Though I am definitely on the same page with the "libertarian/anarcho-" side of their perspective, I do think any true revolution done with their mindset is bound to return to coercive oppression over time (I can elaborate later, but in the mean time read here for tinifni's analysis of anarcho-capitalism vs. anarcho-syndicalism). Nevertheless, I think much can be learned from our fellow followers of Jesus on the anarchist left.
This article fills in some of the detail gaps in my analysis of Romans 13.
The early Christians were pacifists.¹ It was only in the second century did Christians become or remain soldiers. John Cadoux’s explanation for the Christian transition into militarism is of a slippery slope in moral ethics due to economic and political pressure. A major sociological shift had occurred after the second century to even allow Christian soldiers in the Roman military. Rome needed armies, so for the first time in Roman history, individuals who enrolled in the legions were granted citizenship. The Roman Empire had a unique characteristic of bestowing citizenship upon trusted groups of people who shared its ideology rather then its culture. Within Rome, citizens did not pay land taxes until the third century and could move upwards socially and politically. Being a citizen meant the opportunity to be a professional solider and gain power and wealth with the inevitable victories of the Roman army. The pull factor was combined with pushing pressure from Roman society to defend the empire.
At first, this militarization was opposed by important early church writers like Tertullian and Origen (and by general practice) but it was not codified into official Church doctrine by the bishop in Rome. A young Numidian Christian, Maximilianus did not accept conscription in 295 CE and said “I cannot serve as a solider, I cannot do evil; I am Christian”. Despite witnesses like Maximilianus, the door remained open for Constantine’s transformation in the fourth century.
In the Severan period, Christians had gained their first adherents in the Roman upper classes and when the second Great Persecution came in 253-260 CE, their property was being seized.² Constantine must have seen the advantage from the support of these new Christian military and cultural elites who perhaps feared persecution. This alliance was essential to Constantine’s rise to power in a pagan society.
The use of violence by Constantine and so-called Christian sovereigns came with the establishment of Christendom–which is a hegemony of history, theology and empire. For instance, at the time of the Reformation, the Catholic Church claimed the historical succession of apostles as its authority to be the body of Christ and also claimed a right to depose rulers. It was for Christendom that Luther was more than willing to use violence to reform the entire Catholic Church. Christendom is why Catholics and Protestants went to war with each other and why both made martyrs of the Anabaptists. Because each claimed authority over Christendom’s temporal and spiritual unity, the Reformation and counter-Reformation was fought for the entirety of Western history and its salvation.Read the rest of the article here.
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