��in that day our actions, our words, our thoughts will be placed in
the scales, and the dip of balance on either side will
carry with it the irrevocable sentence�
(St. John Chrysostom)
The Christians accept that creation is an act of God, through which God Himself, freely created everything, both the visible and the invisible. He created the spiritual world as well as the material world and also spiritual and material human beings. The world is thus the product of the omnipotence of God. Through His great goodness, He wished that human beings be created and enjoy His blessing of creation. He made us the custodians of His earthly creation. He conceived and His conception was the work fulfilled by His Logos and perfected by the Paraclete. The Father, through Jesus Christ the Son, in the Holy Spirit, creates all things. The Holy Spirit is in Whom all things are, and everything that God makes is very good. The many evils which are perpetrated in the world today and since time immemorial, do not come from God but from fallen man. God sees all and desires the salvation of His own and God cooperates when man does good. Man however as an agent of free will and by his own choice may opt to do evil, in such cases, divine providence is concessionary to free will. God intends all people and happenings on earth to be for a good purpose, as God is Himself absolutely good and without spot of blemish.
Throughout the centuries of the Church�s history, the Trinitarian God has always been the beginning and the end of theological reasoning, not primarily as a formulated dogma, but as the basic reality from which the actual life of the Church emanates. Man is composed of both tangible and visible substance and also of rationality. Man�s soul and body relate to both heaven and earth and using his intelligence, man communicates with God. Whereas, by using his tangible essence, man is connected to secular things. God fashioned man and gave man breath from Himself, which the Logos recognized as an intelligent soul in the image of the Creator. In this way, man became supreme over all other visible and tangible beings, just a little lower than the angels. The image was however corrupted by the fall but restored to its original purity through the Lord Jesus Christ who restored man. Man has the potential to become deified by inclining towards God and thus partaking of Divine Glory. God made man sinless but also endowed him with free will so that when he sins it is of his own volition. Man can select either good or evil so there does exist the possibility of sin been selected. Sadly, many men misuse their free will and transgress and become egocentric and seek to become equal with God, thus turning aside from moral perfection and are trapped by the devil who seeks to efface from man the image of God. An antithesis rises up within certain people, a disharmony which is the result of vanity and original sin. The results are transplanted by heredity to future generations. Thus a sinful nature will deprive us of Divine Grace and subject us to death and a departure from the Divine Life unless we follow the path of salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ. Through the Holy Spirit we are led back to Paradise and the Kingdom of Heaven share in God�s Grace as children of Light. As such we are to be peacemakers, for we shall be called the sons of God.
Where there exists injustice, social inequality, hatred, distrust and vanity among nations which threaten world peace and where there is intolerance of other human beings, the Church does its utmost to contribute to peace and avoid conflict. As such, the Church should and does participate in multinational dialogues concerning peace, freedom, brotherhood, love and justice in society as well as between nations while simultaneously preaching the Christian faith as it has done throughout its history. This has been done so that it can enlighten people in the spiritual realm and serves the purpose of uniting people worldwide as well as those of the Christian faith. We strive for dialogue between nations and vigorously promote the idea of human rights in a Catholic basis. The unity of the human race springing from the archetypal couple of creation creates a fountain of the virtues of freedom, fairness, brotherhood and justice in society. We believe that the murder of human beings by any means and especially by wars is contrary to their dignity and to the Holiness of God. All human beings are sacred because they have been created in the image and likeness of God the Father. We thus seek to preserve and foster the common good of society, which sometimes may require that we render would be aggressors harmless and unable to inflict suffering and pain which is the result of wars they may perpetrate.
The Christian teaching which places everything under the headship of Jesus Christ, is virtuous and just and serves to foster love between all human beings and strives to drive away hatred and intolerance of the other. Wars and conflicts are to be condemned as they bring injustice and evil with them and should be avoided at all costs. The organic unity of Christians and the human race is clear in the teachings of Paul, where he tells us in Galatians chapter 3, that there is "neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman." We believe that the unity of the race is not static or monolithic but is in fact very dynamic and is based upon the prototype of unity, the three aspects of the Holy Trinity. The threat of conflict will hang over us until Christ returns, but by displaying love, people �shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more� (Isaiah 2:4). Peace and earth is the image of the peace of Christ who is the Prince of Peace.
