Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 8 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
The Kingdom that Turned the World Upside Down  /  Chapter 24, How Christ's Teachings Disappeared  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 8
On non-resistance, Bercot contrasts early Christians who wouldn’t take up swords even against barbarians with later Christians who “didn’t hesitate to slaughter fellow Romans and fellow Christians”; what theological justifications would you expect were used to cross that line, and where do you see comparable justifications for coercion or violence today?
Another way to ask: What reasons do you think later Christians used to justify killing, even other Christians, when earlier Christians refused the sword? Where do you see similar excuses today for using force, threats, or violence?

Direct Answer The transcript suggests the main theological justification was adopting the Old Testament kingdom model: since Israel fought wars and the Old Testament didn’t teach enemy-love and non-resistance, Christians now treated violence as lawful and even duty-bound to defend and subdue enemies. The transcript doesn’t address present-day examples, but it provides the pattern: when the Kingdom is fused with worldly rule, coercion becomes acceptable.

Support from Transcript:

  • “Just as the Israelites had gone to war… now Christians were called on to do the same.”
  • “The Old Testament didn’t teach non-resistance or loving one’s enemy, so now the Church didn’t teach it either.”
  • Under the hybrid: “if something had been lawful for the Jews, it now was considered lawful for Christians.”
  • The Kingdom becomes a Roman-sized empire to defend, not an inward reign.
  • Resulting change: from refusing swords “even…against pagan barbarians” to slaughtering “fellow Romans and fellow Christians.”
Discussion Follow-ups What happens to Jesus’ enemy-love when the Church defines itself as protecting a civilization? Where do Christians today defend coercion as “necessary” because they’ve adopted a political-kingdom view of God’s reign?

Jumpstarter 8 of 10
Back Questions Next