Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/6156

6156 "Thou shalt not kill...."

January 6, 1955: Book 66

Those who are wise in the world are not always so when it comes to instructing other people in the divine-spiritual.... There is a difference between how worldly people judge and how God judges, and for the most part worldly prudence will judge in a way that is beneficial for worldly people.... But they do not consider whether this also corresponds to divine will. It can never be in the will of God that the powerful should rise above the powerless, that it should oppress the weak and deprive it of its freedom. God created all people with equal rights and never gave the strong the right to abuse his strength in such a way that he subjugates the weak.... But people's will is free, and the effect of a bad will can and will be directed by God in such a way that it is a blessing for the person concerned.... so that in the end even detestable deeds can have an educational effect and promote the maturing of the soul.... but they can also have a negative effect if the will of the weak person affected is also bad.... Thou shalt not kill.... This commandment was given to you, and you should observe it at all times.... But every human being also has the duty.... to follow this same commandment.... to protect life.... thus also the right to defend oneself or the lives of others, because there will always be people who sin against God's commandments, who abuse their strength, who do not observe human rights and are obviously at the will of the one who is himself an enemy of God.... It is not God's will that an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth should be repaid, that man should repay evil with evil.... For all hatred is to be fought, and man is also to forgive his enemy, if he himself demands forgiveness from God.... But the life of a human being is also a gift from God which should be defended by everyone who is able to do so, because life is given to him for the maturing of the soul and therefore may not be given away lightly.... He is allowed to protect his own life.... he is therefore not held responsible in the case of self-defence.... but he is held responsible if he did not protect the life of others that he could protect.... For then he is just as guilty of their deaths as if he had killed them himself, for the commandment "Thou shalt not kill...." also includes the care for the life of the neighbour, it is simply a commandment of neighbourly love which must be fulfilled.... always provided that man is capable of protecting the life of his neighbour.... However, in the world the terms have become confused.... Hunger for power, political interests, hostility and unkindness have created laws which overturn the divine order.... Divine commandments remain unheeded, people have been taught false concepts of honour, everything is outside the divine order, and the idea of mutual destruction or weakening can be found everywhere, but hides under the cloak of justice.... Laws enacted by people force them to disregard the divine command.... and no human being holds the life of his neighbour sacred.... They submit to unjust demands, partly forced, partly voluntary; they are careless both with their own lives and with the lives of their neighbour.... They recklessly put themselves in danger and gamble with the lives of others.... They do not know the value of life for the soul.... And that is why they are also prepared to take up arms against their fellow human beings and are not only concerned with defending human life but also with achieving other aims which are always earthly-material and therefore cannot be divinely-willed. The thought of defending valuable life is only found in very few people.... whereas the thought of earthly advantages or favourable effects is predominant.... And the commandment "Thou shalt not kill...." is unhesitatingly rejected or even invoked only for the purpose of achieving other aims.... But there remains this commandment as a divine word: Thou shalt not kill.... And whoever ends the life of a fellow human being in free will, without danger to himself or others, commits an offence against this commandment, and he will have to answer for it.... And God will judge according to law and justice....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers