1 00:00:04,660 --> 00:00:10,439 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a 2 00:00:10,439 --> 00:00:15,519 moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And 3 00:00:15,519 --> 00:00:24,100 today, I want to ask you, what constitutes a just war in the sight of God and man? What constitutes 4 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:31,260 a just war, if there is such a thing? Is that an oxymoron? Or can there indeed be a war that is 5 00:00:31,260 --> 00:00:39,100 considered to be right and just in the sight of God and man? Ever since our Lord first traveled the 6 00:00:39,100 --> 00:00:45,899 highways and byways of first century Judea and Galilee, we in the church have wondered if there 7 00:00:45,899 --> 00:00:54,039 is ever a time when it is right and fit to fight a war. This is an important question for the church 8 00:00:54,039 --> 00:01:01,799 to ask today. For example, is the war we are fighting with Russia in Ukraine justified? Do we 9 00:01:01,799 --> 00:01:09,099 have any business sending troops to Ukraine or helping her with any kind of aid? For example, 10 00:01:09,299 --> 00:01:16,840 weapons or the immense amount of treasure that we are sending to them. Can evil men and women like 11 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:24,299 those ruling over us here in the United States even conduct a just war at all? Oh, dear listener, 12 00:01:24,500 --> 00:01:31,200 the drums of war are being steadily sounded. Our emotions, your emotions, my emotions are being 13 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:39,480 stirred by stories of atrocities by one side or the other. Justice belongs to the Ukrainians, some will 14 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:46,819 say. Others say Russia was deliberately provoked by the United States and NATO. So for the purpose of 15 00:01:46,819 --> 00:01:54,659 bogging Russia down in a fruitless conflict. Oh, where is the right here, dear listener? Whence the 16 00:01:54,659 --> 00:02:03,719 truth and what criteria can we use to sort out the just cause if there really is one at all? Oh, dear 17 00:02:03,719 --> 00:02:11,379 listener, do not be lost in the passions of the moment. Many with far greater wisdom than us in the 18 00:02:11,379 --> 00:02:18,639 past have wrestled with this question. And they've done it for centuries. In fact, the church has long 19 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:24,759 wrestled with the question of whether it is right and good for the Christian to pick up a weapon and 20 00:02:24,759 --> 00:02:32,719 fight or whether a Christian king should maintain an army at all. Oh, the early church asked these 21 00:02:32,719 --> 00:02:39,240 questions and many, many more. Was Jesus a pacifist because he told us to turn the other cheek and 22 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:44,979 love your enemies? Does that mean we can't defend ourselves when threatened by thieves and murderers 23 00:02:44,979 --> 00:02:52,280 or invading armies? Is a Christian prince forbidden to raise an army and fight an enemy on behalf of his 24 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:58,139 people? These were all pressing questions in the early church, especially to those being persecuted 25 00:02:58,139 --> 00:03:04,979 by the authorities of the Roman Empire. Those were the same soldiers and magistrates and neighbors of 26 00:03:04,979 --> 00:03:11,560 the Christians being persecuted and killed. For them, it was fairly easy to say no to being in the army 27 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:19,159 or even the police force, and it was easy to extrapolate that prohibition to engaging in any warfare or 28 00:03:19,159 --> 00:03:26,259 self-defense of almost any kind. The early church was almost all pacifist, but that attitude began to 29 00:03:26,259 --> 00:03:34,060 change, excuse me, that attitude began to change as more and more people became converted to the Christian 30 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:41,219 faith within the Roman Empire. More and more people came to recognize that the magistrate, the prince, 31 00:03:41,599 --> 00:03:48,979 is a servant for your good, as the Apostle Paul says, who is an avenger who carries out God's wrath 32 00:03:48,979 --> 00:03:55,300 on the wrongdoer, as Paul says in Romans 13. And so often in the life of the early church, 33 00:03:55,300 --> 00:04:02,780 the wrongdoer was the invading barbarian horde that primitively raped and pillaged and destroyed. 