Anglican Pacifist Fellowship

The History of the APF

The Early Church Fathers

'Christ, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier.' Thus Tertullian (c.160-c.225), referring to John 18.11, expressed the orthodox belief of the earliest Christians that what we would call pacifism was the norm. It was not simply that Christians rejected the idolatry and emperor-worship of the imperial army. They believed the work of the army itself to be unacceptable. Men like Justin Martyr (c.100-c.165) and Irenaeus (c.130-200) spoke of Christians actually fulfilling the prophecies that swords would be turned into ploughshares. Cyprian (c.200-258) argued that 'God has willed that iron be used for tilling the earth, therefore he has forbidden its use for taking human life.' He even said that 'the hand that has held the Eucharist must not be stained with blood and the sword.' By the end of the third century, Christians were being killed for their refusal to kill. Thus Maximilian (martyred, 291): 'I cannot be a soldier. I cannot do evil. I am a Christian.' In one of the most celebrated conversions to the faith, Martin (316-397) left the army stating 'I am a soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight.'