Between Pacifism and Jihad: Just War and Christian Tradition

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InterVarsity Press, Sep 20, 2009 - Religion
Pacifism. Jihad. Militarism. Are these our only alternatives for dealing with global injustice today? J. Daryl Charles leads us to reconsider a Christian view of the use of force to maintain or reestablish justice. He shows how love for a neighbor can warrant the just use of force. Reviewing and updating the widely recognized but not necessarily well-understood just-war teaching of the church through the ages, Charles shows how it captures many of the concerns of the pacifist position while deliberately avoiding, on the other side, the excesses of jihad and militarism. Aware of our contemporary global situation, Charles addresses the unique challenges of dealing with international terrorism.

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About the author (2009)

J. Daryl Charles (Ph.D., Westminster Theological Seminary) is director and senior fellow of the Bryan Institute for Critical Thought & Practice, Bryan College, and served as the 2007-1008 William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in Religion & Public Life, James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Department of Politics, of Princeton University. He is the co-author (with David D. Corey) of Justice in an Age of Terror and (with David B. Capes) of Thriving in Babylon: Essays in Honor of A. J. Conyers and the author of Retrieving Natural Law. The translator of Roots of Wisdom by Claus Westermann, he serves on the editorial advisory boards of the journals Pro Ecclesia and Cultural Encounters, and is contributing editor of the journal Touchstone.

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