The underlying argument for gun

control seems to be that the availability of

guns causes crime. By extension, the
aVailability of any weapon would have to
beviewedasacauseofcrime. Whatdoes
the Bible 5O:j about such a view?
Perhaps we should stan at the
beginning, or at least vety close to the
beginning-in Genesis4. In thischapter
we read about the firstmurder. Cainhad
offered an unacceptable sacrifice, and
Cain was upset that God insisted that he
do the right thing. In other words, Cain
was peeved that he could not do his own
thing.
Caindecidedto killhis brotherrather
than get right with God. There were no
guns available, although there may well
have beenak'nife. Whetheritwasak'nife
or a rock, the Bible does not say. The
point is, the evil in Cain's hean was the
cause of the murder, not the availability
of the murder weapon.
God's response was not to ban rocks
or knives, or whatever, but to banish the
murderer. Later(seeGenesis9:5-6)God
instituted capital punislunent, but said
not a word about banning weapons.
DID CHRIST TEACH PACIFISM?
Many people, Christians
assume that Christ taught pacifism. They
cite Matthew 5:38-39 for their proo[ In
this verse Christ said: "Youhaveheard that
itwas said, 'An eye:for an eye and a toothJqr
a tooth.' But I tell you 110t ro resist an evil
persoJt Butwhoever slaps youalJyounight
cheeh, tum the odler ro 1Jim ,also."
ThesennonontheMountfromwhich

Christ
is clearing up a confusion' that had led
people to think that conduct proper for
the civil government- that is, taking
vengeance- was also proper for an
individual.
Even the choice of words used by
Christ indicated that He was addressing
a confusion, or a distortion, that was
commonplace. Several times in the rest
of the Sermon on the Mount Christ used
this same 'You have heard it said" figure of
speech to straighten Out misunder-
standings or falsehoods being taught by
the religious leaders of the times.
Contrast this to Christ's use of the
phrase "it is w1itten" when He was
appealing the Scriptures for authority
(for example, see Matthew 4 where on
three occasions during His temptation
by the devil, Christ answered each one of
thedevil's1iesormisquocesfi'omScripture
with the words: is written").
To funher underscore the point that
Chtistwascorrecrtngthereligiousleaders
on their teaching that "an eye for an eye"
applies to private revenge, consider that
in the same assailant's life in cenain
circumstances.
SELF DEFENSE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
, Exodus 22:2-3 tells us "If the dlirif is
JOU11d.b1eahingin, and he is struckso filat he
dies, there shall be no guilt Jor his bloodshed.
If 111e sunhas risenonhim, there shall beguilt
Jor 11is bloodshed. He should make full
restitutiOl1; ifhe has nothing, dleJl he shall be
sold Jor his theJt"
One conclusion whichcan be drawn
from this is that a threat to our life is to be
met with lethal force. During the day,
presumably because we can recognize
andlater apprehend the thiefifhe escapes,
we are not to kill him in non life
threatening circumstances.
In Proverbs 25:26 we read that "A
righteous man who Jalters bifore thewicked
is like a murky spring and a poUuted well. "
Cenainly, we would be faltering before
the wicked if we chose to be unarmed
and unable to resist an assailant who
might be threatening our life.
ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
Resisting an arrack is not to be
confusedwithtakinJ::vengeancewhichis
the exclusive domain of God (Romans
12:19). This has been delegated to the
civil magistrate, ""ho, as we read in
Romans 13:4, "is God's minister ro you Jor
good. Butifyou do be afratd;Jorhe does
110t bear Ou sword in vain;Jor he is God's
minister, an avengeJ' ro execute wradl 011
him who practices evil. "
It is this very point that has been
confused by Christian pacifists who
would take the passage in the Sermon on
the Mountaboutturrringthe other cheek
(which prohibits private vengeance) into
a command to falter before the wicked.
Let us consider also that the Sixth
Commandment tells us "Thou shall not
mu.rder." In the chapters follOwing, God
gave to Moses many of the situations
which require a death penalty. God
clearly has not told us never to kill. He
February, March 1993 l' TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'I' 15
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I
I
bas told us not to murder, which means
we are not to take an innocent life.
