Tag Archives: peter

Military Chaplain Conference Discusses Effects of DADT Repeal

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary‘s Institute for Faith and the Public Square recently hosted an aptly named conference on chaplains in the US military:

Chaplaincy: Ministering in Caesar’s House

“There is a growing negative atmosphere toward evangelical Christianity,” said Lloyd Harsch, church history professor and institute director. “Under the guise of tolerance, everyone who holds a religiously informed position is now viewed as suspect because they’re [considered] intolerant.”

A panel specifically on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal included retired Chaplain (MajGen) Douglas Carver, former Army Chief of Chaplains.  Carver specifically noted Read more

Does the Bible Support Christian Military Service?

The previous article began to answer the question Can a Christian Serve in the US Military? by addressing the common pacifist criticisms of military service by Christians.  This article asks the more direct question:  Does the Bible actually support military service by Christians?

Men of God, and War

Despite the sometime pacifist assumptions placed upon Christian belief, many Biblical men of old and renown have been soldiers and still been faithful men of God — and nowhere was their military service questioned. Abraham, whom God selected to bless as the father of His chosen nation, was one of the earliest “generals” (Genesis 14:14-15). Moses and Joshua both led the Israelites in countless battles. God Himself ordered the Israelites to battle, and commanded His own army, for that matter (2 Kings 6:17). David, a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), said that God “trained his hands for battle” (Psalm 18:34). David not only fought in war but also participated in some of the most brutal acts of slaughter recorded in the Bible (for example, when he arbitrarily killed every two lengths of the defeated Moabites (2 Samuel 8 )). In the military tradition of “praise the Lord and pass the ammunition,” Nehemiah “prayed to…God and posted a guard,” and told the leaders of Jerusalem to “remember the Lord…, and fight” (4:9, 14).

Thus, to claim all war is evil is to say not only that God Read more