[311.1] NONVIOLENCE IS IMPLIED BY BAPTISM

From: Christians join global war resisters gathering in the USA (Ekklesia, UK) - At a World Council of Churches’ global mission gathering in May 2005, German Mennonite leader Fernando Enns made an ecumenical appeal to the churches to make the refusal of violence a “key identity marker” for followers of Jesus.

Ekklesia's Simon Barrow agrees. He says that for Christians, refusing violence has deep theological roots: “It isn’t just about being nice or highlighting a few biblical texts – it is primarily about witnessing to an alternative way of life made possible by the life, death and resurrection of Christ – about tapping the power of God’s love to overcome the destructive love of power."

Though pacifism is a minority tradition in Christianity, non-violence advocates in the churches say that the majority just-war tradition (which involves seeking to limit violence) is increasingly becoming war resistant – citing the powerful anti-war sentiments expressed by the two most recent popes.

“When Christians are baptised they are received into a community which is meant to embody the way of Jesus. Surely a minimum requirement of this is for Christians to recognise that they should not kill one another – and then to extend that logic to the neighbours they are called by the Gospel to love?” declares Barrow.

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