SEIl'DEFENSE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
TheChristianpadfistmayny to argue
that Godhaschanged His mind from the
time that H!; gave Moses the Ten
Commandments on Mount Sinai.
Perhaps theywould waut us tothink that
Christ canceled out the Ten
Commandments in Exodus 20 or the
provision for justifiably killing a thief in
Exodus 22. But the writer of Hebrews
makesitclearthat that cannot be, because
jesus 011ist 15 dIe same yesterday, today
and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). In
the Old Testament, the prophet
MalachirecordsGod'swordst:hJ5
way: "For I am the Lord, I do not
change" (Malachi 3:6).
Paul was referring to the
uncbangeability of God's word
when he wrote to Timothy that
"A1lScrtpture15givenbyinspiration
of God, and15 profltablefordoctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that
the man of God may be complete,
dwrooghly equipped for every good
wom." (2 Tnnothy 3:16-17).
Oearly, Paul viewedallScripture,
includIng the Old Testament, as
useful for rrairring Christians In every
area of life.
We must also consider what Christ
toM his disciples in his last hours with
them: " ... Butnow, hewhohasamoneybag,
let him take ~ and likewise a sack; and he
who has no sword, Jet him sell his
gannellt and buy olle" (Luke 22 :36,
emphasis added). Keepinmindthatthe
sword was the finest offensive weapon
available to an individual soldier.- the
equivalent then of a military rtlle today.
TheChristianpadflstwilllikelyobject
at this point that only a few hours later,
Christ rebuked Peter who used a sword
to cut off the ear ofMalcus, a servant of
the high priest in the company of a
detachment of troops. Let us read what
Christ said to Peter in Matthew 26:52-
54: "Put your sword in its place,for all who
take the sword will perlsh by dIe sword. Or
do you Olink Ow I cwmot now pray w My
Father, and He will provide Me with more
than twelve legions of angels? How Olen
could the Scriptures be fulfilled, uwtit must
happen thus?"
It was not the first time that Christ
had to explain to the disdples why he
.had come to eanh. To fulfill the
Scriptures, the .Son of God had to die for
the sin of man since man was incapable
of paying for his own sin apan from
going to hell. Christ could have saved
His lite, but then believers would have
lost their lives forever in hell. TIlese
things only became clear to the disdples
after Christ had died and been raised
fTOm the dead and the Spitit had come
into the world at Pentecost (see 101m
14:26).
While Christ told Peter to "put yow'
swordinitsplace"he clearly did notsay get
rid of it forever. That would have
contradicted what he had told the
disdples only hours before. Peters sword
was to protect his own tnonallife from
danger. His sword was not needed to
protect the Creator of the universe and
the King of lungs.
Years after Pentecost, Paul wrote in a
letter to Timothy "But if anyone does not
16 t- THE COUNSEL of Chalredon ~ February, March 1993
provide for h15 own, and especially for those
ofh15 household, he l!addenieil flu faith and
15 worse than an unbeliever." (I Tim. 5:8).
This passage applies to our subject
because it would be absurd to buy a
house, furnish it with food and fadlities
for one's family, and then refuse to install
locks and provide the means to protect
the family and the propeny. Likewise it
would be absurd not to take, ifnecessary,
the life of a night-time thiefto protect the
members of the family (Exodus 22:2-3).
A related, and even broader concept,
is found in the parable of the Good
Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). It was the
Good Samaritan who took care
of the mugging victim whowasa
neighbortothevictim. Theothers
who walked by and ignored the
victim's plight were not acting as
neighbors to him.
In the light ofallwe have seen
the Scriptures teachtothispoim,
ani we argue that ifwewere able
to save another's life from an
attacker by shooting the attacker
with our gun that we should
"turn the other cheek instead?"
The Biblespeaks of no suchright.
It only speaks of our
responsibilities in the face of an
attack- as individual creatures
made by God, as householders or as
neighbors.
