Nonviolence

Definition and Meaning

Nonviolence is the position that seeks to resist evil without using force that harms another person's body or life. In Christianity the term overlaps with pacifism, which rejects even war and military service. Unlike nonresistance, which simply accepts injustice, nonviolence can also denote active resistance by nonviolent means. The opposing position is just war theory, which permits the state's use of armed force under certain conditions.

Biblical and Historical Background

Advocates of nonviolence cite the following passages:

• "Resist not evil" in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-42) and the teaching on love of enemies (Matthew 5:44)
• The exhortation not to avenge oneself (Romans 12:17-21)
• The scene on the night of Jesus' arrest: when Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant, Jesus told him to put away his sword, saying, "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matthew 26:52; John 18:10-11).

Proponents of just war theory point to Romans 13:4, which states that the governing authority bears the sword to punish evil. They also cite the passage in which John the Baptist did not tell soldiers to abandon their profession (Luke 3:14).

In the early church, some Church Fathers took a negative view of military service. After the Roman Empire officially recognized Christianity, just war theory, developed through Augustine and others, became the dominant position. During the Reformation, the Anabaptists rejected the use of the sword, and this tradition was carried on by the Mennonites, the Quakers, and others. The mainstream Reformers did not accept this position. Article 16 of the Augsburg Confession and Chapter 23 of the Westminster Confession of Faith affirm just war and military service by Christians. In the twentieth century, the Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. led the nonviolent civil rights movement.

Practice in the Korean Church

The Korean church has a history of nonviolent resistance. The March First Movement took the form of nonviolent demonstrations in which crowds shouted "Manse!" for independence, and 16 of the 33 national representatives who signed the Declaration of Independence were Christians. Ham Sok-hon, who took part in Quaker meetings, consistently advocated nonviolence and peace.

Amid national division and under a system of conscription, most denominations, including Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel churches, regard military service as compatible with the Christian faith. These denominations have appointed military chaplains and have been active in military evangelism. Pacifism has been introduced mainly through small Mennonite-affiliated congregations that carry on the Anabaptist tradition and through some theologians.

Conscientious objection to military service has been treated primarily as an issue concerning Jehovah's Witnesses.

• In 2018 the Constitutional Court ruled that a provision of the Military Service Act that failed to provide for alternative service was incompatible with the Constitution.
• In the same year the Supreme Court ruled that genuine conscientious objection constitutes a "justifiable reason" exempting the objector from criminal punishment.
• An alternative service system has been in effect since 2020.

During these developments, Protestants were also divided over the introduction of the system. Meanwhile, the National Council of Churches in Korea has emphasized peace as a task of the church, as in its 1988 "Declaration of the Churches of Korea on National Reunification and Peace."