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A Change of Allegiance  /  Chapter 4, The God of the Bible  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
Tertullian’s early-church conclusion is blunt: “the Lord has taken the sword away… disarmed every soldier,” and Taylor says “the whole idea of a Christian just war grew… ridiculous,” then asks what the church believed before Augustine; based on the chapter’s argument and timeline gap, what do you think early Christians assumed about violence and discipleship, and what would you have to surrender (practically, not theoretically) to live as if they were right?
Another way to ask: Tertullian said Jesus took away the sword, and Taylor says early Christians didn’t believe in Christian war before Augustine. What do you think early Christians believed about violence and following Jesus, and what real-life things would you have to give up to live like they were right?

Direct Answer Based on Taylor’s argument and his use of Tertullian, early Christians likely assumed discipleship meant refusing to use the sword as a means of advancing or defending the faith, because Jesus changed the battle plan toward salvation rather than destruction. Living as if they were right would require surrendering practical reliance on violent defense or “just war” thinking as a Christian approach to opposition.

Support from Transcript:

  • Taylor highlights Jesus’ command to Peter: “Put up again thy sword… all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,” calling it a major shift from Old Testament patterns.
  • He quotes Tertullian (AD 190) asking, “How will a Christian man participate in war?” concluding, “For the Lord has taken the sword away,” and “in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier.”
  • Taylor acknowledges complexities (soldiers came to John the Baptist; a centurion believed) but still says Tertullian’s inference stands as a serious early-church reading.
  • Taylor says as he reconciled the Testaments, “the whole idea of a Christian just war grew more and more ridiculous.”
  • He notes the timeline gap: Augustine’s just war theory around AD 410, and asks what the church believed for the centuries before.
  • He insists Christians are still called to fight, but with a different method—“fight to the death… our own personal death.”
Discussion Follow-ups What concrete practices would you change if you believed “the Lord has taken the sword away” (how you respond to threats, politics, self-defense, enemies)? What does “fight… my death” look like in daily life when you feel justified to strike back?

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