The Order of the World

I. The Order of the World

The world is a society such as it was in the time of Jesus and such as it essentially remains today, for eighteen centuries of Christianity have not changed its foundations but only softened their manifestations. Despite the change in outward forms, this society is held together everywhere by force and self-interest.

People command only because they have power; they oppress and torment because they command for themselves. Such is the world, and between the world and Jesus there is eternal struggle, because what Jesus wants is directly opposed to what the world wants. Jesus wants people to be free, so that, being equal before the common Father, they might be equal also before one another, so that brotherly love might unite them into one family. But the world wants the subjection of almost all to a few; it wants not brothers but great and small—the small, deprived of all rights, and the great, to whom they would belong and who would dispose of them as they please.

Jesus wants power to be service; the world wants it to be dominion. Therefore Jesus condemns the world, and the world hates Jesus, and this hatred, extending to the disciples of Jesus, subjects them to persecution by the world. If the world tolerated them, if there were any connection whatsoever between it and them, they would not be disciples of Jesus but traitors to his teaching, accomplices of him who betrayed him with a kiss.

So you—those of you who want what Jesus wanted, those whom he has chosen to continue his work—be prepared for what awaits you in the world; but know also that the world will not be the strongest to the end, but will be conquered, because that truth which must conquer is already beginning to shine before the eyes of all, is beginning to stir all consciences, and the world vainly tries to kill it as it killed Jesus. The times are drawing near; a muffled murmur heralds liberation; from all sides is heard the cracking of chains breaking; the strong are troubled—they feel themselves weakening; while the weak lift up their heads. A final battle must take place. Let everyone stand firm in this battle, which will decide whether humanity will be liberated by Christ according to his promise, or will forever be the slave of the sons of him who was a murderer from the beginning.

—Lamennais

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II. The Attitude of Early Christians to War

“The world rages in mutual bloodshed, and murder, considered a crime when people commit it singly, is called a virtue when done by a multitude.” Thus wrote the famous Cyprian in the third century, speaking of the military.

The whole Christian community of the first centuries, up to the fifth century, related to war in the same way. The Christian community definitely acknowledged, in the persons of its leaders, that all killing is forbidden to Christians, and therefore killing in war as well.

The philosopher Tatian, who converted to Christianity in the second century, considered killing in war just as inadmissible for Christians as any other killing, and considered the honorable military wreath improper for a Christian. In the same century, Athenagoras of Athens says that Christians not only never kill themselves but also avoid being present at killings.

In the third century, Clement of Alexandria contrasts the “warlike” pagan nations with the “peaceful tribe of Christians.” But the aversion of Christians to war was expressed most clearly by the famous Origen. Applying to Christians the words of Isaiah that a time will come when people shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, he says quite definitely: “We do not take up arms against any nation, we do not learn the art of war, for through Jesus Christ we have become children of peace.” Replying to Celsus’s accusation that Christians avoid military service—so that, in Celsus’s opinion, if the Roman Empire became Christian it would perish—Origen says that Christians fight more than others for the good of the emperor: they fight for him by good deeds, by prayer, and by good influence on people. As for fighting with weapons, it is completely true, says Origen, that Christians do not fight alongside the imperial armies and would not do so even if the emperor compelled them to it.

Tertullian, a contemporary of Origen, speaks just as decisively about the impossibility of a Christian being a soldier. “It is not fitting to serve the sign of Christ and the sign of the devil,” he says of military service, “the fortress of light and the fortress of darkness; one soul cannot serve two masters. And how can one make war without a sword, which the Lord himself took away? Is it possible to practice with the sword when the Lord said that everyone who takes up the sword shall perish by the sword? And how will a son of peace participate in battle?”

In the fourth century, Lactantius says the same. “There must be no exception to God’s commandment that it is always a sin to kill a person,” he says. “It is not permitted to Christians to bear arms, for their only weapon is truth.” In the rules of the Egyptian church of the third century and in the so-called “Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” it is unconditionally forbidden for any Christian to enter military service under pain of excommunication from the church.

In the Acts of the Saints there are many examples of Christian martyrs of the first centuries who suffered for refusing to continue service in the Roman legions.

Thus Maximilian, brought before the authorities for fulfilling military duty, to the first question of the proconsul about what his name was, answered: “My name is Christian, and therefore I cannot fight.” Despite this declaration, he was enrolled as a soldier, but he refused service. He was told that he must choose between fulfilling military duty and death. He said: “I would rather die, but I cannot fight.” He was handed over to the executioners.

Marcellus was a centurion in the Trojan legion. Coming to believe in the teaching of Christ and being convinced that war is an un-Christian matter, in view of the whole legion he took off his military equipment, threw it on the ground, and declared that, having become a Christian, he could no longer serve. He was put in prison, but even there he said: “It is not permitted to a Christian to bear arms.” He was executed.

Following Marcellus, Cassian, who served in the same legion, refused military service. He too was executed.

Under Julian the Apostate, Martin, who had been raised and grown up in a military environment, refused to continue military service. At the interrogation conducted by the emperor, he said only: “I am a Christian and therefore cannot fight.”

The First Ecumenical Council (325 AD) clearly defined a strict penance for Christians who had left service but returned a second time to the military. The actual words of this decree, in a translation recognized by the Orthodox Church, are as follows: “Those called by grace to the confession of faith, who showed their first fervor and laid aside their military belts, but afterward, like dogs, returned to their own vomit… let such persons be prostrate before the church for ten years, asking forgiveness, after three years of hearing Scripture in the vestibule.”

