Just War Theory – Defended by James Webber

Introduction by John McGlone

    I am privileged to know a wonderful soldier of the Lord, James Webber only through the internet and some important interpersonal counsel he labored with me a few years ago.  I am thankful for the many decades of work he has labored for the lost and to edify the saints over many decades of his colorful life of open air ministry.  I have for a few years questioned my hyper pacifism that I held to for a season of about seven years.  I have labored to study this issue and though I am not in complete agreement with St. Augustine and his just war theory, James sure helps me understand some important points in his following dissertation.

I am a patriot and love my countrymen and country. Some background on me, I have a family that is steeped in past proud military traditions.  On my father’s side of the family; my father was a Marine for four years earning Staff Sgt before getting out after the Bay of Pigs fiasco.  My grandfather was a waist gunner in a B-24 stationed with the 8th Air Force in England during WWII.  He was shot down by Anti aircraft fire on Jan 7th, 1944.  Most of the crew bailed out except the tail and ball turret gunners, and my grandfather.  The SS gestapo shot and killed them as they exited the downed aircraft.  They were not known for taking POW’s who were injured in the fighting.  My great grandfather was an infantry man in WWI in the south of France in 1917.  He survived the war.  My great great grandfather was a Colonel in the CSA part of the Tennessee Volunteers killed at Rocky Top, TN.  My matriarchal side of  my family I only know of  a great uncle who has retired from the U.S. Coast Guard service as an Admiral.  I served 21 years in the U.S. Navy as a Boatswains Mate, Quartermaster, and Signalman retiring in 2001 as a Chief Quartermaster.  I served on five different warships, have four rows of medals, campaign ribbons, unit awards.  I spent upwards of 15 years stationed aboard ship, 12 of that actually either deployed overseas or underway training to go overseas.  So, needless to say, I was a patriot to the core. Sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States from enemies both foreign and domestic. 

I see many forces at work to try and dismantle our system of government; Communists, Muslim Sharia, Antifa, BLM, illegal immigration, homosexual agenda, political corruption to the nth degree, etc.  I believe that God has blessed us with such abundant resources and responsibility.  We should use that responsibility to go with His Word into all nations. We should care for the widow, and orphans, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world.  Jam 1:27   I spent 21 years in the U.S. Navy, defending our Constitution as a primary motive when I joined. It was an ideology that matured me into a man.
Here are past views I’ve held: SEMIPASSIVE   HYPER PASSIVE

Just War Theory Defended
by James Webber

I think all Christians should be Peaceful people but capable of Implementing retributions and Justice as needed.

{Note: Particular Scriptural verses or topics are not always balanced when they are written.}

God’s actions, in relationship to killing humans.
GOD= Father- {Son, Jesus} – Holy Spirit

Point #1 God is Not Always Passive

God drowns everything on earth, except Noahs ark. Genesis 19:7:22
God Killed people and destroyed cities. Genesis 19:12-26
God kills all the first-born of Egypt. Exodus 12:29
God drowned the entire Egyptian army. Exodus 14:27
God had 3000 religious men destroyed. Exodus 32:19-28
God consumed with fire an untold number of Israel.
Numbers 16:31-32
God killed Korah and His family. Numbers 16:35
God killed 250 of the leading men of Israel. Numbers 16:35
God killed many Amorites. Josh 10:11
God killed directly killed 50,070. Men 1 Samuel 6:19
God directly killed 70,000 Israelites. 2 Samuel 24:15
God directly killed 185,000 Assyrians. 2 Kings19:35
God directly killed Ananias and Saphira. Acts 5:1-11
God directly killed king Herod Agrippa. Acts 12:21-23
God directly kills one-third of all mankind.
Revelation 9:15-17
God throws all whose names are not written in the Book of Life into the Lake
of Fire. Revelation 20:11-15

Point #2 Gods Attitude on War and Killing Revealed Within the Scriptures.

DR. A. E. WILDER-SMITH, Professor of medicine holding three doctorate degrees, and author or co-author of over fifty publications: …we ought never dare to state that there is a different God in the Old Testament to the One revealed in the New, on the basis that the Old Testament reveals a God of judgment and the New Testament a God of love. Love and judgment are present in both Testaments. Man’s Origin, Man’s Destiny (1974), p. 179

Deuteronomy 7:2-3
and when the LORD your God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3“Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, or shall you take their daughters for your sons.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10
“Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who
hates Him, He will repay him to his face.
Deuteronomy 7:24-26
“And He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you shall make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25) “The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26) “And you shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban;
you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.
Deuteronomy 20:13
“When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword.
Deuteronomy 20:17
“But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you,
Psalms 5:5
The boastful shall not stand before Thine eyes; Thou dost hate all who do iniquity.
Nahum 1:2
A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; the LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.
Exodus 15:3
“The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name.
2 Corinthians 5:11
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Point#3 God is NOT a Pacifist

