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Christianity and the Just War theory

Does the Just War Theory provide sufficient moral justification for Christians' involvement in war?

The Just War Theory is a set of criteria that are used to judge whether a war is morally justifiable. It was St Augustine in the third century that formulated the Just War theory, and was formalised 10 centuries later by Thomas Aquinas. There are seven criteria by which a war can be judged to be just. Among the rules are Just Cause – there must be a very good reason for going to war, such as protecting your country from invasion. There should be a formal declaration of war by the legal government. It has to be the last resort and all other alternatives must be exhausted. There must be a reasonable chance of success and great care must be taken to avoid injuring civilians.

The Just War Theory is still believed today to be the only way that Christians can morally justify war and is often referred to by leaders of Christian countries when......

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Approximate Word Count: 680
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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