Jumpstarter 9 of 10

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Question 9

Bercot argues the earliest Christians “always renounced war,” notes even Nicaea excommunicated ex-soldiers who returned to the military, and then traces how Christians soon joined armies and killed other Christians; what practices, teachings, or communal pressures do you think originally sustained Christian nonviolence, and what changed when church and empire merged?

Another way to ask: Bercot says early Christians refused war, and even Nicaea removed ex-soldiers who rejoined the military, but later Christians joined armies and killed other Christians. What helped early Christians stay nonviolent, and what changed when the church joined with the empire?

Direct Answer The transcript suggests Christian nonviolence was sustained by clear early teaching and church discipline against military participation, along with an understanding that the kingdom is not worldly. When church and empire merged, state interests and theologians’ new arguments made violence seem acceptable—even “obedience to God.”

Support from Transcript:

Bercot says, “From the very beginning, Christians had always renounced war, violence, and killing of every sort,” and early writings “made this clear.”
He notes even Nicaea ruled ex-soldiers who returned to the military were to be “excommunicated.”
“Within a few years after Nicaea, Christians began joining the army,” first against pagans, then “slaughtering fellow Christians.”
Violence spread beyond armies: mobs fought over bishops; they murdered a pagan philosopher and burned a synagogue.
He ties this shift to theologians like Augustine arguing war is compatible with Christ and to the broader “union of church and state.”

Discussion Follow-ups What kinds of church discipline today would be comparable to excommunication for returning to violence? How does political belonging pressure Christians to accept what earlier believers rejected?

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Jumpstarter 9 of 10