War, Peace, and Christianity
by Charles, J. DarylFormat: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2010-05-13
Publisher(s): INGRAM
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Summary
The authors speak from a just-war moral perspective toprovide Christians with expert and accessible answers to more thanone hundred common questions concerning the ethics of war.With issues of war and peace at the forefront of current events,an informed Christian response is needed. This timely volumeanswers 105 questions from a just-war perspective, offeringthoughtful yet succinct answers.Ranging from the theoretical to the practical, the volume looksat how the just-war perspective relates to the philosopher,historian, statesman, theologian, combatant, andindividual-with particular emphases on its historicaldevelopment and application to contemporary geopoliticalchallenges. Forgoing ideological extremes, Charles and Demy givemuch attention to the biblical teaching on the subject as theyprovide moral guidance.A valuable resource for considering the ethical issues relatingto war, Christians will find this book's user-friendly format ahelpful starting point for discussion.
Author Biography
J. Daryl Charles (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) is director and senior fellow of the Bryan Institute for Critical Thought and Practice, author of ten books, and a contributing editor to cultural Encounters and Touchstone. Timothy Demy (PhD, Salve Regina University), a retired US Navy commander, is an associate professor of military ethics at the US Naval War College.
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. 15 |
| Introduction | p. 17 |
| Just-War Tradition and the Philosopher | |
| What is the role of natural-law thinking in just-war moral reasoning? | p. 27 |
| Is there a development of natural-law thinking in the classical philosophical tradition? | p. 37 |
| What about cultural relativism? Aren't "truths" relative to the culture in which they are held? | p. 44 |
| What is the relationship between law, natural law, and coercion? | p. 48 |
| Isn't "just war" a contradiction in terms? | p. 51 |
| Doesn't just-war thinking really serve as a justification or pretext for violence? | p. 53 |
| Don't just war and pacifism represent two opposing poles on the spectrum of force? | p. 55 |
| Aren't all wars, because of the tragic loss of human life, inherently unjust and immoral? | p. 59 |
| Aren't there different varieties of pacifism? | p. 63 |
| Don't pacifists and just warriors want the same goal, namely, peace? | p. 66 |
| Doesn't the sanctioning of force inevitably lead to violence? | p. 70 |
| Isn't it a weakness of the just-war tradition that it can justify a war that is unjust? | p. 75 |
| What is the difference between a preemptive war and a preventive war? | p. 77 |
| What about the statement "All is fair in love and war"? | p. 78 |
| Isn't there a "presumption against war" in the just-war tradition? | p. 79 |
| What is the relationship, if any, between human rights and just-war thinking? | p. 82 |
| What about warfare and the environment? | p. 85 |
| What are the shortcomings of the just-war tradition? | p. 86 |
| What good is the just-war tradition in a secular and multi-faith world in which not everyone accepts it? | p. 88 |
| Does the just-war tradition prevent or promote war? | p. 89 |
| Does just-war moral reasoning apply to the problem of terrorism? | p. 90 |
| Just-War Tradition and the Historian | |
| In the history of ideas, is just-war moral reasoning a uniquely religious or specifically Christian perspective on war and peace, or are there precursors? | p. 97 |
| What is the significance of these just-war parallels in pre- or non-Christian cultures? | p. 103 |
| Given the clear traces of an emergent just-war thinking in early Christian history, what were early Christian attitudes toward war and military service? Was pacifism pervasive and universal? | p. 108 |
| What were attitudes toward military service and war among particular early fathers of the church? | p. 113 |
| When in the early centuries A.D. does just-war moral theory begin to develop in the Christian historical tradition? | p. 122 |
| Why is legitimate authority so important in the just-war thinking of Thomas Aquinas? | p. 128 |
| Isn't just-war thinking a pretext for crusading and imperialism? | p. 130 |
| What effect did the Protestant Reformation have on the church's understanding of war and military service? | p. 135 |
| What were Luther's views on war and military service? | p. 137 |
| What were Calvin's views on war and peace? | p. 141 |
| What about the "radical Reformation"? Not all Protestant Reformers shared the views of the high Reformers like Luther and Calvin | p. 143 |
| Were the Crusades examples of the just-war tradition? | p. 145 |
| Isn't the just-war position really just a Western and European justification for war? | p. 148 |
| How was the American Revolution understood from the standpoint of war? | p. 150 |
| How are we best to understand the American Civil War, and what were prevailing attitudes toward war? | p. 154 |
| Just-War Tradition and the Statesman | |
| What are the core criteria for going to war in just-war moral reasoning? | p. 159 |
| What are the prudential criteria in just-war moral reasoning, and how do they differ from the core criteria? | p. 171 |
| What about last resort and exhausting all possible nonviolent alternatives? It seems as if just-war proponents will inevitably justify going to war. | p. 174 |
| If the criterion of just cause is not satisfied, does this render a war unjust? | p. 177 |
| What is the role of the United Nations in a nation's decision to declare war? | p. 180 |
| How does just-war moral reasoning apply in the context of international relations? | p. 183 |
| Why should governments and people of religious persuasion in particular respond to genocide and egregious human-rights violations? | p. 186 |
