A resolution and statement adopted by the Third General
Convention of The American Lutheran Church, October 19-25,
1966.
WHEREAS, A predecessor statement was referred back to the
Commission on Research and Social Action by the 1964 General
Convention with suggestions for revision; and
WHEREAS, The proposals for revision have been considered and
incorporated into the present draft; and
WHEREAS, Generally favorable comments have been expressed on the
current draft since its circulation in the spring and early summer
of 1965; therefore be it
Resolved, That The American Lutheran Church adopt the
following statement as expressing its views on the sensitive issues
of war and peace as a guide to its members and as a contribution to
public discussion.
A. THE ISSUES IN TENSION
1. As perhaps never before in human history,
men fear and dread war. They fear that through the weapons of total
warfare now available, man will destroy himself, his civilization,
and this present world. In contrast, the promises of peace, of a
social order subject to man's control, of a world without war hold
a strong appeal.
2. War is war, even though it may not be total
war, nor even declared war. It may be a limited military action,
waged within a relatively small geographic area, involving
comparatively few combatants. Methods of warfare include guerrilla
action, blockade, infiltration, subversion, and other means of
undermining a people's will or capacity to resist. War thus may
include not only military action but also economic and
psychological weapons.
3. The price of freedom may be so high as to
require war. Peace, freedom, and security come dear. It is possible
that a nation and its people cannot have peace, security
and freedom. Under some circumstances their only
alternatives may be either the peace of surrender to
tyranny and totalitarianism or the security and freedom
bought by risking and engaging in war.
4. To people caught in the tensions between war
and peace, totalitarianism and freedom, life and death, the Church
of Jesus Christ needs to speak relevant counsel. Members of The
American Lutheran Church ought to be vocal in helping to clarify
and to shape public policy on issues of war, peace, and the demands
of responsible freedom. The Commission on Research and Social
Action offers the results of its discussions as a stimulus to
widespread thinking and discussion of these issues within The
American Lutheran Church, to be carried by the members into the
discussions within' the body politic.
B. THE PARADOX OF WAR
5. War is an evil scourge, which like famine
and pestilence brings destruction to mankind. War denies God's
central commandment of love (Matt. 22:37-40). War is a consequence
of a world estranged from God, a fruit of sinful man's passions.
(See James 4:1.) Man's sinfulness shows in such traits as pride,
arrogance, greed, lust for power, divisiveness, hate, bigotry,
self-righteousness, and idolatry, including an unquestioning
devotion to the goals and the supremacy of his own nation. These,
in the complex intermingling of causes and effects and in the
involved workings of man's reason and his madness, are what lead to
war.
6. God's plan and purpose for man do not
require war. When man's disobedience brings war, God can transform
it into a chastening of sinful, rebellious men and nations that
deny His Lordship and defy His demands for justice and mercy. God
may turn war's waste of life, energy, and resources into a reminder
of the folly of trusting in material things. God's use of pagan
nations to rebuke the idolatry and wickedness of Israel and Judah
testifies to His judgment through war.
7. Although war indeed may result in scientific
advance and material progress, and may bring out some of the
noblest qualities in the human spirit as men are moved to deny self
for the well-being of others, war also gives demonic satisfaction
to some of the basest elements in humanity. Cruelties and injustice
are inflicted; greed and avarice run rampant; lust and license are
made to appear as virtues; internal enemies can be silenced;
critics are ridiculed; and power-mad men ruthlessly impose their
wills upon others. Man's inhumanity to man can take its most
extreme forms in war.
8. The inhumanity of war ought not be measured
solely by the destructive power of the weapons used. The madness
which moved men to throw stones, hurl spears, or shoot arrows is
little different in quality from the cold, impersonal technology
which unleashes the nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons man
now has at hand. Those killed are just as dead, probably having
died more quickly under the latter than under the earlier weaponry.
While wars of massive destructiveness are not new in human
experience man now seems to have it within his power through total
war to bring this world to an end.
9. In every age men and nations have sought to
renounce war as a defensible instrument of national policy. To
their dismay they often found that the more loudly they spoke their
love for peace and their hatred for war, the more certainly they
became involved in wars of defense against an aggressor who
misjudged their will to resist his dominance. It appears that war
is least likely to erupt when the probable contestants are equally
weak and equally incapable of waging war, equally strong and
balanced and thus equally sure that they could not win the contest,
or equally sure that the opponent possesses not only military power
but also the will to use it.
