Aim: To examine the ideas of St Augustine. A Reason for War? Aim: To examine the ideas of St Augustine.

St Augustine In the early years of the Christian religion one of the most important thinkers was St Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 CE). He firmly believed that only the laws of the Church and secular powers of the state could control people. Augustine followed Christianity at a time when the Roman Empire had accepted it as its recognised religion. Such acceptance brought an openly passive religion alongside a highly organised war machine. To make such a partnership possible Augustine developed the rules behind Just War.

Just War Augustine devised two reasons to support a just war: It must have legitimate authority. It must have a just cause. St Thomas Aquinas added a third condition: There must be a right intention By the middle of the 20th Century a group of American Catholic bishops felt that these rules were no longer adequate and so further conditions were laid down, divided into two key areas. One to determine when it is right to go to war (Jus ad Bellum) and how the war should be fought (Jus in Bello).

Problems Some claim that the modifications made by the Catholic bishops do no more than to reinforce the view that war can be justified, as opposed to erasing such a notion from the moral debate. Walter Wink argues that justice involves equality and fairness - qualities which do not exist within the theatre of war. However, if war is by its very nature always wrong, should the strong no longer defend the weak if such defence involves aggression? Should Britain have remained passive during Hitler’s conquest of Europe?

Original Sin Augustine maintained that human nature is corrupt. He contended that this was because of the Fall of Adam. He claimed that: ‘…to know whether a man is a good man ‘one does not ask what he believes, or what he hopes, but what he loves.’ (Quoted in Situation Ethics, p.63) - 1994; Peter Vardy & Paul Grosch, The Puzzle of Ethics, 1999. p. 127. Augustine’s ethical view comes close to Joseph Fletcher’s situation ethics.

Augustine’s Ethics Augustine views humanity as corrupted. He supports the view that what a person loves demonstrates their goodness far better than any other tendency or desire a person might exhibit. Augustine did not view animals as being capable of reason and as such saw them as existing outside the moral environment.

Suggested Task Essay ‘Killing can never be justified.’ Explore this statement in relation to Just War theory.