For the past 1,700 years, we have largely ignored a good portion of the teachings of Jesus. Starting in the fourth century, the contrast between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of the world became muddied when the two became fused. The Church lost its way. As we depart from this long period of history, it would be wise to look back at what early Christian writers had to say before the Church got in bed with the Empire.

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.
John 21:25

We can better understand the teachings of Jesus when we look at what the apostles taught. While we have the Gospel accounts, the book of Acts, and some early Church letters, much more can be learned from those who the apostles taught. Some weight must be given to the writings of those who lived so close to the time of Jesus.

Below are over 70 quotes contemporarily undisputed from leaders in the Early Church on killing, violence, Kingdom allegiance, patriotism, war, military service, and enemy love.

Violence

Central to the ethics of Jesus was his position of total non-violence even in the face of persecution and death. The Early Church understood this.

“When individuals commit homicide, it is a crime; it is called a virtue when it is done in the name of the state.”
— Cyprian (200AD – 258AD)¹

“Learn about the incorruptible King, and know his heroes who never inflict slaughter on the peoples.”
— Pseudo-Justinian (180AD)²

“If a loud trumpet summons soldiers to war, shall not Christ with a strain of peace issued to the ends of the earth gather up his soldiers of peace? By his own blood and by his word he has assembled an army which sheds no blood in order to give them the Kingdom of Heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his Gospel. He has sounded it and we have heard it. Let us then put on the armor of peace… The Church is an army of peace which sheds no blood.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)³

“We have learned not to return blow for blow, nor to go to law with those who plunder and rob us. Instead, even to those who strike us on one side of the face, we offer the other side also.”
— Athenagoras (175AD)⁴

“We have rejected such spectacles as the Coliseum. How then, when we do not even look on killing lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put people to death?”
— Athenagoras of Athens (133AD – 190AD)⁵

“The soldiers of Christ require neither arms nor spears of iron.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)

“It is absolutely forbidden to repay evil with evil.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁶

“Wherever arms have glittered, they must be banished and exterminated from thence.”
— Lactantius (250AD – 325AD)⁷

“Christians do not attack their assailants in return, for it is not lawful for the innocent to kill even the guilty.”
— Cyprian (200AD – 258AD)⁸

“For what difference is there between provoker and provoked? The only difference is that the former was the first to do evil, but the latter did evil afterwards. Each one stands condemned in the eyes of the Lord for hurting a man. For God both prohibits and condemns every wickedness. In evil doing, there is no account taken of the order.… The commandment is absolute: evil is not to be repaid with evil.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁹

“Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.”
— Athanasius of Alexandria (293AD – 373AD)¹⁰

“Above all Christians are not allowed to correct with violence the delinquencies of sins.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)¹¹

“God designed iron for tilling, not killing.”
— Cyprian (200AD – 258AD)¹²

“The Christian does injury to no one. He does not desire the property of others. If fact, he does not even defend his own property if it is taken from him by violence. For he knows how to patiently bear an injury inflicted upon him.”
— Lactantius (250AD – 325AD)¹³

“Do not willingly use force and do not return force when it is used against you.”
— Commodian (250AD)¹⁴

“The Lord will save them in that day—even His people—like sheep.… No one gives the name of “sheep” to those who fall in battle with arms in hand, or those who are killed when repelling force with force. Rather, it is given only to those who are slain, yielding themselves up in their own place of duty and with patience—rather than fighting in self-defense.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)¹⁵

“The hand must not be spotted with the sword and blood—not after the Eucharist is carried in it.”
— Cyprian (200AD – 258AD)¹⁶

Kingdom Allegiance

Jesus came to set up his own nation with its own King which would stand in opposition to all other nations. The Early Church understood this.

