United Methodist Church
General Conference 2004
Pittsburgh, April 27–May 7
War and Peace
“You believe, farther, that both this faith and love are wrought in us by the Spirit of God; nay, that there cannot be in any man one good temper or desire, or so much as one good thought, unless it be produced by the almighty power of God, by the inspiration or influence of the Holy Ghost. If you walk by this rule, continually endeavouring to know and love and resemble and obey the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the God of love, of pardoning mercy; if from this principle of loving, obedient faith, you carefully abstain from all evil, and labour, as you have opportunity, to do good to all men, friends or enemies; if, lastly, you unite together, to encourage and help each other in thus working out your salvation, and for that end watch over one another in love, you are they whom I mean by Methodists.” John Wesley, October 10, 1745
Methodists, throughout history have had strong opinions on war and peace. General Conference in 1844 was the origin of article 32 of the Book of Discipline which read: "We believe the gospel of Christ to be every way opposed to the practice of war in all forms; and those customs which tend to foster and perpetuate the war spirit to be inconsistent with the benevolent designs of the Christian Religion."
These are trying times for all Christians. Terrorism, war and political turmoil touch each of us every day. Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Chechnya, Haiti, and many other places around the world provide reminders of the weakness of human nature.
How do we deal with these horrors? People of faith turn to their faith communities. Must not the origin of the Christian position on war come from the Bible? Does not the teaching of scripture, and that of Jesus specifically, clearly challenge any justification made for military intervention?
Jesus resisted evil by loving the enemy and preaching about peace. He was and is the supreme defense to us all. We look to his defenselessness on the cross as a model and to his resurrection as a source of power.
Difficult times call for difficult decisions, but as Christians, should we not follow the example of Jesus and choose peace over war? Would it not be incompatible with our faith to have Christians killing Christians? Is it not our obligation as disciples of Christ to spread the Good News? Wouldn’t then killing non-Christians prevent their salvation and mean our failure as evangelicals? The answers to these questions are difficult for many. We look to our spiritual leaders – both Clergy and Laity - and our own belief systems for the answers.
A resolution will be proposed at General Conference to change Paragraph 165 Section C of the UM Book of Discipline from:
"We therefore reject war as a usual instrument of national foreign policy"
to:
"We therefore reject war as an instrument of national foreign policy"
God bless all the delegates to General Conference. We hope that they prayerfully consider the Wesleyan heritage of our Church when deciding on its future.
Josh Paskiewicz
