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C H A P T E R O N E FROM THE BIBLE TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN RECENT DECADES scholars looking back on the Christian tradition have focused on the ethical aspects of war, tracing three strands of thought: pacifism, the just war tradition, and the crusade.1 In a century that suffered the horrors of the two world wars, when nuclear weaponry has threatened humankind’s very existence, and when international organizations have at least held out the prospect of a world without war, it is understandable that Christians would mine their tradition for insights into the morality of war. Yet in the history of Christian thought, there is also a tradition of reflection on the origins of war that has been largely ignored by recent scholars but that is essential for understanding the Christian attitude toward war in its entirety, and is therefore key if Catholics today wish to develop a truly Christian perspective on war and its origins. The roots of the Christian tradition of thinking about the origins of war are found in the Bible, and the first sprouts of the tradition emerged in the thought of the church fathers. Passages in both the Old and New Testaments suggest that the origins of violence and injustice can be found in idolatry. The church fathers developed the idea of idolatry as the source of war as part of their apologetic against pagan Roman culture. As Christianity became dominant throughout Europe, however, this line of thought was transformed and taken in new directions , particularly by medieval theologians and writers. WAR IN THE BIBLE The Bible has always been the starting point for Christian thinking about war. Some have used the holy wars of the Old Testament to justify war, although for many they remain troubling. The words of Jesus in the Gospels have inspired pacifists throughout the centuries, whereas those committed to the just war theory have tried to situate those sayings in the context of other New Testament passages and natural law thinking. Besides being a source of reflection on the morality of war, however, the Bible also provides insight into the origins of war. It is clear that the Old Testament finds the source of evils, including 7 8 Chapter One war, in idolatry, whether that of Israel or its neighbors. This theme is taken up again in the New Testament and forms the foundation for future thinking on the origins of war. Old Testament History The holy wars of the Old Testament have been of particular interest to scholars. The characteristics that distinguish the holy war from other wars are the cultic activities prior to the battle and the herem, or ban, the total annihilation of the populace of the city being attacked. In a holy war, God fights on behalf of the Israelites, and at times even in place of them. For example, after the Israelites are saved from the Egyptians, they sing: “The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name” (Exod. 15:3; all biblical citations are from the RSV); in 2 Kings 18–19, God kills the invading Assyrians with a plague. Although the concept of holy war was shared by other Near Eastern cultures such as Ugarit, Mari, Egypt, Assyria, and Moab, the Israelite conception had several distinguishing characteristics: In Israelite culture, warriors were not considered the primary heroes, holy war imagery is at times used by the prophets against Israel itself, and sometimes God alone acts as warrior.2 Gerhard von Rad has traced the history of the holy war among the Israelites. Biblically, the earliest holy wars are found in the book of Joshua, in which the Israelites militarily conquer Canaan; yet Joshua was written much later than the events it describes, and biblical scholars have given various accounts of the actual history of this period. The book of Judges, however, according to von Rad, presents a fairly accurate description of Israelite warfare during the twelfth century BC, and therefore provides our earliest historical account of Israelite holy war. Von Rad states that the Israelite holy wars of this period were primarily defensive, as the Israelites responded to the provocations of their neighbors. Significantly, the author of Judges usually describes these provocations as arising from the idolatry of these tribes, therefore making idolatry the origin or cause of war, rather than a cause for war, as the holy war is typically characterized.3 The emergence of the Israelite monarchy in the late eleventh century...

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