| Isn't the just-war position really a pretext for an uncritical nationalism? | p. 189 |
| What about humanitarian intervention? Short of all-out war, should nations intervene to prevent or retard egregious human-rights violations or catastrophic geopolitical developments, and on what basis? What about a nation's claims to sovereignty? | p. 191 |
| What is the nature of humanitarian intervention? How does this differ from war? | p. 196 |
| What are the different types of humanitarian intervention? | p. 200 |
| What about the case of former Yugoslavia? | p. 203 |
| What are post bellum ("postwar") contributions that just-war thinking can make? | p. 205 |
| Can the just-war tradition accommodate the "war" on terrorism? | p. 208 |
| What is a preemptive war? | p. 213 |
| What is a preventive war? | p. 215 |
| Can preventive war be accommodated in traditional just-war categories? | p. 216 |
| How does the concept of "supreme emergency" relate to the just-war tradition? | p. 220 |
| Can just-war thought accommodate a world with weapons of mass destruction? | p. 224 |
| What about the statement "One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter"? | p. 228 |
| What is the relationship between Islamic terrorism, Islamic resurgence, and Islam's conflict with Western culture? | p. 231 |
| Is the just-war idea limited to self-defense? | p. 237 |
| What are the implications of just-war thinking for jus post bellum ("justice after war"), and what might this suggest in contemporary geopolitics? | p. 239 |
| How much flexibility is there in the just-war tradition to grow and accommodate new challenges? | p. 247 |
| Just-War Tradition and the Theologian | |
| Doesn't Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount to "turn the other cheek" and not resist evil require pacifism on the part of Christian faith? | p. 251 |
| Doesn't Jesus set aside the law in favor of a new ethic? | p. 254 |
| Isn't retaliation counter to Jesus' teaching and thus unchristian in spirit? | p. 259 |
| Doesn't St. Paul in Romans 12 require nonretaliatory, nonviolent responses to evil? | p. 262 |
| What about "rendering to Caesar"? After all, Jesus seems to have exposed Rome's pretensions of sovereignty. | p. 263 |
| Hasn't Romans 13 been used to justify much evil by political regimes throughout history? | p. 267 |
| Isn't political power a "necessary evil," if not inherently evil, as portrayed in the Revelation? | p. 271 |
| Since Christians are called to be "peacemakers," shouldn't our highest human goal be to strive for peace around us? | p. 275 |
| Isn't war immoral since taking human life is a violation of the sixth commandment? | p. 278 |
| What is the relationship between peace and justice? | p. 280 |
| Doesn't love require us to forgive our enemies? | p. 283 |
| Shouldn't the Christian trust the eschatological judgment by God of evil rather than fight or go to war? | p. 287 |
| What is the relationship between mercy and justice? Aren't we commanded to show mercy to all people? | p. 291 |
| Isn't "turning the other cheek" rather than retribution the more Christian response to evil? | p. 294 |
| Is there a difference between retribution and revenge? Surely, a vengeful spirit is counter to loving one's enemy. | p. 297 |
| Aren't fighting and warfare a denial and contradiction of the Lamb of God, whose image projects sacrifice? | p. 300 |
| What is the church's role in a nation's decision to go to war? Should the church be involved in deciding what is just cause? | p. 303 |
| Why does God allow war? | p. 306 |
| Can a Christian legitimately serve in the military? | p. 310 |
| Is the just-war idea only a Christian construct, or can other religions embrace it also? | p. 313 |
| What is the view of war in Roman Catholic social teaching? | p. 315 |
| How does Islam view war and peace? | p. 317 |
| Is the concept of "supreme emergency" theologically valid? | p. 324 |
| Is the concept of just war merely for Christians? | p. 327 |
| Just-War Tradition and the Combatant | |
| Does deterrence really work? | p. 331 |
| What about nonlethal weapons? | p. 334 |
| Are mercenaries permitted within the framework of just-war thought? | p. 336 |
| How does the just-war tradition understand asymmetric warfare? | p. 341 |
| How relevant is the just-war tradition in a world of high-tech weapons? | p. 342 |
| How does noncombatant immunity affect conflict and war? | p. 344 |
| Aren't all wars "just" to the victor? | p. 348 |
| Just-War Tradition and the Individual | |
| Why do people, including those of religious faith, disagree so strongly about war and peace? | p. 353 |
| Don't charity and resort to force or going to war stand in blatant contradiction? | p. 356 |
| What about self-defense? Does Christian faith prohibit force in this context? | p. 361 |
| Doesn't Gandhi demonstrate the effectiveness and necessity of pacifism? | p. 364 |
| Isn't pacifism a legitimate position for the religious believer who takes seriously his or her faith? | p. 367 |
| In light of Jesus' call to "peacemaking," doesn't the New Testament require pacifism of the Christian disciple? | p. 372 |
| Aren't strife and conflict always sinful, the product of the human heart? | p. 375 |
| How did C. S. Lewis view war? | p. 377 |
| What about Dietrich Bonhoeffer's example? How are we to reconcile his attraction to pacifism with his willingness to participate in the attempt on Hitler's life? | p. 381 |
| What are common misunderstandings or misuses of just-war doctrine? | p. 386 |
| Aren't issues of war and peace matters of individual conscience for religious believers? | p. 392 |
| What should an individual do whose country is involved in an unjust war? | p. 394 |
| From the standpoint of religious conviction, doesn't going to war mean that fellow Christians from different countries will kill each other? | p. 397 |
| Recommended Reading | p. 399 |
| Index of Names | p. 407 |
| Index of Scripture | p. 411 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
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