The prominent church historian C. J. Cadoux explained: “The early Christians took Jesus at his word . . . They closely identified their religion with peace; they strongly condemned war for the bloodshed which it involved; they appropriated to themselves the Old Testament prophecy which foretold the transformation of the weapons of war into the implements of agriculture.”​—Isaiah 2:4.

Making War Impossible

Jesus explained how his true followers could be recognized. They would be “peaceable,” he said. (Matthew 5:9) He also gave this means of identification: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” In addition, Jesus said of his disciples: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.”​—John 13:35; 17:16.

In view of these teachings, do you believe that Christ’s early followers participated in the wars of the nations? Discussing this matter, Professor Reo M. Christenson wrote in The Christian Century: “The earliest Christians did not serve in the armed forces. Roland Bainton notes that ‘from the end of the New Testament period to the decade A.D. 170-180 there is no evidence whatever of Christians in the army’ . . . Only gradually did Christians abandon their opposition to military service.”

Thus, there was no such thing as a Christian going to war against a fellow Christian. No matter what a worldly ruler ordered, Christ’s followers would not become children of the Devil by slaughtering their spiritual brothers. They obeyed God as ruler rather than men! (Acts 5:29) So if the whole earth was inhabited only by true Christians, war would be impossible!