However, we also answer these questions: Did the early Christians pick up swords to stop the persecution and control nonconformists? Or did they teach that the state should lay down its swords to have peace, kind of like “defund the police” in the first century? Can Christians join the police force or military?
To answer that question, we must separate the Kingdom of God from the Kingdom of Caesar. Part One in a four-part series.
To answer that question, we look at four episodes in the Gospels: John the Baptist and some soldiers; Jesus and a centurion; an apparent command to use a sword against a disciple’s family; and two swords during Jesus’ arrest.
Did they pick up swords to stop the persecution and control nonconformists? Or did they teach that the state should lay down its swords to have peace, kind of like “defund the police” in the first century?
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 