To all God's beloved... Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ - he is Lord of all... For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Through him [Christ] God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. It is to peace that God has called you. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world! And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. [Make] every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, and show every courtesy to everyone. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace - in peace because they trust in you.

Psalm 85:8; Romans 1:7; Romans 5:1; Micah 4:1-3; Acts 10:36; Ephesians 2:14-18; Colossians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 7:15; Colossians 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; John 14:27a; John 16:33; Philippians 4:7; Matthew 5:9; Romans 12:18; Ephesians 4:3; Titus 3:2; James 3:18; Psalm 29:11; Isaiah 26:3.

.....

There once were two cats of Kilkenny, Each thought there was one cat too many; So they fought and they spit, And they scratched and they bit, Till, excepting their nails, And the tips of their tails, Instead of two cats there weren't any.

# The world spends more on arms than it spends on anything else.

# Six times as much public money goes for research on weapons as for research on health.

# The Third World spends 66% more on the military than on education.

# It's only a matter of time before weapons of mass destruction will be in the hands of petty tyrants.

# In World War I an estimated 54 million died, 90 million were wounded, leaving 28 million maimed. The toll in World War 2 was 38.5 million (20 million of them Soviet citizens).

# The Gallipoli campaign, (historian John North called it a 'singularly brainless and suicidal type of warfare') which left an estimated 120,000 dead and 250,000 wounded on both sides has been glorified in our war folk-history. It was the first time Australians went into battle as Australians.

# In the 1980s only 18% of those who started wars won them.

# The proportion of civilian deaths in wars is increasing dramatically, due to the increased destructiveness of the arms used. In one year recently, 1988, more than 4.5 million people died in wars.

# New York and Washington - cities where the school system is falling apart, the homeless and hungry crowd the streets - almost overnight found millions of dollars to celebrate a military victory in the Gulf War...

Wars are as old as history. Only saints and simpletons believe wars in this kind of world will cease. Wars are the ultimate tragedy. Unlike natural disasters they are preventable. Wars mean horrifying injuries: burns, spinal injuries, blindness, loss of limbs. Families lose loved ones. People are wasted in the prime of life.

Views by Christians about war range across a wide spectrum, from fundamentalist preachers in America who bless military weapons, to conscientious pacifists who would not resist an aggressor to protect their own children. It's horrifying to hear sometimes of Christians who find war - or war movies - entertaining.

The early churches encouraged their members not to join the army (though converts already serving in the army could stay). Some Christians became martyrs for peace. When called for military service, Maximilius said: 'I cannot serve as a soldier. I cannot do evil. I am a Christian.' He was executed in AD 295 on the orders of a Roman proconsul. This all changed after Christianity became the state religion under Constantine.

Christians have taken one of three stances on war and peace: pacifism (which probably originated with them), the 'just war', and the Crusade (inherited from the Roman world and the Old Testament).

Augustine, who thought 'the purpose of all war is peace' may have been the first to suggest the idea of a 'just war'. The conditions for a just war are (1) it must be waged by a lawful authority; (2) the cause must be just (ie. to restore peace and bring about justice); (3) war is the only way to solve the problem and secure justice; (4) the war must be waged by justifiable means (no torture, massacres or atrocities, respect for neutrals); (5) there must be a reasonable hope of victory ('unwinnable' wars can never be just); (6) the probable good should outweigh the likely evil. The whole idea of a just war is that it must be fought when nothing else will deter a tyrant; not to do so is judged a moral failure.

The fourth condition raises problems for Christians in modern warfare. Current 'hi-tech' weapons - indiscriminate bombing by thousands of 'sorties', 'carpet bombing' by B52 bombers, smart warheads that go through windows, laser-guided bombs that crack reinforced bunkers leaving nearby nursery schools undamaged - all these de-personalize the enemy. In long-range killing soldiers don't see the limbless torsos of the victims, or smell the scorched flesh, or hear the screams of the disembowelled.

Modern journalism and film-makers have brought the horrors of war into our living-rooms. The Vietnam war was the first war to be fought on two fronts: in the jungles of Asia and on our TVs, which is why the anti-war movement is largely a post-TV phenomenon.

The Crusades or 'holy wars' waged against Islam from the 11th century onwards were thought of as a 'special case.' The enemy were 'infidels', so the 'just war' theory did not apply: it was OK to use swords, racks and burning oil to butcher Turks and Palestinians. While some Crusaders were mercenaries, others sincerely believed they were fighting for the cause of Christ.

The Reformers generally adopted the 'just war' theory, and this led Luther to condemn the peasants' revolt and support the State in ruthlessly crushing it. Another Reformer, Zwingli, actively engaged in war and in fact died in battle. Calvin and Cromwell were also militaristic. However, Anabaptists, Mennonites and, later, Quakers generally adopted pacifist positions.

