Quote:
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specific guidance given in the gospels by Jesus himself - not interpretation, not commentary by the authors of the gospels, but the actual recorded words
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Where?
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you cannot be a Christian (as I was taught it is defined) if you go armed, or if you advocate the carrying and use of deadly weapons.
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"But they said: Nothing. Then said he unto them: But now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip; and he that hath not, let him sell his coat, and buy a sword."
Douay-Rheims Bible, Luke 22:36. Other translations are much more explicit; "he that hath no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one."
Here we see Jesus
instructing His followers to go armed. Not to carry dual-use
tools such as axes or knives, but single-purpose
weapons. Moreover, His instruction to sell the CLOAK to pay for the sword is indicative of the importance He places upon this: in the Middle Eastern world at the time a person's cloak was among their most important possessions; -so- important, in fact, that Old Testament law required that if a cloak was taken as collateral on a loan, the cloak had to be returned to the owner
before nightfall of the same day (Exodus 22:26) so that the owner would not have to face the freezing desert night without a covering. And -this- is what Jesus says to sell, if needed, to buy a sword.