SOTM 18-Retaliation

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/som-18-retaliation/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p><strong>38 “You have heard that it was said,‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’39 But I say to you,Do not resist the one who is evil. Butif anyoneslaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.40 Andif anyone would sue you and take your tunic let him have your cloak as well.41 And if anyoneforces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.42 Give to the one who begs from you, anddo not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (Matthew 5:38-42).</strong></p><p><strong>Non-resistance</strong></p><ul><li>This isn't just a doctrine promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Amish.</li><li>Not non-resistance to evil (which we always resist), but towards evil people.</li><li>One well-known proponent of non-resistance states, “Of course, the life of a Christian is one of continually resisting evil. But Jesus commands us not to resist evil through physical, earthly and carnal means. Instead, we resist evil through the power of love and holiness. Nonresistance is ultimately the way of love and the way of the cross—two things exemplified by Jesus. As such, nonresistance is one of the defining characteristics of the historic faith.”—David Bercot</li><li>It is not so much a doctrine as a lifestyle</li></ul><p><strong>The church of the first 3 centuries</strong></p><ul><li><i>Tertullian</i>: “… If injured, we are forbidden to retaliate, lest we become just as bad ourselves. Who can suffer injury at our hands?” <i>Apology</i> 37</li><li><i>Irenaeus</i>: “The new covenant that brings back peace and the law that gives life have both gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said. …Christians have beat their swords and their spears into plowshares and pruning hooks for reaping grain, that is, into instruments used for peaceful purposes. So now, they are strangers to fighting. When they are struck, they offer the othe