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What Are The Biblical Standards
To Wage A War On Terrorism?

By Glenn Davis

What is the Biblical response to terrorism? Let's begin by understanding what we mean by terrorism.  Terrorism is the deliberate use of violence or the threat of violence against civilians to force change. Often the goal is a change of government or religion in favour of the terrorists.  The modern use of this violence is not directly mentioned in the Bible, but the Word of God deals with every subject and lays down the Godly principles which must be followed. 

What are the Biblical standards in response to terrorism?

Acts of terrorism have been called a "War" against whatever the terrorism was targeted at. To begin, we need to look at this a little more closely. Calling it a war offers the terrorists the dignity of being called soldiers. A title they do not deserve. What we have here is not a declaration of war, but acts of cold-blooded murder. [We have written on the principles of a Just War elsewhere.]  Mass murder on a giant scale, but murder nevertheless. If it were an act of war, the target would be primarily military. To target civilians is murder. So, it is to the Biblical principles concerning murder that we must turn.

Government Responsibility

It is the civil government's responsibility to enforce God's Law in criminal cases [see Is Biblical Law Valid Today? ]. The response to acts of terrorism must come from the governmental level.

"For he [rulers in authority] is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." [Rom. 13:4, NKJV]

For individuals to strike back independently would be an unlawful vigilante action, although civilians can arm themselves and take necessary actions for self-defence. For individuals to usurp governmental responsibility to hunt down terrorists leads to lynch mobs and more innocent people being killed. Individuals must, of course, support the civil government in all legitimate responses to terrorism. What some of those responses are, we will consider later.

Before we come to that, however, we must consider two Biblical prerequisites in dealing with terrorism. We must have these two areas straight before we consider a Biblical response. After all, if we respond in the wrong way or from the wrong motives, then we ourselves are also guilty of murder and not justice. The right action must be taken, and it must be taken with the right motives and attitudes.

Clean Heart

The first thing we must do is to have a clean heart. Forgiveness is a necessary prerequisite. A lot of misunderstanding surrounds forgiveness.

Let's quickly clear up some common misconceptions:

1. Forgiveness does not downplay the guilt or the responsibility for the offence. The very fact that forgiveness is needed reveals that an offence has occurred and needs to be dealt with.

2. Forgiveness does not mean that we forgo justice. We can forgive, but we should still, at least in criminal cases, pursue justice. In fact, only with forgiveness can we pursue Godly justice with minds unclouded by bitterness, anger, and hate. Criminals, including terrorists and their accomplices, must be required to be accountable for their actions and pay the just price as defined in the Bible.

3. Forgiveness does not mean that we forget. The memory of what has happened with the acts of terrorism and how our lives and the lives of others have been changed will be with us forever. The memory is painful and may be so for a long time. That is natural. With forgiveness, over time, the memory will lose its pain. Forgiveness cleanses the wound, allowing it to heal. If we allow the wound to become infected with bitterness, resentment, anger, or hate,  then it will fester, and we will poison ourselves! If we do that, we have only further harmed ourselves and done nothing to the terrorists [except maybe give them pleasure in the additional harm we have done to ourselves].

In forgiving, we are releasing the terrorists into the hands of God. While we should pursue all legitimate means of bringing them to justice now, we recognize that ultimately it is God [Who alone knows all the facts and motives] Who will judge and render a just and suitable verdict. He will have the final word in time and eternity. We must trust Him to do what is right and just whether we understand it or not. [Ps. 7:8-17; 9:7-8, 15-16; Ps. 10; Acts 10:42; 1 Peter 4:5]

As we pursue justice, are we doing it with a clean heart? Are our own motives pure and clean? Are we interested in justice, or is all we want revenge? Are we reacting because God's order had been violated and people's lives taken and damaged, or are we reacting out of fear, wounded pride, political advantage, or other motives? Each individual and nation must search its own soul and answer these questions. All revenge can offer is a blood feud of murder, bitterness, and hate. Without a clean heart, we are not pursuing justice regardless of our response.

Clean Hands

The second prerequisite is that we must have clean hands. [Ps. 1:6] In other words, in order to pursue justice against someone else, we must be innocent of the same crime. This is an underlying principle of Biblical law, but Jesus stated it specifically in relation to the woman taken in adultery [John 8:1-11]. Jesus said to the men accusing the woman, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." [Vs. 7, NKJV] My understanding is that in the Greek, the person who is innocent of this specific sin [not sin in general] is the one to accuse. The fact that the accusers all turned and left was an admission that each one of them was also guilty of adultery specifically. So a thief cannot complain if his goods are stolen, an adulterer cannot whine if his spouse commits adultery, a deceiver should not cry if he is scammed, etc. [Also see Ps. 7:3-5] This does not justify the sin in these cases but, to pursue justice, the accuser must be innocent of the crime he is trying to place on someone else.

