The book I Pledge Allegiance: The Role of Seventh-day Adventists in the Military deals with a challenging issue that is of growing concern to many within the Seventh-day Adventist Church: the role of Seventh-day Adventists in the military. How can Seventh-day Adventists with good conscience voluntarily serve in the armed forces? Being in the military means the conscious submission to an organization whose mission is characterized by force and the use of arms to solve conflicts. How does the unconditional military pledge of allegiance square with the biblical ethics of peace as exemplified by the prince of peace, Jesus Christ?

In dealing with these and other related issues the book briefly covers some aspects such as the church’s historic position on noncombatancy and provides a revealing account of how military chaplaincy began in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and what the role of military medics in the (US-) army is. In a second section various hermeneutical and ethical issues are dealt with such as the issue of war and theocracy in the OT, the command not to kill, the Sabbath issue, and the challenge of patriotism. Other chapters reprint testimonies from Adventists who have been faithful in keeping the Sabbath even while serving in the military during the First World War (WWI). There are five appendices with primary sources about the work of the Church’s National Service Organization, vital facts about service in the military and Sabbath observance, the General Conference Report on Chaplaincy, the official statement of the General Conference Committee on Seventh-day Adventists and noncombatancy, and pledges, oaths, codes, creeds and vows.

The personal testimony of Keith Phillips, who has served seven years in the U.S. military before he became a Seventh-day Adventist, provides helpful insights into the dynamics of why many young people join the military. The book succeeds in pointing out some inconsistencies in the thinking of some Adventists on this issue. The authors point out implications that arise from inconsistent thinking. The sensitive issue of patriotism is dealt with fairly. Who deserves to receive the highest loyalty and devotion? Is it a human state or God? As Mark Twain has aptly stated: “To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, ‘Our country, right or wrong. . . . ’ Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation?” Furthermore, are the responsibilities that are assumed and expected when individuals pledge allegiance to the military compatible with allegiance to Jesus Christ? The book rightly points out that from a biblical perspective they are not. Since there is voluntary enlistment in the armed forces of the United States of America this conflict is sharpened. The book focuses on the issue of voluntary military service without denying that similar problems arise when there is a draft.

The discussion about the role of the military chaplain (pp. 39-66) and the military medic (pp. 67-71) demystifies this line of work in the army and points out the difficulty of serving in the armed forces even in such a capacity.

On the other hand, it would have been helpful to deal with the topic from a more international point of view because Adventists face similar questions in other parts of the world as well. Some of the arguments set forth seem to be too narrowly reasoned. While it is certainly true that, from a biblical-prophetic perspective, America’s role in the future raises a question about “the purpose of the military in light of Revelation 13” (p. 15, cf. pp. 50-51, 54, 57), there are other more profound ethical and moral reasons that challenge the bearing of weapons and the joining of armed forces that need to be considered. Occasionally, arguments need to be differentiated more carefully. While it may be true that Luther firmly maintained “that there should be no resort to secular power in support of the Reformation, and no appeal to arms for its defense” (p. 126) historically the Lutheran church has made use of secular powers and used arms to defend its cause.

The book also suffers from the fact that it is not written by one person. While Keith Phillips and Karl Tsatalbasidis, two Adventist pastors, seem to be the principal writers of the book, at least one chapter (“Thou Shalt Not Kill”) is written by Ron du Preez, who also helped in gathering key source documents. Several chapters are completely taken over from other books and journals. Often the transition from one section to another is rather abrupt. The logic of the arrangement of some of the chapters is not entirely clear (i.e., why is chapter 5, which contains a testimony taken from another book, not included in section three that is entitled “Testimonies”?). In addition, the book is not always carefully edited and several sources are missing or incomplete.

Furthermore the book would have benefitted from the biblical insights of other authors. There is much to be learned from Christians within a tradition of peaceful conflict resolution. Books like John Howard Yoder, What Would You Do? A Serious Answer to a Standard Question (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1992) or his classic The Politics of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), are missing in the bibliography as well as the classic book on early Christian attitudes toward war, violence, and the state by Jean-Michel Hornus, It Is Not Lawful for Me to Fight (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1980). Beyond accounts from WWI, other powerful and faith-inspiring true stories of people who have resisted violence to solve conflicts would have helped to gain a more comprehensive perspective on peaceful conflict resolution (cf. Elisabeth Hershberger Bauman, Coals of Fire [Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1994]). Similarly other relevant Adventist literature on this issue has not been considered adequately. There is no mention of the problem that serving in the military caused within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, leading to the Adventist Reform Movement (cf. Helmut H. Kramer, The Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement [Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute, 1988]). If there is a deficiency with this book it is not so much in what it states and affirms but in what it leaves out and how the arguments at times are developed and presented.

Despite these deficiencies, the book deserves to be read widely. It is available through www.AdventistsConnect.org. The general principles it sets forth deserve to be taken seriously by any Seventh-day Adventist. It provides a welcome challenge to some distorted perspectives on this issue and may help redirect some Adventist practices to be more in harmony with the supreme example of Jesus Christ.