Pacifism flourished in the 1930s but largely collapsed with the outbreak of World War 2. English-speaking Christians generally felt that war was 'just'.

Was the 1991 'Gulf War' just? I don't think sanctions would have worked with Saddam Hussein. A leader ensconced in a well-stocked bunker who seems to care more for his own preservation and power than the survival of hundreds of thousands of his people, will out-stubborn almost any efforts. And yet sanctions and world condemnation have encouraged South Africa to mend its racial ways. Even the most hard-hearted of regimes are not impervious to outside pressure.

All that said, it is not my belief - either as a realist or as a biblical Christian - that everlasting peace is an achievable objective in this imperfect world.

One of our problems is harmonising the Old Testament with the New Testament. War is a dominant theme in the Old Testament. Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, is a warrior-God, 'The Lord of Hosts'. He leads his people into battle, defeats the Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Philistines etc. David's military victories make him Israel's greatest hero. But throughout the Old Testament there is also another view: the promise of 'Shalom', peace (Numbers 6:2, Judges 6:24, Leviticus 26:6 etc.). David is not allowed to build the Temple because he is a warrior and has shed blood. The prophets from the eighth century onwards stopped blessing Israel's war, and said they deserved punishment instead (Amos 5:18-20, Zechariah 8:16ff), and turned their people's gaze towards a future Messianic era of universal peace (Isaiah 10:12-15, 9:2-7, Jeremiah 51, Ezekiel 38-39).

The idea of peace pervades the New Testament even more. Jesus is the Prince of peace (Luke 1: 77-79, 2:13-14, cf. Isaiah 9:1-6). His is a kingdom of peace (Luke 4:5-8, 19:33ff.). He promises peace to his followers (John 14:27; 20:21), who, through his death have peace with God (Romans 5:1, 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, Colossians 1:21-22). Indeed, we must look at the Old Testament through the prism of the life and teaching of Jesus.

He taught that his followers must live in peace, and be actively engaged in peacemaking - even loving their enemies (Matthew 5:9, 39, 43-45). The apostles similarly urged the young churches to be communities of peace (Ephesians 4:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:13, Colossians 3:15). The question, 'Whose side is God on in this war?' must always be answered, 'God is on the side of the suffering.'

Any theological understanding of war and peace must begin with the idea of humans - mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, - being made in the image of God. What's the most important thing you can say about Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Idi Amin? They are like God!

But they - and we all - are like the devil. We want our own way, and not God's. We want our own way, even at the expense of others. This is called pride. God, says James 4:6, opposes the proud. It's pride that creates an 'us and them' mentality. It's pride that wants to make our nation 'the greatest'. It's pride that makes us want to be #1. The Danish scientist-poet expresses this in the following aphoristic advice: The noble art of losing face may one day save the human race and turn into eternal merit what weaker minds would call disgrace.

Nations are proud, and go to war for all the same reasons individuals fight. And let us be be realistic. Nations, like people, are selective about who they fight: they may intervene in a conflict when they shouldn't, or fail to intervene when they should (oil under the ground plays a vital part in the calculation).

What can we do to encourage peace? First, we must affirm that Christians are people of hope. Hope leads to action whereas despair leads to apathy. We must develop a vision of 'shalom community', where all are brothers and sisters, rather than allies or enemies. We begin with prayer, using the spiritual resources available to us to fight this battle on the spiritual front. Let us then united with other Christians around the world and with them speak out prophetically against militarism. Humans have been incredibly creative in other directions: we now need new ways of thinking about conflict.

Changing our thinking will include issues like these: Is competition Christian? Is barracking for a football team a function of our fallen tribalism? A war toy is not just guns, tanks and soldier dolls. It includes all playthings which by means of their structure and advertising encourage children to play games of war and violence. This could extend to model kits, video games, cartoon shows - a very significant portion of the entertainment available for our children is based on violence. They are constantly being encouraged to see violence as both entertaining and a solution to problems...

What can nuclear nations do? Here are some options: * A nuclear freeze, stopping the manufacture of further nuclear weapons; * No 'first use' policy, using nuclear weapons only for defense, never attack; * Reduction in defense expenditure; * Agreeing to a comprehensive test ban treaty; * Partial unilateral disarmament, with just enough weapons for a second strike; * Total unilateral disarmament: the horror of nuclear war is so great that conventional defense forces only are maintained.

Governments without nuclear weapons also have several options: * Refusing to have nuclear bases on their soil; * Refusing landing or mooring rights for nuclear armed planes and ships; * Refusing to align with any military alliance with nuclear powers; * Create nuclear-free zones; * Create peace research.

