"Do you trust Jesus or the locks on the doors of your house?
Do you trust Jesus or the seatbelts in your vehicle? Or its brakes?
Do you trust Jesus or your insurance?
Do you trust Jesus or your savings and income?
Do you trust Jesus or your doctor?
Do you trust Jesus or your fire department?"
"Why do armed Christian Police Officers not violate Scripture or show the same lack of faith that you claim armed citizens do? You do not seem to want to answer each time I ask you this."
"Please post the password for your Baptist Board account in this thread. Jesus will protect it from being logged into by anyone meaning to cause harm."
"A classic example, if you will, of one who is SO heavenly minded that he is of NO earthly good! I remember when I was a kid, 7-8 YO or so, I actually argued that if it were not God's will for me to die, you could stab me in the heart and it would have no effect. I truly had no concept at that time of God's ordained will vs His permissive will."
"Yest another misuse of scripture and a poor use of logic to boot. Further, are you suggesting that the pastor and 8 other Christians who were just killed by a gunman did not have that hedge of protection around them? Why not? Also, there is a distinct difference between revenge and self defense. Trying to equate self defense with revenge means you have no legitimate argument and you know it. This often happens when one make an attempt to defend the indefensible."
Zero response to the OP with scripture. You have not defended your stance of Luke 22:36 as an excuse to take life. Thank you for your participation. It proves the point of the Original Post. :jesus: :thumbs:
Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword [Matthew 26:52]. This verse is often paraphrased as "Those who live by the sword die by the sword," which is not a significantly different meaning.
What was Peter's sword's "place?"
Is there absolutely no one who ever 'took' a sword (to harm another human or threatened to do so to coerce) who died by any other means?
Whether you like the questions that have been asked or not, they do apply to the concept presented in the OP. This depending on Jesus and making no effort on our own to protect or support ourselves or our families is nothing but irresponsible sloth.
But answer this one which applies very directly: can a Christian be a police officer as long as officers are required to carry weapons?
That's because you are reading only one verse. You are correct to pull a gun out and blow an intruders head off if you read only verse 36. Some verses can be applied in this way, if they agree with the verses before and after. 36 does not agree with the rest of the story if you take it literal. It is figurative and when taken figuratively it agrees with the whole story and does not violate Christ's teaching on violence.