ones who want to send them out to shoot and get shot on the sender’s behalf.

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_Not Worth Fighting For_ Review: Part 5

Posted by Caleb Coy on

The last chapter dealt with Hitler.

Chapter 5 deals with a question we might often overlook: “Must Christian Pacifists Reject Police Force?”

One reason it’s overlooked is that, until 200 years ago, military and police weren’t really seen as separate entities in most of the world.  They are both government agents authorized to use force, and even violence, if necessary.  The distinction remains important because, unlike war, police can truly “be accountable to legislative regulation” that “at least stands some chance of punishing only the guilty while protecting the innocent.”

In this chapter Schlabach first introduces the concept of nonviolent policing, which some people may regard as a joke.  How are police effective if they don’t use force?  But the same question could be asked of soldiering, perhaps.
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