“All zeal in the pursuit of glory and honor is dead in us. So we have no pressing inducement to take part in your public meetings. Nor is there anything more entirely foreign to us than the affairs of state. We acknowledge one all-embracing commonwealth—the world.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)¹⁷

“Let our seals be either a dove, a fish, or a ship scudding before the wind. We are not to draw an outline of a sword or a bow, since we follow peace.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)¹⁸

“I am a Christian. He who answers thus has declared everything at once—his country, profession, family; the believer belongs to no city on earth but to the heavenly Jerusalem.”
— John Chrysostom (347AD – 407AD)

“We would observe that it must be impossible for the legislation of Moses, taken literally, to harmonize with the calling of the Gentiles and with their subjection to the Roman government. On the other hand, it would be impossible for the Jews to preserve their civil economy unchanged if they were to embrace the gospel. For Christians could not slay their enemies. Yet, that same providence that of old gave the Law, and has now given the gospel of Jesus Christ, has destroyed their city and their temple, not wishing the Jewish state to continue any longer.… However, this providence has extended the Christian religion day by day, so that it is now preached everywhere with boldness. And this is in spite of the numerous obstacles that oppose the spread of Christ’s teaching in the world. However, since it was the purpose of God that the nations should receive the benefits of Christ’s teaching, all the devices of men against Christians have been brought to nothing. For the more that kings, rulers, and peoples have persecuted them everywhere, the more Christians have increased in number and grown in strength.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)¹⁹

“You allege that those wars of which you speak were sparked because of hatred of our religion. However, it would not be difficult to prove that (after the name of Christ was heard in the world), wars were not increased. In fact, they actually diminished in great measure by the restraining of furious passions. A numerous band of men as we are, we have learned from His teaching and His laws that evil should not be repaid with evil. Rather, it is better to suffer wrong than to inflict it. We would rather shed our own blood than stain our hands and our conscience with that of another. As a result, an ungrateful world is now enjoying—and for a long period has enjoyed—a benefit from Christ. For by His means, the rage of savage ferocity has been softened and has begun to withhold hostile hands from the blood of a fellow creature. In fact, if all men without exception … would lend an ear for a while to His salutary and peaceful rules, … the whole world would be living in the most peaceful tranquillity.”
— Arnobius (305AD)²⁰

“If you enroll as one of God’s people, then heaven is your country and God your lawgiver.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)

“Christians love all people, and are persecuted by all;… they are reviled, and they bless; they are insulted, and are respectful.”
— Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (late 2nd Century)²¹

“Shall we carry a flag? It is a rival to Christ.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)²²

“That they may now understand that this is a new kind of warfare and not the usual custom of joining in battle, when He sent them with nothing He said: And so, marching on, show forth the meekness of lambs, although you are to go to wolves… For certainly it is a greater work and much more marvelous to change the minds of opponents and to bring about a change of soul than to kill them… We ought to be ashamed, therefore, who act far differently when as wolves we rush upon our adversaries. For as long as we are lambs we conquer; even when a thousand wolves stand about, we overcome and are victors. But if we act like wolves we are conquered, for then the aid of the Good Shepherd departs from us, for He does not foster wolves but sheep.”
— John Chrysostom (347AD – 407AD)²³

“Let the Athenian then follow the laws of Solon, the Argive those of Phoroneus, and the Spartan those of Lycurgus.  But if you record yourself among God’s people, then heaven is your fatherland and God your lawgiver.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)²⁴

“It is the Christians, O Emperor, who have sought and found the truth, for they acknowledge God…. They show love to their neighbors. They do not do to another what they would not wish to have done to themselves. They speak gently to those who oppress them, and in this way they make them their friends. It has become their passion to do good to their enemies… This, O Emperor, is the rule of life of the Christians, and this is their manner of life.”
— Aristides of Athens (written around 137AD)²⁵

“We have no country on earth.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)²⁶

“The statement [of Celsus, a pagan critic] is false “that in the days of Jesus, others who were Jews rebelled against the Jewish state and became His followers.” For neither Celsus, nor those who think like him, are able to point out any act on the part of Christians that hints of rebellion. In fact, if a revolt had led to the formation of the Christian commonwealth, the Christian Lawgiver would not have altogether forbidden the putting of men to death. So it could not have derived its existence in such a way from the Jews. For they were permitted to take up arms in defense of the members of their families and to slay their enemies. Yet, Christ nowhere teaches that it is right for His own disciples to offer violence to anyone, no matter how wicked. For He did not consider it to be in accord with His laws to allow the killing of any individual whomever. For His laws were derived from a divine source. Indeed, if the Christians truly owed their origin to a rebellion, they would not have adopted laws of so exceedingly mild a character. For their laws do not allow them on any occasion to resist their persecutors, even when it was their fate to be slain as sheep.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)²⁷

