“First in War, First in Peace . . .” [:] One Baptist Chaplain of the America Revolution

By Dr. Roger Duke

Used with Permission.

“Light Horse Harry Lee ha[s] famously eulogized his friend Gen. George Washington as ‘first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.’”[1] This bromide might also be attributed to our Baptist chaplains, especially in the founding of the American Republic as she was being forged through the crucible of war.

From the time of the Protestant Reformation through present Baptist history, the military chaplain has played an integral role in times of war, national emergencies, as well as in times of peace. From their common deaths on the battlefield, men such as Ulrich Zwingli to Dale Goetz have given that “last full measure of devotion” to the cause of Christ and His Church. All the while, they attended to the spiritual needs of the soldiers who had also gone into “harm’s way.”

Consider the Swiss Reformer:

Zwingli himself died on the battlefield, in the prime of manhood, aged forty-seven years . . . . He made no use of his weapons, but contended himself with cheering the soldiers. . .  . Soon after the battle [of Kappel] had begun, he stooped down to console a dying soldier, when a stone was hurled against his head by one of the Waldstatters and prostrated him on the ground. Rising again, he received several other blows, and a thrust from a lance. Once more he lifted his head, and, looking at the blood trickling from his wounds, he exclaimed: “What matters this misfortune? They may kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul.” These were his last words.[2]

In memory of his contribution to the Reformation, “Zwingli[’s] . . . statue, with a sword in one hand and the Bible in the other, stands near the municipal library at Zurich.”[3] “Ministers of the Gospel have always played an important role in history. Of particular interest . . . [are the] chaplains in the United States.”[4]

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How do you vindicate the actions of Israel with the way of peace that Jesus taught? How does “complete destruction” run parallel to “turn the other cheek?” To the careful and honest reader this creates a sincere question that takes thought to work through. We can’t come to the conviction that God changed his ways from the Old to New Testament, and we definitely can’t say that it’s a different God operating in the Old and New Testaments. So what is the solution?

I think the solution lies in seeing Israel’s war and conquest within the biblical framework of history. Here we see it as an exception and not a rule in the way a country behaves. And we see the complete work of a Sovereign God over the nations interacted through multiple ways.

So here are a few points that show us that God is just in having Israel take the Promised Land (mainly in the book of Joshua) by war.

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