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This 11 page paper discusses Thomas Aquinas’s theory of just war, and whether or not it still applies. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
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11 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KV32_HVaqbelo.rtf
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listed below. Citation styles constantly change, and these examples may not contain the most recent updates. Thomas Aquinas, Just War and the Authority of the State
Research Compiled by K. Von Huben 4/2010 Please Introduction One of the basic commandments of Christianity
is "Thou Shalt Not Kill," and yet Christians have been killing each other, as well as non-Christians, for millennia. Much of this violence is not "sanctioned" but is instead the
result of living in a violent society such that homicide, assault, rape and other losses of control occur daily. The criminal justice system exists to punish wrongdoers who commit crimes
of this nature, but what happens when the violence is carried out by the state? This paper considers what Thomas Aquinas said about war, and about the authority of the
state to wage war. It also considers whether or not his justifications still hold true today. Discussion There appears to be a fundamental "disconnect" between Christian teaching and the idea
of war or violence of any kind. Either the commandments are absolute, or they need not be obeyed at all; at least in this context, there appears to be little
room for interpretation. And yet, Christians have been waging wars for centuries. The "wiggle room" is due at least in part to St. Thomas Aquinas, a Christian theologian who considered
the idea and developed the "just war" theory. In an interesting article about theological considerations and the use of force, Winright notes that there is no evidence to suggest that
Christians served in the military any earlier than 170 or 180 AD, but once the Roman Empire shifted from paganism to Christianity, "Christians assumed responsibility for the good of overall
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