Theological Justifications Of Violence In Relation To Jesus.

Matthew 1:44 says, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 1:44). This verse means that God wants us to love and pray for our enemies, not to hate them. This verse is also true in a lot of different books like The Bronze Bow. In the novel The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare, the theme “Love can overcome Hate” is shown by Samson, Jesus, and Simon to Daniel.

Lastly Jesus teaches us about chapter 5 verses 43-48, which explains that you should love your neighbor, and love your enemies. Pray for the people that mistreat you, by doing that you will be acting as a child of God. If you love only that loves you, what 's really the point? How does that make you different from anybody else? Jesus explains you are to be perfect like God is perfect.

The Bible has many teachings of Jesus, that show what we as Christians can learn from and apply it to our lives. In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus tells us to love our enemies. It’s easy to love the same people who love and care for us, however, loving someone who hates you is a difficult task. We all want to feel appreciated and valuable. When someone makes us feel worthless or unloved, the last thing we want to do is to show them love. Jesus also tells us to pray for people who wrong us which is just as hard, if not harder than the prior command to love our enemies. Jesus’ point in this teaching is to call us to be more like God by having an unconditional love for everyone. He holds us to a high standard in Matthew 5:48 when he commands us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect” (Thurston, B. B., (1987) para 6). How does loving our enemies relate to other

Initially, a Christian adherent’s understanding of Peace is informed through the sacred writings within the New Testament. Jesus, the prince of peace challenged people to live the essence of the law rather than just an outward show of religious observance. As stated in Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”. Jesus’ use of Shalom, goes beyond the absence of war as it emphasises the need for harmony in relationships which result in God’s blessing. This idea is reinforced in Matthew 5:43-45 “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous”. This teaching targets the challenge for many adherents in that Jesus stated people should not take revenge on others,to maintain outer and inner peace. Hence, the New Testament are an

by one spirit of peace for everyone is a worthy servant of Christ. On the other

Paul’s letter to the Romans is known as one of his greatest theological works. It has been passed down for thousands of years and is still just as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern day Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes strong sentences such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18) one may say that the times have changed. Some may say that these issues in Paul’s time are acceptable in society today. Jesus is all loving not wrathful. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.

Just as we formerly pointed out that “hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions,” we also point out that such actions as incite to hatred and violence, however technically peaceful those actions may be, have not contributed to the resolution of our local problems.(372)

17- “Jesus-who knew the truth, spoke the truth, and lived the truth-is still the Truth today.”

Some Christians believe achieving peace means rejecting the use of violence. Christians who hold this reject this view focus on Jesus teaching on ’love thy neighbor’, even when Jesus faced his own enemies (the Romans) Jesus gave himself up to death. Also, when Jesus own follower slices off an ear of a servants, Jesus heals the ear of a servant and criticizes his follower for using violence to interfere with God’s plan. This shows that Jesus used pacifism instead of violence and that means all Christians should be

History has told us that violence has never been the solution to more violence. Nowadays, actions of violence are everywhere, in movies, television serious, in our daily life. We live in a world where power is often established through violence. But for a truly Christian, the form of violence the world chooses is always surpassed by the truth of the Scriptures. Violence is never the solution to resolve conflicts, because violence generates more violence. For many years, violence has been the answer to conflicts in many Latin American countries. According to Jon Sobrino, “Latin America is an extremely violent continent.” The option for the poor has arisen in Latin America, a continent that is mostly poor and Christian. Latin America has always been characterized by the difference of social classes and by the oppression of the poor. The option for the poor has arisen in Latin America, a continent that is mostly poor and Christian. As a result of these characteristics of injustices, the oppressed raised their voice to ask for their rights to be respected. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, “The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God.” Moreover, the demanding for basic respect for any individual no matter what social class someone belongs to, has always generated conflicts where violence seems to best the answer. As a better result, anyone could think that seeking dialogue would be the

In this teaching, Jesus was saying that we treat one another with love and compassion as he have loved us as much as laying his life for our sake, in order for us to join him in the kingdom of God. He said that we should speak well even to those who curse and despitefully use us and abuse us because, our reward for such time is in heaven and it is God who will revenge about these things for us. He said that we should love our enemy also not only our friends because God loves us the same way and God does not discriminate from anyone, despite their falls.

Jesus' decision to physically cast out the moneylenders from the temple stands as one of the most interesting events of his life, because it represents what seems to be the only moment in the Gospel narratives where he becomes visibly angry to the point of physical action. While one could argue that Jesus is frequently (and justifiably) angry with the disciples from time to time, this is the only moment that Jesus' anger moves him to physical force. Although the event is recorded in all four of the Gospels, this study will focus specifically on its rendering in Matthew, because when considered in the context of Matthew's larger narrative, one can see how Jesus' decision to cleanse the temple does not represent an aberration in either his character or theological message, but rather the natural culmination of Jesus' life and works prior to that point, and demonstrates a kind of revolutionary, anti-authoritarian element of Jesus' message of salvation that is all too often overlooked by Christians and critics alike.

The Eucharist represents a covenant of non-violence. To participate in Christ’s body in the Eucharist means, in part, to recognize the nature of sin and atonement. This example of sacrifice is not about battling external enemies. The root of peacemaking is understanding that we are all members of God’s Kingdom and when one suffers, we all suffer together, and when one rejoices, we all rejoice. War divides up the world, like friends and enemies. Christians who epitomize non-violence are accused of trying to impose it on sinful human beings. It is ironic that killing is considered heroic, while refraining is not. Peacemaking requires a humble commitment to caring for others, such as feeding the hungry, giving to

Christian non-violence has continued to be debated as Christians wrestle with how to respond in the face of evil in the world. Jesus instructed, “You have heard that is was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” For many Christians it was one thing to remain non-violent in the face of violence towards oneself, but entirely another thing to neglect defending another. The question then becomes to what extent then can a Christian participate in a government and its use of force. Christian pacifists, finding their roots in the Anabaptist tradition, traditional answer this question through a doctrine of two kingdoms or vocations: the earthly or political vocation and the heavenly or spiritual

In comparing The Gospel According to Matthew and The Gospel According to John, we see not only two different perspectives of the same plot but also two different sets of values, emphasized by the words of Jesus and the actions of his supporting characters. For purposes of this paper, I’m zeroing in on love, a major theme in the Bible. Matthew and John have very different things to say about love – amongst people, between believer and God, and about the purpose of love depending on its object and lover. In the gospel according to Matthew, Jesus focuses on love in the context of rules and restrictions, while in the gospel according to John, love is observed more as a force within God, coming from God, and within all people, from God. Both gospels provide valuable lessons for contemporary readers, seeking to discover the word of God, or improve their love related practices in their own