Friday, March 14, 2014

Non-Violent Enemy-Love Sampler From Tertullian

Tertullian wrote roughly around 200 AD.  He was an eloquent author.  We will see that the case he makes is consistent with the other writings we have considered.

I will let him do most of the talking. I include limited comments or clarifications along the way.  Some comments are embedded in the excerpts, noted by brackets and italics.  Bold-fonted emphases will isolate important phrases not to miss.  The translations used are those provided by George Kalantzis in Caesar and the Lamb, with some rewordings by me where the wording was stiff (the book could stand a re-editted edition).  Older translations of this and virtually all other ancient materials are available online. 
Some think it madness that, although we could offer the sacrifice right here and now and then go away unharmed, even preserving our mental reservation [the Romans didn’t mind if Christians performed the Roman sacrifices “without meaning it in their hearts”], we prefer to be obstinate rather than safe; that is to say, you [Rome] give us advice on how to cheat you [by faking piety to Rome].  But we recognize the origin of these suggestions, and who it is that prompts all of this – how sometimes by cunning deception, and sometimes by cruel rage, he [Satan] works to throw us off our constancy.  Apology 27:2-3
Moreover, it is clearly unjust to force free persons to sacrifice against their will, for under all other circumstances, a willing mind is required for discharging one’s religious obligations [yet recall how the self-empowered Church itself abandoned this conviction after achieving the status of State Religion by the Fifth Century]  You are led by necessity [i.e., by edict] to force us [to sacrifice], just as much as it is our duty to face the danger.  Apology 28:1
While we spread ourselves before God, let the hooks pierce us, the crosses suspend us, the flames engulf us, the swords slash our throats, the beasts leap upon us. They very posture of the Christian at prayer is preparation for any punishment.  Apology 30:7
In the emperors, we respect the judgment of God, since He has set them over the people. We know that in them is that which God has willed, and so we wish that what God has willed be safe and sound; and we consider this a great oath.  We are under obligation to respect [the emperor] as the one chosen by our Lord. So I might well say, “Caesar belongs more to us, since he has been appointed by our God.” As he is mine, I do more for his welfare…because I pray for it to Him who can truly grant it….  Also, because I set the majesty of Caesar below that of God, I commend him all the more to God to whom alone I subordinate him.  Apology 32:1 – 33:2
If then, as we have said above, we are expressly commanded to love our enemies, whom have we to hate? And if when someone injures us we are forbidden to retaliate, so that the action may not make us [and you] alike, whom then can we injure?  Apology 37:1
How often without your authority has the hostile mob of their own mere motion [beat down our door intending us harm and] invaded us with showers of stones and fire!  …But in all of this conspiracy of evils against us, in the midst of these mortal provocations, what one evil have you observed to have been returned by Christians?  Away with the thought that those who are taught by God should either revenge themselves with human fire or resent the fire that is sent to refine them.  Apology 37:2-3
For what kind of war would we not be fit and ready (despite our inferior numbers), we who willingly submit to the sword, if it were not for the fact that according to our doctrine we are given the freedom to be killed rather than to kill?  Apology 37:5
There is for us a battle, because we are called to trial in court so that we may fight there for the truth while our life hangs in the balance. And the victory is to hold fast to that for which we have fought. This victory has attached to it the glory of pleasing God and the reward of eternal life. We have won the victory when we are killed; we escape at last when we are led forth [to execution]….  Carry on good magistrates; you will become much better in the eyes of people if you sacrifice the Christians for them. Crucify us, torture us, destroy us! Your injustice is the proof of our innocence. That is why God permits us to suffer all of this….  [Do you see the parallels with the lessons of 4 Maccabees?]  Apology 37:2-3,12
