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Author: Harold Palmer
Publisher: TellerBooks
ISBN: 1681090317
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 67
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Book Description
What did Jesus mean when he said to “love your enemies” and “pray for those who persecute you”? Do these commandments leave room for Christians to serve in militaries or police forces that implement the use of force? Or is the Christian to steadfastly reject violence and embrace pacifism? Are certain wars justified on the basis of just war theory, or are all wars, in their brutality and destruction, inherently evil? In this study, Harold Palmer, an attorney, examines the case that has traditionally been made to justify Christian participation in war. The author begins with a historical background of the roots of just war theory as promulgated by Thomas Aquinas. He then examines the passages on which just war theorists rely, including God’s commandments to the Israelites to go to war against their enemies, Jesus’ praise of the Roman Army centurion for his faith and God’s use of the centurion Cornelius to graft Gentiles into the Kingdom of God. Arguing that these passages have been misunderstood, he concludes that Christianity only permits a single response to evil—self-sacrificial love. The author makes a cogent case for Christian pacifism by examining the life of Jesus and arguing that His crucifixion was more than a salvific act; it also exemplified the ideal of Christian living. Being a disciple of Jesus means emulating Him in every way, including responding to violence through self-sacrificial love, as Jesus did, and obeying Jesus’ commands to be as “harmless as doves,” to “turn the other cheek” and “pray for those who persecute you.” Finally, this study tackles the difficult question of Old Testament violence by arguing that it falls within a specific context and is not normative for members of the New Covenant of Grace. Rather than embrace violence, we are to follow the examples set by the early church and its martyrs, including the Apostle Stephen, who prayed that his persecutors not be charged with their sins, and the apostle Paul, who taught us to “live peaceably with all men.” Our war is not a physical struggle, but a spiritual war to be waged with prayer, faith and the gospel of peace (Eph 6:12-18).
Author: Harold Palmer
Publisher: TellerBooks
ISBN: 1681090317
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 67
Get Book Here
Book Description
What did Jesus mean when he said to “love your enemies” and “pray for those who persecute you”? Do these commandments leave room for Christians to serve in militaries or police forces that implement the use of force? Or is the Christian to steadfastly reject violence and embrace pacifism? Are certain wars justified on the basis of just war theory, or are all wars, in their brutality and destruction, inherently evil? In this study, Harold Palmer, an attorney, examines the case that has traditionally been made to justify Christian participation in war. The author begins with a historical background of the roots of just war theory as promulgated by Thomas Aquinas. He then examines the passages on which just war theorists rely, including God’s commandments to the Israelites to go to war against their enemies, Jesus’ praise of the Roman Army centurion for his faith and God’s use of the centurion Cornelius to graft Gentiles into the Kingdom of God. Arguing that these passages have been misunderstood, he concludes that Christianity only permits a single response to evil—self-sacrificial love. The author makes a cogent case for Christian pacifism by examining the life of Jesus and arguing that His crucifixion was more than a salvific act; it also exemplified the ideal of Christian living. Being a disciple of Jesus means emulating Him in every way, including responding to violence through self-sacrificial love, as Jesus did, and obeying Jesus’ commands to be as “harmless as doves,” to “turn the other cheek” and “pray for those who persecute you.” Finally, this study tackles the difficult question of Old Testament violence by arguing that it falls within a specific context and is not normative for members of the New Covenant of Grace. Rather than embrace violence, we are to follow the examples set by the early church and its martyrs, including the Apostle Stephen, who prayed that his persecutors not be charged with their sins, and the apostle Paul, who taught us to “live peaceably with all men.” Our war is not a physical struggle, but a spiritual war to be waged with prayer, faith and the gospel of peace (Eph 6:12-18).
Author: J. Daryl Charles
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433524198
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 417
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Book Description
With issues of war and peace at the forefront of current events, an informed Christian response is needed. This timely volume answers 104 questions from a just-war perspective, offering thoughtful yet succinct answers. Ranging from the theoretical to the practical, the volume looks at how the just-war perspective relates to the philosopher, historian, statesman, theologian, combatant, and individual—with particular emphases on its historical development and application to contemporary geopolitical challenges. Forgoing ideological extremes, Charles and Demy give much attention to the biblical teaching on the subject as they provide moral guidance. A valuable resource for considering the ethical issues relating to war, Christians will find this book's user-friendly format a helpful starting point for discussion.
Author: Lisa Sowle Cahill
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506457797
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 394
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Book Description
This book is a contribution to the Christian ethics of war and peace. It advances peacebuilding as a needed challenge to and expansion of the traditional framework of just-war theory and pacifism. It builds on a critical reading of historical landmarks from the Bible through Augustine, Aquinas, the Reformers, Christian peace movements, and key modern figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, and recent popes. Similar to just-war theory, peacebuilding is committed to social change and social justice but includes some theorists and practitioners who accept the use of force in extreme cases of self-defense or humanitarian intervention. Unlike just-war theorists, they do not see the justification of war as part of the Christian mission. Unlike traditional pacifists, they do see social change as necessary and possible and, as such, requiring Christian participation in public efforts. Cahill argues that transformative Christian social participation is demanded by the gospel and the example of Jesus, and can produce the avoidance, resolution, or reduction of conflicts. And yet obstacles are significant, and expectations must be realistic. Decisions to use armed force against injustice, even when they meet the criteria of just war, will be ambiguous and tragic from a Christian perspective. Regarding war and peace, the focus of Christian theology, ethics, and practice should not be on justifying war but on practical and hopeful interreligious peacebuilding.