34 00:04:03,180 --> 00:04:09,840 It is the appointed authority who does not bear the sword in vain, as Romans 13 says again. He is the 35 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:16,959 one who must undertake to defend the average citizen. And consequently, when emperors like Constantine 36 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:23,759 or Justinian, when they asked the bishops of the church, when is it permissible to wage war? 37 00:04:23,759 --> 00:04:29,759 Under what circumstances does God look with favor on the magistrate when he bears the sword? How should 38 00:04:29,759 --> 00:04:36,540 a Christian prince conduct a just war? These were important questions for the early Christian kings 39 00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:43,639 when they triumphed finally. All of these questions and many, many more came to the forefront when the 40 00:04:43,639 --> 00:04:50,420 sword of the state was suddenly found in the hand of Christian kings instead of at the throat of 41 00:04:50,420 --> 00:04:57,959 Christian martyrs, as it had been for centuries. Yeah. Suddenly, the sword passed to the state in 42 00:04:57,959 --> 00:05:04,779 the hand of Christian kings rather than to the throat of Christian martyrs. The answer that the church 43 00:05:04,779 --> 00:05:09,620 gave back to the Christian prince when he asked these questions is what has come down to us as the 44 00:05:09,620 --> 00:05:18,899 just war theory. The just war theory. I want a treat of this today. And it took centuries to craft. We do not 45 00:05:18,899 --> 00:05:24,519 have the time really to go into its history completely today. But just know, dear listener, that the 46 00:05:24,519 --> 00:05:32,959 fathers of the church spent a lot of blood, sweat, and tears literally forming and crafting the just war 47 00:05:32,959 --> 00:05:38,699 theory. And it was shaped not in the ivory tower of the intellectual, but rather on the bloody battlefield 48 00:05:38,699 --> 00:05:45,879 of the soldier and in the councils of the courts of kings. The just war theory was given perhaps its 49 00:05:45,879 --> 00:05:54,100 finest expression in the work of St. Augustine in his magisterial work, The City of God. This is still 50 00:05:54,100 --> 00:06:01,860 worth reading today. St. Augustine's work, The City of God. And there are seven major principles to 51 00:06:01,860 --> 00:06:08,660 the just war theory that Augustine articulated. What are those seven principles? Let me briefly 52 00:06:08,660 --> 00:06:16,319 outline them for you here today. Number one, the first principle of the just war theory is that a 53 00:06:16,319 --> 00:06:26,120 just war can only be waged after nonviolent options have been exhausted. Yes, a just war, not just any old 54 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:33,379 pagan war, right? But a just war in the sight of God and man can only be waged after nonviolent 55 00:06:33,379 --> 00:06:40,160 options have been exhausted. The apostle Paul laid down this principle. He said, if possible, so far as 56 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:47,120 it depends on you, live peaceably with all. And that principle is richly reflected in all of the Bible. 57 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:52,660 Even Israel, in its wilderness wanderings, negotiated with Edom to pass through their land. 58 00:06:52,660 --> 00:07:00,660 But when Edom refused and instead marshaled its army, well, Israel went around Edom rather than 59 00:07:00,660 --> 00:07:07,560 fight. Every Christian prince or magistrate is obliged to pursue this course sincerely. 60 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:14,600 Charlemagne, for example, tried to deal peaceably with the Saxons. But when they kept betraying every 61 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:20,120 peaceful arrangement that he established, well, then Charlemagne had no other recourse than to use 62 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:28,220 force against them. Can we say that we have exhausted nonviolent options with Russia over its dispute 63 00:07:28,220 --> 00:07:35,420 with Ukraine? No, I think not. There is ample evidence that we, the United States of America, 64 00:07:35,620 --> 00:07:43,019 have been interfering in Ukrainian politics for decades now. And this is something that most Americans 65 00:07:43,019 --> 00:07:48,920 are completely unaware of because it has not been brought to our attention. And most people don't have 66 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:54,680 the time to do the homework. But America has been interfering in Ukrainian and Russian politics 67 00:07:54,680 --> 00:08:02,680 for decades now. Destabilizing, for example, the democratically elected president, who was Yanukovych 68 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:10,959 back in 2014, and setting up a puppet president friendly to the United States, who was Poroshenko. 