Christians refused to engage in warfare during the first two centuries of Christianity. Such a stance is called quietist pacifism. The earliest record of military service by Christians begins with the reign of Marcus Auerilius in 173CE. After Constantine enacted legislation tolerating Christianity in 313CE, Christians increasingly entered armed service.[1]

 

There are multiple reasons why the early church took a pacifist stance.  No separation of church and state existed at the time. Civil leaders were also religious leaders. Government or religious service meant subservience to the King or Emperor and observance of the state religion. Thus, participation in military or governmental activities was viewed as religious idolatry. Carrying out capital punishments and military service were thought to be incompatible with Christianity. Christians were to have no competing oaths or loyalties. They were under compulsion not to sin. Early Christians were taught to choose martyrdom or refuse to serve to avoid falling into sin.

 

The early Christian church was a small and oppressed mutual aid society of communities called to agape and love of neighbor; they envisioned themselves as having no political responsibility for the larger community. Furthermore, the apocalyptic expectation of early Christianity resulted in a belief that there was no point in prolonged fighting for temporal causes. Instead, they were to be obedient in intention and practice to the Ten Commandments and the commands of Christ to love the neighbor (John 13:34), turn the other cheek, and resist not evil (Matthew 5:39) while they awaited the second coming of Christ.

 

The Pacifist Stance of the Restoration Church or Primitive Christianity

 

Our denomination originated as two groups that were part of the larger Restoration or Primitivist movement in the early 1800s that sought to restore the essentials of first century Christianity. One group followed Alexander Campbell and was called the Campbellite Disciples and the other group followed Barton Stone and was called the Stoneite Christians. Our denomination, The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), resulted from a merger of those two movements in 1832. The Primitivist or Restoration movement includes other Christian bodies such as the Anabaptists, Mennonites, Quakers, Brethren, and others. These denominations adhere primarily to the New Testament and its portrait of early Christianity and have always been known as "Peace Churches". Disciples of Christ historian, A.T. DeGroot says that "this background enables us to understand why, with the exception of Walter Scott, most of the best known early Disciple leaders were pacifists".[2] Most notably, our founders, Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone were both pacifists.

 

Alexander Campbell articulated his pacifist position most famously in his "Address on War" delivered on May 11, 1848 when he asserted, "The precepts of Christianity positively inhibit war; the folly of war is manifest in that it is never a criterion of justice or a proof of right; it is never a satisfactory end of controversy; and peace is always the result of negotiation"[3].  Futhermore he said,

 

"Give me all the money that has been spent in wars, and I will clear up every acre of land that ought to be cleared - drain every marsh-subdue every desert-fertilize every mountain and hill-and convert the whole earth into a continuous series of fruitful fields, verdant meadows, beautiful villas, hamlets, towns and cities. I would found, furnish and endow as many schools, academies and colleges, as would educate the whole human race, - would build meeting houses, public halls, lyceums, and furnish them with libraries adequate to the wants of a thousands millions of human beings. Beat your swords into plowshares, your spears into pruning hooks, convert your warships into missionary packets, your arsenals and munitions of war into Bibles, school-books, and all the appliances of literature, science and art-.All this being done, I would doubtless have a surplus for some new enterprises." [4]

 

 

Due to his disappointment with the development of the emerging political party system and the failure of the U.S. to abolish slavery, in the 1840s, Barton Stone called upon Christians to "withdraw from civil government and live by God's rule"-"to obey God rather than humanity".[5] For Stone, human laws could not govern the evil world. Instead, he believed that by submitting to the "government of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, peace, love, and harmony would unite and keep united the now jarring, wretched world"[6]

 

The Civil War and The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

"The Official Stance"

 

Given the long history of publications within the movement, it has been said that we are a denomination not of bishops, but of editors. Many of the stances of our founders and subsequent leaders may be gleaned from these publications. For instance, Disciples historian DeGroot concludes that "the editorial policy of the Millennial Harbinger throughout the Civil War was thoroughly pacifist".[7] 

 

In the July 1835 Christian Messenger, Stone published portions of a letter from a minister who refused a commission as a chaplain for the Maine militia because, in his view, "war was at variance with the Gospel that calls us to love our enemies and pray for them".[8] Stone wrote in the Christian Messenger that, "the Gospel aims a death blow at the very root and principle of war"[9], but until the mid-1840s, Stone did not oppose the use of force for self-defense.