C. THE "JUST WAR" QUESTION
10. War can be seen as an emergency use of
temporal power exercised by the civil rulers, an extension of the
authority they derive from God to maintain order and justice (Rom.
13:1-4). As Creator and Preserver, God has decreed laws binding
upon all men, obedience to which is essential for civic
righteousness. (See Ps. 19:7-11; Prov. 14:34; Matt. 22:17-21.) God
has conferred a measure of His authority upon duly-constituted
government in order to promote, foster, and protect justice,
morality, equity, peace, order, and respect for inalienable human
rights (Ps. 82, Rom. 13, Titus 3). Government must restrain, if
need be by force, those who would deprive human beings of these
divine blessings.
11. The very readiness to risk war and the very
willingness to engage in war may be the only means the nation and
its people have for assuring their independence and the
preservation of their Godgiven opportunities and responsibilities.
The forces of evil may become so fierce that men will rise in moves
of desperation to curb demonic powers. A government may be so
tyrannical or despotic that men seek to overthrow it. War may
become a means to defend moral and spiritual values cherished more
highly than goods or life.
12. This line of reasoning finds support in
Article XVI of the Augsburg Confession, which declares: "Christians
may without sin . . . engage in just wars, serve as soldiers. . .
." Christians of that day were ready to judge whether a particular
war was a just war on the criteria of whether it (I) seemed to be
fought for a just cause, (2) was motivated by a just intent, (3)
was waged in accord with the spirit of justice and mercy, and (4)
would result in the triumph and reign of justice and mercy for both
victor and vanquished. This thinking, which prompted Augsburg XVI,
needs to be understood not as justifying war per se but as giving
criteria by which to evaluate the justice or injustice of a
particular war.
13. The conditions and assumptions which
underlay Augsburg's guidance for Christians to "engage in just
wars" rarely prevail today. Widely circulated propaganda and
managed news cut away the foundation necessary for informed and
objective decision-making. Total war wipes out any meaningful
distinctions between voluntary enlistment and the draft, between
bearing or not bearing arms, between combatants and noncombatants,
between the fighting front and the home front, between military
objectives and total victory. The decision of whether or not to go
to war is a corporate decision made by the political authorities.
No citizen can be excused from the massive mobilization of effort
which total war demands.
14. It is the Christian's duty, therefore, as a
loyal citizen to obey the demands of his government unless he feels
conscience-bound to resist. Not knowing the subtleties of diplomacy
and the intricacies of statecraft which brought his nation to the
precipice of war, he must trust the soundness of judgment of its
leaders. Should he lose confidence in their judgment, their
integrity, or the rightness of their course, he must work for
changes in his nation's policies, objectives, or leadership. If he
is sufficiently convinced that his nation is on a course hostile to
God's will, the Christian has the right and the duty to resist. As
he does so he knows that he must be willing to accept the
consequences, both spiritual and civic. Equally as surely must the
person who supports and participates in carrying out the policies
of his nation examine his own conscience and the moral consequences
of his own action.
15. Such counsel of obedience to a corporate
decision-save only when bound to obey God rather than man-does not
deny the evil of war. It is tragic and lamentable when antagonistic
nations, in the sinfulness of mankind, are unable to resolve
differences they consider fundamental and so turn to war to
establish their mastery. War can be understood as a seemingly
necessary last resort to which sinful men and nations turn in their
desperation. War cannot, however, be called good, righteous, or
holy.
16. Certainly no nation today should be
completely autonomous, with unchecked power by force to impose its
will upon other peoples. Its claims for the justice of its
objectives and the rightness of its actions must be weighed against
the higher imperative of God's will for the good of the entire
world (John 3:16-21). The "governing authorities" of Rom. 13:1 are
not limited to the nation-state as we know it. They include any and
all local, national, and international structures effectively
exercising governmental powers and which remain faithful to God's
purposes for good government.
17. Christians must weigh the claims of every
governing authority for support of the honor, justice, integrity,
and rightness of its cause in light of their own understanding of
the divine imperative. They must resist the effort of any
government to bind or restrict what they believe to be their proper
Christian response to God's love for them and for the world.
D. THE CHURCH'S TASK
18. The Christian rightly looks to his church
for guidance in evaluating the claims and counter-claims for the
justice and morality of the cause of the nations approaching the
brink or in the throes of war. When men and nations are torn by
strife and dissension, leaders of each position invoke high moral
and ethical principles to justify their stand. Their conflicts of
power and interest produce their need for self-defense, which in
turn often becomes self-righteousness. Church leaders therefore
need to beware lest they be used to give religious sanction or
theological justification to a war which is no more than a naked
power struggle for material advantage.