Christians who remained in the military were obligated not to kill enemies during war. Even in the fourth century, Basil the Great recommends not admitting to communion for three years soldiers guilty of violating this rule.

Thus, not only in the first three centuries of Christianity, during the persecutions of Christians, but also in the first period of the triumph of Christianity over paganism, when Christianity was recognized as the ruling, state religion, among Christians there still held the conviction that war is incompatible with Christianity.

Ferrucius expressed this definitely and decisively (and was executed for it): “It is not permitted to Christians to shed blood, even in a just war and by the order of Christian sovereigns.”

In the fourth century, Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, teaches that even the most precious blessing for Christians—their faith—they must defend “not by killing others but by their own death.” Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, who died in 431, still threatened eternal torments for serving Caesar with weapons in hand.

Such was the view of Christians of the first four centuries on the relationship of Christianity to military service.

(Compiled from the books: Baron Taube’s “Christianity and International Peace” and Ruinart’s “Acts of the First Martyrs.” Compiled by N.N. Gusev. Under the editorship of L.N. Tolstoy.)

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III. Letter of the Peasant Olkhovik, Who Refused Military Service

“On October 15, 1895, I was called to fulfill military duty. When my turn came to draw lots, I said that I would not draw lots. The officials looked at me, then spoke with each other and asked me why I would not draw.

“I answered that it was because I would neither take the oath nor take up a rifle.

“They said that that matter would come afterward, but the lots must be drawn.

“I refused again. Then they ordered the village elder to draw the lot. The elder drew; it turned out to be No. 674. They recorded it.

“The military commander enters, calls me into the office, and asks: ‘Who taught you all this, that you don’t want to take the oath?’

“I answered: ‘I taught myself, reading the Gospel.’

“He says: ‘I don’t think you understood the Gospel yourself; after all, everything there is incomprehensible; to understand it, one must study a great deal.’

“To this I said that Christ did not teach wisdom, because the simplest illiterate people also understood his teaching.

“Then he told a soldier to send me to the barracks. With the soldier we went to the kitchen, where we had lunch.

“After lunch they began asking me why I didn’t take the oath.

“I said: ‘Because it says in the Gospel: Swear not at all.’

“They were surprised; then they asked: ‘Is that really in the Gospel? Well, find it.’

“I found it and read it; they listened.

“‘Even though it’s there, still one cannot refuse to take the oath, because they will torture you.’

“I said to this: ‘Whoever loses his earthly life will inherit eternal life.’

“On the 20th they stood me in a row with other young soldiers and explained to us the soldiers’ rules. I told them that I would not do any of this. They asked: ‘Why?’

“I said: ‘Because, as a Christian, I will not bear weapons or defend myself against enemies, because Christ commanded us to love even our enemies.’

“They said: ‘Are you the only Christian? We are Christians too.’

“I said: ‘About others I know nothing; I only know about myself that Christ said to do what I am doing.’

“He said again: ‘If you won’t drill, I will let you rot in prison.’

“To this I said: ‘Do with me whatever you want, but I will not serve.’

“Today the commission examined me. The general said to the officers: ‘What convictions does this young pup find that he refuses service! Some millions serve, but he alone refuses. Give him a good flogging with birch rods, then he’ll give up his convictions.’”

Olkhovik was arrested and exiled to the Yakutsk region.

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Translator’s Notes:

• Félicité de Lamennais (1782–1854) was a French priest and philosopher who moved from ultramontane Catholicism to a form of Christian socialism. His work Paroles d’un Croyant (Words of a Believer, 1834) was condemned by Pope Gregory XVI but deeply influenced Christian social thought, including Tolstoy.
• The phrase “him who was a murderer from the beginning” refers to Satan, from John 8:44: “He was a murderer from the beginning.”
• Cyprian of Carthage (c. 210–258) was a bishop and early Christian writer. The quotation comes from his letter Ad Donatum.
• The church fathers mentioned—Tatian, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Lactantius—all wrote extensively on Christian ethics and consistently opposed Christian participation in war.
• The words of Isaiah about beating swords into plowshares are from Isaiah 2:4.
• Celsus was a second-century Greek philosopher who wrote The True Word, the first comprehensive intellectual attack on Christianity. Origen’s response, Contra Celsum, is our main source for Celsus’s arguments.
• Julian the Apostate (ruled 361–363) was the Roman emperor who attempted to restore paganism after the Christian emperors Constantine and Constantius II.
• The First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (325 AD) was convened by Constantine. The canon quoted (Canon 12) deals with those who returned to military service after having left it.
• Basil the Great (330–379) was Bishop of Caesarea and one of the most influential early church fathers. His canonical letters regulated many aspects of church discipline.
• N.N. Gusev (Nikolai Nikolaevich Gusev, 1882–1967) was Tolstoy’s secretary from 1907 to 1909 and later a major Tolstoy scholar.
• Baron M.A. Taube’s Christianity and International Peace was published in 1905. Jean Ruinart’s Acta primorum martyrum sincera (1689) was a standard collection of early martyrdom accounts.
• Olkhovik’s case was one of many refusals of military service by Russian sectarians (Molokans, Doukhobors, and others influenced by Tolstoy’s writings) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Yakutsk region in eastern Siberia was a common place of exile for religious dissenters.
• The biblical reference “Swear not at all” is from Matthew 5:34, where Jesus says: “But I say unto you, Swear not at all.”