In March 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. This involved loss of life and home for many as huge numbers of people were displaced.
In the Institutes Book 4, 20,11 Calvin poses the following question about one nation making war with another:
For if power has been given to them to preserve the tranquillity of their dominion, to restrain the seditious stirrings of restless men, to help those forcibly oppressed, to punish evil deeds can they use it more opportunely than to check the fury of one who disturbs both the repose of private individuals and the common tranquillity of all who raises seditious tumults and by whom violent oppressions and vile misdeeds are perpetrated?
The problem for the international community would seem to be that the invader in the case of the Ukrainian War: Russia is the nation that is intent on oppression and actions that are evil.
It is necessary to realise the context in which Calvin is composing this text. It occurs at the end of the Institutes. Earlier Calvin has indicated that we should follow the scriptural injunction to submit the earthly authority (Romans 13:1) unless the ruler is ungodly where we should follow our consciences Acts 5:29. He develops his arguments largely with the premise that the rulers or princes are aware of the ultimate sovereignty of God. In the case of the regime in Russia this would appear not to be the case.
For Calvin the state authority, if it recognises and acknowledges God must therefore be able to punish individuals who commit misdeeds and defend “by war the dominions entrusted to their safekeeping”. He says that “the holy Spirit declares such wars to be lawful by many testimonies of scripture”. This is a direct reaction to the pacifism of the Anabaptists who did not allow for rulers to defend their people.
The Russian Orthodox church would appear to support the invasion of Ukraine. By no means can the invasion be seen as a legitimate defence of the Russian nation. A viable route to a clear conscience for Russian Orthodox Christians would seem to be by taking the actions described in Acts 5:29, but that will be costly for their jobs families and well being. The choices for us may not be as physically stark, but come around day by day, especially as the UK government seems to have abandoned any moral or ethical stance in many areas.
