Against Christian pacifism

In Defence of War intends to argue in favour of Christian just war reasoning. It is often supposed, however, that Christianity's original position was pacifist, and that Augustine's articulation of just war thinking in the early fifth century was the prime symptom of the church's lapse from its pristine state of grace. Whether any theory of just war may claim the title ‘Christian’ at all is controversial, therefore, and those that believe that it may, must fight for the right. This has always been the case, but it is all the more so now, when pacifism dominates the academic discipline of...

In Defence of War intends to argue in favour of Christian just war reasoning. It is often supposed, however, that Christianity's original position was pacifist, and that Augustine's articulation of just war thinking in the early fifth century was the prime symptom of the church's lapse from its pristine state of grace. Whether any theory of just war may claim the title ‘Christian’ at all is controversial, therefore, and those that believe that it may, must fight for the right. This has always been the case, but it is all the more so now, when pacifism dominates the academic discipline of Christian ethics. For this reason, and because the Christian species of pacifism remains an influential one, this opening chapter is devoted to a critique of the pacifist thinking of Stanley Hauerwas, John Howard Yoder, and Richard Hays, especially their claim that the New Testament authorises an ethic of non‐violence.