18. (a) What did Jesus himself say would identify his disciples? (b) Because of Jesus’ words, what position did the early Christians take as to warfare? (Matt. 5:43-45; 26:52)

¹⁸ Shortly before his death, Jesus said: “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:34, 35) Consequently, early Christians declined joining the Roman army or fighting in the armies of any of the other ancient nations. In his essay “An Inquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity,” Jonathan Dymond reported on his investigation into the matter:

“The Christians who lived nearest to the time of our Saviour, believed, with undoubting confidence, that he had unequivocally forbidden war​—that they openly avowed this belief, and that, in support of it, they were willing to sacrifice, and did sacrifice, their fortunes and their lives.

22. The early Christians took what position as regards secular governments? (Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:17)

²² In the postapostolic period the early Christians demonstrated this belief in Christ’s words. They paid their taxes, obeyed the laws of the land and in all normal respects were exemplary citizens of the lands in which they lived. (Matt. 22:17-21; Rom. 13:1-7) But they took a position of neutrality in the midst of political factions and strifes of their day. History records:

“The Christians were strangers and pilgrims in the world around them; their citizenship was in heaven; the kingdom to which they looked was not of this world. The consequent want of interest in public affairs came thus from the outset to be a noticeable feature in Christianity.”​—Christianity and the Roman Government, by E. G. Hardy, p. 39.