“The Jews used the Mosaic law until the coming of the Lord; but from the Lord’s advent, the new covenant which brings back peace, and the law which gives life, has gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall break down their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, and they shall no longer fight”. If therefore another law and word, going forth from Jerusalem, brought in such a reign of peace among the Gentiles which received it [the word], and convinced, through them, many a nation of its folly, then only it appears that the prophets spake of some other person. But if the law of liberty, that is, the word of God, preached by the apostles (who went forth from Jerusalem) throughout all the earth, caused such a change in the state of things, that these nations did form the swords and war-lances into ploughshares, and changed them into pruning-hooks for reaping the corn, that is, into instruments used for peaceful purposes, and that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when smitten, offer also the other cheek, then the prophets have not spoken these things of any other person, but of Him who effected them. This person is our Lord.”
— Irenaeus (130AD – 202AD)²⁸

War & Military Service

The result of Christ’s calling to total non-violence and enemy love meant that service in the military was off limits. The Early Church understood this.

“‘Nation will not take up sword against nation, and they will no more learn to fight.’ Who else, therefore, does this prophecy apply to, other than us? For we are fully taught by the new law, and therefore observe these practices.… The teaching of the new law points to compassion. It changes the primitive ferocity of swords and lances to tranquility. It remodels the primitive execution of war upon the rivals and enemies of the law of Christ into the peaceful actions of plowing and cultivating the land.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)²⁹

“Even when war is upon you, you never enlist the priests in the army. Our prayers defeat all demons who stir up war. Those demons also lead persons to violate their oaths and to disturb the peace. Accordingly, in this way, we are much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. So none fight better for the king than we do. Indeed, we do not fight under him even if he demands it. Yet, we fight on his behalf, forming a special army—an army of godliness—by offering our prayers to God.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)³⁰

“Jesus cursed the works of the sword for ever after.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)³¹

“We ourselves were well conversant with war, murder and everything evil, but all of us throughout the whole wide earth have traded in our weapons of war. We have exchanged our swords for plowshares, our spears for farm tools…now we cultivate the fear of God, justice, kindness, faith, and the expectation of the future given us through the Crucified One… The more we are persecuted and martyred, the more do others in ever increasing numbers become believers.”
— Justin the Martyr (100AD – 165AD)³²

“Many gain glory from the valor they show in battle. They go so far as to boast of the murder of their brothers. Indeed, military courage and the triumphal arches erected by a general or the community exist only through the magnitude of the murder.”
— Basil of Caesarea (330AD – 379AD)³³

“For when God forbids us to kill, he not only prohibits us from open violence, which is not even allowed by the public laws, but he warns us against the commission of those things which are esteemed lawful among men. Thus, it will be neither lawful for a just man to engage in warfare, since his warfare is justice itself, nor to accuse anyone of a capital charge, because it makes no difference, whether you put a man to death by word, or rather by sword, since it is the act of putting to death itself which is prohibited.”
— Lactantius (260AD – 340AD)³⁴

“The professions and trades of those who are going to be accepted into the community must be examined. The soldier who is of inferior rank shall not kill anyone. If ordered to, he shall not carry out the order, nor shall he take the oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. Anyone who has the power of the sword or the magistrate of a city who wears the purple, must resign or be rejected. If a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God.”
— Hippolytus (170AD – 236AD)³⁵

“Only without the sword can the Christian wage war: the Lord has abolished the sword.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)³⁶

“To those who ask us whence we have come or whom we have for a leader, we say that we have come in accordance with the counsels of Jesus to cut down our warlike and arrogant swords of argument into plowshares, and we convert into sickles the spears we formerly used in fighting. For we no longer take up ‘sword against nation,’ nor do we ‘learn war anymore,’ having become children of peace, for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader, instead of those whom our fathers followed.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)³⁷

“And when the Spirit of prophecy speaks as predicting things that are to come to pass, He speaks in this way: “He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”. And that it did so come to pass, we can convince you. For from Jerusalem there went out into the world, men, twelve in number, and these illiterate, of no ability in speaking: but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of people that they were sent by Christ to teach to all the word of God; and we who formerly used to murder one another do not only now refrain from making war upon our enemies, but also, that we may not lie or deceive our examiners, willingly die confessing Christ.”
— Justin the Martyr (100AD – 165AD)³⁸

