SHOULD CHRISTIANS KILL IN SELF-DEFENSE?
By Preston Sprinkle - Fight a Christian Case for Nonviolence.

"Interestingly, many famous theologians, such as Augustine, who were okay with killing in war believed that a Christian should not kill in self-defence. This view is less prevalent today. Most people assume that if someone is trying to kill you, you are justified in killing that person. But does the Bible support this?

In every instance where the New Testament portrays or discusses someone facing a personal physical threat, there is no clear allowance to use violence to defend oneself. Again, as we've seen throughout the New Testament, Christians are to follow their Lord in not violently resisting evil people, in turning the other check, in going the extra mile, and in never retaliating with evil for evil. These are all personal attacks. There is nothing in the New Testament that advocates self-defense, yet many passages place great value on suffering when wrongfully attacked.

If you are a Christian and somebody kills you, what do you lose, anyway? "To die," says Paul, "is gain" (Phil. 1:21). We are guaranteed resurrection life, and our attacker is given an opportunity - like Jeffrey Dahmer (who came to Christ in prison) to accept this gift. If an attacker kills me because I refused to use violence, thereby imitating my resurrected Lord, I cannot see how this would be a bad thing."