Difference Between Agnostic and Atheist

The following article was obtained through the website, Difference Between Anything and Everything

The difference between agnostic and atheist is that agnostics are often classified as people who doubt the idea of God, but don’t claim to know whether or not God exists. Atheists, on the other hand, are people who believe that there is no God. Some people may say they are agnostic atheists, meaning they don’t think their beliefs can be classified as either atheist or agnostic.

The word “agnostic” derives from the term “ignorance”. The word is often misused to mean lack of knowledge, but in fact, means to not be able to know. An agnostic has no reason to believe whether there is a god or not. Agnostics are often considered atheistic by other people, but they are different.

Atheists are people who do not believe in God, while agnostics are unsure of whether or not there is a god. So, in this article, we’ll discuss the difference between agnostic and atheist briefly.

What is Agnostic?

Agnostic is a term that has been used to describe people who claim they are neither theist nor atheist. The term was first coined by Thomas Huxley in 1869. There are many variations of agnosticism, but some may believe in vague, unquantifiable concepts such as “the unknown” or “unknowable things”. As a religion, agnosticism is the belief that the nature of divine reality is unknowable.

Some may even believe in a higher power without assigning it to a specific god. Agnosticism can be contrasted with atheism, which holds that it is not possible to know the nature of divine reality. Both positions have their origins in classical philosophy and they are as old as classical antiquity.  

It has been suggested that people who hold these positions should be called ‘ignostic’ rather than ‘agnostic’. They’re people who can’t tell if there is a God or not. Being an agnostic, they don’t believe in the idea of God, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t believe in anything else.

What is Atheist?

Atheism is the absence of belief in the existence of gods. If someone doesn’t believe in any deities, they are considered an atheist. Atheists don’t know anything about supernatural forces and events because there is no evidence to back them up. Atheism is the disbelief in the existence of a deity.

The term was coined by author Paul Henri Thiry, Baron D’Holbach in the 18th century. Atheists are not defined by what they believe but by their lack of belief. You don’t have to believe that there is no god to be an atheist. They have fought hard to have their views taken seriously, but are still often seen as immoral, untrustworthy, or just plain weird.

They are often viewed as immoral, untrustworthy, or just plain weird. They’re often the target of prejudice and discrimination for holding beliefs that diverge from the norm. Yet atheists have also joined together to fight against religious bigotry and raise their profile in society by simply being open about their lack of belief.

Atheism is the lack of belief in any gods. It’s an independent system of thoughts that are not based on religious ideologies. Atheists believe that science and logic are more dependable than divine intervention.

Difference Between Atheist and Agnostic

The difference between agnostic and atheist is that the former claims to not know whether or not there is a God whereas the latter is firmly convinced there is no such thing. Both, however, are generally defined as someone who has either rejected belief in God or does not believe in him at all.

Agnostic and Atheist are two very different groups that are often misunderstood. The main difference between the two is that Agnostics still believe in some form of god, while Atheists do not. Agnostics are the more populous group, with estimates around 1.5 billion followers.

Atheists, on the other hand, have a small population of only around 200 million and also mainly reside in developed countries such as Europe and North America.

Both Agnostics and Atheists are people who disbelieve in the existence of a god or gods. Agnostics don’t know whether there is a god or not, whereas Atheists do not believe that any gods exist. There are many different theories as to why people dismiss the idea of a god, and one of them is cognitive dissonance. 

Every miracle performed by Jesus Christ

The following article was obtained through the website, Stars Insider.

There are numerous accounts of miracles performed by Jesus in the Bible. Many of them are indeed quite spectacular. Not only was Jesus able to heal people, but he also fed them and quenched their thirst. And even when things seemed to have ended for good, Jesus was able to bring people back from the dead. Jesus Christ was a prolific miracle worker. 

Turning water into wine

This is that one miracle that many of us wish we could replicate at times when we don’t want to make a trip to the convenience store in the middle of the night! The Gospel of John describes Jesus’ first miracle: turning water into wine at a wedding.