The human race strives to poison itself with hatred and disbelief in a contaminated international atmosphere and has moved away from its position of love, friendship and mutual respect and tolerance. Nations arm themselves and war is seen as solving problems. The Church strives to always maintain Christian ideas and virtues of peace, freedom, equality, brotherhood and justice and especially love between nations. We thus spread the Gospels of peace, because Jesus Christ brought peace to everything by His blood shed on the Cross. We preach peace, the peace of Jesus Christ of His Mystical Supper. He gave us peace and this peace is the fruit of everything in our lives as we strive to become Christ like and unite the human race with the virtues and values and Truth of catholic Christian ideas of peace. There is peace from above that the Church wishes in the daily preaching and teachings according to God�s word and people are encouraged to pray fervently with faith. By shedding his blood on a cross at Golgotha, Jesus Christ personally killed hostility and reconciled humanity with God.
The Church as the Body of Christ is the custodian of peace and peace is synonymous with justice. Those who demonstrate love and become icons of Christ are true servants� of Jesus Christ. The peace of Christ is a mystical power, which springs from the transformation of a person on his or her path to the heavenly Father. We underscore the fact that spiritual gift depends to a large extent on human cooperation. The Holy Spirit provides spiritual gifts when the human heart lifts itself towards God, when there is atonement and when people request the justice of God in their lives. The gift of peace appears there were Christians are involved in acts of Faith, Love and Hope, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Speaking about the peace of Christ, as the true peace, we refer to peace brought about by the Church. Sin is a spiritual illness, the outer symptoms of which are turmoil wars with tragic consequences and hardship. The Church tries to get rid of these esoteric symptoms of sickness as it also strives to get to their source which is sin. The Church considers itself to be responsible for promoting peace and opens the path towards justice and brotherhood and true freedom and tries to foster love between all the children of our Father in Heaven who comprise the human family.
We support Christians all parts of the world who are deprived of peace and who are driven away from their homes because of their Christian beliefs. The Church condemns all war which is derived from evil and sin and which destroys human justice and takes away freedom. The Church does not therefore hesitate to preach that it is totally against all forms of arms procurement and military build up, because this in itself will lead to the destruction of creation and remove all vestiges of human life. Especially nuclear war must be outlawed not only because of millions of deaths that will inevitably result, but also because of the destruction of the environment. Nuclear war will result in never before witnessed disease and sickness and genetic changes which will afflict humanity and all life for centuries-so that forthcoming generations will live a life not worth having. Nuclear war will create a nuclear winter where the climate will change life on earth, as we know it and all life will perish. The fifth commandment forbids us to destroy life. It is clear that all war brings about injustice and evil and we must all therefore pray that God in His goodness will free us from the snares of war. It is clear that nuclear war is non-negotiable as an option from whichever aspect one approaches the theme, whether physically or ethically. It is a crime against humanity and a great sin against God Who�s creation is partly destroyed. It is therefore the responsibility of the Church and all the Christians to prevent such destruction by preaching love, understanding and tolerance.
We are also aware and notice that peoples feeling of helplessness in the event of nuclear catastrophe leads them to the thought that the Second and Glorious Coming of Jesus Christ is imminent. However, Jesus Christ or Lord Himself tells us concerning the signs of the times of his Glorious Return that no one will know when he will return. We are aware that the whole of humanity finds itself in the hand of God, who in his infinite wisdom created the cosmos and governs all. God guides history towards the future and people try to discern the eschatological reality of the Kingdom of God and a new heaven and a new earth. This is why people are concerned to remove evil and they struggle and they see everything through the prism of eternity, and await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the future in eternity. As members of His Church, we are obliged to work for the avoidance of wars at all costs. The modern weapons of war, more than ever before, have the potential to destroy all life, which is a God-given gift, and waging war is thus to be avoided.
