I am looking to broaden my perspective of how Just War tradition and practice has been influential historically in the way Christians of various stripes talk about war. I suppose the urgent question is to locate in a context the voice of many American Protestants proclaiming the Iraq war just. (If that is so, I should say. Some politically outspoken evangelicals have said so, but is the generalization warranted, that is, for evangelicals?)

Daniel Bell, at the beginning of his pamphlet on this web site called “Just War as Christian Discipleship,” makes a point to distinguish between “International Law Just War” _frame_works and “Christian Just War” tradition. As one reads on, he seems to clarify that Christian Just War tradition stems from a far more specific source: the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. What is especially salient in this story for Bell’s argument is Jesus’ command to love our enemies. He argues that practicing war in a way obedient to this command requires not just filling out a checklist of criteria; it requires discipleship, and that is a more rigorous kind of just war discipline than one finds in the international law just war approach.

My question: how have Christians actually been practicing this discipline in the last century or two? What sort of background is there for comprehending the stance of American evangelicals toward the Iraq war? (I don’t know that there was a lot of talk of talk about this when the war began, but I suspect that insofar as the question of Just War came up, the relevant Christian voices applied it in a pro-war fashion.)

So, if anyone has thoughts, or could recommend a book or articles that help illuminate these questions, I would be grateful indeed.

Mark

Mark,

Excellent question. I don't have an answer off the top of my head. I can refer you to John Howard Yoder, "When War is Unjust" (you are probably familiar with this). If I recall correctly, Yoder does not have an example of appropriate application of Christian Just War theory, but notes how the criteria has been loosened and that the Church has largely capitulated to the state's redefinition. Better readers of Yoder than I browse this site and maybe they can clarify (it has been at least 10 years since I read the book).

I tend to agree that, falling the lead of the state, non-peace-church Christians have primarily turned Just War theory into Justify War theory. You may find some thoughtful examples of this over at the First Things web site - a collection of articulate, educated Christian people who spent a fair amount of time after 9/11 justifying the Bush/Neo-Con agenda.

We are certainly in debt to Bell and Yoder for attempting to hold just warriors to the Christian tradition.

Jon

Jon,

Thank you for this thoughtful reply.

I wonder if Yoder would then say that I am posing the question in the wrong way. That is, I said I was looking for evidence of how the Just War Tradition has been applied by Christians in recent centuries. But that assumes that they hold to Bell’s definition of Just War: fighting in such a way as to embody Christian discipleship. Would Yoder then teach me that the history is not one of applying, or neglecting to apply, Bell’s Just War tradition. It is rather a history of the transforming meaning of “Just War”? That is, one has to keep a finger holding down the definition while the other fingers search around for historical evidence of how it was or wasn't utilized.

Still, as I go to check out Yoder's Just and Unjust Wars I will be hoping to find out something about how Christians--particularly American Christians--have learned to proclaim Jesus as Lord and yet separate that commitment from an approach to war like the one Bell outlines.

I will follow up on the First Things tip as well.

Mark