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“Augustine noted in Contra Faustum that the believer must live within the boundaries of nonretaliation, which demand a passive posture. Enlisted into warfare, the Christian must hasten to seek a non-violent response first, and in last resort, enlist the sword.” (Christian Jihad, p. 225)...

“As Atkinson notes, Augustine and Aquinas’s classic guidelines for just war can be summarized: ... 8. The good consequences to be expected from going to war must outweigh the evil incurred. …” (Christian Jihad, p. 224,225) @Wrangler @Armour of God @NayborBear They concede that war incurs...

“Before the second Christian millennium began, the Just War criteria had faced the test of Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne and the onset of the perpetual Christian-Muslim conflict. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) revisited the topic of warfare and built upon Augustine’s principles to address his...

“In his allegiance to Cicero, Augustine also agrees ...” (Christian Jihad, p. 221) @Wrangler @Armour of God @NayborBear I have no allegiance to Cicero. Jesus and the apostles had no allegiance to Cicero. Whether you are aware of it or not, you have allegiance to Cicero. My simple advice...

“In The City of God, Augustine holds that humankind, immersed in sin, is incapable of true peace. Evil is inherent in the thoughts of men and women and must be restrained. Therefore, warfare is not only understandable, it is inevitable.” (Christian Jihad, p. 219) @Wrangler @Armour of God...

“As the church continued to grow in number and influence, the pacifistic response to martyrdom became replaced with the desire to see civil codes enacted to shape social interaction. The key question that led to the formulation of the Just War criteria was: Is it ever justified to defend oneself...

“The Roman philosopher-orator Cicero (106-43 B.C.), whose work was a foundation on which Augustine could build, obviously contributed much to the Christian theologian’s thinking.” (Christian Jihad, p. 218) @Wrangler @Armour of God @NayborBear The foundation, your foundation, is rooted in...

“Augustine lived in a time of barbarian invasion. In fact, as he lay on his death bed in 430, Vandals were at the gates of Hippo. He concluded that, to be considered just, warfare must have the purpose of vindicating justice. Augustine, though, clearly considers only Christian duties and...

Jesus and the apostles didn’t teach, preach nor model “Just War” theory. “Ambrose, the bishop of Milan during the formative Christian years of Augustine, provided a foundation to a theory that Augustine would later deepen.” (Christian Jihad, p. 217) Ambrose is writing in the 4th century...

“Less than a century before Augustine, the Christian community had risen from the status of the hunted to the status of the protected. There was now the dilemma of reconciling the teachings of Jesus Christ to warfare. Following Constantine‘s authorization of Christianity, it had become the...

I don’t think it’s necessary for me to post this but I will since the authors want to make it clear to their readers - “So that the reader does not assume that this book is yet another in a long line of antiviolence, pacifistic tomes, bent upon calling all men to a polyannic peacefest, the...

“Certainly the Crusade period, and indeed all acts of forced conversion, have done no great service to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. … The authentic Christian cannot defend the Crusades, the Inquisitions, or other horrible movements in Church history. Genuine authenticity demands a...

“... the negative influence of the Crusade is much worse. Rather than instituting peace between the Eastern and Western Churches (with the West, under Urban, responding to the call from the Eastern Church under Alexis) warfare increased, due to the brutality of the Crusaders and the duplicity of...

”To many, fanaticism is a term used to describe anyone who practices who practices their faith devoutly or more negatively stated, excessively.” (Christian Jihad, p. 194)

“In essence, Christianity took on a distinctively Islamic flavor, promising the same heavenly reward as provided in the Qur’an (3:169-171). This pledge, used against various religion groups, found its culmination in the Crusades. When Urban II declared ‘Deus Vult!’ (God wills it!) at the Council...

This is an interesting read. Not because it tells us anything new about Dirk Willems but because the author is Catholic and directs our attention to Dirk as an example of what it looks like to love our enemies. “Every Sunday, we pray a dangerous prayer: ‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive...

“Don’t get your job and God’s job mixed up.” - Shane Pruitt

No one is blocking you. What are you doing here? You’re “armed, ready to kill”. Why aren’t you out in the streets killing your enemies? My “fanatical devotion” is to the teaching of Jesus and the apostles. Practice what you teach and preach. I do.

The Messiah gave clear instructions on how his followers were to treat their enemies. We will know them by their fruit. Examine the fruit.