In this world we have exposed our very life and our very body to all manner of injury, and we endure this injury with patience. [There is no sign of turning the other cheek only to a point, is there?]  Shall we, then, be hurt by the loss of lesser things?  …If one attempts to provoke you by manual violence, the admonition of the Lord is at hand: “To him,” He said, “who strikes you on the face, turn the other cheek likewise.”  Let [their] outrageousness be wearied out by your patience. [You defeat them by loving not your life even unto death, remember?]  Whatever that blow may be, conjoined with pain and humiliating treatment, it shall receive a heavier one from the Lord. You wound [your enemy] more by enduring; for he will be beaten by Him for whose sake you endure. If the tongue’s bitterness break out [against you] in malediction or reproach, look back at the saying, “When they curse you, rejoice!”  …Let us servants, therefore, follow our Lord closely, and be cursed patiently, that we may be able to be blessed.   Patience 8:1-3
But how will a Christian go to war? Indeed, how will he serve even in peacetime without a sword which the Lord has taken away?  [Matthew 26:52  Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.  John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."]  For even if soldiers came to John and received advice on how to act, and even if a centurion became a believer, the Lord, by taking away Peter’s sword, disarmed every soldier thereafter. We are not allowed to wear any uniform that symbolizes a sinful act.  [I will suggest a parallel here with "Thus He declared all foods clean." His magnificent actions in both cases subsume into Himself the old commandments against foods and for war.]    Idolatry 19:3
Is it right to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who takes the sword shall perish by the sword? Will a son of peace take part in battle when he should not even go to court?  The Crown 11:2
To be sure, the case is different for those who are converted after they have been bound to military service. John admitted soldiers to baptism;  next were the two most faithful centurions: the one whom Christ praised, and the other whom Peter instructed. But, once we have embraced the faith and have been baptized, we either must immediately leave military service, as many have done, or we must resort to all kinds of excuses in order to avoid any action which is also forbidden to civilian faithful, lest we offend God.  Or last of all, for the sake of God we must suffer the fate which a mere faithful civilian was no less ready to accept [prison or execution].  For military service offers neither exemption from punishment of sins, nor relief from martyrdom. The Gospel is one and the same for the Christian at all times whatever his occupation in life.  The Crown 11:4-5
In his Letter to Scapula, Tertullian makes two points that I really wish to not permit us to miss. Considering the darkness of my own heart, I sense that our innate, normative, and routine resistance to seriously following the Christlike example of non-violent, sacrificial enemy-love arises from the reality that, simply but profoundly put, we do not trust God. Not like Job. Not like Joseph. Not like Daniel. Not like Jesus. And I think a substantial reason for that is because "what we were won with is what we were won to":  fire insurance, best life now, better friends, more parties, hundred-fold returns.  How many of us had self-sacrificial enemy-love really emphasized and placed clearly before us on the day we were saved?  Exactly.  Note, however, a couple of points Tertullian makes with little fanfare concerning his day:
For us, the things we suffer at the hands of ignorant men are not a source of great fear or dread. When we joined this sect we plainly undertook to accept the conditions this involved.  [The majority of comfortable western casual Christians who join the church today begin, continue, and end clueless to this; it is never made plain that this is what is involved, and hence suffering and persecution are a huge demotivator for those who depart. What else should we expect when these self-empowered members of self-empowered churches come to find out that they had no real power after all?]   To Scapula 1:1
It is the teaching of our faith that we are to love even our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Here lies the perfection and distinctiveness of Christian goodness.  [How can you know if the Holy Spirit is working in you? Ask yourself how this is working out for you.]  Ordinary goodness is different, for all men love their friends, but only Christians love their enemies. We are moved with sorrow at your ignorance, and with pity for the errors of men’s ways;  and as we look to the future, we see the signs of impending distress every day. In such circumstances, we have no choice but to take the initiative and openly and publicly lay before you those things which you refuse to listen to To Scapula 1:
In a way, this is what I am doing here. I am laying out before you, and before me, things that we all have refused to listen to.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Non-Violent Enemy-Love Samplers from Athenagoras and Clement of Alexandria

