WHEREAS, The Bible upholds the great ideal of peace, shares the vision of a time when mankind’s swords will be beaten into plowshares and our spears into pruning-hooks, and calls the people of God to be at peace with Him, at peace with ourselves, and at peace with others; and
WHEREAS, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is called the Prince of Peace and is the key to the fulfillment of the biblical vision of peace; and
WHEREAS, The Bible teaches that Christians are to “follow after the things which made for peace” (Romans 14:19); and
WHEREAS, The biblical criterion for experiencing peace on earth is the realization of justice in human relationships; and
WHEREAS, The relentlessly continuing pursuit of the nuclear arms race leads our world ever closer to the brink of a terrible holocaust which would be unimaginably destructive.
Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we, the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention meeting, June 14-16, 1983, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, encourage Southern Baptists to work actively in the pursuit of peace with justice not only through preaching, teaching, and praying in our homes and churches, but also through involving ourselves as Christian citizens, doing the things which make for peace as an expression of our ultimate loyalty to our Lord Jesus Christ; and
Be it finally RESOLVED, That we go on record as prayerfully desiring an eventual nuclear disarmament, provided it would in no way compromise the security of our nation by being less than fully mutually verifiable; and that we assure our nation’s leaders of our earnest prayers that they may be encouraged and strengthened to work for peace with justice.