 

Similarly, the Disciples peace movement of the early 1800s made a distinction between the aggressive use of force and defense, opposing only the former. In 1838, some members formed a Non-Resistance Society opposing all uses of force, even in defense. This group was led by Henry Clark Wright and William Lloyd Garrison who argued that a practice of non-resistance would usher in Christ's reign on earth. By the mid-1840s, Stone also advocated non-resistance. 

 

Multiple Disciples leaders exercised their right to conscientious objection during the Civil War: D.S. Burnet, John Tomline Walsh, and Robert Milligan.[10] DeGroot recalls a movie, "The Man from Dakota" in which "troops of the North and South clashed around a church, in which a worship service was being held. When an officer entered the building and asked the men why they were not in battle, one answered, "We are Disciples of Christ, Campbellites, and we do not believe in fighting".[11]

 

In the American Christian Review, Stoneite Benjamin Franklin wrote, "We will not take up arms against, fight and kill the brethren we have labored for twenty years to bring into the kingdom of God"[12]. This pacifist position was bolstered by the strong advocacy of Christian union within the movement.

 

The Civil War and The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

"The Unofficial Stance"

 

Many Disciples will tell you proudly that ours is the only Protestant denomination that did not split over the Civil War. However, the same controversies that split the other denominations troubled our denomination as well.

 

In the fifty years before the Civil war, the slave population in the south increased from just over 1 million to three and one half million. The nation was half slave and half free. In 1860, the Disciples had an estimated membership of 195,000 to 225,000. There were 829 congregations in the South and 1,241 in the North[13], but the denomination's presence was strongest in the Border States. 

 

While all the Disciples founders opposed slavery, they did not accept abolition as the solution to the problem.  Adhering to the strict Biblicism that characterized the movement at the time, they maintained that citizens should obey the laws of the land, including those that permitted slavery[14]. They cited Romans 13:1-2:  

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.  ² Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment". 

 

This, and other scriptural passages such as: Matt 10:24; Eph 6:15; Col 5:22; 1 Cor 7:23; and 1 Peter 2:18, enabled them, through their racism, to justify the slave system. 

 

Some leaders and members of the movement even owned slaves. To complicate their positions even further, in their determination to keep the movement from splitting over the slavery issue, they defined slave ownership as a matter of opinion rather than as a matter of faith.  They did not want one's stand on the issue of slavery to become a test of fellowship.  By the 1860s, emulation of first century Christianity and justice within the movement tragically took a back seat to capitalism and racism. Most of the rhetoric was framed as a stance to "support and maintain Christian unity" above all other values.

 

Many Disciples fought on both sides of the war. Because there was no structure above the level of the congregations with any authority, there was no structure from which congregations either had to split or choose to remain[15].  Each congregation made its own decision on the matter.  They did not have to split and there was not real way for them to do so. That is why the claim that we are the only Protestant denomination that did not split over the Civil War is a disingenuous claim.  One extra-congregational group, however, did back the Union and take a stand against slavery, the American Christian Missionary Society. This was a source of rifts within the denomination.

 

In true Disciples fashion, a multiplicity of voices and perspectives existed within the body on the issues of peace and justice at the time, but the values of congregationalism, individualism, and biblicism diluted any collective prophetic stance the denomination may have taken relative to issues of peace and justice, especially in opposition to the heinous institution of slavery and its incalculable and deleterious effects on Africans and African Americans.

 

Thus, by the start of the Civil War, the movement that came to be known as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) could no longer be characterized as a "peace church". Other denominations from the restoration movement: Anabaptists, Mennonites, Quakers, Brethren have remained "peace churches" throughout their history.