69 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:17,459 And this was done back in 2014. And Russia remembers this. The Ukrainians remember this. 70 00:08:17,459 --> 00:08:25,279 And we have also insisted for years that Ukraine join NATO, right? The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 71 00:08:25,279 --> 00:08:31,779 which would be a direct threat to Russia. It would be comparable to Canada, for example, 72 00:08:32,179 --> 00:08:38,039 joining the Soviet Union back in the day. We wouldn't stand for that. And yet we expect Russia 73 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:48,799 to stand for Ukraine, which is loaded with many Russian heritage person in Ukraine. Many portions 74 00:08:48,799 --> 00:08:57,340 of Ukraine are indeed Russian in character and nature and language. Additionally, we have been secretly 75 00:08:57,340 --> 00:09:04,320 training Ukrainian military forces, and we've been arming them long before the outbreak of this war. 76 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:11,340 Yes, we have. That hasn't been trumpeted on the news either. But Russia certainly knows it. Vladimir Putin 77 00:09:11,340 --> 00:09:20,980 certainly knows this fact. So to say that we have exhausted nonviolent options is disingenuous in the 78 00:09:20,980 --> 00:09:29,159 extreme. In fact, it's safer to say that we, the United States of America, have encouraged warlike 79 00:09:29,159 --> 00:09:37,559 means rather than nonviolent ones. America is in direct violation of this first provision of the 80 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:46,960 just war. A just war can only be waged after nonviolent options have been exhausted. Not only have those 81 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:55,980 nonviolent options not been exhausted, but in fact, provocative things have been done by the United 82 00:09:55,980 --> 00:10:03,379 States against Russia in Ukraine. Well, the second principle of the just war theory is, number two, 83 00:10:03,940 --> 00:10:11,580 a war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Oh, we've covered this principle in the 84 00:10:11,580 --> 00:10:18,879 past, but I want to highlight it again. A war is considered just before God and man only if it is 85 00:10:18,879 --> 00:10:27,000 waged by a legitimate authority. Dear listener, justice is not served by actions taken by individuals 86 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:36,500 or groups, rogue individuals and groups, terrorist individuals and groups. Governments duly constituted 87 00:10:36,500 --> 00:10:43,879 are deemed legitimate. So this, too, is a long-established biblical principle. 88 00:10:43,879 --> 00:10:49,879 Excuse me. Treasonous actions like that of Athaliah in the Bible, in the Old Testament, 89 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:56,820 in Kings and in Chronicles, you'll find her story. Athaliah, Queen Athaliah, slaughtered the line of 90 00:10:56,820 --> 00:11:03,679 David in Judah with the exception of Joash, who was hidden away in the temple. And she did this in order 91 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:11,340 to establish herself as queen. And it's precisely this kind of action that is prohibited by this 92 00:11:11,340 --> 00:11:19,120 principle. A just war is fought only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Athaliah was not 93 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:28,379 legitimate. On the positive side, David, King David, future King David, refused as an individual to raise 94 00:11:28,379 --> 00:11:36,299 his hand against the Lord's anointed, that is King Saul, because it was illegitimate to do so. Only after 95 00:11:36,299 --> 00:11:43,840 Saul had died and the people acclaimed him as king, was it legitimate for him to take the throne? So I have 96 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:50,539 covered this principle in history in previous broadcasts. A war is just only if it is waged by a 97 00:11:50,539 --> 00:11:58,080 legitimate authority. I've covered this in the past, specifically in my series on Oliver Cromwell and Guy 98 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:06,519 Fox. Oh, from English history. Guy Fox, of course, was a 17th century terrorist who acted with a few 99 00:12:06,519 --> 00:12:13,360 other conspirators to blow up Parliament in the gunpowder plots in order to overthrow King James 100 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:21,200 I. And Oliver Cromwell, on the other hand, and the other extreme, he was a member of Parliament, 101 00:12:21,500 --> 00:12:27,100 an elected member of Parliament who undertook to throw off the tyranny of King Charles I. 102 00:12:27,100 --> 00:12:34,500 And he did it as a legitimate authority. His new model army, as it was called, commissioned by 103 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:41,340 Parliament, defeated the king and established the English Republic. Oliver Cromwell versus Guy 104 00:12:41,340 --> 00:12:47,580 Fox. What can we say then with this second principle? What can we say about the legitimacy of 105 00:12:47,580 --> 00:12:55,779 the Biden administration? It is clear to me that he is a fraud who got the presidency by cheating 106 00:12:55,779 --> 00:13:02,399 in the election of 2020. He is not a legitimate authority. And this is becoming clearer every day. 107 00:13:02,639 --> 00:13:09,899 Evidence is accumulating that indeed Joe Biden has taken the presidency by fraud. The president 108 00:13:09,899 --> 