In the red corner, we have our wildly popular contestant, proud of his strength and armed to the teeth and daring any government to just try to do something about it:   
       Mr. Turn-the-Other-Cheek-Only-to-a-Point.

And in the blue corner, mocked and spat upon for his weakness, rejected by zealots, with a sign nailed over his head saying, "The son of a liberal":
       Mr. Clement Athenagoras

What, then, are those teachings in which we are brought up?  I say unto you, Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that persecute you; that you may be the sons of your Father who is in heaven, who causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”  Allow me here to lift up my voice boldly in loud and audible outcry, pleading as I do before philosophic princes. For which of those [smart, intelligent, elite philosophers and rhetoricians]…have purged their souls so that, instead of hating their enemies, they love them?  And instead of speaking ill of those who have reviled them (to abstain from which is of itself an evidence of no mean forbearance), to bless them; and to pray for those who plot against their lives?  …But among us you will find uneducated persons, and artisans, and old women, who, if they are unable to prove with words the benefit of our doctrine, yet by their deeds they exhibit the benefits that arise from their persuasion of its truth:  they do not rehearse speeches, but exhibit good works; when struck, they do not strike again; when robbed, they do not go to law; they give to those that ask of them, and love their neighbors as themselves.   Athenagoras, Plea on Behalf of the Christians 11
For when they know that we cannot endure even to see a man put to death, though justly; who of them can accuse us of murder or cannibalism? Who does not reckon among the things of greatest interest [are] the contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those which you [the emperor] sponsor? But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have forbidden ourselves such spectacles. How then, when we do not even watch it so as to avoid guilt and pollution, can we put people to death? And when we say that "those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion," on what principle should we commit murder? For it is not fitting that the same person who regards the very fetus in the womb as a created being and an object of God's care, to be willing to kill it well after its birth.   Athenagoras, Plea on Behalf of the Christians 35
Will not Christ, who has blared a song of peace to the very ends of the earth, gather together His own soldiers of peace?  Indeed, O people, he did assemble a bloodless army by His blood and His word, and to them he entrusted the kingdom of heaven. Christ’s trumpet is His gospel. He blew it, and we heard. Let us put on the armor of peace: putting on the breastplate of righteousness and taking up the shield of faith and putting on the helmet of salvation. Let us sharpen the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. This is how the Apostle arranges us in the battleline of peace. These are our invulnerable weapons. Armed with them, let us take our position against the evil one.   Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks 11
The Etruscans use the trumpet [to charge into] war, the Arcadians use the pipe, the Lacedemonians the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyptians the drum, and the Arabs the cymbal. But as for us, we make use of one instrument alone: only the Word of peace, by whom we honor God, no longer with ancient harp or trumpet or flute which those trained in war use.   Clement of Alexandria, Christ the Educator 2.4.42:2-3
Do not be deceived, you who have tasted of truth and have been deemed worthy of the great redemption!  Contrary to the rest of the people, gather for yourself an army without weapons, without war, without bloodshed, without anger, without stain; an army of pious old men, of orphans loved by God, of widows armed with gentleness, of men adorned with love…whose Commander is God; for whose sake a sinking ship rises, steered by the prayers of saints alone;  and disease at its height is subdued, put to flight by the laying on of hands;  and the attack of robbers is disarmed, its weapons stripped by pious prayers….   Clement of Alexandria, Salvation of the Rich 34:3

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Guns And Athenagoras: Inverting The Order (part six)

Quoting from:


That article provides an example of a church appealing to people's self-empowerment drives, and calling it evangelism. 
It's an hour before suppertime, and the line outside Lone Oak First Baptist Church in Paducah, Ky., is wrapped around the building. The people are waiting for more than a Bible sermon; there's a raffle tonight. Twenty-five guns are up for grabs.
There's nothing new about gun raffles in Kentucky, even at a church. Last year, there were 50 events like this one in the state. The Kentucky Baptist Convention says it's a surefire way to get new people through church doors....
In attendance is Tom Jackson, who's not a particularly regular churchgoer. "I do believe in God and I do believe in living the way that he wants you to live, let's put it like that," he says.
Jackson says he believes in turning the other cheek, but also in the right to defend himself and his family how he sees fit. You can turn the other cheek, he says, only to a point.
"[If] somebody kicks your door down, means to hurt your wife, your kids, you — how do you turn the other cheek to that?" Jackson asks.
"Turn the other cheek, only to a point."  I don't recall that being the theme of Christlike response to abuse and threats.  And back when Judas led to Gethsemane the Roman soldiers who kicked down the door with intent to hurt Jesus, the one man who fought back was rebuked by Jesus.

The early churches, who faced real kick-the-door-in mobs as well as hateful magistrates and emperors, provide us with a refreshingly different but very difficult answer to Jackson’s question, “How do you turn the other cheek to that?”

