Romans 12:17
Romans 12:1717Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
Watchtower commentary takes as describing Christian non-retaliation and good public reputation. The verse fits within the broader doctrine of cosmic neutrality — Witnesses do not return evil for evil and do not engage in the conflicts of "Satan's system." The verse is sometimes cited alongside the JW peace record to argue for the organisation's superior witness compared to other religious groups.
"Return evil for evil to no one" is the Christian standard shared by every tradition that takes the Sermon on the Mount seriously. But the JW reading of "non-retaliation" expands into civic withdrawal: no jury service, no petitions, no flag salutes, no military service even in defensive contexts. The historic peace churches — Mennonites, Quakers, Brethren — share the non-retaliation ethic of v17 without the civic withdrawal that the JW doctrine adds. Mennonite Central Committee runs refugee resettlement in war zones; Quakers led the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. 's non-retaliation is compatible with active engagement on behalf of the vulnerable. The Watchtower has narrowed Paul's command into cosmic neutrality the verse itself does not require.
The NWT renders kala as "what is fine" — consensus reads "what is honourable" (ESV/NASB) or "what is right in the eyes of all" (NIV/KJV). "Fine" in modern English is aesthetic rather than moral; kalos in Pauline usage carries the weight of public moral honour. The NWT's preference flattens the moral-honour category into stylistic appearance — a recurring pattern with kalos throughout the NWT.