What we have shown so far is, God is not a PACIFIST. We also see the Bible
speaking using Warfare terminology.
If Jesus was against Just Wars and was truly a Pacifist by Nature, I am sure He would not have used Warfare terms to express Biblical truths.
Luke 14:31 31
“Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand {men} to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
1 Corinthians 14:8
For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?
Luke 11:21-23
“When a strong {man,} fully armed, guards his own homestead, his possessions are undisturbed; 22) but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied, and distributes his plunder. 23) “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.
Romans 13:12
The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Ephesians 6:11
Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil: Breastplate, Shield of faith, Helmet of salvation, Sword of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 9:7
Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?
Philippians 2:25
But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need;
2 Timothy 2:3
Suffer hardship with {me,} as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:3-4
Suffer hardship with {me,} as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4) No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Philemon 1:2
and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
2 Corinthians 6:7
in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
Matthew 12:20
“A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory.
1 Corinthians 15:54
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.
2 Corinthians 10:3
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
Revelation 2:16
‘Repent therefore; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
Revelation 12:7
And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war,
Revelation 19:10-16
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” 11) And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it {is} called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12) And His eyes {are} a flame of fire, and upon His head {are} many diadems; and He has a name written {upon Him} which no one knows except Himself. 13) And {He is} clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. 14) And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white {and} clean, were following Him on white horses. 15) And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
16) And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Point #4  There Will Be No Peace

War will not always be with us. For now, to insure Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit
of happiness, war at times is necessary.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
Love never fails; but if {there are gifts of} prophecy, they will be done away; if {there are} tongues, they will cease; if {there is} knowledge, it will be done away. 9) For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; 10) but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
Isaiah 2:4
And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.
Revelations 21:1-5
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer {any} sea. 2) And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, andvthey shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, 4) and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be {any} death; there shall no longer be {any} mourning, or
crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5) And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” (NAS)

Point #5 War Accepted
Yet, Jesus seems to accept war as a part of the world system Matthew 24:6,
and his followers who were soldiers were not condemned Acts 10.
Soldiers were recognized as some of the heros of the faith Hebrews:11:32-34.
Hebrews 11:32-34
And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33) who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed {acts of} righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34) quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Point #6
Some say there is no evidence of a single Christian soldier in the Roman army
from the NT times until A.D. 170. But this can easily be explained, by realizing in order to become a soldier you had to pledge allegiance to their gods. In addition, Christians were being killed for their faith, And had no Nation, of their own. By the third and forth century things changed as a result of Augustine’s, Just War theory. Since then, War has been accepted by almost all Churches, till this very day. The book,”Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace”, by Roland H. Bainton, pp. 95-98 spells out Augustine’s theory of just war.
1. A just war must be just as to its intent, which is to restore peace. Augustine wrote the following to Boniface: “Peace should be the object of your desire. War should be waged only as a necessity and waged only that through it God may deliver men from that necessity and preserve them in peace. For peace is not to be sought in order to kindle war, but war is to be waged in order to obtain peace. Therefore even in the course of war you should cherish the spirit of a peace maker.” –Augustine said every effort should be made to avoid war.
2. A just war must seek to vindicate justice. The following injustices would be motivation for war: –an attempt to destroy the state. –refusal to grant passage through the nation –failure to make amends for wrongs
3. A just war must be motivated by love. That is, the intent must be good. War is not waged because of hatred for the other side, but because love dictates that action be taken to stop evil. A just State is obligated to examine its motives. They must be pure.
4. A just war can only be waged by the duly constituted rulers. The scriptures do not allow the individual to take action, only the duly constituted authorities.
5. A just war must be conducted properly. There should be no wanton violence, profaning of temples, looting, massacres, or conflagrations. Vengeance, atrocities, and reprisals are excluded.
6. A just war must be conducted in a mournful mood. War is a serious thing, and it is undertaken with reluctance and sorrow, not glee, as if it were fun. War should not be entered with joy and singing and thanksgiving.
Jeremiah 48:10
“Cursed be the one who does the LORD’S work negligently, and cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.

Point #7 But, Jesus Said..
Matthew 5:39
“But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew 5:44
“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you
The context of these verses primarily, has to do with the attitude and actions of the Saints, towards the ones that are the enemies of God, that are Persecuting the Saints for their Faith. Theses verses are not dealing with National Security Issues, Police Actions,
or National War.

