Peace offering

“ A peace offering will be the fulfilment of a vow or a willing thank offering; the offerer eating the sacrifice will be his appropriation to himself of the consecration; with it he will eat certain things such as unleavened cakes, oil and anointed wafers, signifying his faith in Christ's character which he will copy.
A trespass offering signifies reconsecration in connection with restoration for wrong, with recognition of the offerer's imperfection and the value of the ransom. ”

“ And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed. ”

“ Consequently, when we see nation stirred up against nation, and on the other hand see other nations exerting a powerful influence to bring about negociations of peace, shall we say they can bring it about? Do we expect they can stay the onward course of war? The Prophet of God has spoken it all, and we expect to see the work go on—and see all things fulfilled as the Prophets have declared by the spirit of prophecy in them. ”

“ The land is filled with widows and orphans; and mourning, lamentation and woe, have spread through all its extent. Oh! for a return of peace! When will the calamity be past? If some envoy from European power would lift up his voice, and in the name of humanity protest against the wrongs which we suffer, what relief would it afford! And if our enemy, whether yielding to necessity, or a sense of justice, should authorize a proclamation of peace to go through the land, how would our hearts leap for joy! ”

“ Yet we cannot escape from this situation, and obtain true peace, except by the aid of Jesus Christ. For to repress ambition and covetousness and envy—the chief instigators of war—nothing is more fitted than the Christian virtues and, in particular, the virtue of justice; for, by its exercise, both the law of nations and the faith of treaties may be maintained inviolate, and the bonds of brotherhood continue unbroken, if men are but convinced that justice exalteth a nation. ”

“ God calls us to love and serve our fellowmen. This is for Christians and other pacifists a matter of vocation. If, then, the government in war time, or under peace time conscription, requires some service of mercy or construction from us, which is not obviously and directly a part of war-making, we will raise no [7] objection to undertaking such work. We may even seek, and shall certainly be grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate our desire to be good citizens and helpful members of society, and to show a reconciling spirit. ”

“ How vast, how immeasurable, are the responsibilities which this great victory in righteous war has laid upon the Allies and America. God help us to live up to them. God help us to sow the future not with dragon's teeth, but with seeds of blessed harvest. God paint upon the broken storm-cloud the rainbow of eternal hope. God help us and our friends to make a peace that shall mean good to all mankind. God send upon our victory the light of the cross of Christ our Saviour, where mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other. ”

“ All such meetings have for their object the advancement of civilization. But—praise be to God!—this banquet and this assemblage are for none other purpose than love, for the purpose of announcing the divine Kingdom, for the manifestation of the ineffable traces of God, for reflecting the effulgences of the Kingdom of God, for binding hearts together, for service to the world of humanity, for the promulgation of humanitarian and altruistic realities, for the advancement and advocating of international peace, for the illumination of the whole world. ”

“ Thus we convey to you not only a vision in words: we summon the power of deeds of faith and sacrifice; we convey the anxious plea of our co-religionists everywhere for peace and unity. We join with all who are the victims of aggression, all who yearn for an end to conflict and contention, all whose devotion to principles of peace and world order promotes the ennobling purposes for which humanity was called into being by an all-loving Creator. ”

“ Let my prayer be acceptable to Thee, and graciously hear the intercession which I make confiding in the virtue of this holy sacrifice. I commend to Thy mercy our holy Father, N., our bishop, N., and all bishops and priests of Thy holy Church. Let Thy kingdom be spread more and more all over the earth; grant peace and concord to the nations; protect our country; preserve peace and love in all families. Remember graciously my parents, brothers, sisters, and relatives, my benefactors, my enemies, and all for whom I am in justice or charity bound to pray. ”

“ When the Savior of humanity was born in Bethlehem the sky sang forth, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will to men.' Peace was offered to the world through Christ, and when the spirit of Christ is supreme, there is universal peace—peace among men, peace among nations. ”

“ On your nod, such is the constitution of human affairs, the happiness of mortals is made to depend. You assume to be the images and representatives of Christ, your sovereign. Then, as you wish men to hear your voice shew the example of obedience, and hear the voice of your Sovereign Lord, commanding you, upon your duty, to seek peace and abolish war. Be persuaded that the world, wearied with its long continued calamities, demands this, and has a right to insist on your immediate compliance. ”

“ Upon those true and faithful citizens, men and women, who have borne up with unflinching hope in the darkest hour, and covered the land with their labor of love and charity, we invoke the divinest blessing of him whom they have so truly imitated. But chiefly to thee, God of our fathers, we render thanksgiving and praise for that wondrous Providence that has brought forth from such a harvest of war the seed of so much liberty and peace! We invoke peace upon the North. Peace be to the West! Peace be upon the South! ”

“ Rest thou assured that in this era of the spirit, the Kingdom of Peace will raise up its tabernacle on the summits of the world, and the commandments of the Prince of Peace will so dominate the arteries and nerves of every people as to draw into His sheltering shade all the nations on earth. From springs of love and truth and unity will the true Shepherd give His sheep to drink.
O handmaid of God, peace must first be established among individuals, until it leadeth in the end to peace among nations. ”

