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The Sword, the Cross, and the Eagle: The American Christian Just War Tradition
Author(s): Davis Brown (Author)
- Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
- Publication Date: 22 Aug. 2008
- Language: English
- Print length: 312 pages
- ISBN-10: 074256259X
- ISBN-13: 9780742562592
Book Description
The Sword, the Cross, and the Eagle explores how Christian principles and the natural law tradition consider the use of military force and how they support the just war tradition over other moral traditions of war. By promoting the use of offensive war as justifiable under a just war rationale, the book challenges the Christian communityOs basic assumptions regarding the use of force.
Editorial Reviews
Review
In a context marked by an increasingly broad-and too often badly understood-use of just war language and concepts in a variety of academic fields, Davis Brown's The Sword, the Cross, and the Eagle offers a thoughtful and suggestive focusing of the just war idea by reference to its roots in Christian thought and ethics. The book then applies the resulting conception to three of the most important contemporary problems for the ethics of war: the questions of just rebellion, humanitarian intervention, and nuclear war. Its contributions on both the level of theory and practical application make it a substantive contribution to the ongoing debate over ethics and war, one that should be digested and taken seriously by anyone engaged with these issues. -- James Turner Johnson, professor of religion, Rutgers University, author of Morality and Contemporary Warfare and other works on the ideas of just war Brown offers a clear, comprehensive introduction to the Christian just war tradition...Recommended. Two-star review. CHOICE, March 2009 Davis Brown distinguishes the Christian just war tradition, which values justice over peace, from the comparative perversities of modern international law, which appears to value peace over justice. This book makes a significant contribution to the literature in its attempt to reclaim the idea of a just, offensive war. The author makes use of the most important primary sources and elucidates that material in a reader-friendly way that cannot help but impress. -- Darrell Cole, Associate Professor of Religion, Drew University
About the Author
Davis Brown is director of the Just War Theory Project for the Academic Council on the United Nations System, an international institute of scholars and practitioners that reevaluate the role of war, intervention, and rebellion. He is also an attorney and has been a visiting scholar at George Washington University.
