Why Christianity demands pacifism

In the teachings of Christ, there is no endorsement of a just war

The Emblem of Christ Appearing to Constantine, by Peter Paul Rubens
(Image credit: (Burstein Collection/CORBIS))

In a recent column, I discussed Nigel Biggar's important new book defending just war theory. Though admiring of the author's clarity and erudition, I found his arguments unpersuasive. Instead of encouraging policymakers and citizens to reflect more deeply on whether to go to war, just war thinking ends up providing additional moral and theological justification for militaristic actions the U.S. and Great Britain would be inclined to undertake anyway. I concluded that the book thus inadvertently demonstrates that "just war thinking, even at its very best, is an intellectual, moral, and theological fraud."

In his rejoinder to my column, Biggar responds by listing a handful of British and American military engagements that he considers unjustified when analyzed using just war criteria. That's helpful — though I also think it's revealing that he doesn't list a single conflict from the past 130 years. (There have been an awful lot of wars since the British invaded Zululand in 1879.)

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.