st. augustine of hippo & "the just war" ... the duty of the ruler to wage war in order to protect his subjects from war ...

that which follows is so beautifully concise that it ill behooves me to attempt paraphrase or exposition.  i set this little article out in its entirety, as a found it on the internet.  it is a part of a larger work of the encyclopedia of the crusades.  http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/augustineofhippo.html

islam might very well take some time to reflect that the religious and philosophical basis for the west to wage war upon it has been worked out for a very long time, and that to a great many, the reasoning and assumptions remain valid, vigorous and vital.  it is neither vapid, nor has it been vitiated.  verily.

i, of course, maintain that these same rationales are available to me, as an individual, in order to protect myself and in this i count as intellectual allies john locke, sir william blackstone and one thomas jefferson if and when my sovereign violates those duties owed to me to provide for my security from outside aggression, and, if and when my sovereign so violates and negates the social contract existing between himself and me that i am left alone to advance my rights and duties under natural law to protect myself and my fellows.  hey, thomas jeffersontook it seriously, as did the adams, pater & fils, and ben franklin, and alexander hamilton, james madison and john jay, amongst the luminary, and the citizens of the colonies who found it all persuasive enough to pledge their lives, their property and their sacred honor.

they would expect no less of me.  i expect no less of you.

all of this which follows, of course, represents a profound recognition on the part of institutions devoted to “turning the other cheek” that even those of a pacifistic bent must at times turn to violence in order to preserve themselves, and a profounder recognition that they in fact have a right and duty to preserve themselves, if they are to preserve their ideas, their faith, and the chance that same shall in fact have a posterity.

it is, therefore, profoundly more significant than simply preserving one’s life.

it is a recognition that sometimes hard things must be done to preserve morals, ethics, religion and civilization.

to preserve that which is good, and to resist the attempts and aggressions of evil to destroy good.

if you do not understand that, then you understand, … , nothing.  and, … , nothing is precisely what you shall have.

of st. augustine of hippo and his thoughts on the "just war," which thoughts provided a rationale for the crusades.—

john jay @ 07.07.2010

st. augustine, the fifth-century bishop of hippo, influenced the crusading movement through his various writings which were highly popular with medieval clerics. augustine's views on warfare and the christian ethos were especially important in the medieval christian development of the just war theory. augustine's two greatest surviving works, out of several dozen, are his “city of god” and his “confessions.” his conversion to christianity is among the most famous, as many are familiar with his quip in which he asked god to make him chaste, but do it later. as the bishop of hippo, augustine  also was involved with the council of hippo in 393 which, along with the council of carthage in 397, first recognized the 27 books of the new testament that are still recognized as the new testament today. his influence on christian theology continued from the middle ages until the present day. all medieval monks were likely made aware of augustine at some point in their career and would have studied his works if they had the opportunity to receive a proper education in theology from the church. st. augustineis often credited as the originator of the “just war theory.” augustine did not necessarily claim the right to self-defense, as he argued that it was never permissable to kill over one's life or property. this thinking was derived from concepts of christian charity, in which one had the obligation to turn the other cheek. yet this rule did not apply to one's moral obligation to provide for the defense of others, such as the weak, infants, children, etc.. 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. the thirteenth-century theologian st. thomas aquinas later adopted augustine's writings on just war for his development of the concept in which he defined three necessary conditions for war including, legitimate authority, just cause, and right intention. unsurprisingly, crusades era preachers and writers seized on augustine's popular reputation during the middle ages and cited his works in reference to the crusading movement as a justification for calling of violence in defense of the holy land and the eastern christian empire of byzantium. cambridge historian jonathan riley-smith, for example, notes that crusades preachers turned to scholars for justification of christian violence and gregory vii had found in anselm of lucca a partisan who, through a careful reading of the fathers, above all st. augustine of hippo, would build a convincing case for christian violence as something which could be commanded by god, was at the disposal of the church and would, when properly used, be an expression of christian love.(1) the following are selections of augustine's writings on war and its acceptability under limited circumstances. these selections are taken from, st. augustineof hippo. “the city of god,” trans. by marcus dodds, d.d. in nicene and post-nicene fathers, series one, volume 2. edited by philip schaff,d.d.,lld,.americanedition,1887. “but, say they, the wise man will wage just wars. as if he would not all the rather lament the necessity of just wars, if he remembers that he is a man; for if they were not just he would not wage them, and would therefore be delivered from all wars. for it is the wrongdoing of the opposing party which compels the wise man to wage just wars; and this wrong-doing, even though it gave rise to no war, would still be matter of grief to man because it is man's wrong-doing… (chapter7)” “whoever gives even moderate attention to human affairs and to our common nature, will recognize that if there is no man who does not wish to be joyful, neither is there any one who does not wish to have peace.  for even they who make war desire nothing but victory -- desire, that is to say, to attain to peace with glory. for what else is victory than the conquest of those who resist us? and when this is done there is peace. it is therefore with the desire for peace that wars are waged, even by those who take pleasure in exercising their warlike nature in command and battle. and hence it is obvious that peace is the end sought for by war. (Chapter 12)” “for even when we wage a just war, our adversaries must be sinning; and every victory, even though gained by wicked men, is a result of the first judgment of god, who humbles the vanquished either for the sake of removing or of punishing their sins. witness that man of god, daniel, who, when he was in captivity, confessed to god his own sins and the sins of his people, and declares with pious grief that these were the cause of the captivity. (chapter 15) (2)” [links to other just war articles omitted, just because they goobled things up.] 1. jonathan riley-smith. the crusades: a short history. (new haven: yale university press, 1987), 5. 2. augustine of hippo. “the city of god,” trans. by marcus dodds, d.d.. in nicene and post-nicene fathers, series one, volume 2. edited by philip schaff, d.d., ll.d. american edition, 1887. (c) andrew holt, may 2005- permission is granted for electronic copying and distribution in print form for educational and personal use. no permission is granted for commercial use. http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/augustineofhippo.html

Comments

[Jewel]

john, can you fix the text? It breaks off in both my IE8 and chrome browsers.

[john jay]

jewel:

i just checked my machine, and it is o.k.

looks fine from here.

where is it breaking off?

john

[john jay]

jewel, friends:

i see. it has clipped the margins on the quotes from augustine's writings.

will try to fix. otherwise, just follow the link to the document.

my apologies.

john jay

[אומנויות לחימה]

Hey dude!! Your article is pretty interesting, but the text here is broken on the right side, can you fix it. The morals explained in the article are good for motivating any one.

The sentence which inspired me a lot is “it is a recognition that sometimes hard things must be done to preserve morals, ethics, religion and civilization”, everybody think about it for once, and just follow it. We can find a new world with peace..