These quotes are all from Mere Christianity
Now a step further. Does loving your enemy mean not punishing him? No, for loving myself does not mean that I ought not to subject myself to punishment – even to death. If you had committed a murder, the right Christian thing to do would be to give yourself up to the police and be hanged. It is, therefore, in my opinion, perfectly right for a Christian judge to sentence a man to death or a Christian soldier to kill an enemy. I always have thought so, ever since I became a Christian, and long before the war, and I still think so now that we are at peace. pg 118
I imagine somebody will say, ‘Well, if one is allowed to condemn the enemy’s acts, and punish him, and kill him, what difference is left between Christian morality and the ordinary view?’ All the difference in the world. Remember, we Christians think man lives for ever. Therefore, what really matters is those little marks or twists on the central, inside part of the soul which are going to turn it, in the long run, into a heavenly or a hellish creature. We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it… Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves – to wish that he were not so bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. This is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not. pg 119, 120
C.S. Lewis is advocating self delusion. He says that we “are to wish his [our enemy's] good” but then we should also kill him if he is bad! Killing someone is nothing like punishing a child. It is not corrective whatsoever. It is permanent. And who made you the judge anyhow? Who is to say this person is bad just because you come to meet him on the battlefield? Is this not hypocrisy when we think one thing but then do in practice the opposite? For example if I internally wish you bad because I despise you, yet I do you good whenever I see you, who would not say that I am a hypocrite? Yet this is the exact same thing that is being done here (only in this case one loves their enemy internally yet commits against him the most heinous of crimes–murder). One is to love him in mind but not in deed. Killing someone is the most unloving thing someone could ever do because of its permanence. This is multiplied by a thousand in the case of a non-Christian because death prevents him from ever hearing the gospel again and in affect seals his fate to hell. Apparently Jesus was not in favor of this (cf. Beattitudes) and neither was Paul (see below).
By: Sean on December 2, 2007
at 7:56 am
Lewis is right. You quote from Romans 12 and you use various teachings which tell us to be pacifistic in our personal lives. But “turning the other check” is a personal obligation not a foreign policy. Paul goes on to teach in the next chapter that wrath isn’t just God’s duty but one he also extended to government.
Rom 13:1-7 Every person is to 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 whoever 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 on the one who practices evil. (5) Therefore 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.
It wasn’t wrong for Cornelius to serve nor is it wrong for a Christian today to serve in the military of their country. This is a consistent way of viewing scripture. King David was a warrior after God’s own heart and now you people twist God’s word into saying Christians have to allow themselves to be defeated by anyone who would do themselves or other innocent people bodily harm.
By: Jason Carnley on November 14, 2009
at 10:49 pm