How does this apply in our case of terrorism? It is the civil government's responsibility to pursue justice according to God's Word.  In order to pursue justice against acts of terrorism with clean hands, our government leaders must consider the following areas of "clean hands," and we must hold them accountable:

Area One: Are we ourselves innocent of terrorist attacks? Did people within our own governments know in advance what was going to happen? Are our own hands innocent in these specific acts of terrorism? We need to approach this with an open mind to find the truth, no matter how painful it may be. We have to control our emotions and consider all the facts.  Sometimes governments have advance knowledge of attacks and do nothing for political reasons.

Area Two: Have we ever contributed to or initiated acts of terrorism in other countries? Have we ever financed, approved, or helped others commit acts of terrorism? There is nothing wrong with helping people fight against oppressors, but if these "freedom fighters" themselves resort to murder, terrorism, rape, torture, etc and we continue to support them after we have discovered these facts, then we ourselves are guilty by association. We are accomplices after the fact to each dark deed. If we have continued to support them, then we have confessed that we approve of their methods. Are our hands clean?

Area Three: Terrorism resulting in death is an act of murder. The Biblical punishment for murder is death [Gen. 9:5-6; Nu. 35:30-33] [see Is Capital Punishment Biblical?]. A person who murders one person is as much a murderer as a person who murders thousands. We cannot pursue justice outside our country if we fail to pursue justice within our country. Are murderers within our borders given capital punishment? Is the murderer who robs a family of its father, or mother, or children put to death? Is each innocent life taken atoned for? In the United States, very few murderers are sentenced to death. In Canada, to our shame, none are. Other countries may vary. Are our hands clean from the innocent bloodshed within our own borders by our own citizens? 

Also within Area Three, we must consider how many unborn children are murdered every year. Their blood stains our lands. Their silent cry for justice, for the most part, goes unheard, at least by governments. Some murderers are nice and polite and wear doctor's masks. While we condemn the terrorists, do we allow other murderers to walk our streets with no or only minor consequences for their life-robbing actions? Are our hands clean? As stated above, these are issues which require government-level action, not vigilante action. However, if we, as individuals, do not hold our governments accountable, then we are approving of these actions and share in their guilt. Are our hands clean?

Response One

If our hearts and hands are clean, what is the Biblical response to terrorism?

It is our duty and responsibility as a nation and as individuals to do everything in our power to bring the criminals to justice. This, of course, includes not only the actual people who committed the murders, but also anyone who knowingly assisted them or who had foreknowledge and refused to warn the intended victims [Deut. 19:15-21]. While this doesn't necessitate war, it may include it if nations harbour criminals [This doesn't put the Canadian government in a very good light since they have refused to return suspected murderers to countries in which they may face the death penalty]. We must remember that the moral principle at stake is the same whether one person has been murdered or thousands have been murdered. The quantity of victims changes the degree, but not the foundational principles.

When captured, the suspected terrorists must stand trial fairly for their acts of terrorism. They cannot just be assumed guilty, nor can a government simply declare them guilty. They must be proven guilty in a court of law. Sometimes it may be hard to get the suspects an unprejudiced trial, but when they are apprehended, it must be sought out. The trial must be public [and if convicted, so must the executions]. [Nu. 35:30-33; Deut. 17:6, 19:15]

We must be very careful not to hurt innocent people or nations in our quest for justice. We must be very cautious not to allow our remaining freedoms to be stripped from us by laws preying on a fear of terrorism or a desire for revenge. We must be watchful and wise.

Response Two

If our hearts or hands are not clean, then there is a preliminary step which must be taken. There is no justification for a terrorist attack, and the actions of terrorists deserve the full penalty of the law, but if we are not innocent ourselves or if our motives are wrong, then we need to repent. We must be clean ourselves before we can judge the crime of another. Repentance may include tears and prayer, but it must not stop there. If it is genuine repentance, then there will be a change in our hearts and in our nations. This change will evidence itself in our laws. Every country is at heart religious, and laws are simply where the country's religion gets practical [for more information,  take the free e-mail course, Master Life]. Ungodly laws will be repealed, innocent victims will be protected, and their tormentors given the appropriate Biblical penalties. The Word of God will indeed become the highest law of the land. Freedom will be enhanced, and civil government downsized to the degree allowed under Biblical law. Governments will realize that they do not have the authority to make law, only to apply the Divine Law to specific situations. [Deut. 17:14-20; Is. 33:22] If we are going to have repentance, let's have the real thing.

After we have begun to put our own house in order, we will be able to pursue justice against terrorists and those who harbour and support them. We will be able to move into response one with a clear conscience. If we have unclean hearts or hands and we are unwilling to change, then we are only becoming ourselves what we profess to hate. Our self-deception will not deceive anyone but ourselves.  We will stand condemned before the Judgment Seat of Christ in the same light as the terrorist we profess to oppose.

Every citizen and every nation should examine their own hearts. Only God knows the complete truth in each case, but we will still be accountable for our actions or lack thereof.

The greatest danger is for us to live in fear and allow our governments to deprive us of our freedom in the guise of protecting us. When we wake up in a police state, then the terrorists will really have won.

For those of you who may fear that terrorism is a sign of World War III or the Antichrist or the last days or the New World Order or whatever, I suggest you read the reports under Bible Prophecy.

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