Archive for New Testament
What the New Testament Teaches Concerning War
Posted by: | CommentsThe New Testament gives no direct teaching on the subject of war, although it does make it plain that the civil government—whether kingdom, empire, or republic, it does not say—is divinely established so that as citizens we are to recognize its authority and to perform our duties toward it. That there should be a difference of emphasis and objective between the Old and the New Testament is quite natural, since there was a difference of dispensations, and since the former was written to and about a nation, while the latter was written to individuals and to a nonpolitical body known as the church. The ceremonial laws of the Old Testament had been fulfilled and had passed away, but the moral laws remained in full force. The two Testaments fit together in perfect harmony.
What the Old Testament Teaches Concerning War
Posted by: | CommentsIn all matters of controversy among Christians the Scriptures are accepted as the highest court of appeal. Historically they have been the common authority of Christendom. We believe that they “are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and practice” (The Westminster Confession of Faith I, 2); that they contain one harmonious, consistent, and sufficiently complete system of doctrine; and that it is our duty to trace out this consistency by a careful investigation of the meaning of particular passages. No person, acting merely on his own observations and judgments, can know what are the basic principles of the plan that God is following.