Just War as Christian Discipleship: Recentering the Tradition in the Church rather than the State

by Daniel M. Jr. Bell, Scott Sterling (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587432255
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/2009
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Daniel M. Bell Jr. (PhD, Duke University) is professor of theological ethics at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. He has worked extensively with both retired and active duty military personnel on the just war tradition. Bell is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and the author of Liberation Theology after the End of History.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Chaplain Lt. Col. Scott A. Sterling
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. Two Just War Traditions: 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