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Sometimes, skeptics note that the Bible makes contradictory statements about God. For instance, is God warlike:

Exodus 15:3—The Lord is a man of war.
Psalm 18:34—He teacheth my hands to war.
Psalm 144:1—Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.

Or peaceful:

Romans 15:33—The God of Peace.
1 Corinthians 14:33—God is not the author of confusion but of peace.
2 Corinthians 13:11—The God of love and peace.
2 Thessalonians 3:16—The Lord of peace himself give you peace always.
Hebrews 13:20—The God of peace....

(All verses quoted from the King James Version.)

How do we resolve it using the rule of non-contradiction?

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The same tension is also in a single verse: Rom 16:20 - The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. – Soldarnal Jul 7 '12 at 0:30
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"The end of war is peace" Oliver Cromwell – Bob Jones Jul 7 '12 at 1:28
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@Caleb The skeptic points out that the Bible says God is A and -A. The proper answer is to show that -A is really B, and they have butchered the law of non-contradiction. This is a hermeneutic problem. – Bob Jones Jul 7 '12 at 12:59
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@Caleb: I think the question could be resolved by carefully interpreting each text in turn and showing that they could, indeed, be communicating something non-contradictory about the same God. But that's not how the question is asked. I'd like to see it edited with a bit more of the "back-story" to explain why this is a hermeneutical problem, not a doctrinal one. – Jon Ericson♦ Jul 7 '12 at 16:30
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@Caleb: Actually, now that I've edited the question, I think I agree with you. Either the answer is easy (and non-doctrinal): "different contexts". Or the answer will involve a doctrinal framework that would be better addressed at Christianity.SE. I'm going to close it. Remember all, we can always reopen if we manage to edit it into shape. – Jon Ericson♦ Jul 7 '12 at 16:42
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closed as too localized by Jon Ericson♦ Apr 10 at 19:20

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2 Answers

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I don't see the problem. God as described in the bible is all-powerful and beyond human comprehension (see, for example, Job). Anything we can say about God is inherently limited because we are limited beings. (This is, most famously, the position of Maimonides, aka Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, writing in the 12th century CE.) Even if you hold that the bible is divinely written, our receipt of it passes through our imperfect minds and language.

God is sometimes a God of war, such as when leading the Israelites to victory against other nations. God is sometimes a God of peace, such as when sending the messiah. (These are not the only examples of either.) God is sometimes a punisher, wiping out thousands when they rebel, and sometimes gracious and compassionate and forgiving, such as in various dealings with the patriarchs, in forgiving the people who transgressed in the wilderness, and in taking Moshe's life privately and gently. Why would we expect God to behave the same way all the time no matter how the circumstances vary? Different inputs lead to different outputs.

As Kohelet writes, for every thing there is a season -- a time for war, a time for peace, and so on.

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Short Answer: God loves peace, created peace, and will make peace where it does not presently exist. This involves "going to war" with the enemies of peace.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. -Romans 16:20

God of peace

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is peace. The nature of the Spirit and the nature of God are one and the same. In this way, God is the God of peace; this is His nature; His desire; His way.

Another way of seeing this truth is to read about Heaven, where God's ways are finally going to be followed completely. Passages such as Revelation 21:4 clearly paint Heaven as a place free of war.

We do not have peace

Clearly the Creation is not currently "at peace". (It's almost as if someone has corrupted His perfect design!) Clearly the wicked are not "at peace" with God and His people.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:35-39

Unfortunately, not everyone wants to be at peace with God, with His ways, and with His people.

God will bring peace

To understand "the LORD is a man of war" we need to first consider who He is at war with.

And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

The LORD is at war with those who destroy the earth. The wicked destroy the earth through sin; through rebellion against God's perfect, loving, peaceful ways; through attacking God's people; through attacking God.

God is going to "make things right" again, and bring peace to His people by putting an end to those who refuse to walk in peace.

Conclusion

Ultimately, God desires perfect peace - this was His original design in the beginning, and this will be the reality again when everything is "fixed". It is in this way that we need to understand God as the "God of peace." Presently, His Creation is full of "destroyers", but He will take care of them - and it is in this way that we need to understand that "the LORD is a man of war."

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Good start... I'd like to see a specific reference to the rule of non-contradiction so that the skeptic can see specifically how he abuses it. Your article implies that the "way" has changed rather than God having changed with time. Can you address that using the terms of the rule of non-contradiction. Each answer that references it builds a case against the skeptic for abusing the rule. Thanks. – Bob Jones Jul 7 '12 at 1:26
Re: "peace is an aspect of love"? Say what now? God wages war because of his love. He loves what is good, therefore hates what is evil and opposes it. We have plenty of examples from this in scripture. I'm think throwing this statement into your argument makes it go all wonky as a line of reasoning (even if I agree with the conclusion). – Caleb♦ Jul 7 '12 at 11:30
@Caleb I agree with your statement that God wages war because of His love. However, peace is an aspect of love. I'll try to reword my answer when I get time to make it less confusing. I made some jumps without justification, but here's the gist for now: God is love - this is His nature. The Spirit is God. Thus, the nature of the Spirit is love. The fruit (not fruits) of the Spirit is love, explained in part by "peace" (not war!). Compare Gal 5:22-23 with 1 Cor 13:4-7 - they're describing the same thing. See also James 3:17-18. – Jas 3.1 Jul 7 '12 at 18:13

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