When war threatens, the modern world searches urgently for its causes: in alliances, resources, and political ambition. But Scripture locates the origin of violence elsewhere — in the human heart.
The Bible’s first account of bloodshed is not a war between nations, but the murder of a brother by a brother. Cain’s question — “Am I my brother’s keeper?” — still resounds wherever violence is justified, explained away, or called inevitable.
In War and the Bible, Saint Nikolai (Velimirović) of Serbia insists that this first fratricide is not a symbol but a pattern. Wars do not begin when weapons are raised; they begin when man severs his bond with God, and with it, his bond with his fellow man. Long before there were borders or armies, the rupture had already occurred — unseen, but decisive.
Reading Scripture alongside history, Saint Nikolai offers a vision that cuts against modern explanations of conflict. He does not deny the role of politics or economics, but he refuses to treat them as ultimate causes. Beneath every clash of powers, he sees a deeper law at work: when nations forget God, they inevitably forget one another. What takes shape inwardly as pride, fear, or envy eventually hardens into hostility between peoples.
This is what makes War and the Bible so unsettling — and so timely. Written in an age already scarred by global conflict, its words speak with undiminished force today, when militant rhetoric grows louder and appeals to power crowd out appeals to conscience. Saint Nikolai reminds us that no strategy can heal what is spiritually broken, and no peace can endure if it is built on denial of the soul.
Yet his message is not one of despair. If war has a spiritual origin, then peace does as well. Again and again, Scripture shows that history changes course not through force alone, but through a return to God — through repentance understood not as private guilt, but as a re-orientation of the heart that restores clarity of sight and makes reconciliation possible.
War and the Bible is therefore not a book about predicting conflicts or assigning blame. It is a call to see more deeply — to recognise the hidden laws that govern human history, and to recover the only path that leads beyond the endless repetition of violence.
We invite you to read this newly released e-book, a demanding and deeply Christian reflection on conflict, responsibility, and the way to true peace through faith. By ordering this book, you also support the charitable ministries of Saint Elisabeth Convent, through which we serve the poor, the sick, and those who bear the weight of a broken world.
From all our heart we thank you for your support and keep you in our prayers. “Give, and it will be given to you.“ (Luke 6:38).
