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THAT “DIVINE LAW.”

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 7, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 1.

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THAT “DIVINE LAW.”

By W. N. Glenn

From the Congressional Record of December 14 we cull the following excerpt from the proceedings in the Senate:—
Mr. Gallinger.—I present a series of resolutions adopted at a union Thanksgiving service in the town of Hudson, N. H., in reference to the Armenian question. The closing resolution I desire to put on record:—
That international and divine law would justify the great powers of Christendom in putting an end immediately to these atrocities, even though it should necessitate the dismemberment and destruction of the Turkish Empire.
The resolutions are signed by G. W. Buzzell, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church; C. D. Swett, pastor of the Baptist Church, and F. P. Chapin, pastor of the Congregational Church.
The question arises, By what divine law are “the great powers of Christendom” justified in destroying the Turkish Empire? The assumption of such a resolution is that “the great powers of Christendom” are Christian; from that standpoint, we ask the question, By what divine law are Christians justified in destroying empires? Christ said of himself, “The Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them;” and he has given neither precept nor example for saving men by means of the sword.
It is a prerogative of the Lord to remove kings and to set up kings (Dan. 2:21; 4:17), and he has given no law authorizing Christians to assume any such responsibility. In his providence he has used armies to overthrow nations, and he has commissioned one nation to chastise or to overthrow another nation. But these are not authorized by any general divine law (or international law, either) to do so at their will. When the Lord wants such a work done, he overrules circumstances in a special way to bring about his purpose.
The Lord does not send Christians to bear the sword against their enemies; no retaliation against persecution is of Christ. “I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matt. 5:39. As Christians, we are as sheep among wolves, and “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.” The only offensive weapon in the Christian’s armor is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
That the Turkish Empire is to come to its end, and that in a short time, there can be no doubt. We believe that such a result is foreshadowed in the word of God. That the Lord will use the power of other nations to bring about this result, there is no doubt. But when he does use the physical forces of the so-called “Christian nations” to put down a kingdom, it will have been demonstrated that they are not Christian. The very fact of their using weapons not prescribed in the armor of Christ is evidence that they do not belong to the spiritual army of Christ.
When Peter drew his sword to defend the Master’s cause in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord said to him, “Put up thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matt. 26:52. And in all the rules and regulations of the Christian army that order has not yet been countermanded. Those professed Christians who are continually calling for the use of the sword, or the civil law, which is the same thing (for the civil law is nothing if not backed by physical force), should ponder the circumstance recorded in Luke 9:51–56. Here it is related that Christ sent two of his disciples before him to a village to secure lodgings. But the people would not receive him. The disciples were very indignant, and proposed to call down fire from heaven upon the place. “But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”
W. N. GLENN.