Sword-Swinging Jesus

I forgot to bring the paper with me this morning on the boat, so I splurged on a $1 copy of the New York Times. In it, I read an opinion piece that almost made my jaw drop open. "The Prince of Peace Was a Warrior, Too" by Joseph Loconte is an essay arguing that the National Council of Churches' recent proclamation against the proposed war on Iraq was based on a "simplified" reading of scripture. Jesus, according to Laconte, had his hawkish side. Check out the Word of God:

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34)

Wow. I had to read it again a couple of times. Loconte doesn't say which translation he's using, but I can't imagine that statement being mistranslated. I knew Jesus could get a little riled up, but I thought that aside from chasing out money changers, he was pretty much a lamb...or a dove, anyway. It makes me realize that the last time I read the Bible was when I was in Sunday school. I once tried to read it through, but I gave up when people started begetting each other.