Lesson 3 - Christianity & War

Just War

By the end of today’s lesson you will:

•Be familiar with ‘jus ad bellum’•Be able to

distinguish this from ‘jus in bello’

Augustine and Just War• Context: 3rd-4th century. Christians

failure to fight was weakening Roman’s defence.

• Augustine put forward two conditions under which a war could justifiably be waged:

• It was declared by a legitimate authority

• There was a just cause

Aquinas and Just War• Developed from Augustine’s theory

• Aquinas added a further condition:

• That there had to be right intention

• Nowadays, there are 9 conditions developed from Augustine's and Aquinas’ thinking

• These 9 conditions fall under two categories:• Jus ad bellum• Jus in bello

Jus in bello• 1. There should be a reasonable proportion

between the injustice being fought and the suffering inflicted

• The cause of justice must not be upheld by unjust means. Robert Holmes ‘Unless one can justify the actions necessary to waging war, one cannot justify the conduct of war’

• 2. Proportionality must be exercised• The use of weapons must be proportional to the

threat. Only minimum force should be used. • 3. Warfare must be discriminate• Civilians should not be direct targets. Geneva

convention.

Homework• Research a particular war and, on a

sheet, compare it with the 7 principles we have studied today under the ‘jus ad bellum’. Do you think Christians would say that it was right to go to this war?