Let’s return to the Epistle of Diognetus for help first, then I will introduce a new early church writer.
Christians are in the flesh, but they do not live according to the flesh [so much for shooting people]. They live on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven [if they don’t take up arms for Lord Jesus (do medieval crusaders get some exemption?), why would they take up arms for Lord Caesar?]… They love everyone, and by everyone they are persecuted [they don’t shoot them].  They are unknown, yet they are condemned; they are put to death [they don’t shoot back], yet they are brought to life…  They are dishonored, yet they are glorified in their dishonor [glorified by God, not by Smith and Wesson].  They are cursed, yet they bless; they are insulted, yet they offer respect [they don’t get even].  For doing good, they are treated like evildoers [they don’t pull the trigger]….  Epistle to Diognetus 5:9-16a
The author then moves into a lengthy analogy, which I think is very relevant to provide:
In a word, what the soul is to the body, Christians are to the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians throughout the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, but is not of the body; likewise Christians dwell in the world, but are not of the world. The soul, which is invisible, is confined in the body which is visible; in the same way, Christians are recognized as being in the world, and yet their religion remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul and wages war against it (even though it has suffered no wrong) because it is hindered from indulging in its pleasures; so also, the world hates the Christians (even though it has suffered no wrong) because they set themselves against its pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and Christians love those who hate them [love is not expressed with gunfire]…. The soul, which is immortal, lives in a mortal dwelling; similarly Christians live as strangers amid perishable things, while waiting for the imperishable in heaven. The soul, when poorly treated with respect to food and drink, becomes all the better; and so the Christians when punished daily [by someone kicking in the door looking to cause harm] increase more and more. Such is the important position to which God has appointed them, and it is not right for them to decline it [it is not right for them to shoot].  Epistle to Diognetus 6
The entire feel, theme, intent, and message of the preceding words flies in the face of the idea that we turn the other cheek only to a point.

The new writer I will introduce is Athenagoras, who wrote Plea On Behalf of the Christians to the emperor around 177 AD.  After commending the emperor for allowing the multitude of religions in the empire (yet 200 years later Christians revoked that openness toward the others), he turns to making a plea for equal openness toward Christianity:
While admiring your mildness and gentleness and your peaceful and benevolent attitude towards all, everyone enjoys equal rights; and the cities, according to their rank, share in equal honor; and, through your wisdom, the whole empire enjoys profound peace.
But you have not cared for us who are called Christians in this way; and although we commit no wrong, but as it will be shown in this discourse we are of all people most piously and righteously disposed toward God and your reign, you allow us to be harassed, plundered, and persecuted – the mob making war upon us only because of our name….
The injury we suffer from our persecutors is not aimed merely at our money, or our civil rights, or our honor, or anything of less importance – after all, we hold these things in contempt (although they appear of great importance to the masses), for we have learned not only not to return blow for blow, or to bring to court those who plunder and rob us, but to those who strike us on the one cheek to offer the other, and to those who take away our shirt to give also our coat – for when we have given up our property, they plot against our very bodies and souls….  Plea On Behalf of the Christians 1:2b-4
These statements from among the great cloud of witnesses point so clearly to Christlikeness.

Compare them with the words of the main speaker at the gun raffle evangelism show:
"I brought a gun with me tonight," McAlister says. "I know that's very controversial."
...And he welcomes the controversy; the best seats in the house are reserved for reporters. On stage, he cocks what he calls his most valuable gun.
"There's no government on the face of this earth that has the right to take this gun from me," he says to thunderous applause.
The closing line of the article quotes the speaker's own justification of his message:
"If simply offering them an opportunity to win a gun allows them to come into the doors of the church and to hear that the church has a message that's relevant to their lives, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that," he says.
Your “relevant” message would have no relevance at all to a persecuted church, like those who lived and died the Christlike way 1900 years ago.  Your message feeds the virus of self-empowerment.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Justin Martyr: Inverting The Order (part 5)

Some weeks ago, I quoted The Epistle to Diognetus as saying: "Christians are not distinguished from other people by country or language or custom. Nowhere do they live in cities of their own.... They live on earth but their citizenship is in heaven."