But how much water was turned into wine, exactly? John 2:1-11 tells us that it was six stone water jars; each containing 20 or 30 gallons (75-113 l). Needless to say, everyone was really impressed! Especially his disciples, who finally got proof of Jesus’ powers.

Healing the sick

Jesus healed a lot of people. There are plenty of examples in the Bible, including the time he healed the son of an official in Capernaum, who was dying. Or when he cured the mother-in-law of his disciple Simon Peter.

But Christ also went on to do some public healing. He actually healed crowds of people. All they had to do was to touch his robe, and voila!

A disease Jesus heals more than once in the Bible is leprosy. Not only was this condition more common back then, but it also represented those who were excluded from society.

Driving out evil spirits

Jesus, being the son of God, had to be good at getting rid of demons and evil spirits, right? Well, he sure was! On one occasion even the demon confessed that Jesus had control over him as Christ expelled him from a possessed man in Capernaum.

In Matthew 12:22-23, we find another example, this time of a possessed man who was blind and unable to speak, whom Jesus then healed.

And there was this one time when Jesus encountered a man possessed not by one, but by several demons, who called themselves the Legion. The demons were cast out and entered a herd of pigs. The pigs then “rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned.”

Allowing the paralyzed to walk

There was this one time when Jesus healed the servant of a centurion who was paralyzed in bed. This comes to show that Jesus healed both Jews and Gentiles.

Another example includes a group of men who came to Jesus with their paralytic friend lying on a mat. “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home,” said Jesus, according to Matthew 9:1-8. And the man walked again.

Healing the disabled

Luke 13:10-17 mentions an episode when Jesus healed a woman in a synagogue, who had been disabled for over 18 years. “Woman, you are free of your disability,” Christ said.

Allowing the blind to see

Healing the blind in the Bible has more to it than just giving people literal eyesight. There is also the spiritual connotation, of course. A good example would be Bartimaeus, a blind beggar who is healed by his faith.

Then in Matthew 9:27-31, Jesus proceeds to heal not one, but two blind men. Though again, it was their faith in Jesus that healed them. “Let it be done for you according to your faith!,” proclaimed the Messiah.

Jesus usually touched the eyes of the blind to heal them, but he also used another method, which is described in John 9:1-12: saliva. “He spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes.” That’s how Jesus healed this man who had been blind from birth.

Jesus keeps on healing

Throughout the Bible there are several accounts of Jesus engaging in numerous acts of healing. Another example included a man with a paralyzed hand whom Jesus healed on the Sabbath in a synagogue.

Jesus also tended to very specific conditions. A woman who had suffered from menstrual bleeding for 12 years was healed by her faith, as she touched Jesus’ robe.

There is also an account of Jesus healing “a man whose body was swollen with fluid.” As well as one where Jesus heals a man’s ear that was cut off by one of his disciples. The man came to arrest Jesus, so it was quite an act of compassion.

Raising the dead

Luke 7:11-17 tells of an episode when Jesus brought a young man back to life from his coffin during the funerary procession.

Then we have the story of how Jesus brought Lazarus back to life after he had been dead for four days. “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever,” said Jesus to Lazarus’ sister, Martha.

Lots of fish

Jesus used a miracle to recruit his first disciples: Simon Peter, James, and John. After a night without catching any fish, on Jesus’ command, they “caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear.” They quit fishing altogether and followed Jesus thereafter.

How do you prove to your disciples that you really are Jesus and were resurrected? By performing a similar miracle. How many fish did Jesus' disciples catch? 153 of them, according to John 21:4-11.

Money in a fish mouth

It looks like Jesus does have a thing with fish. When men came to collect the payment of tax from Peter, Jesus helped him out in typical Jesus fashion.

Jesus told Peter: “[...] go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin.” There. Problem solved.

Calming the storm

Of course, being the son of God also has its perks when it comes to controlling the elements. And this is exactly what happened during a storm at sea.

