Just War theories were developed over the span of many centuries by a variety of Catholic theologians, including Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Grotius. The church has a long tradition of involvement in war. The 'Just War' doctrine was developed during the early Christian centuries when Christian leaders had responsibility for matters of State. St. Augustine, followed by other theologians, developed a series of questions designed to clarify limits to war and when a Christian authority could go to war.
According to the current Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC),
2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The CCC defines the four conditions for determining the justice of a war as:
- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
- there must be serious prospects of success;
- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine.
The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.
However, this also brings upon many questions that are left unanswerable.
- How do Just War theories expect to justify the pursuit of some wars?
- In requirement of public authorities to go to war in defense a their country's security and freedom, is it right to go to war?
- How can we ever conclude that some particular war may be more moral than another?
- With the use of nuclear weapons, bombs and other sorts of weapons of mass destruction, how is it possible for war to be just when their use would always kill or injure the innocent?
- Many Christians today are also asking whether non-violence is the only option.
- Is it right for Christians to accept war as 'just' in the light of Jesus's call?
- Can Christians learn to take a path that is actively for peace which is just, and may call for self-sacrifice in 'costly discipleship'
Just War theories definitely have some difficulties. The criteria are often ambiguous and questionable as who gets to decide if war is just or not just? Although this is the case, it also does not mean that the criteria are pointless. It just shows that questions that depend on ethics are not easily distinguished between black and white. They are not clear cut and there will always be grey areas where well intentioned people will not necessarily agree.
