I am currently in a discussion (on another message board) with a self-described Christian pacifist. He takes the Yoder/Hauerwas approach.

My current line of response is:

P1: In Romans 13 the civil magistrate is given divine backing (we can talk about instances where civil disobedience would be justifiable later).

P2: The civil magistrate is given the use of the sword.

C1:Therefore, the sword has divine backing (properly applied)

From that I would argue that violence is legitimate. Of course I can throw the usual theonomic bombs, but I am not in "shock mode" at the moment. If anyone is interested for the link, PM me since I don't want to turn this into a "board war."

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J. B. Atken
John Knox PCA
Layman, M.A. student at Louisiana College