I've taught Augustine's view of just war for over a decade. Not only has the VP failed to grapple with its basic features but he is missing something essential: for Augustine pacifism (Christ's own witness) is the most perfect fulfillment of conduct in any kind of human conflict.
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2044179522715824462
For Augustine, just like virginity / chastity is the perfect fulfillment of erotic attachment, and mercy the perfect fulfillment of the law, so too is the pacifistic martyr higher, holier and more perfect than any soldiery, just or no...!
Augustine's view of soldiers in a just war is that they will not only always fight with the goal of *peacemaking* and reconciliation with their own opponents, but also that they will err on the side of suffering harm (pacifistic martyrdom) before doing injustice to innocents...!
This implies that for Augustine pacifism is so much more perfect that it remains normatively present even inside the actions of just war, overriding & stopping violent action whenever a solider properly discerns it does not serve peacemaking even if ithis means risking ones life
Is it possible for a soldier to alway be guided and carried by the spirit of the perfect *pacifist* (Christ)?
It's a heavy load to bear, and later figures in this tradition like Erasmus will be skeptical that it's possible. But it remains the authentic (Christian) burden in war.
It's a heavy load to bear, and later figures in this tradition like Erasmus will be skeptical that it's possible. But it remains the authentic (Christian) burden in war.
Even Augustine seems hesitant given human fallibility. The easiest resolution is also the hardest: imitate Christ in pacifism and if done in direct confrontation with evil you cannot go wrong (albeit the cost may be very steep!). From this we receive martyrs, MLK, Dorothy Day etc
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