Jesus calmed a storm when his disciples came to him desperately asking for help aboard a boat. They were so amazed that they said, “What kind of man is this?—even the winds and the sea obey Him!”

Feeding people

You might be familiar with this miracle. There is an account of Jesus feeding a large crowd by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish.

How many people were fed exactly? “5,000 men, besides women and children,” according to Matthew 14:13-21. There was so much food that they had 12 baskets left over.

Walking on water

This popular miracle is mentioned in Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, and John 6:16-21. Jesus was walking on the water towards the boat where his apostles were, when Peter told the Messiah: “Command me to come to You on the water.”

Jesus told him to go ahead, but Peter got really scared of the wind. Jesus helped him then and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” The wind then stopped.

Cursing a fig tree

Jesus was hungry and approached a fig tree, but when he noticed that it had no fruit, he cursed the tree to never bear fruit again. Did Jesus get a little arrogant on this one or was there some sort of meaning behind Jesus’ action?

One hypothesis is that the tree represents Israel, and Jesus' frustration at its people's failure to follow God’s will. But again, it might have just been that Jesus got grumpy because he was hungry. Who knows?

Sources: (Grunge)

Why parts of Good Friday worship have been controversial

The following article was obtained through the website, The Conversation, and written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross

Churches around the world will be holding services for their three most important days during this Holy Week: Holy Thursday, sometimes called Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Easter commemorates Christ’s resurrection from the dead, the fundamental belief of Christianity. It is the earliest and most central of all Christian holidays, more ancient than Christmas.

As a scholar in medieval Christian liturgy, I know that historically the most controversial of these three holy days has been the worship service for Good Friday, which focuses on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Two parts of the contemporary Good Friday worship service could be misunderstood as implicitly anti-Semitic or racist. Both are derived from the medieval Good Friday liturgy that Catholics and some other Christian churches continue to use in a modified form today.

These are the solemn orations and the veneration of the cross.

Prayer and anti-Semitism

The solemn orations are formal prayers offered by the assembled local community for the wider church, for example, for the pope. These orations also include other prayers for members of different religions, and for other needs of the world.

One of these prayers is offered “for the Jewish people.”

For centuries, this prayer was worded in a way to imply an anti-Semitic meaning, referring to the Jews as “perfidis,” meaning “treacherous” or “unfaithful.”

However, the Catholic Church made important changes in the 20th century. In 1959, Pope John XXIII dropped the word “perfidis” entirely from the Latin prayer in the all-Latin Roman missal. This missal, an official liturgical book containing the readings and prayers for the celebration of Mass and Holy Week, is used by Catholics all over the world. However, when the next edition of the Latin Roman missal was published in 1962, the text of the prayer still mentioned the “conversion” of the Jews and referred to their “blindness.”

The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, a major meeting of all Catholic bishops worldwide held between 1962 and 1965, mandated the reform of Catholic life and practice in a number of ways. Open discussion with members of other Christian denominations, as well as other non-Christian religions, was encouraged, and a Vatican commission on Catholic interaction with Jews was established in the early 1970s.

Vatican II also called for a renewal of Catholic worship. The revised liturgy was to be celebrated not just in Latin, but also in local vernacular languages, including English. The first English Roman missal was published in 1974. Today, these post-Vatican religious rituals are known as the “ordinary form” of the Roman rite.

The completely reworded prayer text reflected the renewed understanding of the relationship between Catholics and Jews mandated by Vatican II and supported by decades of interreligious dialogue. For example, in 2015 the Vatican commission released a document clarifying the relationship between Catholicism and Judaism as one of “rich complementarity,” putting an end to organized efforts to convert Jews and strongly condemning anti-Semitism.

However, another important development took place in 2007. More than 40 years after Vatican II, Pope Benedict XVI allowed a wider use of the pre-Vatican II missal of 1962, known as the “extraordinary form.”

