Bright Spot: Is it 'just war,' or a just war?
Just war or “just” war?
Recently, we passed the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Nearly all Americans support Ukraine and abhor the atrocities being committed there by the invaders.
It’s helpful to remember most military men and women hate war. Most want war only after all other options have been exhausted, which is the first principle of a “just war.”
So what is a “just war”? (And what is it good for, to echo an old song.)
First Augustine, then Aquinas, arguably two of the top theologians in all of Christian history, came up with the principles of just war, based on the Bible.
Romans 13 and I Peter 2 make the case that God has ordained the State (governments and their leaders) to enforce the moral laws of God found in the Bible. The church is to teach morality. Society only benefits when each does its part: “… observe the Lord’s commands … for your own good … For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands … then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” (Deuteronomy 10:13; 30:16)
Some of the main points to just war are:
1. Proper authority. The leader Augustine had in mind was one whom God had entrusted with the responsibility of governing. First it was kings. Today, it’s our elected leaders. These people answer first to God.
2. Proper cause. The reasons for which we go to war are as important as who authorized the action. Augustine specifically ruled out these reasons: "[t]he desire for harming…revenge…the savageness of revolting, [and] the lust for dominating." Augustine, like many veterans, saw war as a tragic necessity.
3.Reasonable chance of success. Even with good reasons, you cannot simply send young men and women out to die. Human life is too sacred to waste.
4. Proportionality. Governing leaders must make sure that the harm caused by their action doesn’t exceed the harm caused by the enemy’s aggression. There must be limited, measureable objectives (Annihilating an enemy in response to one attack on one city would be an example of disproportion.)
Proportionality also means non-combatants must be shielded from harm. Collateral damage is acceptable only if extreme measures have been taken to avoid it and in proportionally small amounts. This is obviously highly subjective and the hardest one to accomplish.
No one who has witnessed the horrors of war, like our veterans, would flippantly say: “Oh, it’s just war.” What these heroes herald is: “We must elect governing and church leaders who know and practice the principles of just war.”
Charles Colson, a Marine combat officer in Vietnam, special assistant to President Nixon, best-selling Christian author, founder of Prison Fellowship and Angel Tree, along with many other war veterans, have argued persuasively that Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan do not fit Just War criteria.
There is another war going on that is not a Just war. All mankind at one time fought against the rule of God in their lives. Every one of us was born with a bent to resist God’s rule. That’s the definition of sin.
Jesus came to end that warfare by putting peace in the hearts of everyone who follows him. He did that through his sacrificial death on the Cross, taking the just punishment we deserved for our sin. We can have peace WITH God and the peace OF God (Romans 5).
Isn’t it time to stop fighting against the only One who really knows how to end the war in our hearts and give us true peace?
Rick Sams is pastor emeritus of Alliance Friends Church.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Bright Spot: Is it 'just war,' or a just war?
