Just War Theory and the Gospel: A Necessary Distinction
Just War Theory and the Gospel: A Necessary Distinction J. Neil Daniels Introduction In his magnum opus, the three-volume Systematic Theology, the great Princeton theologian Charles Hodge offered the following sobering evaluation of warfare: It is conceded that war is one of the most dreadful evils that can be inflicted on a people; that it involves the destruction of property and life; that it demoralizes both the victors and the vanquished; that it visits thousands of non-combatants with all the miseries of poverty, widowhood, and orphanage; and that it tends to arrest the progress of society in everything that is good and desirable. . . . It is also conceded that the vast majority of the wars which have desolated the world have been unjustif i able in the sight of God and man. Nevertheless it does not follow from this that war in all cases is to be condemned. ( Systematic Theology, 3:365) In response to a recent discussion on X surrounding the Crusades and th...