Christians should be allowed to kill depending on the case at hand. Though Christians through the Bible in Hebrews 12:14 are encouraged to pursue peace (The Bible 835), love one another in John 13:34-35 (The Bible 749), be compassionate in Matthew 9:36 (The Bible 675), and forgive others when wronged in Proverbs 20:22 (The Bible 455), there are cases that call for all the above attributes to be abandoned. The 6th commandment has been used to pin Christians down, but as Peters put it, “what is prohibited here is deliberate unauthorized murder, not legitimate self-defense” (Peters 1).
Christians living in this contemporary world face violence. When a family gets to the point of danger, the family members have to defend the family. A good example is when a Christian witnesses thieves breaking into his or her house. If the thief is armed and anticipates doing things like raping and killing of family members thus psychological torture to children may happen, the person is justified to kill, before or in the cause of the action.
This will be in protection of any damage that could be caused. Exodus 22:2- 3 gives a Christian a go-ahead to hold weapons and kill when attacked. It says, “If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; but if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed” (The Bible 55) note the phrase ‘after sunrise’.
War is never a good thing, but sometimes it is a necessary thing. In a world filled with sinful people, war is inevitable. Sometimes the only way to keep sinful people from doing great harm to the innocent is by going to war (Questions 1). Army officers, weather Christians or not, find it inevitable to kill in the course of duty; just like the children of Israel could go to war and kill their enemies was their way out.
At times God instructed them to kill everything, including animals like in King Saul’s case in 1 Samuel 15 (The Bible 117). It is mentioned severally in the Bible about the story of the Israelites going to war against their enemies, and God gave them victory over their enemies. First, they had to be taught the art of war as recorded in Judges 3:2 (The Bible 168); they had to be taught the “use of arms that they might always be able to defend themselves against foes” (Biblos 1). Victory in this case could mean that, they managed to kill so many of their opponents, which caused them to flee and leave the Israelites celebrating in victory.
In Romans 13:1-7, a Christian may also be involved in killing for His Government:
The civil government is ordained of God and Christians must be subject to it and support its conscience sake. God’s ordained purpose of the divinely approved institution of civil government is to bear the sword, punish evil-doers, and praise the righteous. (Vance 1)
There are other situations when somebody’s life needs to be saved, like when the life of a pregnant mother is in danger the option could save the child or the mother. Though abortion is termed as killing, it is justified when saving the life of the mother. All the above are some of the reasons why a Christian might be willing to kill other human beings.
Works Cited
Biblos. “Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible.” The Bible, 2011.
Peters, Dan. “Should Christians Have Guns? The Biblical Basis for the Second Amendment” Guest editorial The Biblical Evangelist 29.3(1998): 1, 14-16. Print.
Questions. “What does the Bible say about war?” Got Question, 2011.
Vance, Laurence. “Can a Christian Kill for His Government?”LewRockwell, 2011.