http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/ministry.html#charar

It deals with the difference between judgement and censorious spirits. It deals with the difference between right judgement and judgement of character.

And Pieter, some of these articles address the verse and the type of discussion you refer to.
Rhesa was referring to my post, not you.:^)
There is some great stuff here.

….The first is in understanding the various words used in the Bible to describe judgment, judging, etc. A quick look through a concordance, especially one that cross-references to Greek and Hebrew words, will show that in fact many of these words mean ”appraise,” ”discern,” ”evaluate,” and ”discriminate.”

….The second part of the solution is to correctly understand what kind of judgment Christians are supposed to render. The answer to this is in comparison with the judgments of God.

And yes, I also agree that no one can stop you from using Scripture to back your position on the war. I’m just saying that those on the other side feel as strongly about their own stand on the issue and will do the same thing to justify their words. Nothing wrong with that at all, so long as both sides have a clear understanding of the Scripture being used.

But to move beyond that…

Right. I know several people who have attempted to convince me, using Scripture, that this war is biblically just.

Only…obviously one of us is right and one of us is wrong. We can’t just throw up our hands and “agree to disagree” because we’re both using Scripture to back our claims. I mean…I’m right. I know that. I just have to convince other people of it. It’s hard, when they’re using Scripture, too. Anyways, I’m rambling, and I’m not quite sure what my point is. But…since Scripture does talk about government, and what gov. can and cannot do…well…hmm. Yeah. I’m not sure what my point is. But I can’t stop using Scripture to back my claims, because the same Scripture that I believe says this war is wrong is the Scripture that I draw my entire view of government from…Give that up, and I might just as well be a Christian communist.

Thanks Laura, sometimes not nearly as much as I could be. :^)

Turn it around Pieter. Do ‘hawks’ think ‘doves’ are believers?

Rhesa, God has been dealing with me about judging character. Your words are very timely for me on a personal level as I learn.

Rachel, it was a terrific email discussion.
I’ll think about your idea.

Hi Steve, I have sort of ‘responded’ with this post, eh?

I want to really thank all of you for not putting the writer of that email down.

Pieter, I’m sure some “hawks” would go so far to say that your anti-war views are Biblically wrong, as well. Each side has claimed that they adhere to Scripture when defending their stances - not a good thing, especially when the Scripture used is taken out of context.

As for discerning the will of God (for example, is God for or against the war) I think that is an extremely tricky thing to do. I believe we all feel that God is on our side. We can’t all be right. Or can we?

I think “hawks” can easily be true Christians. I mean, to say they can’t be is to say that about 95% of the church is going to Hell.

However, since part of the reason I am anti-war is that I believe this war was Biblically wrong, I’d go so far as to say that those who are pro-war do not have a theologically correct view of government and war.