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Question 3
Bercot compares war to Old Testament permissions like divorce and polygamy—practices “against His ultimate will” later forbidden; where do you feel resistance to treating war as belonging in that same category, and what would you need from Scripture to be convinced?
Another way to ask: Bercot says war is like divorce or polygamy—allowed for a time but not God’s best plan. What makes it hard for you to put war in that same category, and what would you need to see in Scripture to be convinced?

Direct Answer The transcript doesn’t describe Bercot’s personal emotional resistance, but it implies many Christians resist this because it clashes with what they already believe and with cultural ideas about defending country. To be convinced, Bercot points people back to Jesus’ and the apostles’ clear commands and to how the earliest Christians understood them.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot says God allowed practices “against His ultimate will” (polygamy, divorce) and argues “It would seem that war falls into this same category.”
  • He roots this in Jesus’ contrasts: “You have heard…an eye for an eye…But I say…do not resist evil…turn the other cheek,” and “love your enemies.”
  • He notes these teachings were “revolutionary” and “the opposite of what most Jews expected,” showing why people resist them.
  • He admits the topic may be “unsettling” and says people don’t like viewpoints “contrary to what we believe.”
  • He challenges listeners: don’t say “that’s just what David Bercot says,” but “search this out for yourself” in the early Christian writings.
Discussion Follow-ups Which specific sayings of Jesus feel hardest to take “literally” in the war question, and why?

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