1. War and peace 3:1

2. War and Peace 3:1
Christian attitudes to issues of war(including sacred texts)
Pacifism, absolute and relative and nuclear pacifism
role of pacifist movements and pressure groups
Practicalities of pacifism in its different forms
The just war theory including key principles, jus ad bellum, jus in bello, jus post bellum
Evaluation of JWT as a theory and in practice
Perceived advantages of war
relevance of religious contributions
success of named wars

3. Christianity on war and peace
Outcomes: To understand different Christian perspectives on war, looking at the Bible and holy war

4. Can war ever be good? Discuss with a partner
Try to apply real life wars to aid your thinking

5. What causes war?
Make a list/ mind map of as many reasons as you can as to why wars take place.
Now highlight reasons from your list that you think are just reasons for war

6. Christian views about war
Using the ipads/ your phones research one of the following:
Reasons why some Christian believe they can fight in wars
Reasons why some Christians believe they should not fight in wars
You must have at least 3 Biblical references
Now swap your information with someone who did the other task

7. Bible quotes
‘Joshua subdued the whole region…He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded’ Joshua 10:40
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:8
Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9
‘Put your sword back in its place,’ said Jesus to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword’ Matthew 26:52
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. Luke 6:29
And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Matthew 24: 6-7

8. Should Christians go to war
After looking at Christian teachings do you think they should go to war?
What difficulties do they face when making the decision?

9. Justice
The Bible teaches the importance of Justice, such as Isaiah 1:17
‘Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression’
Do you think this could justify wars?
Is this compatible with Jesus’ teaching on peace?

10. Christian beliefs about war
Ultimately Christians have 3 stances on war:
Holy war
No war – Pacifism
Just war

11. Holy war
Involving God as part of a war campaign does not make a war a holy war - for a war to be a holy war, religion has to be the driving force.
Do you think war can be Holy?

12. Reasons for Holy war?
Francis Bacon said there were five causes for holy war: (he wrote in a Christian context, but the categories would be usable by any faith)
to spread the faith
2. to retrieve countries that were once Christian, even though there are no Christians left there
3. to rescue Christians in countries that were once Christian from 'the servitude of the infidels‘
4. recover and purify consecrated places that are presently being 'polluted and profaned‘
5. avenge blasphemous acts, or cruelties and killings of Christians (even if these took place long ago)

13. Holy War A crusade is a ‘Holy War’.
Exodus 15
The Song of Moses and Miriam
 1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD :        "I will sing to the LORD,        for he is highly exalted.        The horse and its rider        he has hurled into the sea.  2 The LORD is my strength and my song;        he has become my salvation.        He is my God, and I will praise him,        my father's God, and I will exalt him.
 3 The LORD is a warrior;        the LORD is his name.
A crusade is a ‘Holy War’.
The book of Exodus tells how Israel escaped from slavery in Egypt when Moses was the nation’s leader.
Ancient Israelites described God as ‘the God of hosts’
Exodus 15:1-3, which celebrates this event describes God as a warrior
Fighting to protect

14. Holy War (cont.)
Ancient Israelites believed that God had given them rules about how to fight. They believed:
God was in the midst of their armies as an unseen supreme commander
All people they conquered, including women & children, were to be completely exterminated
The victims of the war, & the booty, were dedicated to God, as though they were his property. Anyone who kept the spoils of war were stoned to death

15. Examples of Holy Wars E.g.. Joshua 6:15-21
On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted [a] to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute [b] and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."
 20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

16. Examples of Christian Holy wars
Israelites reclaiming the holy land in the OT “This is what the Lord says...go and attack the Amalekites and destroy everything they have”1 Samuel 15:2 “Hammer your plowshares into swords and prepare for war” Joel 3:10

17. The Crusades
The idea of holy war has from time to time appeared in Christian history as crusades. There are 4 beliefs behind crusades
The reason for the war is a holy one
God will guide and lead the army
The crusaders are on God’s side: the enemy are against God
The war must go on to the bitter end

18. The Crusades They took place in the 11th – 13th centuries
They mainly centred on the Holy Land of Palestine (Israel)
Crusaders wanted to recover the Holy Land from the Muslim ‘infidels’. They had the support of the Christian Church

19. The Crusades
The Popes promised eternal life to all Christians who fell in battle.
There were eight crusades in all
History show that the crusaders were like bands of thugs who raped and butchered as they went.
The first people they killed were fellow Christians in Constantinople.

20. Holy war
Some Christians believe in Holy war today…war which is in the name of God to uphold religion.
Why do you think a lot of Christian do not advocate holy war as described in the OT/ during the crusades? Discuss and make a note

21. Homework Research a pacifist pressure group Who are/were they?
What are/were there key beliefs?
What did they do/ are they doing?