Author: Lisa Sowle Cahill
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9781451413076
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292
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Book Description
The author examines the theological bases of just war theory and pacifism, espcially in the light of the concept of God, as that motif illuminates Chrsitian discipleship. Differences between the theory of just war and the practice of pacifism are highlighted in the overview of the history of Christian thought on the subject, and the inclusiveness of the ideal of the kingdom for pacifism is emphasized.
Author: Clive Staples Lewis
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780156027854
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 112
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Book Description
"Where God gives the gift, the 'foolishness of preaching' is still mighty. But best of all is a team of two: one to deliver the preliminary intellectual barrage, and the other to follow up with a direct attack on the heart." An inveterate scholar, throughout his lifetime C.S. Lewis wrote on any number of topics. While his most famous essays concern his thoughts on Christianity, he was also interested in literature, masculinity, domestic life, and war. In the nineteen essays collected inPresent Concerns, he touches on all of these and more. Though wide-ranging, these essays all share one thing: C.S. Lewis's characteristic pragmatism and persuasiveness. Many of the essays included were written between 1940 and 1945, and so pertinently reflect on the issues raised by World War II: democratic values, the need for a new chivalry, and the cynicism of the modern soldier, all of which remain relevant today. "Lewis gives us permission to admit our own doubts, our own angers and anguishes, and to know that they are part of the soul's growth."--Madeleine L'Engle
Author: Daniel M. Jr. Bell
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 1441206817
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 289
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Book Description
This provocative and timely primer on the just war tradition connects just war to the concrete practices and challenges of the Christian life. Daniel Bell explains that the point is not simply to know the just war tradition but to live it even in the face of the tremendous difficulties associated with war. He shows how just war practice, if it is to be understood as a faithful form of Christian discipleship, must be rooted in and shaped by the fundamental convictions and confessions of the faith. The book includes a foreword by an Army chaplain who has served in Iraq and study questions for group use.
Author: Emily Swan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781641800167
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 408
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Book Description
Blue Ocean Faith pastors Ken Wilson and Emily Swan issue an open invitation to renew Christianity 500 years after the Reformation. The authors argue that the church's future depends on focusing more closely the inclusive message of Christianity's founder. Their new cry: "Solus Jesus!" Only Jesus!
Author: Michael P. Farrell
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810883457
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 423
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Book Description
Contributions to Illuminations: A Scarecrow Press Series of Guides to Research in Religion provide students and scholars, lay readers and clergy, with a road map to research in key areas of religious study. All commonly constructed with introductions to the topic and reviews of key thinkers, concepts, and events, each volume includes surveys of the primary and secondary sources, with critical evaluations of their places in the canon of thought and research on the topic. Focusing primarily on the knowledge required by today’s students and scholars, each guide is a must-have for any student of religion. The twentieth century saw an explosion of wars and an accompanying explosion of literature on the morality of war. Thinking among Christian clerics and scholars on the idea of “just war” shifted with developments on the battlefield. Alternatives to just war theory, such as pacifism and realism, found new proponents in the published work of the neo-Anabaptists and Niebhurians. Meanwhile, proponents of Christian just war theory had to address challenges from competing ideologies as well as ththose presented by the changing nature of warfare. Modern Just War Theory: A Guide to Research, by scholar and librarian Michael Farrell, serves as a manual for students and scholars studying Christian just war theory, helping them navigate the wealth of just war literature produced in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Farrell’s guide provides an introduction to the major developments of just war theory in the twentieth century, including sections on how to research just war theory, an overview of some of the most important theorists and developments of the twentieth century, and discussions of key search terms and related topics. Farrell then surveys and evaluates key primary and secondary sources for researchers on just war theory, as well as related sources on Christian realism and the responses of just war theorists to proponents of pacifism and secular just war theories. Modern Just War Theory will appeal to students and scholars of theology, military history, international law, and Christian ethics
Author: J. Daryl Charles
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 9780830874538
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 206
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Book Description
Pacifism. Jihad. Militarism. Are these our only alternatives for dealing with global injustice today? J. Daryl Charles leads us to reconsider a Christian view of the use of force to maintain or reestablish justice. He shows how love for a neighbor can warrant the just use of force. Reviewing and updating the widely recognized but not necessarily well-understood just-war teaching of the church through the ages, Charles shows how it captures many of the concerns of the pacifist position while deliberately avoiding, on the other side, the excesses of jihad and militarism. Aware of our contemporary global situation, Charles addresses the unique challenges of dealing with international terrorism.
Author: Paul Ramsey
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742522329
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 588
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Book Description
With a new foreword by noted theologian and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas, this classic text on war and the ethics of modern statecraft written at the height of the Vietnam era in 1968 speaks to a new generation of readers. Characterized by a sophisticated yet back-to-basics approach, The Just War begins with the assumption that force is a fact in political life which must either be reckoned with or succumbed to. It then grapples with modern challenges to traditional moral principles of "just conduct" in war, the "morality of deterrence," and a "just war theory of statecraft."