Next, consider the Normandy Landing, or the Civil War, or the Revolutionary War.  In them we observe Christians' hearts roused to fight for "State," against one another.  An American Baptist's musket blows out the brains of a British Anglican.  A southern Methodist's bayonet splits the heart of a northern Congregationalist.  A PCA member grenades a Lutheran. We have generally accepted these things as acts of normal, patriotic, God-is-on-our-side godliness, because of handed-down traditions drenched in self-empowerment.  It is so natural to pray that our own congregation's fighting men win the State's war and return home, but do you think about the prayers of "enemy" congregations that their fighting men win their State's war against us and return home?  If war breaks out between America and Russia, would you display a bumper sticker that says "Support Russian Christian troops" with a pretty red ribbon on it?  I don't think so.  The self-empowerment gene within Christendom has long placed Christians into the difficulty of killing one another for the sake of the State, when we are actually supposed to be "not of this world."  It places us in an awkward position of hoping "our" Christians defeat "their" Christians for the sake of the State's territory and material benefit and international status.

I'm not writing these things as a pacifist peacenik listening to "Imagine."  I'm writing it as a Christian trying to challenge the multiple ways that we have been corrupted by self-empowerment.  I think the willingness of Christians to kill brothers and enemies alike, for the sake of countries, is a very sensitive nerve to touch.  And it needs to be touched.  This doesn't mean that Christians in the military aren't Christians; it means that we need to reconsider what the heck we have adopted as "normal."  It means that accepted wisdom usually reigns unchallenged.

Let us therefore add to the case the thoughts of Justin Martyr (around 150 AD):
We who hated and slaughtered one another, we who would not welcome to our homes people of a different race because of their customs -- now, since the coming of Christ we live and eat with them, and we pray for our enemies, and we try to persuade those who hate us unjustly to live according to the good counsel of Christ.  1 Apology 1.14.3
And concerning our being long-suffering and ready to serve all, and free from anger, this is what Christ said: "To the one who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other also; and to the one who takes your shirt do not forbid your coat also; whoever shall be angry is in danger of the fire. And everyone who compels you to go with him one mile, follow him two. Let your good works shine before all people so that, by seeing them, they may glorify your Father who is in heaven."  For we ought not to rebel; nor does Christ want us to imitate the wicked. But He has exhorted us to guide all people out from shame and desire for evil by our patience and kindness.  And we have proof of this in the many examples of those who used to be on your side but who have been turned away from the way of violence and tyranny, who were overcome by observing their [Christian] neighbor's way of life, or by observing the strange patience of their [Christian] fellow travellers when they were taken advantage of.  1 Apology 1.16.1-4
When the Spirit of prophecy speaks of things to come, He says: "For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and He shall judge between the nations and arbitrate among many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war anymore."  We can show you that this really happened. For twelve men went forth from Jerusalem -- common men, not trained in speaking. But by the power of God they testified to every race of people, just as they were sent by Christ to teach all the word of God. And now, we who used to kill each other, not only do we not fight our enemies, but in order that we might not even lie or deceive our inquisitors, we gladly die bearing witness to Christ1 Apology 1.39.1-3
And we who were full of war, and the slaughter of one another, and every kind of iniquity, have in every part of the world converted our weapons of war: "our swords into plowshares, our spears into farming hooks." And we cultivate piety, justice, love of humanity, faith, and hope, the kind that comes from the Father through the crucified One...;  Now it is obvious that no one can frighten or subdue us who believe in Jesus worldwide. For it is evident that, though we are beheaded and crucified, thrown to the wild beasts, the chains, the fire, and all the other forms of torture, we will not renounce our confession. The more such things happen [to us], the more that others in great numbers come to faith and become worshipers of God through the name of Jesus. Just as when one cuts off the fruit bearing branches of a vine, other branches shoot afresh and blossom again and bear fruit, so it is with us.  Dialogue with Trypho 110:3-4a 
We have seen more than once since January that our credibility with outsiders is best linked to our love of enemy even at the sacrifice of ourselves.  Refraining from the State's wars in Christlikeness is a modest beginning toward removing the Christian self-empowerment gene that has pushed us to hate those who love us as much as we hate those who hate us.  I think this is a helpfully obvious first step toward the more difficult work of martyr cross racing.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Celsus And Origen: Inverting The Order (part four)

Celsus was a Roman philosopher who opposed Christianity.  Among his many points of attack, he accused Christians of a lack of patriotism toward Rome.  He wrote his work, called The True Doctrine in 177 AD.