At first, this pre-Vatican II missal retained the potentially offensive wording of the prayer for the Jews.

The prayer was quickly reworded, but it does still ask that their hearts be “illuminated” to “recognize Jesus Christ.”

Although the extraordinary form is used only by small groups of traditionalist Catholics, the text of this prayer continues to trouble many.

In 2020, on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp at Auschwiz, Pope Francis repeated the vehement Catholic rejection of anti-Semitism. While the pope has not revoked the use of the extraordinary form, in 2020 he ordered a review of its use by surveying the Catholic bishops of the world.

The cross and what it symbolizes

© Jacopo Landi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The veneration of the cross is celebrated on Good Friday the Cathedral of San Giusto in Italy.

There has been similar sensitivity about another part of the Catholic Good Friday tradition: the ritual veneration of the cross.

The earliest evidence of a Good Friday procession by lay people to venerate the cross on Good Friday comes from fourth-century Jerusalem. Catholics would proceed one by one to venerate what was believed to be a piece of the actual wooden cross used to crucify Jesus, and honor it with a reverent touch or kiss.

So sacred was this cross fragment that it was heavily guarded by the clergy during the procession in case someone might try to bite off a sliver to keep for themselves, as was rumored to have happened during a past Good Friday service.

During the medieval period, this veneration rite, elaborated by additional prayers and chant, spread widely across Western Europe. Blessed by priests or bishops, ordinary wooden crosses or crucifixes depicting Christ nailed to the cross took the place of fragments of the “true cross” itself. Catholics venerated the cross on both Good Friday and other feast days.

In this part of the Good Friday liturgy, controversy centers around the physical symbol of the cross and the layers of meaning it has communicated in the past and today. Ultimately, to Catholics and other Christians, it represents Christ’s unselfish sacrificing of his life to save others, an example to be followed by Christians in different ways during their lives.

Historically, however, the cross has also been held up in Western Christianity as a rallying point for violence against groups that were deemed by the church and secular authorities to threaten the safety of Christians and the security of Christian societies.

From the late 11th through 13th centuries, soldiers would “take the cross” and join crusades against these real and perceived threats, whether these opponents were Western Christian heretics, Jewish communities, Muslim armies, or the Greek orthodox Byzantine Empire. Other religious wars in the 14th through 16th centuries continued in this “crusading” spirit.

From the 19th century on, Americans and other English speakers use the term “crusade” for any effort to promote a specific idea or movement, often one based on a moral ideal. Examples in the United States include the 19th-century antislavery abolitionist movement and the civil rights movement of the 20th century.

But today certain “ideals” have been rejected by the wider culture.

Contemporary alt-right groups use what has been called the “Deus vult” cross. The words “Deus vult” mean “God wills (it),” a rallying cry for medieval Christian armies seeking to take control of the Holy Land from Muslims. These groups today view themselves as modern crusaders fighting against Islam.

Some white supremacy groups use versions of the cross

as symbols of protest or provocation. The Celtic cross, a compact cross within a circle, is a common example. And a full-sized wooden cross was carried by at least one protester during the Capitol insurrection in January.

Prayers and symbols have the power to bind people together in a common purpose and identity. But without understanding their context, it is all too easy to manipulate them in support of dated or limited political and social agendas.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

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The four horsemen of the apocalypse are destroying planet Earth

The following article was obtained through the website, The Hill, and was written by David Shearman, opinion contributor - Mar 21, 2022

Climate change and loss of biodiversity are the terrible twins working together to threaten human existence. Unfortunately, their wicked problems are accompanied by two equally important drivers of calamity -population and economic growth. These four horsemen gallop in unison and must be considered together.

Climate change

After several decades characterized by misinformation and then prevarication on the veracity of climate change, governments are now acceding to the warnings from climate scientists and their learning experience from rapidly increasing extreme weather events. However, their actions remain insufficient to ensure future world temperatures allow civilization to exist. Indeed, we need to arrest greenhouse emissions within the next two decades.