“If anyone be a soldier or in authority, let him be taught not to oppress or to kill or to rob, or to be angry or to rage and afflict anyone. But let those rations suffice him which are given to him. But if they wish to be baptized in the Lord, let them cease from military service or from the [post of] authority, and if not let them not be received. Let a catechumen or a believer of the people, if he desire to be a soldier, either cease from his intention, or if not let him be rejected. For he hath despised God by his thought, and leaving the things of the Spirit, he hath perfected himself in the flesh and hath treated the faith with contempt.”
— The Testament of Our Lord (4th or 5th Century AD)³⁹

“The Christian poor are an army without weapons, without war, without bloodshed, without anger, without defilement.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)⁴⁰

“I think we must first inquire whether warfare is proper at all for Christians… Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? Of course, if faith comes later, and finds any preoccupied with military service, their case is different… yet, at the same time, when a man has become a believer, and faith has been sealed, there must be either an immediate abandonment of it, which has been the course with many; or all sorts of quibbling will have to be resorted to in order to avoid offending God.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁴¹

“There is nothing better than peace, in which all warfare of things in heaven and things on earth is abolished.”
— Ignatius of Antioch (35AD – 108AD)⁴²

“We Christians are a peaceful race… for it is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)⁴³

“You cannot demand military service of Christians any more than you can of priests. We do not go forth as soldiers with the Emperor even if he demands this.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)⁴⁴

“We do not wage war against our enemies.”
— Justin the Martyr (100AD – 165AD)⁴⁵

“Christ, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁴⁶

“Hitherto I have served you as a soldier; allow me now to become a soldier to God. Let the man who is to serve you receive your donative. I am a soldier of Christ; it is not permissible for me to fight.”
— Martin of Tours (315AD – 397AD)⁴⁷

“I cannot serve as a soldier; I cannot do evil; I am a Christian.”
— Maximilian of Tebessa, mandated to enlist in the military, beheaded in 295AD for his refusal.⁴⁸

“I serve Jesus Christ the eternal King. I will no longer serve your emperors… It is not right for a Christian to serve the armies of this world. I threw down my arms; for it was not seemly that a Christian man, who renders service to the Lord Christ, should render it also by inflicting earthly injuries.”
— Marcellus the Centurion, spoken as he left the army of Emperor Diocletian in 298AD.⁴⁹

“Now I serve Christ. Before I served the world.” When commanded a second time to take his place in the ranks, he responded, “No one after victory returns to the battle. As far as I am concerned, I have conquered the world; I have enrolled among the servants of Christ. I am a soldier of Christ, I serve Christ; and if you want to rage against me, it is for Christ that I shall suffer.”
— Typasius the Martyr, killed in 304AD after being ordered to serve in the army.⁵⁰

“What would happen if, instead of only a relatively few persons believing (as at the present), the entire empire of Rome believed? If all the Romans embraced the Christian faith, they would overcome their enemies when they prayed. Or rather, they would not war at all.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)⁵¹

“But now inquiry is being made concerning these issues. First, can any believer enlist in the military? Second, can any soldier, even those of the rank and file or lesser grades who neither engage in pagan sacrifices nor capital punishment, be admitted into the church? No on both counts—for there is no agreement between the divine sacrament and the human sacrament, the standard of Christ and the standard of the devil, the camp of light and the camp of darkness. One soul cannot serve two masters—God and Caesar…But how will a Christian engage in war (indeed, how will a Christian even engage in military service during peacetime) without the sword, which the Lord has taken away?”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁵²

“Those who formerly acted like animals and waged war on other people have now been transformed by faith in Christ. For he now tells in parable the gathering together in peaceful concord, through the name of Christ, of people of different nations and like character; for the assembly of the just, who are likened to calves and lambs and kids and children.”
— Irenaeus (130AD – 202AD)⁵³

“Those soldiers were filled with wonder and admiration at the grandeur of the man’s piety and generosity and were struck with amazement. They felt the force of this example of pity. As a result, many of them were added to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and threw off the belt of military service.”
— Archelaus (320AD)⁵⁴

Enemy Love

The most difficult teaching of Jesus was the command to love your enemies. It is also the most important since it is what he did on the cross. The Early Church understood this.

