ness, Jesus was not setting up a rule thatrnevery Apostle mmt carry a sword (or arnpurse or a bag). For the eleven, twornswords were “enough.”rnMore importantly, Jesus may not havernbeen issuing an actual command thatrnanybody carry swords, or purses, or bags.rnThe broader, metaphorical point beingrnmade by Jesus was that the Apostlesrnwould, after Jesus was gone, have to takerncare of their own worldly needs to somerndegree. The purse (generally used forrnmoney), the bag (generally used forrnclothing and food), and the sword (generallyrnused for protection against the robbersrnwho preyed on travelers, includingrnmissionaries, in the open country betweenrntowns) are all examples of toolsrnused to take care of such needs. Whenrnthe Apostles took Jesus literally, andrnstarted showing him their swords, Jesus,rnfrustrated that they had missed thernmetaphor, ended the discussion. Thernmetaphorical interpretation is supportedrnby most scholarly analysts.rnEven when reduced to metaphor,rnhowever, the passage still contradictsrnthe rigid pacifist viewpoint. In thernmetaphor, the sword, like the purse orrnthe bag, is treated as an ordinary item forrn• READERS! •rnIfrnyou havernfriends or relativesrnwho may enjoyrnChronicles,rnplease send us theirrnnames andrnaddresses.rnWe would bernpleased to sendrnthem arncomplimentaryrnany person to carry. If weapons and defensivernviolence were illegitimate underrnall circumstances, Jesus would not haverninstructed the Apostles to carry swords,rneven in metaphor, any more than Jesusrnwould have created metaphors suggestingrnthat people carry Ba’al statuettes forrnprotection, or that they metaphoricallyrnrape, rob, and murder.rnA few hours after the final instructionsrnto the Apostles, when soldiers arrived tornarrest Jesus, and Peter sliced off the ear ofrnone of their leaders, Jesus healed the ear.rnHe then said “Suffer ye thus far” (Lukern22:49-51) or “Put up thy sword into thernsheath” (John 18:11) or “Put up againrnthy sword into his place: for all they thatrntake the sword shall perish with thernsword” (Matthew 26:52).rnJesus then rebuked the soldiers for effectingrnthe arrests with clubs and swords,rnfor Jesus was “not leading a rebellion.”rnThe most immediate meaning of thesernpassages is that Jesus was preventing interferencernwith God’s plan for the arrestrnand trial. Additionally, Jesus was instructingrnthe Apostles not to begin anrnarmed revolt against the local dictatorshiprnor the Roman imperialists. Jesusrnhad already refused the Zealots’ urgingrnto lead a war of national liberation.rnDo the passages also suggest a generalrnprohibition against drawing swords (orrnother weapons) for defense? The versionsrnof the story recounted in Luke andrnJohn do not, but the ‘ersion in Matthewrncould be so read.rnIf Matthew is analyzed along the linesrnI ‘f “He who lives by the sword will die byrn!he sword,” the passage is an admonitionrn’ Sat a person who centers his life on vio-rn:nce (such as a gang member) will perh.rnOn the other hand, a translation ofrnall who draw the sword will die bv thernsword” could be read as a general rulernagainst armed violence in any situation.rnThe best way to understand the Bible,rnmost theologians would concur, is not tornlook at passages in isolation, but insteadrnto study passages in the context of thernrest of the Bible. If the single line inrnMatthew were said to indicate that torndraw the sword is always wrong, then itrnwould be difficult to account for the otherrnpassages which suggest that drawing arnsword as a soldier (or carrying a sword asrnan Apostle) is not illegitimate. Whenrnexamined in context of the Bible as arnwhole, the passage warns against violencernas a way of life, rather than as a banrnon defensive violence in all situations.rnA 1994 document produced by thernVatican’s Pontifical Council for Justicernand Peace states: “In a worid marked byrnevil and sin, the right of legitimate defensernby armed means exists. This rightrncan become a serious duty for those whornare responsible for the lives of others, forrnthe common good of the familv or of therncivil community.” The document notesrnthat “the right” to armed defense “isrncoupled with the duty to do all possiblernto reduce to a minimum, and indeedrneliminate, the causes of violence.”rnThe Catholic Church recognizes peoplernas saints because (among other reasons)rntheir lives are considered worthy ofrnstudy and emulation. February 27 is thernfeast day of Saint Gabriel Possenti. Accordingrnto The One Year Book of Saints,rnas a young man in 19th-century Italy,rnFrancesco Possenti was known as the bestrndresser in town, as a “superb horseman,”rnand as “an excellent marksman.” Thernyoung man was also a consummate partyerrnand was engaged to two women atrnthe same time. Twice during school hernhad fallen desperately ill, promised torngive his life to God if he recovered, andrnthen forgotten his promise. One dav atrnchurch, Possenti saw a banner of Mary.rnHe felt that her eyes looked directly atrnhim, and he heard the words, “Keep yourrnpromise.”rnPossenti immediately joined an orderrnof monks, taking the name BrotherrnGabriel. The main incident for whichrnSaint Gabriel Possenti is rememberedrnwas this:rnOne summer day a little over arnhundred years ago, a slim figure inrna black cassock [Possenti] stoodrnfacing a gang of mercenaries in arnsmall town in Piedmont, Italy. Hernhad just disarmed one of the soldiersrnwho was attacking a youngrngirl, had faced the rest of the bandrnfearlessly, then drove them all outrnof the village at the point of a gun.rn. . . [W]hen Garibaldi’s mercenariesrnswept down through Italy ravagingrnvillages. Brother Gabrielrnshowed the kind of man he was byrnconfronting them, astonishingrnthem with his marksmanship, andrnsaving the small village where hisrnmonastery was located.rnSaint Gabriel Possenti’s “astonishingrnmarksmanship” was displayed after hernhad just disarmed the soldier. The mercenaries’rnleader told Possenti that itrnwould take more than just one monkrn44/CHRONICLESrnrnrn