Just War as Christian Discipleship

Jr. Bell Daniel M.

Description

This provocative and timely primer on the just war tradition connects just war to the concrete practices and challenges of the Christian life. Daniel Bell explains that the point is not simply to know the just war tradition but to live it even in the face of the tremendous difficulties associated with war. He shows how just war practice, if it is to be understood as a faithful form of Christian discipleship, must be rooted in and shaped by the fundamental convictions and confessions of the faith. The book includes a foreword by an Army chaplain who has served in Iraq and study questions for group use.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441206817
• Langue: English

Extrait

Bell advocates for just war as an extraordinarily difficult set of practices grounded in particular Christian theological and ecclesiological presuppositions. In this sense, the book is a prophetic critique of some secular versions of the just war tradition. Even more so, it is a prophetic critique of churches and church leaders for our failure to form communities capable of dealing with the real challenges of just war. I commend this book for study by bishops, clergy, and laity.
- Tim W. Whitaker , Florida Area Resident Bishop, The United Methodist Church
There are many books on the just war tradition. Most of them treat it as a means of helping Christians judge the justice of the wars waged by their states, or worse, as a crutch for those who make decisions about going to war. Bell s book is different and better. He depicts the just war tradition as a demanding discipline of the church, and in doing so he shows that this tradition can be a mode of enemy-love-a more demanding mode than pacifism in some ways. I know of no other book like this; it is essential reading for Christians in our bloody and violence-ridden times.
- Paul J. Griffiths , Duke Divinity School
Bell s thorough and convincing work is not for the faint of heart or the weak of spirit. With definitive research and critical interpretation, Bell leads readers through the history of Christian thought on war to the truth that Christians must leave behind self-absorption, apathy, fear, and indifference to embrace the call and demand to live justly all aspects of life as followers of Christ. Bell asks, How much are we willing to risk to follow Christ in loving our enemies? We cannot answer glibly, for our very lives will be the answer.
- Brenda Lynn Kneece , executive minister, South Carolina Christian Action Council
By engaging Just War as Christian Discipleship , readers can fully arm themselves for the discussion and debate that rages around just war theory. With laser-sharp precision, this tightly argued, historically aware, and carefully documented work offers a penetrating analysis of the ethical reasons for Christians to engage (or not engage) in violent conflict. A chief merit of this book is its critical comparison of nonreligious uses of just war theory with distinctively Christian approaches to armed combat based on a cruciform commitment to theological concerns. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Bell, all who discuss just war theory should be informed by his trenchant study.
- Donald Musser , Stetson University
In the midst of wars and rumors of wars, Bell provides a provocative and insightful look at the just war tradition, removing it from the arena of simple public policy and allowing Christians to wrestle with how to follow Jesus faithfully into the fray. Pastors, congregations, adult forums, and reading groups will certainly benefit from this book.
- Brian O. Bennett , pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Morgantown, West Virginia
Just War as Christian Discipleship
Recentering the Tradition in the Church rather than the State

