Was Jesus a Pacifist?

Christians often misunderstand the meaning of "peace". Too often, it gets reduced to “just be nice” or “never fight back”—but that’s not what Jesus taught, and it’s not what the Church believes. In this episode of Wise Guys Podcast, we challenge the idea that peace equals passivity. We dig into what Scripture actually says, what the Church teaches about self-defense, and why protecting human dignity requires us to establish and sometimes enforce real boundaries. Peace isn’t about avoiding conflict, it’s about responding to it rightly. ✅ NOTES: During this episode, when addressing Jesus’ prohibition of armed revolution, (turn the other cheek), I failed to mention one obvious point: by turning the other cheek, Jesus tells us to oppose political injustice through non-violent resistance. The three best examples of this are the March on Montgomery, the Solidarity Movement in Poland, and the March for Life. The logic of non-violent resistance does not eliminate the right to self-defense. Rather, it affirms that armed resistance is almost never a morally licit means for resolving political failure. It’s too destabilizing to the commonwealth. The same logic is applied when the state seeks to execute a Christian because of their faith. Non-violent resistance represents the decision to appeal to a higher authority, namely, God. It is not a command to be passive in the face of abuse. -Dr. Michel Therrien