OT GBH in Context
or Life in a Trinitarian Universe
Doug Jones writes:
In a Trinitarian world, violence doesn’t truly resolve things. Even in Old Covenant immaturity (Gal. 3:24) where violence seems to have a larger place than in the New, we find the Lord repeatedly denouncing violence: “The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates” (Ps. 11:5); “Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (Eccl. 9:18). “Violence covers them like a garment” (Ps. 73:6). “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked” (Prov. 10:11). “But God said to me [David], ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood’” (1 Chron. 28:3).
Then, of course, when redemptive history rises into its maturity, Christ presents a new world where violence loses its glamour. It’s interesting that we find the greater presumption against violence at that point in history where the Son and the Spirit reveal themselves in the fullness of Trinitarian life. “‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight’” (John 18:36). “But I tell you not to resist an evil person” (Matt. 5:39). “He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52). “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you” (Matt. 20:25). “Do not return evil for evil” (Rom. 12:17; 1 Pet. 3:9; 1 Thess. 5:15). “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty” (2 Cor. 10:3–4).
That’s life in a Trinitarian universe. The greater the revelation of Trinitarian life, the further we move from violence. That’s not pacifism, since pacifism is absolutistic and has no sense of development. In a very important sense, God is the king of violence, and He reserves violence for Himself, largely forbidding it to the people of His new kingdom (Rom. 12:19).
…Violent solutions don’t really work or last in a Trinitarian universe. We get a great picture of this in Tolkien’s work, a work rich in character. There, violence plays a part, but in the end, violence is failing and the good are being overwhelmed in their desperate attempt at violence. What really counts is the triumph of divine weakness. Violence distracts the enemy from the mountain, where a hobbit finally drops the ring into the mountain furnace. That’s how a Christian universe operates. “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
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