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Radical Reformation History  /  Lecture 2: The Early Church  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
Dean quotes early writers (Irenaeus, Tertullian, Athenagoras, Clement) to show Christians refusing war, refusing retaliation, offering the other cheek, even refusing to “keep count of injuries,” and Clement says a soldier must be rejected by the church; what makes these early Christian expectations feel extreme or “impractical” today, and what would have to change in our theology of discipleship for nonresistance to be treated as normal obedience rather than a specialized doctrine?
Another way to ask: Why do early Christian teachings about refusing violence and retaliation feel unrealistic today? What would need to change in how we think about discipleship for nonresistance to seem like normal obedience?

Direct Answer Dean suggests these expectations feel extreme today because many Christians have shifted the “frame” away from Jesus’ literal teachings and treat nonresistance as an optional doctrine instead of the normal Kingdom way of life. For nonresistance to be normal again, discipleship would have to be re-centered on obeying Jesus’ words—even when it risks suffering—supported by a “theology of martyrdom.”

Support from Transcript:

  • Dean says early Christian nonresistance is everywhere in the sources: “not like just one quote… all around, they had this concept that we don’t go to war.”
  • He argues the reason is the “paradigm was Jesus,” not a separate annex of doctrine.
  • He critiques a “fundamentalist frame” where nonresistance is “attached onto it,” allowing people to say, “They just divorce and go to war… but they’re still Christians,” and then asks: “can you be a follower of Christ and not follow Christ?”
  • Quotes reinforce the norm: offer “the other cheek”; “not to return blow for blow”; don’t “keep count of injuries”; not even to “pray against” an enemy.
  • Clement is cited: if a believer becomes a soldier “he must be rejected by the church… the Lord has subsequently disarmed Peter.”
  • Dean names the needed mindset: “theology of martyrdom… we put an end to the evil by dying… the way of the cross does lead to a cross.”
Discussion Follow-ups What fears (safety, rights, national security) make obedience feel impossible? If suffering is expected in Kingdom discipleship, what training would the church need to give so that “offering the other cheek” becomes normal, not heroic?

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