Ambrose requested to Origen that he write a response to Celsus. Origen did so in 248 AD, quoting Celsus extensively.

The first thing to note is that Origen wrote in response to arguments, not to a man, since Celsus was likely long dead.  But six decades after it was written, Celsus' book was deemed problematic enough by Ambrose that he requested Origen to write a response.

The second thing to note is that the defense of Christianity that Origen wrote in 248 AD was consistent with the faith that Celsus had hated enough to write against in 177 AD.

Therefore, be sensitive both to the practices of second century Christians that Celsus was trying to refute, and the defense offered by third century Origen.  By doing so, we will see a consensus between second and third century Christians on the topic that follows.

To begin our present purposes, Celsus argued that if Christians will not honor the Roman gods (and Caesar was among them), then he wished Christians would not grow up to marriageable age, nor get married, nor have children, nor do anything else except to depart the world with no posterity so that Christianity will cease to exist.

Nasty, eh?  But it reminds me of the self-empowered preacher who made the news by saying that all homosexuals should be locked in pens until they all died off.  And the world frequently reminds us all about that preacher, and uses him as part of their apologetic; and because of him many people were led to mock and blaspheme Christ.

Back more strictly on topic, here are several chapters, or parts of chapters, from Book 8 of Origen's book Against Celsus. Numbers in brackets denote chapters:
[56] Even though by his words Celsus dismisses us utterly from life in order that, as he supposes, this race of ours may entirely cease to exist on earth, yet we who are concerned with the business of our Creator will live according to the laws of God....  For we worship the Lord our God, and serve Him only, praying that we may become imitators of Christ....  That is why we do not render the customary honor to the beings whom, Celsus says, earthly things have been entrusted -- because "no one can serve two masters."  We cannot at the same time serve God and mammon, whether the name refers to any one particular thing or to many....  It is preferable for us to dishonor mammon by the transgression of the law of mammon in order to pay honor to God by keeping God's law, rather than to dishonor God by the transgression of the law of God in order to pay honor to mammon by keeping the law of mammon.... 
[65] We ought to despise the kindly disposition of men and of emperors if to propitiate them means not only that we have to commit murders and acts of licentiousness and savagery, but also that we have to blaspheme the God of the universe or make some servile and cringing utterance....
Celsus argued that if every Roman followed the example of Christians, then the emperor would be "abandoned, alone, and deserted" and would not be able to stand against enemies:
[68] Celsus goes on to say: "We must not disobey the ancient writer, who said long ago, 'Let one be king, whom the son of crafty Saturn appointed;'" and adds: "If you set aside this maxim, you will deservedly suffer for it at the hands of the king. For if all [Romans] were to do the same as you [Christians], there would be nothing to prevent his [the king] being left in utter solitude and desertion, and the affairs of the earth would fall into the hands of the wildest and most lawless barbarians; and then there would no longer remain among men any of the glory of your religion or of the true wisdom...." 
But we are far from setting aside the notion of a providence, and of things happening directly or indirectly through the agency of providence. And the king will not "inflict deserved punishment" upon us, if we say that it wasn't the son of crafty Saturn who gave him his kingdom, but He who "removes and sets up kings." And I wish that all were to follow my example in...maintaining the divine origin of the kingdom, and observing the precept to "honour the king"! In these circumstances the king will not "be left in utter solitude and desertion," neither will "the affairs of the world fall into the hands of the most impious and wild barbarians." For if, in the words of Celsus, "they do as I do," then it is evident that even the barbarians, when they yield obedience to the word of God, will become most obedient to the law, and most humane; and every form of worship will be destroyed except the religion of Christ, which will alone prevail. And indeed it will one day triumph, as its principles take possession of the minds of men more and more every day.
Christians in 177 AD, and their brotherly defenders in 248 AD, will not war at all:
[70] But if all the Romans, according to the supposition of Celsus, embrace the Christian faith, they will, when they pray, overcome their enemies; or rather, they will not war at all, being guarded by that divine power which promised to save five entire cities for the sake of fifty just persons. For men of God are assuredly the salt of the earth: they preserve the order of the world; and society is held together as long as the salt is uncorrupted: for "if the salt have lost its savour, it is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill; but it shall be cast out, and trodden under foot of men. He that has ears, let him hear" the meaning of these words. When God gives to the tempter permission to persecute us, then we suffer persecution; and when God wishes us to be free from suffering, even in the midst of a world that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace, trusting in the protection of Him who said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And truly He has overcome the world. Therefore the world prevails only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received from the Father power to overcome the world; and from His victory we take courage. Should He even wish us again to contend and struggle for our religion, let the enemy come against us, and we will say to them, "I can do all things, through Christ Jesus our Lord, which strengthens me." For of "two sparrows which are sold for a farthing," as the Scripture says, "not one of them falls on the ground without our Father in heaven." And so completely does the Divine Providence embrace all things, that not even the hairs of our head fail to be numbered by Him.
Christian refusal to go to war is in response to a higher calling, from obedience to be crucified with Christ, from citizenship not of this world, with love for their enemies. It is not a rejection of a State's right to bear the sword: 

