Military Chaplaincy - One pace forward (Killing)

My post on Military Chaplaincy brought the following comment:
"Church and military just don't belong in the same sentence - those who do this have sold out"

So I guess we need to draw some lines and explain some things to set matters straight:

One of the most common comments regarding ministers and the forces is that we become part of a body that kills people and by doing so deny, and disobey, commandment number six which relates to the taking of life. Of course, what is said is, "You shall not kill' but this is a misquote of the actually wording (thanks to the KJV and the tools available to the translators then) for, as I understand it, the correct translation is:

"You shall not commit murder'

Let's dig in and take this all the way back to the very beginning (a very good place to start according to St Mary of Poppins),

The actual Hebrew (Exodus 20:13) has it as ס trə·ṣāḥ. lō (0לֹ֥֖א תִּֿרְצָֽ֖ח׃) which translates as:
'You shall not murder"

Interestingly (well it is for me) there is the additional understanding of the word 'trə·ṣāḥ' which means that 'murder', which is the unlawful or felonious act of taking a life, might also extend to cover causing life to be taken through negligence or carelessness. So the original texts are clear that this is murder that we are speaking of (i.e. felonious taking) rather than killing (i.e capital punishment, death of a combatant in war, self-defence, etc.)

The problems arise when we try to translate the original texts into a different language. For instance the first translation of the Old Testament was due to Ptolemy Philadelphus who took seventy scholars of their time and translated what we call the Septuagint (seventy) which we shorten to LXX. This is the original into koine (common tongue) Greek. In it we find:

'ου φονεύσεις' which is 'you shall not' and 'murder'

The LXX was a most accurate translation because it had knowledge ot the original and used the Hellenistic koine as an everyday language so the familiarity worked well.

The potential for trouble comes when we hit the 400 year old King James (KJV) Bible. Here we have less access to the modern linguistics that we have these days and whilst it has a myriad number of fantastic poetic elements (language of Shakespeare and all that stuff) it does have its limitations.

The KJV has Ex 20:13 as, "Thou shalt not kill." and this, being the principal Bible in the hands of so many for so long led many of the clerics (and the people who read what was as far as they knew correct) into this 'translation error'. They weren't being dodgy, they just didn't have the skills to differentiate, after all both relate to the taking of a life, and so in came one (of many) differences from the original.

The version we read (and there are many) can shape the way that we understand stuff and this is why I (and many others) will use more than a few when studying or preparing sermons and stuff. I often find myself turning back to the Greek to check (don't do the Hebrew that much as I really struggled with it). Here's a list of a few versions of the Bible and their translation of the passage:

New International Version (©1984) "You shall not murder."
New Living Translation (©2007) "You must not murder."
English Standard Version (©2001) “You shall not murder."
New American Standard Bible (©1995) "You shall not murder."
King James Bible "Thou shalt not kill.
GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995) "Never murder."
King James 2000 Bible (©2003) "You shall not kill."
American Standard Version "Thou shalt not kill."

And that's just a snippet. Generally the more recent translators have all looked to original material and used 'murder' - something to be aware of as it makes a big difference as generations before us have found in their learning of it.

So - in a (extremely large) nutshell, we find that we should not align ourselves with those who murder and so, as our forces do not commit murder, we are in the clear regarding being part of them as ministers.

Hopefully this clears up the first issue relating to 'killing'. I will let you have a breather and then continue.

Woodbine Willie

We ask our men and women to go where no one should be asked to go
To see what no one should be asked to see
And to do what no one should be asked to do

And as we reflect on the loss of six of our soldiers on foreign soil the Church of England remembers another soldier, the Reverend Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy MC, affectionately known as 'Woodbine Willie'.

When war began, Kennedy volunteered to serve as a Chaplain and became one of the best known characters of the war thanks to his habit of handing our cigarettes (which gave him his nickname), his pastoral care of those under his car and his poetry and other writings. Here's one of them, 'War':

There's a soul in the Eternal,
Standing stiff before the King.
There's a little English maiden
Sorrowing.
There's a proud and tearless woman,
Seeing pictures in the fire.
There's a broken battered body
On the wire.

An encounter at the front at Arras (1917) sums up what it is to be a military Chaplain in a most explicit manner when Kennedy crawled out to join a working party putting up wire in front of the trenches and was challenged by a sentry, the tale of which goes like this:

"Who's there?

"The Church!"

"what is the Church doing out here?

"Its job!"

If you stop by and read this - please pray for the men and women who serve in the role of Chaplain to those men and women who march away into conflict in pursuit of peace and justice - the Church 'doing its job!' -  and give thanks for the lives of men like Studdert Kennedy.

"I bet my life on Christ - Christ crucified."

Pax