| Jesus was, however, no pacifist. He commanded his Disciples that "He who hath no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one," thereby acknowledging the need for ( and righteousness of ) armed violence in legitimate self-defense. He said only that "They who will live by the sword shall perish by it," not that living ( or dying ) by the sword was an inherently bad thing. If it was, the Brothers Maccabees got royally screwed. Jesus also did not rebuke the Disciple(s?) who had brought weapons to Gethsemane; he rebuked their unprovoked violence against a non-combatant, but not their prior posession of weapons. |