[73] In the next place, Celsus urges us "to help the king with all our might, and to labour with him in the maintenance of justice, to fight for him; and if he requires it, to fight under him, or lead an army along with him." To this our answer is, that we do, when occasion requires, give help to kings, and that, so to say, a divine help, "putting on the whole armour of God." And this we do in obedience to the injunction of the apostle, "I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority;" and the more any one excels in piety, the more effective help does he render to kings, even more than is given by soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can. And to those enemies of our faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay men, we can reply: "Do not those who are [pagan] priests at certain shrines, and those who attend to certain gods, as you account them, keep their hands free from blood, that they may with hands unstained and free from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon you, you never enlist the [pagan] priests in the army. If that, then, is a laudable custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in battle, Christians too should engage as the priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are fighting in a righteous cause, and for the king who reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed to those who act righteously may be destroyed!" And as we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. And we do take our part in public affairs, when along with righteous prayers we join self-denying exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none fight better for the king than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army— an army of piety— by offering our prayers to God.

[74] And if Celsus would have us to lead armies in defence of our country, let him know that we do this too, and that not for the purpose of being seen by men, or of vainglory. For "in secret," and in our own hearts, there are prayers which ascend as from priests in behalf of our fellow citizens. And Christians are benefactors of their country more than others. For they train up citizens, and inculcate piety to the Supreme Being; and they promote those whose lives in the smallest cities have been good and worthy, to a divine and heavenly city, to whom it may be said, "You have been faithful in the smallest city, come into a great one," where "God stands in the assembly of the gods, and judges the gods in the midst;" and He reckons you among them, if you no more "die as a man, or fall as one of the princes."
Wrestle with the following, as I do as well. Origen and the earlier Christians whom Celsus was condemning refused not just going to war but also refused serving in public office:
[75] Celsus also urges us to "take office in the government of the country, if that is required for the maintenance of the laws and the support of religion." But we recognise in each state the existence of another national organization, founded by the Word of God, and we exhort those who are mighty in word and of blameless life to rule over Churches. Those who are ambitious of ruling we reject; but we constrain those who, through excess of modesty, are not easily induced to take a public charge in the Church of God. And those who rule over us well are under the constraining influence of the great King, whom we believe to be the Son of God, God the Word. And if those who govern in the Church, and are called rulers of the divine nation— that is, the Church— rule well, they rule in accordance with the divine commands, and never suffer themselves to be led astray by worldly policy. And it is not for the purpose of escaping public duties that Christians decline public offices, but that they may reserve themselves for a diviner and more necessary service in the Church of God— for the salvation of men. And this service is at once necessary and right. They take charge of all— of those that are within, that they may day by day lead better lives, and of those that are without, that they may come to abound in holy words and in deeds of piety; and that, while thus worshipping God truly, and training up as many as they can in the same way, they may be filled with the word of God and the law of God, and thus be united with the Supreme God through His Son the Word, Wisdom, Truth, and Righteousness, who unites to God all who are resolved to conform their lives in all things to the law of God.

We will continue to pursue the position of Christian non-violence in the next post.