Wars result from teaching children to hate, to fear. Hitler used fear of the Jews to power his juggernaut. (The Fuhrer once said: 'If the Jews didn't exist, we would have to invent them.').

You've got to be taught to hate and to fear. You've got to be taught from year to year. You've got to be taught before it's too late. Before you are six, or seven or eight. To hate all the people Your relatives hate.

Thus wrote Richard Rogers for South Pacific.

Every Christian, pacifist or non pacifist, should pray for peace; should strive for peace and in every way possible turn people's hearts from war to peace; every Christian should keenly anticipate that wonderful time when the Prince of Peace will return to this warring earth, and set up a kingdom of peace and justice and love that will never end.

.....

To those who ask us where we have come from or who is our commander we say that we have come in accordance with the counsels of Jesus to cut down our warlike and arrogant swords of dispute into ploughshares... For we can no longer take a sword against a nation, nor do we learn any more to make war, having become [children] of peace for the sake of Jesus, who is our commander.

Origen (185-254), quoted in War, Peace and the Bible: A discussion and study guide prepared for the Baptist churches in Victoria, Australia. Revised edition, 1986, p. 7.

Peace has come to mean the time when there aren't any wars or even when there aren't any major wars. Beggars can't be choosers; we'd most of us settle for that. But in Hebrew peace, shalom, means fullness, means having everything you need to be wholly and happily yourself.

One of the titles by which Jesus is known is Prince of Peace, and he used the word himself in what seem at first glance to be two radically contradictory utterances. On one occasion he said to the disciples, `Do not think that I have come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). And later on, the last time they ate together, he said to them, `Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you' (John 14:27).

The contradiction is resolved when you realise that for Jesus peace seems to have meant not the absence of struggle but the presence of love.

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking, London: Collins, 1973, p.69.

In his epistle, James tells us that our wars and conflicts start out in our hearts, in our disordered motives. (James 4:1-3) And when one Orthodox monk was asked what a monk was, he said `A monk is someone who can weep for the whole world.'

John Garvey (Ed), Modern Spirituality: an Anthology, London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1985, p.xiii.

`Acquire inward peace', said St.Seraphim, `and a multitude... around you will find their salvation.'

Kallistos Ware, 'The Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity', John Garvey (Ed), Modern Spirituality: an Anthology, London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1985, p.43.

More than half the world's scientists and engineers are working for the military.

David Suzuki, Inventing the Future: Reflections on Science, Technology and Nature. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1990, p.87.

The greatest happiness is to scatter your enemy and drive him before you, to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him shrouded in tears, and to gather to your bosom his wives and daughters.

Genghis Khan 1226.

Because [nuclear weapons] are indiscriminate in their effects, destroying combatants and non-combatants alike, it seems clear to me that they are ethically indefensible, and that every Christian, whatever he or she may think of the possibility of a 'just' use of conventional weapons, must be a nuclear pacifist.

John Stott, in a sermon preached in All Souls' Church of England, Langham Place, London, 1979.

All of this means that for me and my one little life amid the principalities and powers of this day, I want to take this stance of love and humanness and attempt to hold to it against all comers. This will involve starting the battle with evil at the point where I am closest to it; namely, with the evil in my own life. I have been much impressed lately by Jesus' words in the Sermon: `Judge not, that ye be not judged, for with the judgement that ye yield, ye shall be judged, and with the measure of a measure, it shall be measured to you' (Matthew 7:1-5). These words are utterly realistic, for whenever I conclude the problem of evil centres in you and moves toward you in attack, your reaction will always be defensive and you will proceed to counter-attack and give me back just what I am giving you. How much better it is to go to work on the beam in my own eye; that is, to begin struggling with evil as I find it manifesting itself in my life. To this kind of struggle, others with motes in their eyes may come to say: `Help me, you who obviously realize that you have a problem too. Let's help each other with our common problem of evil.' How much wiser a strategy this is than the self-righteous attack that seems to feel the trouble is all `over there' and none `in here'...

If we would struggle with the beams in our own eyes, the problem of motes in others might show astonishing improvement...

Such as stance of love involves trying to remain human no matter how inhuman the treatment becomes. Thus, I must attempt to keep on listening even when I am no longer listened to, to keep on being sensitive even when others are insensitive to me, to try, like he did, `when reviled, to revile not in return.' Now to be sure, it may not work. In such a stance I realize I could get run over by the Juggernaut and nothing at all would remain to show for so fragile an approach. But even at that, it would be going down at one's best and not at one's worst by trying to remain human and not get sucked into the swirl of inhumanity. If I have got to go down, that is the way I would most prefer to go...

And by God's help, this is what I most want to do. Will you join me? If there is any hope, this has to be the way!

John R Claypool, 'Living by the Sword', a sermon published by the Crescent Hill Baptist Church, 2800 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, 40206, Vol 8/No.9, May 10, 1970.

