I aimed to argue clearly and concisely, based on Scripture, against the use of terms that dehumanize men who – although their wickedness be manifested in monstrous behaviors – nevertheless, remain men created in the image of God, however marred and perverted the divine image in them may be. Unfortunately, today’s culture provides no shortage of cases which lead us to reflect on this sad reality of the human race.

From my helicopter flying days in the distant past, I recall what our instructors called the “1-in-60 rule”: if an aircraft maintains a course that is only 1 degree off for 60 miles, the aircraft will be 1 mile off course. Although 1 degree off course is almost perfect, after 60 miles the checkpoint or landing zone will be a full mile off to one side – enough of an error to compromise the mission.

That’s basically how I see my recent op-ed in The Aquila Report (TAR), Christians: Stop Calling Them ‘Monsters’ (4/25/25). I aimed to argue clearly and concisely, based on Scripture, against the use of terms that dehumanize men who – although their wickedness be manifested in monstrous behaviors – nevertheless, remain men created in the image of God, however marred and perverted the divine image in them may be. Unfortunately, today’s culture provides no shortage of cases which lead us to reflect on this sad reality of the human race.

There’s been no such shortage since the Fall. Two centuries ago, the Greeks were fighting for their independence from Turkey. In 1827, an American observer to that region, Luther Bradish, Esq., addressed a gathering in New York City. Admittedly, the meeting was held for the purpose of raising relief for the suffering Greeks. Bradish told his audience:

I tell you that which I have myself seen. I have traversed that interesting, suffering country, in almost every direction, both before and since the commencement of the present revolution. I have seen the smoking ruins of her towns, and her villages—the devastation of her fields and her flocks. I have seen her peaceful inhabitants, men and women, murdered in cold blood. I have seen her daughters carried into slavery. I have seen them sold in the markets of Asia to furnish out the harems of her brutal oppressors. Nay, more, sir, I have seen the bleeding heads of her heroes, her patriots, and her venerable sages, exposed upon the gates of the seraglio, to the scoffs and insults of a ferocious fanatic, and infuriated mob. Each returning evening has brought new victims, and each succeeding morning renewed this horrid spectacle.

In my journey from Constantinople to Vienna, I traversed Turkey in Europe, in post on horseback, accompanied by Tartars. We often met the couriers of the government going into Constantinople, with several horses loaded with sacks. On inquiring what they had in charge, we were answered with a coldness truly Turkish, “O nothing but Greek heads and ears”; that is, the heads of chiefs and ears of all others, of the massacred population of some town or village, or of some unfortunate prisoners of war. This was not a circumstance that occurred rarely, but one of almost every day’s occurrence, and frequently happened several times in the course of the same day.[1]     

Readers may notice the similarities to ISIS a decade ago (Syria-Iraq), or, more recently, to Hamas. Notice, too, that Bradish – a former envoy of President John Quincy Adams and in 1827 the literary agent for novelist James Fenimore Cooper – managed to express the horrors of the Turks’ behavior toward the Greeks, doing so without referring to the perpetrators in dehumanizing terms. That was despite the murdering of “peaceful inhabitants,” including women; “daughters carried into slavery;” and countless sacks of “nothing but Greek heads and ears.” Bradish shows that one may describe barbarism without dehumanization.[2]

I’ve realized my first piece was too short. Although brevity and black-and-whiteness are often refreshing and clarifying, the effort was slightly off course. The subject deserved a longer, more nuanced argument in order to deal with an important issue: the speaker’s intent in the employment of language that is – or that may appear at first glance to be – dehumanizing.[3]

Before going to the Scripture, if readers haven’t noticed the trend in terminology especially since October 7, 2023, simply type in “Hamas monsters” on your search engine; you’ll find plenty. As mentioned already, a number of conservatives – who almost by definition value Western civilization – as well professing Christians (there is overlap), including some senior leaders in the U.S. and Israeli governments, have not been exempt from monster statements. If such leaders – including those of the highest caliber and character – struggle with dehumanizing language, rest assured they are not alone. This is a legitimate concern.

The two passages below shed some light on the matter of Christians referring to the wicked.

Titus 1:11-13. In Paul’s letter to Titus, the apostle seeks to “set in order” the unruly churches at Crete. Among the matters he addresses is the problem of false teachers, whom Paul says:

must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. For this cause reprove them severely that they may be sound in the faith [NASB].

Puritan commentator Matthew Henry writes that the false teachers at Crete must be stopped, “. . . not by outward force” but by “showing them their error.” The reliable testimony offered by a kind of poet-prophet (as the Greeks considered poets), whom Calvin has “no doubt” was the 7th-or-6th-century B.C. Cretan named Epimenides, addressed the vices of his own Cretan people. Epimenides called them liars, lazy gluttons – and particularly relevant for the purpose here – “evil beasts.”

First, Observe: it was not Paul who called them “evil beasts.”

Second, Paul has good reasons to allow such harsh wording to stand. He employs the poet’s language in his instructions to Titus for the purpose of reproving “severely” the offending Cretans. Henry suggests that Paul instructed Titus to deal “sharply” with that infamously depraved island people precisely because “their corruptions were many and gross, and committed without shame or modesty, and therefore should be dealt with accordingly.”

But why does Paul take pains with such men, why should he care? Because his intent is to correct the false teaching going on in the church in order “that they may be sound in the faith.” Moreover, Paul has no need to refrain from using the long-accepted, proverbial assessment of the Cretans for advancing the gospel.

Nahum 2:11-13. Here, the prophet Nahum describes in part the impending fate of the Assyrians, the destroyers of the Northern Kingdom of Israel:

Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub prowled,
With nothing to disturb them?
The lion tore enough for his cubs,
Killed enough for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions, I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

In this passage, Nahum speaks metaphorically in order to convey the historical reality that the doomed Assyrians have been a particularly predatory (preying, exploitative) people (“feeding place,” “prowled,” “tore,” “killed,” “filled his lairs with prey,” “torn flesh”). In 722 B.C., following a lengthy siege the Assyrian army captured Samaria, “. . . and carried Israel away into exile” (2 Kings 17:5-6). Two decades later, when Sennacherib sent his army against Judah and Jerusalem, his envoy boasted to King Hezekiah of the nations/cities the Assyrians had taken: Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, Ivvah, and Samaria. Further, the Assyrians demanded of Hezekiah, and received “three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.”

Lions, indeed. For obvious reasons, lions – predatory by nature – are respected and generally feared. For long years, Israel “did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant.” Finally, God’s judgment came in the form of the Assyrian army. Nahum’s use of “lions” is metaphorical and is not a case of dehumanization (2 Kings 18:11-35).

Hopefully, this course correction fills in a gap or two, helping to make a stronger case for Christians to stop calling them “monsters.”

Forrest L. Marion is a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian Church (PCA), Crossville, Tennessee.

[1] “Turkish Barbarity,” Charleston [South Carolina] Observer, Mar. 3, 1827.

[2] Forrest L. Marion, “The Contract Broken, and Restored: Air Rescue in Operation Inherent Resolve, 2014-2017 (Part 1 of 2), Journal of European, Middle Eastern, & African Affairs, Winter 2019, 104.

[3] Several readers provided me with gracious and valuable feedback, including TAR readers, family members, and a dear sister in Christ. I am grateful to each one.