Christians have long wrestled with the proper balance between Christian compassion and the righteous use of force to oppose injustice and protect others. God himself has decreed the warlike destruction of immoral people, such as in the wars led by Joshua in the book under his name, cleansing the promised land of child sacrificing pagan teachings. In the early church great thinkers sought to reconcile justice and mercy, pacifism and just use of force.
1. Ambrose of Milan: Ambrose bridged the gap between pacifism and political responsibility, arguing that rulers must protect the innocent and uphold justice, even if it requires force.
2. St. Augustine: Augustine believed war could be morally permissible if waged to restore peace and justice, emphasizing that intention matters.
3. St. Thomas Aquinas: Aquinas outlined three key conditions for a just war: legitimate authority, just cause, and right intention.
4. Contemporary Christian Ethicists: They expanded the just war theory into two main categories: Jus ad bellum (justice in going to war) and Jus in bello (justice in conduct during war).
5. Reinhold Niebuhr: Niebuhr emphasized the tragic necessity of force in a fallen world, arguing for a tragic realism where force is sometimes necessary to restrain evil.
