The Warrior-Soldier's Commitment: A Resolute March Toward Christ the King and For His Kingdom
Main Article Content
Abstract
The warrior's imagery lies at the very heart of Christian spirituality. The peaceful soldier embodies a fruitful tension: a fierce combatant against evil, yet a radical peacemaker toward every individual. This paradox is resolved through the literal demilitarization of the battle. The true enemy is not a human being, but the forces of darkness, sin, and the evil structures that enslave the world. The weapons of this war are divine, not physical, and are expressed through love, justice, and reconciliation. Christ's victory on the Cross, achieved through sacrifice and forgiveness, stands as the supreme model. Agape love thus serves as the primary strategy, capable of disarming the aggressor and breaking the cycles of hatred. This metaphor shapes both an identity and a theology. Analysis reveals a hermeneutic of conquest and a victorious eschatology that reinforce community cohesion and legitimize a hierarchical structure. The pastor becomes the commanding officer, and discipline is valued as a spiritual virtue. However, the use of this imagery carries inherent risks: it can engender spiritual anxiety, a Manichaean dualism, and a dangerous tendency toward blind obedience. The greatest combat for the believer is to use the language of war to advance the cause of peace, without ever betraying the core message of Christ. For the metaphor to remain faithful, clear boundaries must never be breached: the enemy is never a person, the weapons are exclusively spiritual, the objective is reconciliation, the model is the crucified and servant Christ. The Christ-soldier must remain a healer and a peacemaker, fighting with vigor against all that dehumanizes without ever becoming inhuman.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.Penulis.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (Refer to The Effect of Open Access).
References
Berger, P. L. (1967). The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. Anchor Books.
Bonhoeffer, D. (1955). Ethics (E. Bethge, Ed.). SCM Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Harvard University Press.
Bowie, F. (2018). The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell.
Carson, D. A. (1993). Exegetical Fallacies. Baker Academic.
Coser, L. A. (1956). The Functions of Social Conflict. The Free Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage Publications.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. Routledge.
Fanning, M. (2018). Spiritual Warfare: A Theology of Christian Conflict. Lexham Press.
Fee, G. D., & Stuart, D. (2014). How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Zondervan.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977 (C. Gordon, Ed., C. Gordon, L. Marshall, J. Mepham, & K. Soper, Trans.). Pantheon Books.
Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford University Press.
Goheen, M. W. (2004). A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story. Baker Academic.
Grudem, W. (2000). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Zondervan.
Hauerwas, S. (1983). The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics. University of Notre Dame Press.
Horton, C. M. (2018). Spiritual Warfare in an Age of Dis-ease: A Theological and Psychological Examination of the New Age and Christian Conflict. Lexington Books.
Horton, M. S. (2011). The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way. Zondervan.
Jenkins, P. (2010). Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Believe. HarperOne.
King, M. L., Jr. (1963). Letter from Birmingham jail.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2009). The Believer's Armor: Equipping for Spiritual Warfare. Thomas Nelson.
New International Version Bible. (2011). Zondervan. (Original work published 1978).
Niditch, S. (2006). My Brother Esau Is after Me": Biblical Narratives as Training Ground for Ethical Leadership. Westminster John Knox Press.
O'Brien, P. T. (1999). The Letter to the Ephesians. Eerdmans.
Packer, J. I. (1998). God's words: Studies of key Bible themes. InterVarsity Press.
Pargament, K. I. (1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press.
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice. Sage Publications.
Peterson, E. H. (2006). Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. Eerdmans.
Ricoeur, P. (1976). Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning. TCU Press.
Snyder, H. A. (1991). The Problem of Authority in the Church: A History of Authority in the Christian Faith. InterVarsity Press.
Spickard, J. V., Landres, J. S., & McGuire, M. B. (2002). Personal Knowledge and Beyond: Reshaping the Study of Religion. New York University Press.
Vanhoozer, K. J. (2005). The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology. Westminster John Knox Press.
Weber, M. (1947). The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. The Free Press.
Weber, M. (1963). The Sociology of Religion. Beacon Press.
Willard, D. (1988). The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. HarperOne.
Wink, W. (1992). Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination. Fortress Press.
Wolterstorff, N. (2015). The God We Trust: The Christic Vision of a Good Life. Cambridge University Press.
Yoder, J. H. (1972). The politics of Jesus. Eerdmans.