Date of Award

1993

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Religion, MA

First Advisor

Andrew G. Mustard

Abstract

Problem When World War I broke out German Adventists were obliged to make a basic decision regarding their military service. Their readiness to do active service in the German forces resulted in considerable damage to their relations with the General Conference and Adventists in other countries. Method In comparing documents and reconstructing historical events this thesis tries to discover the former position of German Adventists on military service and how it changed. Historical documents are examined to determine whether or not they support the supposedly traditional Seventh-day Adventist stance on non-combatancy. Results The pragmatic decision of the Germans must be seen as a result of their fear of state sanctions. Their attempts to establish a sound theological basis to underpin their decision remain unconvincing and can be no more generalized dogmatically than the non-combatant position born in a democratic environment. Conclusions The position regarding military service can be determined only by the individual's sense of responsibility arising from the peace commandment of the Lord.

Comments

Completed at the Postgraduate School of Theology, Newbold College Campus

Subject Area

War--Religious aspects--Seventh-day Adventists., War--Biblical teaching.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/theses/40/

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