19. Even so, however, the church through
synods, councils, and interchurch assemblies should seek to cut
through the barrage of propaganda, smokescreens, and verbiage to
discover as best as fallible men can discover where truth,
righteousness, justice, and mercy reside. It ought to express its
collective prophetic judgment on the morality of the issues of
national self-interest at stake, the validity of the objectives the
opponents claim, the wisdom of the policies pursued, the possible
points on which the conflicting interests honorably can be
reconciled, and the probable consequences of the struggle upon such
values as justice, freedom, long-range peace, and respect for
persons. Members of the church have the right to hear from their
spiritual leaders such a reasoned evaluation, interpretation, and
judgment as a guide to their own enlightened Christian response to
their duties as citizens.
20. As the universal, all-embracing arm of
Jesus Christ the church should rise above the partisanship of
nation, race, or class in offering the Gospel of reconciliation.
Though pastors and parishioners normally remain loyal to their
nation, their higher loyalty is to Jesus Christ and His inclusive
body of believers. Churchmen should avoid building walls of
hostility toward persons who reside in the land of the enemy, which
only deepen and intensify the differences to be resolved. "Love
your enemy" is a divine injunction easier to follow before conflict
rages than during and after a war.
21. The church also must minister to those
caught in the enmity of war, strife, and dissension. Both those in
the armed forces and those on the home front need to hear the
comforting, sustaining, interpretive counsel of Jesus Christ to
people who find themselves in difficult times. Ministers of Jesus
Christ stress the duties and obligations of citizens critically to
obey the governing authorities, save only when commanded to sin, to
support with vigor such of the nation's goals and objectives which
are in harmony with God's purposes, and to pray for an honorable
resolution of the conflict, culminating in the triumph of justice
and mercy.
22. The church necessarily shows a deep concern
for members of the armed forces and their families. It recognizes
how lives are disrupted by the call to military service. Men faced
with service on the fighting front, of killing and being killed,
need the special spiritual care and counsel of competent chaplains.
The church encourages able pastors to enter the chaplaincy ministry
and maintains continuing, supportive contacts with them in their
special ministry. Pastors and parishioners on the home front
remember in their prayers the members of the armed forces. They
seek in various specific ways to remind those of their own
congregation who are away in military service of the bonds of
affection and fellowship which the home congregation feels for the
absent brethren.
23. To men hoping to build a world without war,
the church must speak words of encouragement, yet realism. The goal
of developing alternate ways of dealing with strife and conflict
between nations, short of war, should command the prayers, support,
and enthusiastic encouragement of the church. At the same time man
cannot be sure that this goal is fully attainable in this present
world. Certainly no program of political or international action
can be based upon a simple reading of jesus' words concerning "wars
and rumors of wars" (Mark 13:7; also Luke 21:9) or of Isaiah's
vision of an era when "nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. 2:4; also Mic.
4:3).
24. Having a clear view of human sinfulness,
which results in jealousy, envy, hostility, and divisiveness,
Christians are sure that the seeds of conflict and war never can be
totally eliminated from this present world. They dare not, however,
take the position that a specific war is inevitable. Rather, they
should lend their influence and efforts to work for preventing
those struggles and contests in which men and nations exert
military power, violence, and force against one another. They
should work for justice, harmony, mutual respect and good will, and
freedom from violence and civil disturbance which men call peace
(Matt. 5:9, Rom. 12:18).
25. Many a dispute between nations has been
settled peaceably, with honor to the adversaries, and with freedom,
justice, and equity the fruits of the agreement. Christians strive
for an increase in the good will, mutual trust, calm reason,
devotion to humanity, and hard-headed realism which will make it
easier for nations to resolve their differences by methods short of
armed aggression.
E. A CLIMATE FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING
26. Basic to any realistic hope for bringing
war under control is a change in men's minds and hearts. People
must come to feel that the unity, strength, development, and
well-being of mankind are values dearer than racial or national
advantage (Gen. 1:27; John 3:16; Acts 17:26). Toward this end it is
helpful to stress:
a. The oneness of the human race in creation,
sin, and God's offer of salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ;
b. The similarities as well as the differences in
the hopes, ways of living, and basic social institutions of men,
regardless of tongue, flag, color, or faith;
c. The unusual abilities and special gifts which
the diversity of men and cultures brings to the richness of human
life;
d. The validity of a government being dependent
not so much upon its form or structure as upon its ability to
govern effectively, fairly, and impartially and upon its
willingness to recognize, to respect, and to honor basic human
rights.