 

The Disciples Peace Fellowship

 

Even if the collective body may no longer be characterized as a "peace church", an impulse to work for peace has remained within the movement. Kirby Page, a Disciples minister who published The Sword or the Cross in 1921, he sent a questionnaire on the topics of war and peace to 100,000 Protestant ministers in 1935. Of the 935 Disciples who answered, 69% were pacifist in belief- the highest percentage among the ten largest denominations.[16] 

 

The Disciples Peace Fellowship was organized in 1935, at the San Antonio convention. In a 1936 poll with results from 310 churches in 35 states and the District of Columbia, with over 16,000 ballots received, over 3,000 absolutists made their pacifists beliefs clear.[17] The Disciples of Christ were the first religious body to pay all the financial charges incurred by the churches in support of the Civilian Public Service, the alternative service for pacifists in World War II. This absolute insistence on both congregational authority and autonomy and preference for "individual conscience in all matters of dispute" that pulled the movement from its earlier roots as a restoration church may still be clearly discerned from the 1965 covenant of the Disciples Peace Fellowship written 100 years later.

 

In the 1965, the covenant of the Disciples Peace Fellowship stated:

 

"We represent those who reject war as a method for settling international disputes. Each member works out the implications of this covenant according to [his] own conscience".[18]

 

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Resources

 

The current denominational and DPF organizational publications claim: "2005 marks the 70th anniversary of the Disciples Peace Fellowship (DPF), the oldest peace organization of its type in any denomination.  For 70 years, DPF has been keeping alive the passion for peace and justice.  Disciples Peace Fellowship is an independent organization affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  For 70 years, it has served as a leaven within the denomination and in the larger community, pressing for action toward the elimination of war, giving support to conscientious objectors and fostering the use of nonviolence in interpersonal and inter-group relations. The original covenant of DPF includes working to abolish war and to create the conditions of peace and justice among all people and nations. Disciples Peace Fellowship recognizes that to work for peace, we must work for justice. That work centers on both education and action.  DPF is an independent organization within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)"

 

Current Disciples Peace Fellowship (DPF) programs include:

 

Peace Interns
Each summer, DPF sends 5 Peace Interns to DOC church camps throughout the United States and Canada to teach and model peace for our youth.  The Peace Interns are young people who are trained in peace building.

 

News Notes
DPF publishes a quarterly newsletter to promote DPF.  News Notes provides information about issues of peace and justice along with updates/possibility for action. News Notes helps build a community of peacemakers within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and beyond. More than a dozen DPF chapters are in existence throughout the country.

 

 

General Assembly
Every two years, DPF sponsors events for peacemakers at the General Assembly of the Christian Church.  DPF sponsors a pre-assembly event with a workshop and worship service, maintains a booth in the exhibition hall, and holds a breakfast at which peacemaker award recipients are announced (one award is given to a lifetime peacemaker and one is given to a young peacemaker) and an inspirational message is provided by a peace activist. DPF also introduces resolutions on peace and justice issues at each assembly and conducts workshops that are open to all during the General Assembly.

 

Congregational Resources
DPF provides resources for congregations interesting in including peace and justice issues in their worship and Christian education programs. Disciples Peace Fellowship sponsors a variety of programs to promote peace with justice.

 

Sources Cited

DeGroot, A.T. Disciple Thought: A History. Fort Worth, TX: Texas Christian University, 1965.

 

Disciples Peace Fellowship WebSite: www.dpfweb.org

 

Garrison, Winfred Ernest and DeGroot, Alfred T.  The Disciples of Christ: A History. St. Louis, MO: Christian Board of Publication, 1948.

 

Harrell Jr., David Edwin. The Social Sources of Division in the Disciples of Christ, Volume II, 1865-1900.  Atlanta and Athens, GA: Publishing Systems, Inc., 1973.

 

McAllister, Lester G., Editor. An Alexander Campbell Reader. St. Louis, MO: Christian Board of Publication Press, 1988.

 

Williams, D. Newell. Barton Stone: A Spiritual Biography. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2000.