NATIONAL BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS
The Old Testament also tells us a
great deal about the positive relationship
between righteousness, which exalts a
nation, and self defense.' (see footnote a)
Itmakesclearthatintimesofnational
rebeUionagainst the Lord God, therulers
of the nation will reflect the spiritual
degradation of the people and the resolt
is a denial of God's commandments, an
aITogance of officialdom, disarmamem
and oppression.
Consider Israel under Saul: The first
book of Samuel tells us of the turning
away of Israel from God. The people did
not want to be governed by God; they
wanted to be ruled by a king like the
pagan, God-batingnationsaroundthem.
Samuel warned dle people wbat they
weregettinginto-thernrsesthatwould
be upon them - if they persisted in
raising up a king over themselves and
their families. Included in those curses
was the raising up of a standing,
pro!i:ssionalarmywhichwouldtaketheir
sons and their daughters for aggressive
wars (I Samuel 8: 11).
lbisCUIseisnotunknown
in the United States. Saul
carried out all the judgments
that Samuel bad warned the
people about. His build up of
a standing army bas been
repeated in the U.S., and not
just in terms of me military,
but also the 650,000 full time
police officers from all levels
of govemlnem.
Saul was the king the
Israelites wanted and got. He
was beautiful in me eyes of me
world but disaster in me eyes
of the Lord. Saul did not trust God; he
rebelled against His mandates. On the
evening of one batde, when the prophet
Samuel was to come and perform a
sacrifice TImO me Lord, Saul put himseU
above God; hewasinlpatient. He refused
to wait for Samuel because God's way
was taking too long. Saul 'went ahead
and performed the sacrifice himself, thus
violating God's commandmem (and,
incidentally, also violating the God-
ordained separation of duties of church
and state!)
Thus was the kingdom lost to Saul.
And, itwasunder him tbat the Philistines
were able todefeattheJewsandput mem
into bondage. So great was the bondage
exerted by the Philistines that "Now there
was no blacksmith tobe found thraug1lOutall
the land oj Israel: Jor the Phlltstine;; said,
'lest the Hebrews make dum swords or
spears.' But all the Israelites went dawn to
the Phllistines to sharpen each man's
plowshare, hts mattock, hts ax, and hts
... So it came about, on the day of
battle, that there 'was neither sword nor
spear JOU1ld in the hand oj any oj the pwple
who were with Saul and Jonathan. .. " (1
Samuell3: 19-20; 22-23).
Today, thesamegoalsofthe Phil&ines
would be carned out by an oppressor
who would ban gun smiilis from the
land. The sword of today is me handgun,
rifl.eorshotgun. Theswordcontrolofthe
Philistines is today's gun conn'ol of those .
govemmentsthatdonottrustmeirpeaple
with guns,
It is inlponant to understand that
whatbappenedto theJews at the time of
Saul was not unexpected according to
dle sanctions spelled out by God in
Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. In
me firstversesofthosedtapters, blessings
are promised to a nation tbat keeps God's
laws. In me long second parts of fuose
chapters, the curses are spelled out far a
nation thatcomesunderjudgment forits
rebellion against God Deuteronomy
28:47-48 helpsusunderstand me reason
for Israel's oppression by the Philistines
duting Saul's reign: "Because you did not
I
servetheLordyourGodwithjoyandgladness
oj hewt, Jar the abundance oj all things,
. therejoreyoushallserveyourenemies, whom
the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in
inl1akedness, andin needoJ all illings;
and He will put a yoke oj iron on your neck
until He has deso'oyed you"
The Bible provides examples of God's
blessing upon Israel for its faithfulness.
These blessingsindudedasuungnational
defense coupled with peace. A clear
example occurred during the reign of
Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 17 tells of
how Jehoshaphat led Israel back to
fuimfulness to God wlrich included a
strong national defense. The result: ':And
the Jear oj the wrd fell on all Ble kingdoms
of the lands that were around Judah, so that
theydidnotmakewaragalJ1Stjehoshaphat"
(2 Chronicles 17: 10). ,
The Israelite army was a
militia army which came to
barde wim each man bearing
his own weapons-from me
time of Moses, through the
Judges, and beyond. When
ilireatened by theMidianites,
for example, "So Moses spoke

of yourselves for the war, and
let them go against the
MidianiJ:es to take vengeance
Jar the L01'd on Midian"
(Numbers 31:3). Again, to
demonstrate the Biblical
heritage of individuaIs bearing and
keeping arms, durillg David's time in the
wilderness avoiding capture by Saul,
"DaiIfd said to hts men, 'Every man gird on
hts sword.' So eva;>, man girded on his
sword, and Davia also girded on his
sword" (1 Samuel 2S: 13).
