Part of my studies this year includes a few essays and one 8-12 page research paper. I thought it might be fun to see who reads my stuff, and if so what you think of what I'm writing! Here goes for the first one...
Is war just? I will focus this broad question for this brief essay on a very critical, practical and personal component of this question, as my country has engaged in two wars during my life. The focus: is war something I will condone or something in which I will participate? I could discuss whether should Government condone or engage in war or if war is best from a societal perspective. But this essay answers an important question each needs to ask from a personal, religious and philosophical perspective.
In discussing my position of the question “is war just?” I will base my perspective on the teachings of Jesus the Nazarene and the actions of the early Church, more specifically I will be looking at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, and a historical review of the early Church as chronicled in Transformation Ethics by Thomas McFaul. From reading the perspective of Jesus of Nazareth and looking at the actions of the early Church, I am fully convinced that for myself, I will not condone or engage in any war-like pursuits.
In Matthew 5, we see that Jesus is speaking on murder, retaliation, and love for enemies. He tells us not to judge for fear of the fires of hell (v 22) and not to resist an evil person even when they strike us on the right cheek, but rather to turn the other also (v 39). He instructs us instead to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (v 44). As I see it, this teaching could be used as a method of preventing war. If we followed the teaching of Matthew 5 on an individual level, by acting always in love toward our fellow man, then could war be less frequent?
On the other hand, Jesus’ teaching in this situation is focused on personal endeavor, not on governmental action. We can take from this that Jesus deeply wants us to keep peace among ourselves: to live in light of eternal grace and justice, moving above the petty issues and acting as cooperative, intelligent human beings who can discover peaceful solutions and disagree without engaging in war.
To paraphrase Thomas McFaul, while Jesus was alive, He invoked images of a peaceable Kingdom governed by love and void of violence. As the early Church developed, Christians pursued Jesus’ vision of peace. When the early Christians were called upon to join with Roman officials and defend the Empire with brutality and perhaps bloodshed, they refused, pointing to Jesus’ teaching of avoiding vengeance, forgiving wrongdoers, loving enemies and not returning evil for evil. As Christianity expanded and Constantine in particular embarked upon the mission of conquering his enemies in the name of the cross, the change from pacifism to military participation was complete (50). As Christians began to participate in military pursuits, they lost the essence of Jesus’ vision: “a peaceable Kingdom governed by Love and void of violence” (McFaul 50).
In this paper, my goal is to search the scriptures, looking at the teachings of Jesus and the actions of the early Church to understand logically whether I personally should join in military pursuits. I have not covered all of the questions such as is governmental war ever justified, or if others should join the military. People in America can choose not to engage in combative war based on religious conviction, and, as you can see, this is my conviction! In order to uphold the teachings of Jesus the Nazarene, and follow the practice of the early Church, I will not condone any war-like pursuits. The sword protects, but Love saves.
Amber Agnew, Anno Domini 2008
Works Cited
McFaul, Thomas. Transformation Ethics. University Press of America, 2002.
NIV Study Bible. 1985. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Katy's play outfit
Oh, and Katy's in that stage of "this the cool way to smile"...and thus lends errrr "coolness" to the picture! Also, she found that slumping is really fun in a boned bodice!
Outfit of the Day
smiles...!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Dyeing...!
So, I'm dyeing fabric spontaneously! I was working on a bodice for Katy (see pic below) when Jack called. She was at Blick and asked if I needed anything...and I had been planning on dyeing some fabric as soon as I could get over to JoAnn's for dye...oh and Vogue for fabric...we seem to b completely out of white linen, which is HORRIBLE when you're in the midst of many (o.k. so like um...four) projects that all need white linen...ergo...I need to go to Vogue! Anyway...so I ended up deciding to test dye some fabric to check color and stuff like that...so you know, I don't like waste four yards of my beeeeautiful cotton... :D
here is a picture of the outfit I am making Katy that I mentioned in my last post. I am making a dark blue bodice for practice first...We'll see how it goes! So far, so good...I'll post more pix later!
Friday, August 15, 2008
All Quiet on the Western Front
So I'm happily preparing for school, spending time with my fambly, teaching (these are my busiest two weeks of teaching yet, but will persevere!), sewing (currently working on a play outfit for Kate, and decorating Mum's room. Yay!), and all the stuff that normally happens on a day to day basis! No, I have not forgotton you guys, just haven't posted anything fun recently! Some day I'll get those Summit pix from Jaclyn... :P
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
last thoughts
over all, it was a beautiful party, thanks to the many wonderful hands that did food, helped with set-up, tear-down or whatever, the sweet girls who gave their father's day up to dress up, do hair and take pictures, and the amazing guests who came to celebrate from far and near! Thank you for your gift of love!
EmmaLynne
Ember
the otherwise part!
All the girls
random things at grad party 2
Grad Party 2 - random things
Graduation Party 1
Evy gave me the wonderful, sweet and creative gift of taking the pictures at my party...so here are my favorites...of getting ready...
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