“Part of Republicans’ problems and, frankly, to tell you the truth, some in the evangelical Christian movement, I think have appeared too eager for war,” Paul said.

“When people come to me and they’re lobbying for ratcheting up some bellicose policy –- even if it’s a bad country — I tell them: When I read the New Testament, and when I read about Jesus, he wasn’t really involved in the war of his days,” the senator continued. “In fact, people rebuked him for not being the king they wanted; they wanted somebody to stand up to the Romans.”

Comments like these are likely to further irritate the war-hawkish elements of the Republican Party, such as Weekly Standard founder Kristol who called the senator a “dangerous” “neo-isolationist,” and Fox commentator Krauthammer who dismissed Paul’s civil liberties concerns as “absurd” and ridiculous.”

In what seems like a direct criticism of some of the practices contained within American foreign policy, the senator then said that “[Jesus] didn’t organize coalitions and guerrilla bands and arm them.”

He concluded: “Blessed are the peacemakers, not blessed are the warmakers.”