CHRISTIANITY AND WAR 153 



Be noble ! And the nobleness that lies 

 In other men, sleeping but never dead 

 Will rise in majesty to meet thine own. 



Now I have spent a great deal of valuable time in 

 the endeavour to show you that War is not only unlawful, 

 but also inexpedient and unnecessary. This I have done 

 because, when arguing with my fellow Christians, I 

 have always found that they love most to dwell on 

 arguments of expediency. Some will candidly admit 

 that War and Christianity cannot possibly be reconciled. 

 Of course they cannot. But, they add, with strange 

 inconsistency, ** the teaching of Jesus is absolutely 

 impracticable at the present time.'* Their position has 

 been well expressed in the couplet : 



But loving all men, clearly is deferred 

 Till all men love each other. 



But such was not the position of the early Christians, 

 who, as we have already seen, willingly sacrificed all 

 that they had, and life itself, for the peace principles of 

 their Master. And are we, who live in the twentieth 

 century, going to make expediency the measure of our 

 loyalty to Christ ? 



We read in the third chapter of the Book of Daniel, 

 that when King Nebuchadnezzar threatened Shadrach, 

 Meshach, and Abednego with the raging fiery furnace 

 if they refused to bow down and worship the golden 

 image which he had set up, their answer was that they 

 had faith to believe that their God, Jehovah, could and 

 would deliver them : ** but,'' they added, ** if not, be 

 it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy 

 gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast 

 set up.*' 



That is to say, even if Jehovah proved less strong 

 than the gods of the Babylonians, or if He proved un- 

 willing or unable to do that which they expected of Him, 

 come weal or woe, they would be loyal to Jehovah. 