00:13:18,039 administration is not a duly constituted government. It is a fraud in every respect. And as long as we 109 00:13:18,039 --> 00:13:26,080 continue to fight this war in Ukraine with a fraud who stole the election, we cannot say that we are 110 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:33,960 honoring the second principle of a just war theory. A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate 111 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:42,940 authority. Wow. The third principle of a just war is that, number three, a just war must redress wrongs 112 00:13:42,940 --> 00:13:52,480 suffered. Oh, a just war, a truly just war before God and man must redress wrongs suffered. This provision 113 00:13:52,480 --> 00:14:00,860 was included so as to exclude wars of conquest and empire. How often do kings just look at the 114 00:14:00,860 --> 00:14:07,419 panoply of history? How often do kings march off to war in order to add to their lands and increase 115 00:14:07,419 --> 00:14:13,500 their sphere of influence and power? This seems to be the history of kings of the earth. And what the 116 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:22,440 church, the early church, hoped to capture within the sphere of the just war was a remedy for actual 117 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:29,320 wrongs suffered by the people and by the nation that undertakes a war. The princes of the crusades, 118 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:36,279 for example, the crusades are a good example of this. The crusades, contrary to the barrage of 119 00:14:36,279 --> 00:14:43,159 criticism level, let them, the crusades actually went to the holy land to reclaim formerly Christian 120 00:14:43,159 --> 00:14:49,860 lands that had been lost to a predatory Islam, which had been brutalizing Christians there for 121 00:14:49,860 --> 00:14:57,779 centuries. The king of the Byzantine empire, in fact, had appealed to the west to come and right the 122 00:14:57,779 --> 00:15:03,200 wrongs, which had been suffered by them at the hands of the Seljuk Turks. I cover this in my church 123 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:10,000 history course that meets on Thursday evenings. The crusades were, they were indeed just and legitimate 124 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:19,580 wars to redress wrongs suffered. They honored this third principle of the just war theory. So this is 125 00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:27,980 another long established biblical principle. A just war must redress wrongs suffered. For instance, Israel 126 00:15:27,980 --> 00:15:36,059 went to war against the Amorites on behalf of the Gibeonites, with whom they had a fast treaty. The 127 00:15:36,059 --> 00:15:42,200 Amorites had wrongfully gone to war against Gibeon and Israel marched to their defense to redress wrongs 128 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:48,419 suffered by them. This is a long established biblical principle. What can we say then of the Biden 129 00:15:48,419 --> 00:15:55,600 administration's war against Russia? Oh, dear listener, we have no treaty with Ukraine. We have 130 00:15:55,600 --> 00:16:02,700 no national interest, for that matter, in fighting this war in far off Ukraine, even less reason than 131 00:16:02,700 --> 00:16:10,720 we were in Afghanistan or Iraq. We have no business investing American blood and treasure in what is 132 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:18,039 essentially a Slavic civil war. That's what we're looking at in this war, Russia versus Ukraine. This 133 00:16:18,039 --> 00:16:27,100 is indeed a restricted Slavic civil war. How many times must we become bogged down in fruitless wars like 134 00:16:27,100 --> 00:16:35,600 the 20-year disaster in Afghanistan? Dear listener, does anyone really trust the commander-in-chief who 135 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:42,779 shamefully withdrew from Afghanistan and left so many Americans behind, thousands of us, and billions in 136 00:16:42,779 --> 00:16:49,679 military hardware in the hands of a terrorist regime? Can we really trust this commander-in-chief that he is 137 00:16:49,679 --> 00:16:56,740 going to competently redress wrongs in Ukraine? I submit to you that the Biden administration will 138 00:16:56,740 --> 00:17:04,259 only commit new wrongs and compound the evil that is being done there. They will not redress wrongs. They 139 00:17:04,259 --> 00:17:13,359 will compound wrongs and evil. Now, certainly, Russia has inflicted suffering upon Ukraine, but ignorant 140 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:21,700 Americans fail to calculate what Ukraine has done to Russia, too, with our aid and comfort, with all of 141 00:17:21,700 --> 00:17:28,240 the wrongs inflicted on Russia by our own governments. She might well be justified. Russia might well be 142 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:36,619 justified in