Eder 2010 Christian Ethics

The Just War Theory

This is an idea that goes back (at least) to the Ancient Greeks. Early Christians tended to be Pacifists. From about the 5th Century on, many Christian thinkers tried to find a way of reconciling Christianity with Warfare. Saint Augustine (A.D. 354-430) provided one, crystallizing biblical principles into what is now known as just war doctrine. In the intervening centuries the theory has been refined by people such as St. Aquinas (12251274), but the just war framework remains as St. Augustine gave it. Principles of the Just War
(Nota bene: Just War Theory claims that all 7 of the conditions must be met if a war is to be a just one.)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified. A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate. Just Cause: A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause . A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable. Right Intention: The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought. Proportionality: The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered. Noncombatant Immunity: The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.

As the Second Vatican Council noted, "insofar as men are sinful, the threat of war hangs over them, and hang over them it will until the return of Christ" --Gaudium et Spes 78 (Latin: "Joy and Hope"). Christ's followers must be willing to meet this challenge. They must be willing to wage war when it is just and they must be willing to wage it in a just manner. Simultaneously, they must work to establish a just and peaceful order among the nations. In so doing they seek to fulfill the words of the prophet, according to which the nations "shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Is. 2:4).
Sources: http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~alatus/2800a/JustWarTheory.html http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pol116/justwar.htm http://www.catholic.com/library/Just_War_Doctrine_1.asp