“We who formerly hated and murdered one another now live together and share the same table. We pray for our enemies and try to win those who hate us.”
— Justin the Martyr (100AD – 165AD)⁵⁵

“The Christian does not hurt even his enemy.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁵⁶

“The Gospel doctrine of peace does not permit men to take vengeance even upon enemies.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)⁵⁷

“None of us offers resistance when he is seized, or avenges himself for your unjust violence, although our people are numerous and plentiful… it is not lawful for us to hate, and so we please God more when we render no requital for injury… we repay your hatred with kindness.”
— St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (died 258AD)⁵⁸

“An enemy must be aided, so that he may not continue as an enemy. For by help, good feeling is compacted and enmity dissolved.”
— Clement of Alexandria (150AD – 214AD)⁵⁹

“Say to those that hate and curse you, You are our brothers!”
— Theophilus of Antioch (died around 185AD)⁶⁰

“Christians appeal to those who wrong them and make them friendly to themselves; they are eager to do good to their enemies; they are mild and conciliatory.”
— Aristides of Athens (124AD)⁶¹

“If, then, we are commanded to love our enemies, whom have we to hate? If injured, we are forbidden to retaliate, lest we become just as bad ourselves. Who can suffer injury at our hands?”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁶²

“This is the way of life: first, thou shalt love the God who made thee, secondly, thy neighbor as thyself: and all things whatsoever thou wouldest not should happen to thee, do not thou to another. The teaching of these words is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast on behalf of those who persecute you: for what thanks will be due to you, if ye love only those who love you? Do not the Gentiles also do the same? But love ye those who hate you, and ye shall not have an enemy.”
— The Didache (80AD – 120AD)⁶³

“Whatever Christians would not wish others to do to them, they do not to others. And they comfort their oppressors and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies. Through love towards their oppressors, they persuade them to become Christians.”
— Aristides of Athens (124AD)⁶⁴

Empire

Rich and powerful nations like Rome are rivals to God’s Kingdom. The Early Church understood this.

“When men command us to act in opposition to the law of God, and in opposition to justice, we should not be deterred by any threats or punishments that come upon us. For we prefer the commandments of God to the commandments of man.”
— Lactantius (250AD – 325AD)⁶⁵

“For demons are the magistrates of this world: they bear the fasces and the purples, the ensigns of one college.”
— Tertullian (160AD – 220AD)⁶⁶

“It is not for the purpose of escaping public duties that Christians decline public offices, but so that they may reserve themselves for a more divine and more necessary service in the Church of God – the salvation of men. And this service is at once necessary and right.”
— Origen (185AD – 254AD)⁶⁷

“I recognize no empire of this present age.”
— Speratus (martyred 180AD)⁶⁸

“For how can he be just who injures, hates, despoils, kills? And those who strive to serve their country do all these things.”
— Lactantius (260AD – 340AD)⁶⁹

“I do not wish to be a ruler. I do not strive for wealth. I refuse offices connected with military command.”
— Tatian of Assyria (120AD – 180AD)⁷⁰

“When they speak of the “duties” relating to warfare, their speech pertains neither to justice nor to true virtue. Rather, it pertains only to this life and to civil institutions. And this is not justice.”
— Lactantius (260AD – 340AD)⁷¹

“We Christians cannot endure to see a man being put to death, even justly.”
— Athenagoras (133AD – 190AD)⁷²

“I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I decline military command… Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it.”
— Tatian (120AD – 180AD)⁷³

“If desire is restrained, no one will use violence by land or by sea. No one will lead an army to carry off and lay waste the property of others.… For what are the interests of our country, but the detriments of another state or nation? To extend the boundaries that are violently taken from others, to increase the power of the state, to improve the revenues—all of these things are not virtues. Rather, they are the overthrowing of virtues.”
— Lactantius (250AD – 325AD)⁷⁴

“God called Abraham and commanded him to go out from the country where he was living. With this call God has roused us all, and now we have left the state. We have renounced all the things the world offers… The gods of the nations are demons.”
— Justin the Martyr (100AD – 165AD)⁷⁵