Theological War Theories

This paper gives an overview of how war theories in Christianity changed during the different periods of western Christianity from the late antiquity to modern times. The basic thesis is that, in contrast to the relationship between war and cult in ancient religions of the old Orient, Greece, and Rome, Christian war theories had not only one, but two functions to fulfill. On the one hand, the Christian religion had to cope with the inheritance of their traditional role models: priests and prophets had to support military force and to secure the victory by divine aid. Bellum iustum in this sense was the cult that pleased the Goddesses/God and ensured their/his backing. On the other hand, bellum iustum in early Christian theology, and ever since, was a problem of peace, restriction of power, and ethically-based self control. After the conversion of Constantine to Christianity, Christian emperors, kings, and princes were inclined to emphasize the first target of Christian religion, while the theologians still had to interpret the moral restrictions on warfare devised by St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, Francisco de Vitoria, and the philosophers of the Early modern international law. These competing expectations concerning the relationship of Christianity and warfare led to many ambiguities, all too oftenprecluding a substantial contributionofChristian religion toamore peaceful world