saying that she is fighting a war to redress wrongs suffered. Alas, America cannot say 143 00:17:36,619 --> 00:17:44,539 she is honoring this third principle of a just war theory. That is, a just war must redress wrongs 144 00:17:44,539 --> 00:17:51,700 suffered. Our involvement, the involvement of the United States of America in this war is not honoring 145 00:17:51,700 --> 00:18:00,640 this third principle. Rather, we are not redressing wrongs suffered, but rather, evil men and women in 146 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:10,099 our government are only creating multiple new evils. The third principle of a just war theory. There is 147 00:18:10,099 --> 00:18:18,440 also a fourth principle of a just war theory, and that fourth principle developed, indeed, by the early 148 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:27,819 church, to answer the questions of Christian princes, when is a war I might undertake a just war in the 149 00:18:27,819 --> 00:18:33,579 eyes of God and man. And they asked the church this question, and the church came back with seven 150 00:18:33,579 --> 00:18:41,059 different principles of a just war. That fourth principle of a just war is, a just war must be 151 00:18:41,059 --> 00:18:49,460 undertaken with a reasonable chance of success. Here is one that the Biden administration and the 152 00:18:49,460 --> 00:18:57,339 American deep state has failed miserably at fulfilling. A just war before God and man must be 153 00:18:57,339 --> 00:19:04,519 undertaken with a reasonable chance of success. This principle notes that casualties incurred in a 154 00:19:04,519 --> 00:19:12,259 hopeless cause, they're not morally justifiable. This is really a prohibition on the old romantic lost 155 00:19:12,259 --> 00:19:23,400 cause of many a rebel, right? For example, the Bar Kokhba rebellion in the Middle East, in A.D. 132 to 136, 156 00:19:23,519 --> 00:19:30,480 in which the Jews of Palestine rebelled against the Romans one last time, this is a case in point. The 157 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:37,259 Bar Kokhba rebellion. The Jews had no chance of success, really, although they wistfully hoped to 158 00:19:37,259 --> 00:19:44,180 reprise the Maccabean revolt of their early fathers against Hellenist tyranny. And they hoped to do this 159 00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:52,099 and free themselves of Roman domination and tyranny. And instead, Rome decided to make a final solution, 160 00:19:52,259 --> 00:19:58,819 if you will, of the persistent problem of Jewish rebellion. And they massacred the population, 161 00:19:58,819 --> 00:20:05,960 and they dispersed the surviving Jews all through Syria and the surrounding region. The Bar Kokhba 162 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:13,700 rebellion, a fruitless, a hopeless rebellion undertaken with no reasonable chance of success. 163 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:20,140 The resistance of Ukraine has no reasonable chance of success either, despite the bravery of the 164 00:20:20,140 --> 00:20:26,660 Ukrainians. I do not wish to diminish that in any respect. They've been very bravely fighting and 165 00:20:26,660 --> 00:20:33,319 resisting. But they have no reasonable chance of success. But rather, our participation has only 166 00:20:33,319 --> 00:20:40,359 escalated the conflict to the brink of nuclear war. Do we realize what we're in for, dear listener, 167 00:20:40,740 --> 00:20:47,299 on the brink of nuclear war? The ignorant, careless fools in the Biden administration, 168 00:20:47,299 --> 00:20:56,099 and also the lackey Republicans who go along with them. Oh, they keep sending further billions to Ukraine. 169 00:20:56,819 --> 00:21:04,480 We are only provoking, arguably, the most heavily armed nuclear power on the planet. Silly men, too, 170 00:21:04,599 --> 00:21:12,559 like Congressman Adam Kinzinger calls for acts of war, like imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. 171 00:21:12,559 --> 00:21:19,740 That is an act of war and is poking the bear, if you will. He also calls for committing U.S. troops 172 00:21:19,740 --> 00:21:27,039 if evidence of chemical weapons or biological weapons are found to have been used. And we know 173 00:21:27,039 --> 00:21:33,579 perfectly well that false flag operations have been characteristic of the deep state government 174 00:21:33,579 --> 00:21:41,519 in the United States. We cannot trust the reports that Russia may be using biological or chemical 175 00:21:41,519 --> 00:21:47,140 weapons. And the same can be said for other reckless leaders, not only Adam Kinzinger, but other 176 00:21:47,140 --> 00:21:56,000 reckless leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi or that pathetic excuse for the chief of the Joint Chiefs of 177 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:02,859 Staff, General Milley. I must ask you, dear listener, what reasonable chance of success is there in an 178 00:22:02,859 --> 00:22:10,400 