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In 1998, a Christianity Todayarticle called the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS) "one of the most promising publishing ventures in evangelical scholarship." Books & Culture went even further, calling it "the most important project in religious publishing at the end of the millennium." Twelve volumes (out of 28) and five years later, the ACCS, published by InterVarsity Press, continues to earn plaudits from evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

There is much in this "Christian Talmud" that speaks directly from the early church fathers to Christians of today. Each month, the ACCS team will comb ancient letters, sermons, commentaries, and other writings on specific topics in the news (the ACCS series, in contrast, is arranged biblically rather than topically).

Like the ACCS, the Ancient Christian Commentary on Current Events draws from the church's first seven centuries, and the selections are chosen for their insight, rhetorical power, and faithful representation of the consensual exegesis of the early church. Where possible, we've linked to the full text of the original writings (Note, however, that the linked documents are generally public domain—and thus older—translations than the ones appearing here).

"It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between," said C.S. Lewis. The same could be said about the analysis of current events—never allow yourself to read more of what today's experts have to say until you've read how the first Christian experts already weighed in on the subject.

The ancient church understood that war has been around as long as human beings and sin have coexisted. It is a consistent tenet throughout the Christian tradition that war is the result of sin. The responses to war, however, have followed two basic trains of thought: pacifism, and the idea that certain wars can be just.

Pacifism is characteristic of the early centuries of Christianity in someone like the North African apologist Tertullian (160-220 A.D.), who regularly warned Christians to distance themselves from pagan culture. He wrote: "How will he serve in the army even during peacetime without the sword that Jesus Christ has taken away? Even if soldiers came to John and got advice on how they ought to act, even if the centurion became a believer, the Lord by taking away Peter's sword, disarmed every soldier thereafter. We are not allowed to wear any uniform that symbolizes a sinful act" (On Idolatry 19.3).

The third-century Roman Presbyter Hippolytus wrote The Apostolic Tradition, Canon 16, (ca. 215 A.D.) which opposed serving in the military as a matter of church discipline: "A soldier in the lower ranks shall kill no one. If ordered to do so, he shall not obey, and he shall not take an oath. If he does not want to comply with this directive, let him be dismissed [from the church]."

Origen (185-254 A.D.), sought to defend Christians against the charges of the pagan Celsus. Speaking in defense of the support Christian's provide to the empire, he nonetheless admonishes that the Christian's only role in war should be that of intercessor: "This would be our answer to those who are strangers to our faith and who ask us to take up arms and to kill men for the common good … Christians fight as priests and worshippers of God while others fight as soldiers. Christians fight through their prayers to God on behalf of those doing battle in a just cause and on behalf of our emperor who is ruling justly in order that all opposition and hostility toward those who are acting rightly may be eliminated. … We do not go out on the campaign with him [the emperor] even if he insists, but we do battle on his behalf by raising a special army of piety through our petitions to God" (Against Celsus 8.73). He, however, also notes in this same document that "if wars are ever necessary, they ought to be just and ordered" (Against Celsus 4.82).

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October (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47