God as the King of justice, condemns any stance of humans towards fellow human beings which is inhuman. In His Kingdom, which begins here on earth, and has a spiritual character, there is no place for ethnic intolerance and hate, no matter what enemies may exist. We maintain that those who serve in the armed forces of nations are in truth the servants of freedom and security and can contribute to a common good for society at large. We pray that God will guide them in all their activities so that they may be honourable members of society. We condemn war as it indiscriminately destroys towns and cities and lays to waste vast tracts of land while killing millions of people. It is a crime against God and humanity. The Christian faith believes that God created all the races from common blood and that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or freeman, male or female, but all are equal in Jesus Christ. The Church does not accept any division in any shape or form between the human races and their rights, which should be the same. All the inhabitants of the earth are equal and the Church does not support any divisions based on the colour of race and all minorities must be protected and respected as having equal value with majorities. The freedom of people is inexorably linked to the freedom of community in which one lives. Every community should strive to be pluralistic. The unity of a race and ethnic grouping, a country should consider all the different communities. The Christian is the one who says �we� rather than �I�, the one who has �brothers and sisters�. No one can be saved if he turns his back on them. To the question "and who is my neighbour?" Jesus Christ answered with the parable of the Good Samaritan. We strive not for self-love, but rather for shared love, for God is a Trinity, a self-giving �I and thou�. Our personhood is fulfilled in a spirit of community and because God is Trinitarian, our salvation is bound up with the salvation of our neighbours. Simply put, we cannot be saved unless we are responsible for everyone and everything. Salvation is always in and through the community of the Church. We are saved in unity with all the members of the Church and our faith commits us to fight against wars and oppression, deprivation and injustice, as we share in the uncreated energies of God.
The Christian faith confesses that every human being irrespective of their colour, religion, creed, ethnicity or language are created in the image of God. All are our brothers and sisters. We must do all possible to relieve the anguish of the oppressed as all of us are equal members in the human family. We must care in an active and practical way about conflict situations. As such, arms races and the sale of arms must be condemned as they promote violence. The moral right should be upheld at all times and all conflicts should be viewed as being contrary to the universal principles of peace and brotherhood. Arms races are a curse on humanity and serve the purpose of inflicting sorrow and pain on the whole human race.
The Church believes that it has the power to cultivate peace through all of its congregants, and through all of it�s spiritual means, especially prayer, strives to preach the truth. There is a real community of people on earth in which we all share, and there should be no place where disagreements can be aired more frankly than in a community of believers which has been established by the Grace of God. The Church has a very benevolent attitude towards all those outside of it and it is very loving and tolerant towards all of humanity. The laity constitute an essential portion of the body of the Church. The Church stands for ecumenical dialogue, reminding all to serve God and to repent and to seek the welfare of all our neighbours. The Church teaches that our nature springs out of our relationship with the Trinitarian God, who takes humanity upon Himself. He is revealed through Jesus as a unity and is regenerated through the Holy Spirit. Sinful man always depends on and is restored by the Creator in His revelation of the Trinity. God nourishes our nature. God in creating man in His own image, fills him with love which is the very essence of His being. The nature of man is found not only in God and His incarnation, but also in our fellow human beings. The right exercise of our free will presupposes from the outset the presence of Divine Grace in our lives, and without this, we would not be able to exercise our will correctly. Where we cooperate with fellow human beings, the Holy Spirit is at work. We must place our lives in His hands as we are saved by faith in Him, and not by works. We must be receptive and willing to accept what God wills as we strive to promote peace on earth and goodwill to all of humanity.
We need to re-establish the communion between ourselves and God, which sin has destroyed. We must seek Christ in us rather than Christ for us. Christ in His unbounded love was made what we are, so that He can make us what He is, the Prince of Peace. The world should be treated as a sacrament of the presence of the Creator and we must pray for all.
