I used to have a steel putter in a convenient place near my bed as some form of protection in the event of a break in. But then I sold my golf clubs and so was without a suitable means of protection. Was I wrong to want to be able to protect myself and family? Should I rather have relied entirely on God to protect me? Is self-defence an element of good stewardship or an obvious lack of faith?
When one asks this question, the answer one is often given is that Jesus commanded us to turn the other cheek and so it is clear that we should not seek to protect ourselves in any way. The problem is that this response entirely misses the point that Jesus was making. The Good News Bible translates the text in question as, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.” (Matthew 5:38-40).
I have read several strained interpretations of this passage, but only the obvious sense makes any real sense. Jesus plainly instructs them to buy swords if they don’t already own one. The context doesn’t allow for metaphoric language and it is just silly to claim that Jesus’ “that is enough” is to tell His disciples to stop talking nonsense. Jesus refers to swords in other contexts where it is clear that He is opposed to aggression and retaliation (Matthew 26:51-52 for instance). However, in the matter of reasonable self-defence I believe that we have our answer by applying the Christocentric Principle.
7 thoughts on “The Christocentric Principle in action – The question of self defence”
I’m a Reformed Minister and Martial Artist – and as far as the Bible are concerned – we are not only allowed to defend ourselves and others, but obligated to do so. In fact, in between my theological writings, I often publish step-by-step instructions on various self-defence techniques. PS: Liked the article.
Charl van Wyk agrees with you EJ. He was involved in the St James Church massacre – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_James_Church_massacre
I tried to watch his interview at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp1sTBLzwdk&feature=related
but it gave an error
I will be doing a complete article on the subject this coming week. I already started compiling a list of names, including some prominent theologians who practice Karate, Judo, Kenjutsu, etc. as well as some examples of how they have applied their skills to save the lives of others. I will, of course, focus on Scripture.
Thanks for your comments EJ. I would be very interested in reading your article – do you also cover the often voiced concern that martial arts are rooted in eastern religion and spiritism?
Thanks Charl – I clicked on the link and was able to view the clip without any problem – very interesting.
Yes I will do a separate article on that particular subject. While it is true that many practitioners were once or are still into Buddhism, etc. – so are many Rugby players, Golfers, etc. Every school of martial arts I ever attended, including Judo, Karate-Do and Kenjutsu, had no religious aspects at all. They were purely scientific in their approach. Even the Old Testament Jews, King David in particular, studied various forms of martial arts taught to their military forces. We often jokingly refer to them as “Kung Jew” and “Jew Jitsu” 😉 Will let you know once the articles are finished.
Just a quick note to inform you that I started work on the Christian Position of Self-Defence.
The completed work will consist of three separate articles:
The first on the Hebrew Warrior Art, known as Abir-Qesheth at http://hil001.blogspot.com/2011/10/abir-qesheth.html
The second will consist of a timeline consisting of examples of God’s people defending themselves throughout history at http://hil001.blogspot.com/2011/10/christian-defence-throughout-history.html
The third being a more theological approach to what the Bible actually teaches on the subject of Self-Defence at http://hil001.blogspot.com/2011/10/doctrine-of-self-defence.html
Please note: These articles aren’t even near completion. You may, however, follow my progress via the above-mentioned links.