Explain Augustine's Theory Of Just War

The Just War Theory is a set of criteria that are used to judge whether a war is morally justifiable. It was St Augustine in the third century that formulated the Just War theory, and was formalised 10 centuries later by Thomas Aquinas. There are seven criteria by which a war can be judged to be just. Among the rules are Just Cause – there must be a very good reason for going to war, such as protecting your country from invasion. There should be a formal declaration of war by the legal government. It has to be the last resort and all other alternatives must be exhausted. There must be a reasonable chance of success and great care must be

Analyse using sacred scripture and a variety of sources the principle teachings about peace in Judaism and Christianity and how these teachings impact on the life of each adherent’s tradition, as a means of achieving inner peace.

“Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself; he is not at peace with himself, because he is not at peace with God.” Thomas Merton

Augustine concluded his theory with a reminder of God’s grace: if God was simply just, everyone would go to their rightful punishment in Hell. Through His grace, however, God sent His son to die on the cross so that some might be saved and go to Heaven. This shows that God is merciful as well as just.

What is the Just War theory and how did it pertain to St. Augustine? According to Augustine there is no private right to kill. According to Paul Ramsey opposes in The Just War, Christian participation in warfare “was not actually an exception to the commandment, “you shall not murder” but instead an expression of the Christian understanding of moral and political responsibility. One can kill only under the authority of God. St. Augustine argued that Christian rulers had such an obligation to make peace for the protection of his subjects even if the only way to eliminate such a threat was through force of arms. St. Augustine believed that in wars there was a right intention.

According to the Just War theory, just war is separated into two domains. First is the motivation behind entering war, and second is the means used during warfare (Hu, 2). The first judgment signifies justice of war, or jus ad bellum that evaluates the terms of a just versus unjust war. The second signifies justice in war, or jus in bello, which essentially measures whether or not the ends justify the means. The relationship between jus ad bellum and jus in bello are independent of each other, meaning that even if the war passes the judgment of one area, it does not imply justification for the other

This theory would categorize the wars as just and unjust, respectively. The Just War Theory has its roots in philosophy and has four major components. For a war to be considered just, the country must have the right to go to war, have a just cause, with just intentions, and it must be the last resort. These guidelines are set into

A Just War is a war which is fought, however, conducted under certain rules and regulations; these were created by Thomas Aquinas and Francisco de Vitoria. (Anon,[n.d]a), This theory is used as a means of showing those who are going to war, excluding those which classify under the regulations, that going to war is wrong and were deemed immoral. The intentions which were used to forward this process were to encourage the other states that there are other means of resolving conflict and to prevent war.

In the just war tradition, war was thought to be part of the moral world but had to meet certain criteria to be just. “The war had to create peace to protect human dignity and rights” (Himes, p. 85). There are seven points listed for the criteria for going to war. The first listed is making sure the war has a just cause. This means that there is a specific problem that needs to be fixed, or there is a reasonable defensive reason. A competent authority person, or a person of authority, needs to make decisions based on achieving and maintaining the common good. The cause of war has to be declared by a legitimate body of authority (Himes, p. 86).

Augustine really didn’t have a system, but his salvation was hopeless, because he believed in the power and actions of God’s love. He believed that God is truly the only person that can make things happen for a reason. God is the reason for the season. He is the real reason that all of us are here today on earth or in heaven because we believed in him. Augustine hopes to provide a detailed description of political life on earth, but not a prescription on how to the perfect society of heaven and earth? Amen God is Good.

In “Adam’s Peace,” Henri Nouwen uses a handicapped man named Adam to demonstrate what peace is. Nouwen has recently moved into a community for mentally handicapped people and eventually develops a close relationship with Adam. During his time with Adam he learns the true meaning of peace. First, he writes that peace is mainly about being, not doing (122). To feel peace, it is important to spend time being with Jesus.

According to traditional just war theory, a just cause must serve peace and not simply protect an unjust status quo. War must be used as a last resort and all pacifistic approaches must be

I believe your points regarding Augustine are pretty accurate for the most part. In a way, Augustine encouraged spiritual healing rather instead of the attempt to make the outside world perfect. For Augustine, only the kingdom of God is perfect so we should not take the misfortunes of this world to seriously, or let it effect us spiritually. To have change you must change yourself (your inner world). The acceptance that we are not in control of the external world is a valuable lesson from Augustine. Whether one is religious, spiritual, or not, I believe that Augustine's notion of inner change is something we can all apply to ourselves. However, I am aware that Augustine meant this inner change to be solely for the purpose of preparation for

Inasmuch as the history of human society is largely the history of warfare, it seems quite natural for Augustine to explain war as being within God’s unfolding plan for human history. As Augustine states, “It rests with the decision of God in his just judgment and mercy either to afflict or console mankind, so that some wars come to an end more speedily, others more slowly

It appears in a context wherein Augustine gives the guidelines for day-to-day life in community, a life characterized by mutual service.