Theology of War

I am not a biblical scholar, so I am anything but an expert on the theology of war.  I see war as an extension of negotiations between nation-states — or the failure thereof.  As such, it is a secular issue, not a spiritual one.  However, for Believers, it becomes a spiritual issue should it be seen as a conflict with one’s beliefs.  When it comes to personal self-defense or defense of one’s family or loved ones, killing would not anger God, in my personal point of view.  One could logically extend that to the self-defense of one’s nation-state.  Should one’s nation come under attack, it should not anger God should a Believer participate in the war and kill enemy combatants.  Apart from common sense and the willingness to appear before God in judgement, biblical scholars will point to passages in the Old Testament to justify such actions (please do your own research into this, should you be so inclined).

In my own personal digging into the subject, though at a fairly superficial level, basically one is justified in killing during war should God sanctify the war, as a fight against evil.  This would explain why secular leaders usually justify the war as a fight against some easily understandable evil.

The theology of war takes on an interesting twist, when viewed from the prophecies of Revelation.  In Revelations 19:1-3, it is written:

And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

2For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

3And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

These verses describe the scene in heaven, after the Whore of Babylon is destroyed.  All of heaven will rejoice and praise God for the destruction of the Whore.  A war against the Whore and her minions would surely be sanctified by God.  Similarly, a war against the Beast, aka the Anti-Christ, would similarly be sanctified.  However, given this, nowhere in the Book of Revelation are Believers instructed to kill the Whore of Babylon.  Believers will need to feel confident in how God will judge their actions.  Personally, the only violence I committed was getting into a brief fight in junior high school, so I am not in a position to take a stand on sanctified violence.  Each Believer must make their own judgement on what is right.