Pontius Pilate once asked Jesus why His own people had delivered Him unto judgment. “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36).

After all, Jesus had not come to this world to take it by force. He was here to reclaim the world and give its inhabitants an example of character which they should follow. “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:56).

Those who choose to break the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13), should remember that they do not protect themselves. On the occasion of His capture by the priests, one of the disciples drew a sword to defend Christ. “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matthew 26:52).

Believers in Christ follow His commandments in all things, even the issue of military service. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14). And the Lord has given us instructions as to how we are to treat those who would threaten us with harm. “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39).

When the listeners heard that they should turn the other cheek, many of them opposed the teachings of Christ and left Him. They wanted to resist their enemies and to strike back at them. But Jesus had not yet finished His message. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43, 44).

“While we were yet unloving and unlovely in character, ‘hateful, and hating one another,’ our heavenly Father had mercy on us. ‘After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us’ (Titus 3:3–5). His love received will make us, in like manner, kind and tender, not merely toward those who please us, but to the most faulty and erring and sinful.

“The children of God are those who are partakers of His nature. It is not earthly rank, nor birth, nor nationality, nor religious privilege, which proves that we are members of the family of God; it is love, a love that embraces all humanity. Even sinners whose hearts are not utterly closed to God’s Spirit, will respond to kindness; while they may give hate for hate, they will also give love for love. But it is only the Spirit of God that gives love for hatred. To be kind to the unthankful and to the evil, to do good hoping for nothing again, is the insignia of the royalty of heaven, the sure token by which the children of the Highest reveal their high estate.” 1

During the first centuries of the Christian church, the followers of Christ accepted the messages of the sermon on the mount. Hippolytus (160–235 a.d.), who died as a martyr when Maximin was emperor, wrote “If a catechumen or a faithful one wants to become a soldier, let him be disfellowshipped, because he wanted to despise God.” Lactantius (260–344 a.d.) wrote that “A faithful believer should have no permission to serve as a soldier, because his military service would be counted as unrighteousness.”

“Tertullian argued against Christians being members of the Roman armies on the ground that this brought one under a master other than Christ, that it entailed taking the sword, and that, even when the army was used for police purposes in peace time, it made necessary the infliction of punishment, when all revenge was forbidden to the Christian.” 2

Their opposition to the bearing of arms was so great that the emperor Celsus feared that if his whole kingdom became Christian it would fall to the barbarian hordes. Origen replied to the emperor’s attack by saying that while Christians were pacifists, their prayers were doing much more than the Roman armies in the protection of the empire.

It was not until the advent of Emperor Constantine that the Synod of Arles, in 314 a.d., began to change the official position of Christians on the question of military service.

Even before being organized as a denomination, the young believers in the third angel’s message understood the correct position on the military issue. They wrote: “Has the gospel of Jesus granted you the right to use the sword, to arm you with carnal weapons, to take the sword to ‘provide for your own household,’ to deliver the oppressed out of the power of the oppressor, by breaking the sixth commandment of God, ‘Thou shalt not kill’? Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ Do you think that you, as a Christian living under the gospel, have a Bible permission to mingle in political strife in any way whatever?” 3

A few years later, during the American Civil War, the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church was still in its youth. The members of the church were living mainly in the northern and New England states and they were called upon by their government to engage in war through a draft of the male population. The Spirit of Prophecy revealed that the northern states of the union were being punished by the Lord for so long permitting slavery to exist in the south. This terrible evil—slavery—was condemned, but even so, the people of God were required to abide by His commandments and remain out of the military.

The Spirit of Prophecy confirmed this view: “I saw that it is our duty in every case to obey the laws of our land, unless they conflict with the higher law which God spoke with an audible voice from Sinai, and afterward engraved on stone with His own finger. ‘I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people.’ He who has God’s law written in the heart will obey God rather than men, and will sooner disobey all men than deviate in the least from the commandment of God. God’s people, taught by the inspiration of truth, and led by a good conscience to live by every word of God, will take His law, written in their hearts, as the only authority which they can acknowledge or consent to obey. The wisdom and authority of the divine law are supreme.” 4

But the Adventist leadership had been divided on the military issue. So the servant of the Lord continued: “I was shown that God’s people, who are His peculiar treasure, cannot engage in this perplexing war, for it is opposed to every principle of their faith. In the army they cannot obey the truth and at the same time obey the requirements of their officers. There would be a continual violation of conscience. Worldly men are governed by worldly principles. They can appreciate no other. Worldly policy and public opinion comprise the principle of action that governs them and leads them to practice the form of rightdoing. But God’s people cannot be governed by these motives. The words and commands of God, written in the soul, are spirit and life, and there is power in them to bring into subjection and enforce obedience. The ten precepts of Jehovah are the foundation of all righteous and good laws. Those who love God’s commandments will conform to every good law of the land. But if the requirements of the rulers are such as conflict with the laws of God, the only question to be settled is: Shall we obey God, or man?” 5

The Spirit of Prophecy shows us the results of joining the army. “In positions of trust in the Northern army there are men who are rebels at heart, who value the life of a soldier no more than they would the life of a dog. They can see them torn, and mangled, and dying, by thousands, unmoved.” 6

Taking this into account the General Conference officers met for their third annual session in 1865. Their decision was published in The Review and Herald: “We are compelled to decline all participation in acts of war and bloodshed.” 7 This position was accepted by the authorities both in the state governments, the federal government and the military.

There is another thing that we need to consider. If we take part in the military and the wars of nations, different sides will be taken by different individuals, in opposing nations, proclaiming opposite sentiments and declaring their divided opinions, while proclaiming to be brethren. Can brethren in opposing nations, both in the same church, both join their respective militaries, espouse the spirit of their nations, and try to kill each other? Brethren? Christians? And what is the spirit which they are compelled to undertake in the military? They must espouse the spirit of war, the spirit of controversy, the spirit of strife. Is this the spirit of a Christian, who turns the other cheek, who loves his enemies?

How would a Christian feel knowing that he had killed his brother in the opposing army? Would he be thrilled at performing his duty for the state, or would he cry out in anguish for taking the life of one of God’s chosen people? God has His children scattered throughout the world, and He requires that we find them and bring them to His fold so that they may be safe. This is the best work in which a Christian can engage. In the army of Christ he can bear arms of service. “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:14–17).

And when we take up these weapons the apostle declared the words that would be echoed by Origen to the emperor many years later: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).