He commanded [his followers] … not only not to strike others, but even, when they themselves are struck, to present the other cheek…. [He commanded them] not only not to injure their neighbors, nor to do them any evil, but also, when they are dealt with wickedly, to be long-suffering. (1.408)
The new covenant that brings back peace and the law that gives life have gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said: "For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and he will rebuke many people; and they will break down their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and they will no longer learn to fight." ... These people [i.e., Christians] formed their swords and war-lances into plowshares, ... that is, into instruments used for peaceful purposes. So now, they are unaccustomed to fighting. When they are struck, the offer also the other cheek. (1.512)
Now AD180, Irenaeus stands in continuity with Justin who saw the church age as the fulfillment of the Isaianic prophecy. Moreover, Ireneaus displays that the early church took the mandate of Jesus to “offer also the other cheek” as more than a proscription against interpersonal retaliation but as a proscription against participation in war as well, for here the two are held in tandem.
Labels: Early Christians, Nonviolence, Pacifism
1 Comments:
I wonder how long the early church understood the "turn the other cheek" command as a transforming initiative of creative nonviolent resistance to evil. As they got further away from the original cultural context, this would be lost and replaced with nonresistance/doormat interpretations. But I wonder when that transition began.
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