RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
Is John Piper saying arming oneself is a sin?
This paragraph is ambiguous.
He acknowledges "situational ambiguities," but then he offers a number of reasons why someone "living the tenor of the Christian" life shouldn't ever kill. In which case, there are no situational ambiguities.
His #2 argument almost carries water, except I dispute the point that a bad guy in a back alley, trying to kill and rape my family, is simply an "unjust situation."
#3 argument: I dispute that every act of violence against a Christian is necessarily an act of persecution.
#4 doesn't deal with self-defense.
#5: Does loving my enemy mean letting my wife and daughter be killed and raped? Is the most loving act I can do for my enemy is letting him satiate his lusts?
#6: Piper again confuses persecution with self-defense situations.
#8.1 He says the NT 'resists that ethical reduction," but then he goes on to give just such a thing.
8.4 is just confusing. Let's pursue it:
(8.4*) Is Piper saying calling the police is an okay thing? He doesn't really make it clear but I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
(8.4') When the police get there--if they get there in time--they will probably kill the assailant. My actions in calling the police led to the assailant's dying. Even though on his quasi-anabaptist ethics, where the state has the right to kill, the bad guy is still dead and I am partly the reason. I'm not sure the end result, on his principles, is any better.
8.6 "nd I would be very slow to condemn a person who chose differently from me."
I'm glad he said this, but it raises some problems:
(8.6*) If I arm myself and proverbially kill the bad guy, did I sin? If yes, will I be placed under church discipline?
This paragraph is ambiguous.
he issue is not primarily about when and if a Christian may ever use force in self-defense, or the defense of one’s family or friends. There are significant situational ambiguities in the answer to that question. The issue is about the whole tenor and focus and demeanor and heart-attitude of the Christian life. Does it accord with the New Testament to encourage the attitude that says, “I have the power to kill you in my pocket, so don’t mess with me”? My answer is, No.
He acknowledges "situational ambiguities," but then he offers a number of reasons why someone "living the tenor of the Christian" life shouldn't ever kill. In which case, there are no situational ambiguities.
His #2 argument almost carries water, except I dispute the point that a bad guy in a back alley, trying to kill and rape my family, is simply an "unjust situation."
#3 argument: I dispute that every act of violence against a Christian is necessarily an act of persecution.
#4 doesn't deal with self-defense.
#5: Does loving my enemy mean letting my wife and daughter be killed and raped? Is the most loving act I can do for my enemy is letting him satiate his lusts?
#6: Piper again confuses persecution with self-defense situations.
#8.1 He says the NT 'resists that ethical reduction," but then he goes on to give just such a thing.
8.4 is just confusing. Let's pursue it:
(8.4*) Is Piper saying calling the police is an okay thing? He doesn't really make it clear but I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
(8.4') When the police get there--if they get there in time--they will probably kill the assailant. My actions in calling the police led to the assailant's dying. Even though on his quasi-anabaptist ethics, where the state has the right to kill, the bad guy is still dead and I am partly the reason. I'm not sure the end result, on his principles, is any better.
8.6 "nd I would be very slow to condemn a person who chose differently from me."
I'm glad he said this, but it raises some problems:
(8.6*) If I arm myself and proverbially kill the bad guy, did I sin? If yes, will I be placed under church discipline?