27. Various programs seek to put such goals of
international person-to-person understanding and good will into
action. Current national hostilities ought not be allowed to
obstruct programs which promise to relieve actual human need. Each
program has hazards to which participants need ever remain alert.
Each program ought preferably to be an avenue of genuine two-way
contact and communication. Each offers an exciting outlet for
action worthy of the energies of self-giving persons. Among such
international programs are:
a. Cultural exchange, the sharing with others
of features highly esteemed in the sending country and welcomed by
the receiving country;
b. People to people visits in the homes as well as
to the economic, religious, and civic centers of the host
country;
c. Counterpart or twin city ties by which
municipal leaders of paired cities exchange ideas on questions of
urban life;
d. Study grants and projects, including some
opportunity for the student to become a member of a family
circle;
e. Voluntary and governmental programs helping
people and communities to achieve better agriculture, industry,
housing, health, and sanitation;
f. Emergency assistance of food, clothing, and
medical supplies to meet human needs, even in hostile lands, when
disaster strikes, especially on a church-to-church partnership
basis;
g. Sharing in the free flow of ideas and in
struggles to win and responsibly to exercise basic human liberties
and freedoms.
28. Along with these civic actions which they
can share with any person of good will, members of The American
Lutheran Church also can:
a. Manifest in their own lives the positive
qualities of peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and
self-control with which the Holy Spirit can empower them;
b. Pray daily and fervently that all men
everywhere, especially the rulers of the nations, will come to know
and to do God's will in the conduct of public office, and to accept
Jesus Christ as their personal Savior;
c. Support with their interest, prayers,
personnel, and funds the world-wide missionary program of their
church, including its volunteer and short-term service
opportunities, by which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is brought to
every continent;
d. Participate in Lutheran World Relief drives and
learn where, how, and with what results the funds and materials are
distributed;
e. Inform themselves on the activities and
projects of the Lutheran World Federation and share in them as
opportunity permits;
f. Cooperate in ecumenical programs seeking to
realize the goals of peace and international good will.
29. As Christians, convinced of the Lordship of
Jesus Christ, we believe that to the extent that men hear about
Him, accept Him as Lord and Savior, and live in total commitment to
His way of love, prospects for peace and freedom thereby brighten.
We believe, therefore, that freedom for religious witness and the
free exercise of religion are essential for such a better
world.
F. BRINGING WAR UNDER CONTROL
30. Neither "peace at any price," nor naive
reliance on the words of the enemy, nor allegiance to Utopian goals
can bring war under control. Voluntary, governmental, and
intergovernmental measures, built upon the foundations of good will
and mutual understanding between people, can help. How wise, how
prudent, even how realistic or possible a proposed course of action
may be, should be subjected to intense discussion and debate.
31. We urge committed Christians to take part
in the arguments seeking the strengths and the pitfalls of such
measures for cutting the risk of war as:
a. Cooperation in responsible efforts, both
governmental and voluntary, to alleviate material and psychological
deprivations suffered by human beings all over the world, which
create in them a seedbed for suspicion, hate, and war;
b. Multilateral reduction of armaments to the
types and levels necessary to maintain domestic tranquility and
order, with effective, verified, reliable checks and controls to
insure adherence to arms reduction agreements;
c. An orderly transition whereby excess manpower
and materials devoted to armaments can be turned to goods and
services yielding a higher quality of personal and community
life;
d. International cooperation and control to insure
the peaceful uses of outer space;
e. Technical assistance to younger nations in
developing their own resources and traditions so that they can take
a strong, cooperative, responsible, viable place in the community
of nations;
f. Development of a sense of regional and world
community through voluntary associations of free nations united by
history, values, and goals, and evidenced by mutual cooperation and
adherence to covenants which protect the freedoms and liberties of
responsible men;
g. Establishment, strengthening, and support of
agencies of international conciliation, arbitration, and justice,
which seek under law to resolve in honor, equity, and impartiality
any major disputes which arise between nations and which possess
legitimate power and delegated authority to enforce their
decisions;
h. Increased intergovernmental cooperation in
cultural, educational, economic, and social spheres to achieve
goals of human welfare beyond the capacity of any one nation.
