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CHAPTER III
WE are wrong when we say that the Christian doctrine is concerned only with the salvation of the individual, and has nothing to do with ques tions of State. Such an assertion is simply a bold affirmation of an untruth, which, when we examine it seriously, falls of itself to the ground. It is well (so I said); I will resist not evil; I will turn the other cheek in private life; but hither comes the enenry, or here is an oppressed nation, and I am called upon to do my part in the struggle against evil, to go forth and kill. I must decide the ques tion, to serve God or tohu, to go to war or not to go. Perhaps I am a peasant; I am appointed mayor of a village, a judge, a juryman; I am obliged to take the oath of office, to judge, to con demn. What ought I to do ? Again I must choose between the divine law and the human law. Per haps I am a monk living in a monastery; the neigh boring peasants trespass upon our pasturage, and I am appointed to resist evil, to plead for justice against the wrong-doers. Again I must choose. It is a dilemma from which no man can escape.
I do not speak of those whose entire lives are passed in resisting evil, as military authorities, judges, or governors. No one is so obscure that he is not obliged to choose between the service of God and