The positives are that the science is secure, we can measure our success and failure by measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane, and we have the option of spending hundreds of billions of dollars to suck these gases out of the atmosphere if all else fails.

However, much climate change mitigation is based on technological fixes, some of which are problematic and many indeed create their own environmental harms.

Biodiversity and its ecological services

Climate change and biodiversity crises impact each other. Climate change is a significant cause of biodiversity loss, but even if climate change was contained today, the biodiversity crisis would still proceed, although more slowly, for its fundamental cause is the consumption of the natural environment for economic gain by a population too large for the world's finite natural resources.

The 2019 "Warning of a Climate Emergency," signed by over 11,000 scientists, identified continued increases in human population and the world's gross domestic product as causes of ecological decline.

The science to explain how the loss of biodiversity and their ecological services will end civilization is poorly understood. It is diffuse, complex and we have no one measure to assess demise or success. There are no dramatic examples such as storm, flood, fire and heat domes by which we experience the consequences.

Healthy ecosystems, interdependent webs of millions of living organisms and the physical environment they create, are vital to all life on Earth. They are our life support systems that provide clean air, freshwater, fertile soil for food as well as many other resources and medicines. We are part of this web of life but now plunder it beyond repair.

As recognized by scientists from Australia and the U.S., the scale of the threats to all these forms of life - including humanity - is in fact so great that it is difficult to grasp even by well-informed scientists. Awareness by public government and industry is weak which explains the universal presence of ineffective environmental protection and laws.

Some outcomes will relate to failure of agriculture with hunger, starvation and conflict. In the Dust Bowl disaster in the early 1930s, prolonged drought led to the loss of 1.2 billion tons of soil across the Great Plains and there were thousands of refugees as depicted in John Steinbeck's 1939 novel "The Grapes of Wrath."

With an average rainfall of less than 500 mm, stock grazing had been replaced by wheat production and soil stability conferred by native grasses was lost. As with climate change, the deniers will say such episodes have always occurred and dismiss the increasing prevalence of similar disasters which are now occurring around the world.

There are a few hopeful developments that indicate increasing awareness by governments.

Long overdue collaboration will now occur between the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Natural capital accounting is underway in 90 countries under the UN SEEA system but both the U.S. and Australia have not yet made progress, as detailed in The Hill.

An international Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) launched last month will develop a framework for corporations and financial institutions to report on nature-related physical and transition risks.

Population growth

Philip Cafaro, professor of philosophy of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University, notes many studies show that limiting population growth is among the cheapest, most effective means to limit and help societies adapt to climate change. Yet, population growth is taboo in the current debate. One of the main reasons lies with human rights concerns; this needs to be balanced by the right for humanity's continued existence and indeed many other species some of which we depend upon.

Cafaro also notes that the IPCC's 2014 report states that, "Globally, economic and population growth continue to be the most important drivers of increases in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion." This was reiterated by one of the Working Groups from the 2021 IPCC report, yet it was absent from the 3,676-page final report.

As detailed in The Hill, American couples are having fewer children than in the past but specific population policy is largely absent and population increases intermittently by immigration. By contrast, Australia is encouraging population growth. When introducing the "baby bonus" scheme in 2002, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello promoted the scheme with the encouragement to "have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country." This philosophy still exists in our huge country despite our rapidly deteriorating environment with increasing impacts of climate change.

Nevertheless, rational views based on science are being advanced in Australia, for example, the discussion paper "Population and Climate Change."

The consumer economy

The fourth most terrifying horseman is the obsession with economic growth which fails to acknowledge that our planet and its biological resources are finite. The leaders and representatives of nations at the UN climate summit COP26 together with a huge contingent from the fossil fuel industries were set in their ideology of growth, progress and prosperity. They cannot conceive of economic reform toward an economy to curb consumerism and consequently it was not addressed in the 2021 IPCC report.

