"We must not allow hostility to rise up in our hearts; it must be killed absolutely and permanently. We should never give way to anger or nurse grudges, because this would threaten our souls. And, above all, we must never act on these feelings, as this will only fan the feelings into an ever greater blaze. We bear the name of Christ, who is peace. For this reason we are called to put an end to all hostility. In every situation where people are divided, Christ can breakdown the wall which separates them, and make peace. Thus when people attack us, we should, through prayer, invite Christ to reconcile us with our attacker. But we can only do this if we ourselves are free from all hostile feelings. So our spirit and our flesh are not in conflict. When we are at peace within ourselves, then Christ can work through us to make peace with others."Gregory of Nyssa
From A Treatise on Perfection
This is a selection from one of the readings from my Ancient and Medieval Church History class that I found very convicting as an American Conservative Christian in 2005. I'm not exactly a pacifist and I'm not sure quite where to stand in the current conflict in
2 comments:
Yeah, this is probably one of the hardest issues to reconcile as a Christian. I think it is Aquinas that has a famous theory of what constitutes a "Just War". I admitedly haven't read any Aquinas yet, although I am sure I will at somepoint in my seminary career. Then again it my not be Auinas at all...what do I know? I'm still a Seminary n00b.
Good point about the early Christian's pacifism in the face of persecution. Crap really started going downhill after Constintine was "converted."
Anybody else notice that good ole Greg has a butt-forehead?
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