all-out nuclear war? Yes, an all-out nuclear war, because that is where we are headed. Not many 179 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:18,980 people seem to realize this. Who succeeds in that case? Who succeeds in a nuclear war? Does anyone succeed 180 00:22:18,980 --> 00:22:29,660 in a nuclear war? Anyone involved in such a fight, anyone involved in such a war indeed loses. And the same 181 00:22:29,660 --> 00:22:37,200 could be said for other reckless leaders in America. Can we have said to have succeeded in a just war 182 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:45,220 when our nation is a smoking cinder from an all-out nuclear exchange? Albert Einstein said this about 183 00:22:45,220 --> 00:22:52,619 the upcoming World War III. He said, I know not what weapons World Wars, with what weapons, excuse me, 184 00:22:52,619 --> 00:23:00,279 I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks 185 00:23:00,279 --> 00:23:07,720 and stones. That's ominous, isn't it? But it is indeed what we are in for if we are not careful. 186 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:16,039 The church has no business baptizing this war as a just war when we consider the unreasonableness 187 00:23:16,039 --> 00:23:23,700 of its success. There's no way that there will be a good outcome for the war between Russia and 188 00:23:23,700 --> 00:23:32,559 Ukraine, especially with our amping up the stakes and amping up the conflict by sending billions in 189 00:23:32,559 --> 00:23:40,740 resources and billions in military equipment and hardware, and perhaps in the future, military resources, 190 00:23:40,740 --> 00:23:49,359 military troops, or even nuclear exchange. No one wins when this happens. Instead, brothers and 191 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:58,839 sisters, we need to be advocating peace in the Ukraine. And let us instead pursue peace and 192 00:23:58,839 --> 00:24:04,859 reconciliation between Russia and Ukraine. Above all, the United States should have no part in the 193 00:24:04,859 --> 00:24:13,160 fighting of this war. Indeed, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn says, a state of war only serves as an excuse for 194 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:21,119 domestic tyranny. And that indeed is what is being encouraged in America as the passions of war are 195 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:30,720 fanned, as the constant drumbeat for war increases. A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic 196 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:38,000 tyranny, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn puts it. So while the just war theory that I've just outlined for you 197 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:46,039 is in many respects a high ideal, and it is, and we'll cover the remaining three articles of that just 198 00:24:46,039 --> 00:24:52,940 war theory. While that just war theory is in many respects a high ideal, that is really very difficult, 199 00:24:52,940 --> 00:25:00,319 if not impossible, to achieve perfectly. It is, nevertheless, a metric by which we can gauge 200 00:25:00,319 --> 00:25:07,680 our performance before an all-holy and righteous God. Oh, dear listener, I urge you to pursue 201 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:17,220 these principles of a just war and see just how far short we fall, and yet how successful previous 202 00:25:17,220 --> 00:25:24,220 princes and governments have been in the past in aspiring to achieve these ideals in wars that they 203 00:25:24,220 --> 00:25:33,240 fought. So I think that the church, in crafting this metric, the metric of a just war theory guided by the 204 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:40,740 scriptures, has nevertheless given us a very high ideal by which to live. And so, dear listener, pray for 205 00:25:40,740 --> 00:25:49,960 peace in this conflict. Work for further understanding. Let us grasp coolly and calmly, not in passions that are 206 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:57,680 driven by war hysteria. Rather, work for true understanding. And may the peace of Christ be yours, dear listener. 207 00:25:58,380 --> 00:26:05,859 This is the first and necessary step for peace amongst mankind, is to find peace in Christ first. If we were to 208 00:26:05,859 --> 00:26:15,539 do this, we would find ages of peace to be lived by subsequent generations. If we indeed first seek the first 209 00:26:15,539 --> 00:26:23,279 peace. And the first peace is peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. May this be yours today, dear listener. 210 00:26:23,599 --> 00:26:30,799 This is New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. 211 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:38,180 New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. 212 00:26:38,180 --> 00:26:49,680 And you can call us for more information at area code 208-523-0196. Area code 208-523-0196.