Humanity urgently needs and integrated Intergovernmental Panel report- the IPCBPE report

Unfortunately, a fifth horseman of the apocalypse has now arrived from the Russian steppes, but we must not allow war to distract us from our urgent mission to stop the advance of Four.

Nostradamus and Baba Vanga's Terrifying Predictions for 2022

The following article was obtained through Showbizz Daily via MSN.com

Predictions by the French prophet Nostradamus

Did you know that the French astrologer Nostradamus predicted a European war with many refugees, attacks on a city, and the fall of the European Union? 

People who studied and interpreted his writings believe that these predictions apply to 2022.

An astrologer of the 16th century

Nostradamus lived from 1503 to 1566 and wrote approximately 6,338 prophecies. He even claimed to know how and when the world would come to an end! Of course, his writings were rarely specific, which makes them open to a lot of different interpretations. Critics even say that people can read into his words whatever they want to read.

Nostradamus predicted war in Europe

The following interpretations of his prophecies for 2022 were circulated at the beginning of the year - before anything was known about the Russian attack on Ukraine. Read on to see what Nostradamus predicted according to his interpreters.

Attack on a European city

People interpreting his prophecies wrote in late December 2021 that Nostradamus had made statements about a possible siege of Paris in 2022. This would indicate a war in Europe.

Famine

Nostradamus also predicted that wars and armed conflicts in the world would be an amplifier of hunger, which would increase migration.

Refugees

Some of his interpreters claim that Nostradamus predicted the arrival of many more refugees by 2022. They say he calculated that, this year, seven times as many migrants would reach Europe's borders as in the previous year.

The collapse of the European Union

One of the points in his prophecies would be Nostradamus' prediction of the fall of the European Union.

Death of a dictator

According to some prophecy interpreters, Nostradamus predicted the death of a dictator. They think he was referring to North Korea's Kim-Jong Un.

Earthquake in Japan

Another prediction is that a major earthquake will hit Japan in 2022.

'Successful predictions' from the past

Nostradamus correctly predicted certain historical events in the past - at least, it would seem that way by some interpretations of his words.

Terrifying predictions

He allegedly foresaw the Great Fire of London, Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the horrors of World War II, the French Revolution and even the creation of the atomic bomb.

Predictions by the Bulgarian Mystic Baba Vanga

Nostradamus is the most famous but not the only seer who has many followers. 

Vangelia Gushterov, better known as Baba Vanga or "the Nostradamus of the Balkans," was a Bulgarian healer who lived from 1911 to 1996.

She shared visions of the future as far ahead as the year 5079.

Warned of several disasters

Baba Vanga's fame was mainly confined to Eastern Europe, but over time, her predictions of important historical events have gone around the world. Among her best-known (alleged) predictions are: the 11 September 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York; the Chernobyl nuclear accident; the death of Princess Diana; the 2004 tsunami in Asia; and the UK's exit from the European Union.

Volcanoes and floods

For 2021, Baba Vanga predicted significant seismic and volcanic activity, as well as floods and storms. According to international media, the seer was 85% accurate in her predictions.

For 2022: a new pandemic... from Siberia!

For the year 2022, the situation, according to Baba, is not very encouraging. Among the prophetess's forecasted events is a new pandemic, this time discovered by scientists in Siberia.

Water shortages

Her visions also include a serious water crisis, with drinking water shortages in several cities around the world.

Tsunami

The prophet also predicted that river pollution would increase and a tsunami would devastate Asia and Australia.

New technology

For her, people will spend more time glued to the screens of mobile devices and computers, confusing reality and the virtual world. That is already almost the case so what developments in technology will drag users in further?

A terrifying prediction about Russia

In the days following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, texts from Baba Vanga circulated that had allegedly predicted this aggression. According to several international news media outlets, the seer allegedly said that "Russia would rule the world" and that "no one can stop Russia."

Aliens too?

Among the list of more exotic premonitions, Baba Vanga even foresaw an alien invasion. According to her, an asteroid sent by aliens will attack planet Earth in 2027.