Daniel M. Bell Jr.
Foreword by
Chaplain Lt. Col. Scott A. Sterling
2009 Daniel M. Bell Jr.
Published by Brazos Press a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.brazospress.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bell, Daniel M., 1966-
Just war as Christian discipleship : recentering the tradition in the church rather than the state / Daniel M. Bell, Jr. ; foreword by Chaplain Lt. Col. Scott A. Sterling.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-58743-225-5 (pbk.)
1. Just war doctrine. 2. War-Religious aspects-Christianity. I. Title.
BT736.2B437 2009
241 .6242-dc22
2009021689
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
09 10 11 12 13 14 15 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Foreword Chaplain Lt. Col. Scott A. Sterling
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Living Faithfully in a Time of War
1. Love and Evil in the Christian Life: The Emergence of Just War
2. Can War Be Just? A Brief History of Just War
3. Just War as Christian Discipleship: Presuppositions and Presumptions
4. Who s in Charge? Legitimate Authority
5. Why Fight? Just Cause
6. Why Fight? Right Intent
7. When Fight? Last Resort and Reasonable Chance of Success
8. How Fight? Discrimination and Proportionality
Conclusion: Spirituality and Just War
Appendix: Two Just War Traditions
Notes
Reference List
Foreword
We had just completed the evening Battle Update Briefing, where we were once again assaulted by the numbers of casualties reported by the intelligence officer. Mission Accomplished had been declared by the president on an aircraft carrier in the gulf, but the insurgency was just getting started on the ground in Iraq. On a bench outside the tent that served as the command center of the battalion, I chatted with a career noncommissioned officer, a bright, no-nonsense female soldier. She was in the midst of some serious soul searching and brought me into her own internal conversation.
Chaplain, is it right that we re here? Are we doing any good? And even if we are, should we have invaded this country in the first place? Although my answers didn t completely satisfy her at that point, we enjoyed a spirited conversation, and I was impressed by her hunger to make moral sense out of our combat experience. In fact, during that eight-month deployment, and a subsequent deployment of fifteen months, I was continually impressed by soldiers who wanted to talk about and resolve the moral and ethical dimensions of the war we were fighting in Iraq. These soldiers were young and old, male and female, of all ranks and positions, and of various religious traditions- or none at all.
My fellow chaplains and I eagerly took up the challenge to address the ethical issues. And although we didn t all share the same conclusions, we all had a commitment to assist our soldiers in coming to terms with the moral implications of their unique and terrible jobs. As in every war, the soldiers task was simple and horrifying: find and kill enemy warriors, which often resulted in the destruction of homes and infrastructure and taking the lives of innocents along with enemy soldiers. We considered the discussion of the moral dimensions of war to be a crucial aspect of our ministry to soldiers, right alongside honoring the dead with memorial ceremonies and caring for the wounded in hospitals. Part of that discussion usually included addressing the basic criteria of the just war tradition.
Dan Bell has written a book that I wish I d had during my deployments. Just War as Christian Discipleship addresses the just war tradition in a way that not only adds to our knowledge of the historical roots of the tradition but also contributes to the Christian soldier s desire to embody the principles as lifestyle. Many books have been written on the criteria and history of the just war tradition, but none that I am aware of have developed the argument that Bell presents in this book. He asserts and unpacks the theme that the just war tradition, properly understood in its historical context, is not merely a checklist of criteria to be consulted before going to war (or while waging war) but rather must be seen as a body of spiritual principles that make up a virtuous lifestyle-for soldiers and for the church. This lifestyle can be, indeed must be, habituated by Christian soldiers and those who make decisions about war. In the heat of battle it is much too late to begin to think through what it means to be a just warrior. Instead, the virtuous life of the Christian just warrior is shown through courageous decisions based on a life of ongoing moral reflection.
There were moments while reading Bell s book that I felt like he had been with me downrange, listening to the moral challenges my soldiers expressed and hearing their gut-wrenching and heartfelt questions. Jesus tells us to love our enemies; how do we do that while trying to kill them? How do we maintain our moral standards and fight justly when our enemies seem to have no moral scruples at all? Should we? How do we protect innocent noncombatants in villages when we have to find and kill the terrorists living there? And so on. I was amazed as I read this book that Bell, who has not served in the military, was able to anticipate and respond to these types of questions as if he were a seasoned soldier.
There are some challenging responses in the book, to be sure. For example, the concept of war as an act of love, not as a lesser of evils, may take some time to digest. But Bell doesn t pull this idea-or others like it-out of thin air; rather, he grounds his arguments in the writings of the church fathers and scholars and has done an amazing job of footnoting the references from these ancient sources. Christians from across the ethical spectrum-from pacifists to just warriors to realists to crusaders-are forced to reconsider their perspective based on Bell s impeccable research.
Because none of us are (or should be) isolated from the rest of the Christian community-even soldiers-Bell focuses in each chapter on what he calls The Challenge to the Church. He recognizes that it is not solely the responsibility of the individual soldier to learn, internalize, and live out the virtues that make up the character of the just warrior. He challenges the church to teach and embody these virtues i