About five years I was reading a book about the war and someone who was in a concentration camp, and there was a part in it that was so horrible that I would not have been able to read it if I had known what was coming, and I was absolutely shaken by the cruelty of it. The awful thing was that I put the book down and I knew for the first time how it could have happened, and I thought, 'It could have been me, committing those atrocities', and I don't think I've ever been able to pray in the same way since. I can only pray now in penitence and in adoration because God is so tremendous when you set him against what you are.

Anonymous woman in a radio interview, Quoted in Margaret Hebblethwaite, Finding God in All Things, London: Collins, 1990, p. 151.

.....

Thank you, Lord that you bring hope to this world, which is otherwise hopelessly lost. Lord, we praise you - we believe you are victorious! Thank you for the opportunity to live in these times, to serve you and witness to your kingdom in this moment of history, to find your presence in the heat of the ever-escalating arms race, to find you in the faces of the homeless and oppressed. Lord you are with us and we thank you.

Dawn Longenecker, Sojourners Peace Ministry, quoted in War, Peace and the Bible: A discussion and study guide prepared for the Baptist churches in Victoria, Australia. Revised edition, 1986, p. 7.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope, where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis of Assisi

Eternal God, our Father, may your Spirit of peace speak to us in such a way that we live out our lives with the conviction that 'all that is necessary for the forces of evil to win the world is for good people to do nothing.' Lord, give us: the serenity to accept what cannot be changed; the courage to change what ought to be changed; and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Quoted in War, Peace and the Bible: A discussion and study guide prepared for the Baptist churches in Victoria, Australia. Revised edition, 1986, p. 7.

Jesus our inspiration, you come in the evening as our doors are shut, and bring peace. Grant us sleep tonight, and courage tomorrow to go wherever you lead. Amen.

A New Zealand Prayer Book, Auckland: Collins, 1989, p.109.

.....

A Litany for Peace.

Leader: We confess our continuing inability as citizens of this global village to live in peace and harmony and justice with one another, both within our own nation and within the family of nations... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

Leader: We confess our tendency to exempt our nation from the sins of the world and ourselves from the sins of the nation... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

Leader: We confess that out of our lack of clarity, pride, and suspicion of our enemies we have been blinded to your judgement of our own nation's evils... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

Leader: We confess that out of our fear, uncertainty, and lack of faith we have allowed our nation to stockpile weapons to provide security rather than turning to the fulfilling power and promises of your son, Jesus Christ... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

Leader: We confess that we allow the impoverishment of hundreds of millions of the world's poor to continue, the economic and political consequence of spending billions on weapons to protect our wealth and power... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

Leader: We confess that we who are so few in terms of this world's population have claimed for ourselves so much of its food, wealth, and natural resources... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

Leader: We confess that we have failed to heed your call to be stewards of the riches of this Earth which you have entrusted us to enjoy, preserve, and share in a just manner with all of your people... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

Leader: We confess that we your church share in full measure the responsibility for this state of the world and that we have not heeded your commandments to let you be our Lord and to love our neighbors as ourselves... People: Lord, lead us to repentance.

(Baptist Peace Sunday service, Melbourne, November 24, 1991).

.....

A BENEDICTION. Go with understanding, have courage, always keep your integrity; encourage those who have no hope, support the weak, confront the strong. Love and serve the Lord. And may the grace, mercy and peace of God the Father, son and Holy Spirit go with you always. AMEN

.....

DISCUSS. 1. 'I have not come to bring peace, but a sword'. Read Matthew 10:34 and the following verses: what did Jesus mean?

2. Instead of 'an eye for an eye' Jesus urged 'turning the other cheek' (Matthew 5:38-48). From personal experience, how realistic have you found this advice?

3. Read 1 Peter 2:11-3:22. Peter urges us to 'submit to every human institution'. So was Bonhoeffer right or wrong in attempting to kill Hitler?

4. What do you think of the 'just war' theory? Could a nuclear war ever be 'just'?

5. Personal security (safety), social security (justice) and national security (arms superiority) all have to do with peace. How would you balance these priorities in the best interests of peace for your own country?

6. 'Aggression ought to be discouraged everywhere.' What about on the sporting field, or in business, or in terms of the ever-widening gap between rich and poor?

7. What can your group or church do to work for peace?

.....

READ: Tony Cupit, Peace I Leave With You, Melbourne: Baptist Resource Centre, 1986. Donald Kraybill, Facing Nuclear War, Scottsdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1982. Ronald Sider and Richard Taylor, Nuclear Holocaust and Christian Hope, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1982.

CONTACT: Groups like People for Nuclear Disarmament, the Uniting Church Social Justice Division, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament, Pax Christi etc. in your city.