Point # 8 Governmental Responsibility
Deals with the responsibility of Christians to their Government, and the
honoring of it, as a viable institution.
Matthew 22:21
They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”
Romans 13:1-7
Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2) Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3) For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; 4) for it is a minister of God to you for good.
But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. 5) Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for {rulers} are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7) Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax {is due;} custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
Acts 28:19
“But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar; not that I had any accusation
against my nation.
In Philippians 3:20 Paul says, “But our citizenship is in heaven.” It appears
Paul was aware that His citizenship was in heaven, yet He works within the
Worldly system.
Acts 27:23-24
“For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24) saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’
Titus 3:1
Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,
1 Peter 2:13
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,
Proverbs 8:13-15
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate. 14) “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. 15) “By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice.
Daniel 2:21
“And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding.
John 19:11
Jesus answered  “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has {the} greater sin.”
Revelation 1:5
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood,
1 Timothy 2:1-2
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties {and} prayers, petitions {and} thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2) for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
Point #9
Israel was to be an example of a Godly government.
Old Covenant VS. New Covenant Question.
NOTE: Exodus 20:13
Has been wrongly translated as “kill” kjv, rather than murder.
The text correctly reads “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER.” Murder is a different word and meaning than to kill. Thou shalt not kill. ‘Killing’ is not what is prohibited, otherwise the judicial infliction of capital punishment, as well as the slaughter of an enemy in defensive war, would be unlawful-in which light these were certainly not regarded by the Israelites in the time of Moses (Exodus 21:14; Deuteronomy 19:11; 31:9). [Lo’ tirtsaach, Thou shalt not commit murder. The verb signifies to slay with premeditation and malice, and is properly rendered by the Septuagint: ou foneuseis.]
from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary,
NOTE: Exodus 22:2
“If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed;” Moreover, (3) God gave mankind permission as a lawful society, to “kill,” or destroy those guilty of capital offenses. We call this today “capital punishment.” We read in,
Genesis 9:6
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”
The divinely sanction war is important to understand. For later on, God organized and engaged the entire nation of Israel into His army to kill all God’s enemies that He had labeled for destruction. Make no mistake God sanctioned the killing of human life by warfare. Again we read:
Josh 10:40
“So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.” (NIV)
Point #10
Some say: We are all children of God, therefore Killing a fellow child of God has to be wrong. Wrong, We are not all children of God, you are either a child of God or a child of the devil.
I John 3:10
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
Romans 9:20-23
On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21) Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? 22) What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23) And {He did so} in order that He might make
known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
Acts 13:10
and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?
John 8:44
“You are of {your} father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own {nature;} for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
Matthew 13:38
and the field is the world; and {as for} the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil {one;}
Galatians 6:3
For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Point #11
Some say: “Jesus would never Go to War!”
Wrong!
John 2:15
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
Matthew: 10:34
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. If war is inherently evil, why are soldiers not told so in the New Testament?
• John the Baptist, went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 3:14  Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”
• In Matthew 8 why did Christ commend the faith of a Centurion but did not call on him to abandon his profession? He told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more.
• Why did Paul avail himself of military protection if it is always wrong to kill? Wasn’t the protection predicated upon the fact that the soldiers would kill those who might try to kill Paul?
• Why is nothing said about Cornelius leaving his profession as Centurion in Acts 10?

Point 12 Patriotism
In discussing Patriotism it is difficult because there are a multitude of possible application, so I will not deal with the obvious mis applications. Any time we place something above God it is wrong whether Patriotism, Golf, TV, Money and so on.
Romans 14:1-2
Now accept the one who is weak in faith, {but} not for {the purpose of} passing judgment on his opinions. 2) One man has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables {only.}
• If you eat Vegetable only you are the weaker Brother.
• If you eat Vegetable and Meat you are the Stronger Brother.
• If you worship God on one day a week you are the weaker Brother.
• If you worship God everyday you are the Stronger Brother.
You see the ones that are limited in their Freedom are consider the weaker
Brothers, and the ones that are able to live in Freedom are the Stronger
Brothers.  The person that can’t be Patriotic is the weaker Brother where as the one that is able to be a good Christian and be Patriotic is the Stronger Brother.
If in fact you see God first and Country second Romans 13, and you attempt to Honor Romans 13
as directed, and Serve your Country, that position is completely in line with our Freedom and the Scriptural examples. Some say, look at the evils in your Country, how can you Serve a country like that, and be Patriotic to it? God looks at His Church and see Evil, and still Loves and Serves it, and is faithful to it. A married Man may see evils within His wife, yet He is still commanded to Love Her. Most Parents Love their
Children even when they do Evil. When People pledge allegiance to the flag, that does not mean they do not have built in restrictions within that allegiance.
Even in a Church, when one pledges allegiance to it, by way of membership, that does not mean, the commitment does not have limits.

IN CONCLUSION:
In Point #1, Jesus is No Pacifist, to the point He will not kill humans or direct other humans to kill humans, In War and otherwise.
In Point #2, We see that The Lord Jesus has always been a warrior throughout history.
In Point #3, We see God uses the opposite of Pacifistic terminology within the Scriptures.
In Point #4, We see Peace will come, just not yet.
In Point #5, Jesus seems to accept war as a part of the world system.
In Point #6, We see most Christians from all faiths have almost always seen War as a tragic necessity at times.
In Point #7, We see, as Christians in rightly dividing the Word of God, We need to make a distinction between individual responsibility’s before God and National responsibility’s before God.
In Point #8, Christian are responsible to their Government.
In Point #9, Israel a Godly example of a Government.
In Point #10, We are not all Children of God.
In Point #11, Jesus came with a sword.
In Point #12, Christian Patriotism can be an indication of one that is stronger in the faith.
True Pacifism, is Anti Self-protection, Anti Self-defense, and Anti John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.