G. REACHING A CHRISTIAN POSITION
32. The traditional Lutheran doctrine of the
"Two Kingdoms" requires that in discussing issues of war and peace
we not confuse the roles of church and state. "The Gospel cannot
legislate for the civil estate." Rather, God seeks to rule through
both the civil and the ecclesiastical realms in order to accomplish
His gracious purposes and to thwart the evil powers. The church's
task is to proclaim the whole counsel of God, tell of His mighty
acts, denounce sin and evil, offer His reconciliation, and assist
in counteracting the causes of war both in persons and among
nations.
33. As Redeemer and Sanctifier God works
through the Means of Grace, administered by the Church, offering to
men the saving Truth revealed in Jesus Christ The faith of the
Christian should manifest itself in words and deeds of love, alike
in personal piety and in meeting the obligations of his life in
community. Through the Means of Grace the Holy Spirit seeks to
guide the believer to the decisions he must make on issues of war,
peace, and freedom,,as in other civic affairs. God thus would rule
in the hearts and lives of His people, who dwell as Christians in
both Kingdoms.
34. Pastors in their preaching and teaching
bring to their people the counsel of God's Word. Members of the
priesthood of all believers deserve such help, from pulpit,
lectern, and classroom, and from synods, councils, and interchurch
assemblies, in thinking through the issues of war and peace and in
taking an informed position on them. Above all, people need to act
with knowledge, understanding, judgment, and assurance. In their
office as citizens they have an obligation to work toward bringing
about a world where justice, righteousness, freedom, peace, truth,
and love may increase and prevail.
35. Making the right decision on specific
issues is an agonizing task. The Christian gropes for the greater
good. He knows that whatever course he chooses he is not entirely
free from sin. In the process of reaching his decision he wisely
seeks the counsel of his pastor and of trusted fellow Christians.
Yet, having decided, he acts boldly and with confidence, knowing
that in Jesus Christ his every sinful decision and action is
forgiven.
H. CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION
36. Historically the teaching of the Lutheran
Church, based on its understanding of the Bible, has been that a
Christian as a citizen willingly should assume the duties of
citizenship, including the bearing of arms and engaging in "just
war."
37. However, the church recognizes that on the
basis of their understanding of the total message of Scripture and
the traditions of the early church some of its members arrive at
the conviction that they cannot with good conscience bear arms. The
American Lutberan Church therefore sustains the individual who
reaches this conviction in the necessity of following the dictates
of his conscience.
38. The American Lutheran Church appreciates
that government recognizes the demands of conscience and provides
alternate channels by which he whose conscience forbids him to bear
arms may serve the needs of his country. The American Lutheran
Church respectfully asks that the pertinent provisions for
alternate service be applied to those of its members whose
conscience impels them to refuse the bearing of arms and commends
to its members who are conscientious objectors those alternatives
for fulfilling the responsibility of citizenship. It recognizes its
duty to minister spiritually to the conscientious objector as well
as to him who for conscience sake bears arms for his country.
I. IN CONCLUSION
39. Christians with contrite and repentant
hearts must accept their share of guilt for many of the wars of the
Christian era. Often they have felt a numbing complacency that
failed to work for peace, that accepted war as inevitable, that
harbored the illusion that peace would come without effort once the
war was won.
40. Now we know that humanity can be degraded
by war. Inhumanity in any form violates the basic tenets of our
faith. Man's welfare can be crippled by warfare. The time has come
for all men to seek alternatives to war. Even so, as a means for
deterring aggression, maintaining human liberties, and assuring
justice war sometimes may become man's last desperate resort to
prevent the total victory of evil powers in a sinful, fallen
world.
41. As envoys of Jesus Christ, living in the
power of His Cross and His forgiveness, we dedicate ourselves anew
to His benedictory charge, "Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded
you" (Matt. 28:19, 20). We covet His accolade of "peacemakers,"
whom He called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9).
42. Nonetheless, we are not so desirous of
saving our own lives that we surrender to "peace at any price." We
recognize with the Apostle Paul (Rom. 12:18) that the possibility
of living peaceably with all does not rest entirely with us.
Rather, with him we insist "Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21).
"O God, the Father in heaven: Grant thy mighty aid to the
efforts of men to establish peace among the nations of the world.
Give strength of purpose to those who lead; enlighten those who sit
in council; and so transform the hearts of men everywhere by thy
gracious Gospel, that they may exalt peace above war, service above
gain, and righteousness above glory; through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen."