Third Way Thursday: Pacifism and Just War
Ever since Augustine proposed Just War theory there has been a great and "warlike" debate between Christian pacifists and Christians who see war as sometimes justified.
Just war has been abused, but really, what theory hasn’t at some time. Just because it has been abused doesn’t make it wrong, per se, as Augustine’s logic is reasonable to the common person, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church relates:
- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
there must be serious prospects of success;
the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
But reasonable doesn’t always make it right. Many of the most influential pre-Constantine theologians were pacifists, and they wrote ademantly about their belief that Christians should always be pacifists:
"We who formerly used to murder one another now refrain from even making war upon our enemies." —The First Apology of Justin Martyr
"There is nothing better than peace, in which all warfare of things in heaven and things on earth is abolished."—Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians
"A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate must resign or be rejected. If a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God."—Hippolytus of Rome
"The Lord, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier."—Tertullian’s On Idolatry
"Christians could never slay their enemies. For the more that kings, rulers, and peoples have persecuted them everywhere, the more Christians have increased in number and grown in strength."—Origen Contra Celsius
"I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I decline military command… Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it."—Tatian’s Address to the Greeks
So, is there a third way between war and peace? Does Dickens need to write a new book? How can Christian’s navigate the vague, gray waters of peace and the sword?
Next week I’ll engage some of your responses.
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Great collection of quotes. The one thing I picked on in my study guide on contemporary issues for Coffeehouse Theology is the difficulty of following just war theory in an age of nuclear/industrial war. The scale of war seems to make just war darn near impossible. I wonder what Augustine would have said if he knew about nuclear weapons?
Wendell Berry said something to the effect that war today is not capable of producing a net good. Looking forward to your next post on this.
Good post, good comment.
Nuclear weapons do make the just-war theory somewhat obsolete. However, the presence of nuclear weapons has done much to keep the world out of war. An interesting article on this thesis, though somewhat outdated, is “Assessing the merits of selective nuclear proliferation,” by Bueno de Mesquita and Riker, in the Journal of Conflict Resolution XXVI (1982), pp. 283-306. The authors argue the incidence of “hot” war is much lower–close to non-existent–in conflicts between nuclear powers or between countries under the protective umbrella of nuclear powers. Wars between a nuclear power and a non-nuclear power, or between two non-nuclear powers, are much more common, resulting in millions more dead and trillions of dollars in damage. The conclusion is surprising, but intriguing.
It seems that, given the state of military technology and international trade (both of which I think are very positive in the world), artificial political borders are becoming less relevant. Both seem to prevent war and encourage international understanding.
I would disagree that the Just War Theory is obsolete, but it does call into question whether one can justify the use of nuclear weapons.
For my own part, I’m becoming more and more convinced that modern war and Just War are mutually exclusive, which is moving me more and more toward pacifism.