Reply #173: I consider myself to be a Christian Pacifist, too [View All]

[theredpen]

I follow the Just War Doctrine which found its genesis in the works of Augustine. Augustine spent his life transforming Christianity from a fan club into an organized movement; I have my problems with Augustine, but without him, we wouldn't be discussing the finer points of Jesus' Word today. A greater contribution was made by Thomas Aquinas, who deserves a great deal of the credit for the fact that the Christian Church emerged from the Dark Ages with any semblance of moral authority.

From these works, I see that there is no reason not to allow for defensive war. If all wars are defensive, then there will be no wars.

If this isn't pious enough for you, well, that's that.