But can these predictions really be trusted?

Of course, we are unable to ask Baba Vanga and Nostradamus whether their ambiguous texts were actually pointing towards these concrete events. The prophecies will always remain a point of interpretation and discussion.

What does the Bible say about war?

The following article was obtained through the website, Stars Insider

What does the Bible say about war?

War has been present in our lives ever since the dawn of time. From the resolution of conflicts to territorial, religious, and political reasons, humankind has resorted to the use of force on innumerable occasions. But what does the Bible say about it? Did Jesus bring a new perspective to God's message in the Old Testament? Is war ever just?

The first war

The first war, according to the Bible, was conducted in heaven. It was the war between good and evil; Satan and God. And it’s not until we get to the Book of Revelation that it’s mentioned.

Revelation 12:7-9 reads: “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

Value of life

The Bible places great value on human life. After all, we were created in God’s image. This is stated in Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. [...]'”

Life is precious

There are other instances in the Bible that highlight the importance of human life and how sinful it is to end it. One of them is in Exodus 21:12. “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.”

Time for war

But there is a time for everything, and war is no exception. Ecclesiastes 3:8 states that there is, “A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Can God intervene in war?

According to Isaiah 2:4, it does seem like indeed he can. The passage reads: “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

War in the Old Testament

There are numerous, and quite detailed, accounts of war in the Old Testament. The root of the problem seems to be common to all of them: sin. War is the result of sin in the world. This holy war is led by God Himself. God is the instigator and the leader of war in the Old Testament.

Ark of the Covenant

The famous Ark of the Covenant (which contains the tablets of the Ten Commandments) was actually taken into battle as a sort of lucky charm. 1 Samuel 4:3 reads: “When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, 'Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.'"

Weapon of war

There’s an example of how God used war in Jeremiah 51:20-21. “The Lord says, Babylonia, you are my hammer, my weapon of war. I used you to crush nations and kingdoms, 21 to shatter horses and riders, to shatter chariots and their drivers.”

Warriors find solace in God

Deuteronomy 20:1-4 can be quite motivational for those on the battlefield. It reads: “When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.”

Motivation

It continues: “When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: 'Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.'"

War in the New Testament

There are fewer accounts of war in the New Testament. After all, Jesus was a man of peace who avoided retaliation.

God gives powers to government authorities to enforce (His) laws

Romans 13:1-5 talks about submitting to governing authorities (who are ultimately responsible for war), and the need to obey the law.

Submitting to governing authorities  

Romans 13:1-3 reads: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”  

Love your enemies

Matthew 5:38-45 gives us a new perspective on the God of the Old Testament when it comes to war. "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." It continues: “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

Be at peace

Paul the Apostle also spread a similar message: “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men,” (Romans 12:17).

Overcome evil with good

He continues: “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. 'But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

War is inevitable

It's always happened and it always will. Jesus Himself spoke about it. Matthew 24:6 reads" “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

Prophecy?

One could interpret this as a prophecy, but the truth is that wars have been happening since the dawn of time, and the consequences are often disastrous. Matthew 24:7 reads, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

Pacifism

When Jesus was arrested, one of his followers wanted to defend him with a sword, but Jesus said, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword," (Matthew 26:52-53). Christian pacifists also base their stance on the belief that the kingdom of God is not on Earth, as per John 18:36, which reads, “Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.'"

Holy war

Paul the Apostle makes a reference to a holy war between good and evil in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

Just war theory

The just war theory is a philosophy that emerged many years ago. Its principles can be traced back to classical Greek and Roman philosophers, but Christian theologians such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas expanded on it.

“Just” doesn’t mean “good.” The whole idea still condemns war, but addresses it from a "lesser evil" standpoint. The theory tries to reconcile the ideas that killing people is bad, but that sometimes the use of force is inevitable. It provides guidelines on how to conduct war in a more just way.

Sources: (Christian Bible Reference Site) (BBC) (Bible Resources) (Bible Reasons)