“ Although men of piety have prayed, and incessant, fervent, importunate petitions have gone forth from thousands of hearts, yet the awful Sovereign still holds in his hands the two divisions of our once happy union, and dashes them against each other like two vessels of the potter, breaking them into shivers. Is God our enemy? Does he muster the hosts for the battle? And is he unwilling to be at peace with us? ”

“ O Christ, the Peace of those above, and the great safety of those below, let Thy peace and safety, O Lord, rest upon the four corners of the earth, and especially upon Thy holy Catholic Church. Make Thy priests and kings to dwell in unity, cause violence to cease in all the world, scatter the nations that delight in war, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. ”

“ But if reconciliation and unity are witnessed, if security and confidence be established, if with heart and soul we strive in order that the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh may find effective penetration in the realities of humankind, inducing fellowship and accord, binding together the hearts of the various religions and uniting divergent peoples, the world of mankind shall attain peace and composure, the will of God will become the will of man and the earth a veritable habitation of angels. ”

“ And yet if there were more prayer there would be less war. May be the voice of prayer rising from our British army to the throne of God—rising also from friends in the homeland far away, is another Sacrament—a sign and a seal of the blessings foretold when the Prince of Peace shall reign. ”

“ When will men awaken to the imperative yet persuasive summons to repentance? Are not the awful vicissitudes of the days of war and death sufficient to arouse us to some realization of the solemnities of eternity? As a nation we have valiantly waged war for the vindication of the rights, privileges, and liberties of men. As individuals we are summoned by the call of God to resist iniquity, and to make peace and reconciliation with Him through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. ”

“ While this message is going forth, in your midst, it is a time of comparative peace, it is a time when the Lord our God is granting unto you the proclamation of mercy, and has given you peace in your homes, peace among yourselves; no civil wars are raging in your midst, though there are some foreign wars that occasionally disturb the peace of the people ”

“ Again, the bond holding men together may be political. How often it happens that the diplomacy of nations makes a treaty of peace one day and on the morrow a declaration of war! It is historically evident and manifest that these bonds are not self-sufficient.
The real bond of integrity is religious in character, for religion indicates the oneness of the world of humanity. Religion serves the world of morality. Religion purifies the hearts. Religion impels men to achieve praiseworthy deeds. ”

“ We are praying constantly, earnestly, that we "may be brought through strife to a lasting peace"; and that "the nations of the world may be united in a firmer fellowship for the promotion of Thy glory and the good of all mankind." No conditions of peace are worth accepting unless they will, humanly speaking, secure this result. ”

“ As to thee—O thou who art confessing the Oneness of God! —rise with all thy power to keep firm in the Testament of God, and firmly believe that, verily, all troops are defeated save those of the Testament and all banners are reversed, save that of the Covenant of God, which will wave over all horizons and will overshadow the hosts of spirit, love and peace, while agitated by the breeze of the favor of God. ”

“ Through all the clangor of arms and uproar of battle, this proclamation of peace sounds in our ears. Why, then is it that the war still rages, and that men still imbrue their hands in each other's blood?
Heaven, where God has fixed his throne, is a realm of peace and love; and the great Sovereign has formed the gracious design of extending his peaceful reign over this wretched world which we inhabit: but men oppose this gracious design. In heaven God is the centre of all attraction and the source from which all derive bliss ”

“ Since nothing is more contrary to that love which never fails (which is the summary both of law and gospel, both of grace and glory) than strife and contention, which bring confusion and every evil work, we must seek peace and pursue it; we must show a peaceable disposition, study the things that make for peace, do nothing to break the peace and to make mischief. If peace seem to flee from us, we must pursue it; follow peace with all men, spare no pains, no expense, to preserve and recover peace; be willing to deny ourselves a great deal, both in honour and interest, for peace' sake. ”

“ They are living in the midst of that world of passion and violence and tyrannical domination of which I have spoken, and yet they speak to us in tones of the most profound peace, and joy, and hope, and even exultation. The reason is that, through faith in our Lord, in His sacrifice, and in the promise of His spirit, they have found peace with God—the peace of which the angels spoke; they live in the blessed assurance of His goodwill, and they look forward with infinite rejoicing to His return, to establish, as He promised, a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ”

“ Our evangelists have so presented Christ, and so magnified the duty and the blessing of brotherly love, and so exercised, also, their gifts of Christian diplomacy, as to become peace-makers, and to restore a truly spiritual order at points where chaos seemed impending. ”

“ Let all the clergy, however they may differ in rank, order, sect, or persuasion, unite to cry down war, and discountenance it through the nation, by zealously and faithfully arraigning it from the pulpit. In the public functions of their several churches, in their private conversation and intercourse with the laity, let them be constantly employed in the christian, benevolent, humane work of preaching, recommending, and inculcating, peace. ”

“ In the sacred volumes we find the holy ministers of God called messengers of peace; from which it is obvious to conclude, whose ministers those men must be, who are the messengers of war. Hear this, ye mighty warriors and mark under whose banners ye fight; they are those of that accursed being who first sowed strife between man and his maker. To this first fatal strife are to be ascribed all the woes that mortal man is doomed to feel. ”

“ Bless all men everywhere who love and obey thy laws, and bless and do good unto thy people. Let their days be lengthened and multiplied upon the earth. Multiply their joy and increase their posterity, that peace may prevail and righteousness spread abroad among the nations. ”