The Ethic of Love for Enemies

The Gospel reading gives us today a complete description of the entire Christian ethic of love for enemies, an ethic, which is expressed more succinctly in several other places: "Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, do good to those who injure you." This ethic is particularly Christian. There is no other religion or philosophy that espouses it in the same stark terms. The closest parallel in history is the pagan philosophy of Stoicism, which advocates patience towards the ungrateful.

Many religions and ideologies espouse an opposite ethic, one that is based on hatred of ones personal, cultural and political opponents. In Islam, for example, we find the following reference at Surah 48:29: "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are ruthless towards unbelievers, but are compassionate among one another."

Similarly, the ideology of atheistic communism rejoices in the misfortune of its opponents as a matter of course in its propaganda. Recently, we witnessed the ecstatic celebrations of leftists across our country, when they heard that the President had contracted the coronavirus. The whole incident set up a stark contrast with similar situations a generation ago, when society was still more greatly influenced by Christianity, and rejoicing at the misfortune of one's enemies would have been perceived as being, at best, in poor taste. 

The adherents of different religions and ideologies would surely object that love of one's enemies is against human nature. To this, we would surely reply that it is contrary to fallen human nature to be sure, but it is entirely consistent with the perfection of human nature.

Let us examine carefully what we mean by love of enemies. We need to be absolutely clear when it comes to this issue, because what the Lord is commanding us is not an emotional love. Emotions cannot be commanded. What the Lord Jesus is commanding us to do is to make a decision. He is commanding us to make the decision to will the good of our enemies. When we will the good of our enemies, it stands to reason that we will will the ultimate good for them, even at the cost of them being deprived certain contingent goods. In other words, we want salvation for our enemies. It might be necessary for them to endure some sort of contingent misfortune in order for them to attain salvation.

Love of enemies is expressed first and foremost in prayer. Prayer for our enemies is not only beneficial for our enemies, but also for us, because by means of prayer, God begins to heal us of the enmities that divide us from others. Here again, we see an enormous contrast between Christianity and other ideologies. Again, the teaching of Islam, for example, is at variance. The Quran teaches that the hearts of believers are assuaged and consoled by the outward expression of anger, especially through acts of violence committed against unbelievers. In the Quranic worldview, in other words, vengeance gives consolation and peace. The fact that this runs counter human experience cannot be said forcefully enough. Vengeance does not objectively assuage anger and hatred but deepens and intensifies it. Feeding a snake will only make the snake bigger.

Prayer, on the other hand, puts us before God our Creator, the Creator of our enemies. Prayer forces us to come to terms with our own desire for God or the lack of desire we may have for Him. By the simple fact that we stand in the same relationship before God, in which our enemies stand, the differences between us begin to dissolve. The same atoning death on the cross was for me and my enemies.

Prayer for enemies is fittingly built into the prayers that the Church prescribes for daily use. During the night prayers, for example, after the dismissal, the Church prescribes the prayer of forgiveness to be offered. It begins, "O Lord, Who loves mankind, forgive those who hate and offend us." This should be our constant sentiment, as we push forward in Christ towards eternal life.