Fi:\ially,considerNehemlahandmose
who ' rebuilt the gates and walls of
Jerusalem. Theywere both builders and
defenders, each man - each servant-
armed with his own weapon: "T1lOsewho
built on the wall, and those who amied
burdens loaded themselves so that with one
hand flley worked at constnu:tion, and with
the other held a weapOll Every one of the
builders had his sword gi rded 'at his side
as he built (Nehemiah 4:17-18) .
CQNCLUSION
The wisdom of the framers of the
Constitutionisconsistentwithmelessons
of me Bible. [nstlUments of defense
February, March 1993 TIlE COUN:>EL of Chalcedon 17
0'.
I
I.
'j
should be dispersed throughout the
nation, not concentrated in the hands of
the cenoal government In a godly
counrty, righteousness govemseachman
through theHoly Spirit working within.
The government has no cause to want a
monopoly of force; the government that
desiressuchamonopolyis a threat to the
life, liberty and property of its citizens.
The assumption that onlydangercan
result from people carrying guns is used
tOjustifygovernmentmonopolyofforce.
The notion that the people cannot be
trusted to keep and bear their own anus
infonus us that ours, like the time of
Solomon, may be one of great riches but
is also a time of peril to free people. If
Christ is not our King. we shall have
a dictator to rule over us. just as
Samuel warned.
For those who think that God treated
Israel differently from the way he will
treatusroday. please consider what God
told the prophet Malachi: "For Jam the
Inrd, J do not change" (Malachi 3:6)Q
(a) "When our forefathers wrote the
Arise!
Shine!
constitution of the United States, bear arms is fundamental in preserving
consciously or unconsciously they true freedom,somuchso that subversive
followed the Israel system of the right of forces in sundry and subtle ways first
every man to keep and bear anus. (The move to disarm the citizens of a nation
SecondAmendment:lwaspattemedafter which they later plan to dominate. We
the Israelmethod:wheneveryable bodied have witnessed such moves in the past
man capable of bearing anus and who while states which have already passed
might be called upon by the nation for lawsviolatingAtticleIIofonrconstitution
military duties to defend his countly, his did so underthe pretext of disarming the
life. libeny and freedom was thus able criminal. The states which have violated
and prepared to take his place in the this fundamental principle of the
ranks of the army. protection of its dtizens against armed
"Tyranny,asarule,arisesfromwithin violence have not only failed to reduce
a nation when the government has been crimebuthavecontnbutedtotheincrease
captured by men who would use their in violence and crime. The criminal.
acquired power to oppress the people. who never disarms, knows he is dealing
These filets were known to the framers of with law abiding unarmed dtizens.
the constitution, hence they recognized Honest men and leaders never fear an
the need and right of citizens to keep and armed,law abiding civilian population."
bear anus in order to insure real liberty. 'Howard B. Rand,U.B., Digest oj the
God in His wisdom ... made it a Divine Law. (Destiny Publishers.
fundamental law in the land that every Merrimac, MA, 1943) pp. 163-164.
man should be a part of the military M La Lt ' theEx . D'
lotW of oJ A:<rica. .
and equipment in his own possession> a peA church in Springfield, VA and for 10
years served in thtSlate Legislature in VA
A New Qecordi1l8 by
Songs
Candle of Faith
Jesus Saves
Psalm One
Judy Rogers (9 Becky Morecraft
Clap Your Hands (Ps. 47)
Arise Shine (lsa. 60)
How Finn a Foundation
He is The One
Come Ye Sinners
When 1 Survey
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Name
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For direct pUl'chase at $9.95 Mail to: Judy Rogers, P.O. Box 888442, Atlanta, GA 30356
18 t TIlE COUNSEL of Cha1cedon tFebmary, Mard,1993