02.09.03 - What Is a Just War? (Ecclesiastes 3:1,8 Isaiah 2:1-5)

What Is a Just War?
Ecclesiastes 3:1,8 Isaiah 2:1-5
February 9, 2003
St. John United Methodist Church
David Beckett, D.Min.

A boy once asked his father, "How do wars begin?" The dad said, "Well, take the First World War. That got started when Germany invaded Belgium." Immediately his wife interrupted, "No, that’s not it! It began because somebody was murdered." The husband bristled and shot back, "Are you answering the question or am I?" Turning her back on him she stormed out of the room and slammed the door as hard as she could. When the dishes stopped rattling in the cupboard, an uneasy silence followed. Then the son said, "Daddy, you don’t have to tell me how wars begin. I think I know."

Do you know how wars begin? Nations have gone to war for self-defense, greed, envy, revenge, hatred, and glory. Since 3600 B.C., the world has known only 300 years of peace! During this period there have been over 14,000 wars large and small, in which 3.6 billion people have been killed. Imagine a belt of pure gold around the world 97 miles wide and 33 feet thick. That’s the value of all the property destroyed in this time period.

It is obvious that the reason for this message is the current situation in Iraq. None of us wants a war in that volatile region of the world. But some of us believe it America’s duty to wage war against Sadaam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. Some of us believe it is wrong to spill American blood in the Iraqi desert because the case for war has not been adequately made. This message is not about politics. It is about theology. What I am interested in today is what God thinks about war between nations. If you believe that the fundamental nature of God is love, then it is easy to conclude that in a perfect world, God is opposed to war. Isaiah 2:4 reads, "they 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."

In 1944 Leslie Weatherhead wrote a book called, "The Will of God." Using his language, it is God’s ultimate will that there be no war. But there is a circumstantial will, a desire of God that takes into account unusual human circumstances. This leads us to the just war theory. The Christian just war theory is a 1600-year-old attempt to answer the questions When is it permissible to wage war, and What are the limitations on the ways we wage war? The first Christian thinker to write extensively about the subject was St. Augustine of Hippo. For Augustine, war was a logical extension of the act of governance. And governance itself was, as Paul wrote in Romans 13.1-7, ordained by God.

This, however, doesn’t mean that all wars are morally justifiable. Augustine wrote, "It makes a great difference by which causes and under which authorities men undertake the wars that must be waged." This led him to describe the conditions under which war could be waged justly. For Augustine, the first requirement was proper authority. As he put it, "The natural order, which is suited to the peace of moral things, requires that the authority and deliberation for undertaking war be under the control of a leader." The leader Augustine had in mind was one whom God had entrusted with the responsibility of governance. In his time, this was the emperor. Later, it would be kings and princes. Today, it’s our elected leadership. These people are answerable to God for the welfare of their states in a way that no private citizen is.

Proper authority is not the only requirement. For Augustine, proper cause, the reasons for which we go to war, was as important as who authorized the action. He specifically ruled out as justifications for war such causes as "[t]he desire for harming, the cruelty of revenge, the restless and implacable mind, the savageness of revolting, [and] the lust for dominating." Augustine saw war as a tragic necessity and we should keep in mind his admonition to "[l]et necessity slay the warring foe, not your will."

Augustine’s ideas have been expanded upon over the years. In addition to proper authority and proper cause, Christian just war theory requires that there be a reasonable chance of success. Even if you have a good reason to attack, you cannot simply send young men out to die. Human life is too precious, too sacred to waste.

The final requirement is one of proportionality. In waging a war, authorities must make sure that the harm caused by their response to aggression does not exceed the harm caused by the aggression itself. Annihilating the enemy in response to an attack on one of your cities is an example of disproportion.

Proportionality has also come to mean that non-combatants must be shielded from harm. They can never, for any reason whatsoever, be the targets of an attack. The history of modern warfare is characterized by "total warfare," the expansion of targets beyond strictly military ones. That’s why, of all the requirements of just war theory, proportionality is the most likely to be violated, even by governments with the most just of causes.

I don’t think my grandfathers who served in the Navy in WWII knew anything about Christian just war. I don’t think my father who was wounded in Korea was aware of it. When I narrowly avoided the first lottery draft and did not go to Viet Nam because the ping pong ball with October 8 on it did not pop up in the first 100 balls, I did not know there was a just war theory. I would have gone to war without question.

For Christians, love of country is never to be our primary focus. No government’s decisions should always be viewed as in total agreement with God’s will. People make mistakes. They sin. And leaders are not exempt. So Christians have an obligation to pray and discern their leader’s decisions about war. Ecclesiastes talks about a "time for peace and a time for war." If there is a time for a nation to engage in a just war, which I believe there is, individual Christians need to hold their government accountable.

Here are the principles of a just war that need to guide nations.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

As Christians we would do well to apply these principles to the current situation in Iraq. Not all Christians will come to the same conclusions. The point is that it should not be so much a political exercise, but a spiritual and prayerful one. I have Christian friends who are quick to support their government’s actions of war simply due to patriotism. They find it difficult to conceive of their leaders being wrong, especially when they voted for them. I know Christians whom I deeply respect who read the Bible and conclude that there is no just cause for war, ever. Personally, I cannot come to the same conclusion. What shall we do when evil becomes so encased in human flesh? We want to separate the sin from the sinner. But what about those times when it cannot be separated? What do you do with a Hitler? Those are the times when, to protect the innocent, I believe we must take up arms to eliminate the evil that threatens to destroy the defenseless. The point is that we must be extremely careful and prayerful about such times.

Alfred Nobel was a chemist who invented dynamite in 1866. Late in his life he received quite a shock when his morning newspaper headline read, "Alfred Nobel Dead." Subheadlines proclaimed, "Dynamite King Dies." The article referred to him as Merchant of Death and Inventor of Destruction. Appalled at how the world would remember him he dedicated his great fortune to peace and founded the annual Nobel Peace Prize.

Christian scripture and tradition tells us that there is a time for war and a time for peace. Before we consider any war to be just or not, let us remember that God’s ultimate desire is for people to live in peace. When this is also our desire, perhaps we will not be so quick to support a war. But we will be thoughtful and prayerful.

Whether war is just or not, the promise of the good news of Jesus Christ is that war cannot separate us from the love of God. As Christians we stake our lives on the transforming power of Jesus Christ. He can change your life and mine. He can change the hearts of leaders of nations. So let us not be so quick to act upon what we believe to be the circumstantial will of God. In our hearts let us keep the ultimate will of God as our ultimate will. Let us look for peace real hard before we engage in a just war.

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