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Objection 1: It would seem that it is always sinful to wage war.
Because punishment is not inflicted except for sin. Now those who
wage war are threatened by Our Lord with punishment, according to
Mt. 26:52: "All that take the sword shall perish with the
sword." Therefore all wars are unlawful.
Objection 2: Further, whatever is contrary to a Divine precept is
a sin. But war is contrary to a Divine precept, for it is written
(Mt. 5:39): "But I say to you not to resist evil"; and
(Rm. 12:19): "Not revenging yourselves, my dearly beloved,
but give place unto wrath." Therefore war is always sinful.
Objection 3: Further, nothing, except sin, is contrary to an act
of virtue. But war is contrary to peace. Therefore war is always a
sin.
Objection 4: Further, the exercise of a lawful thing is itself
lawful, as is evident in scientific exercises. But warlike exercises
which take place in tournaments are forbidden by the Church, since
those who are slain in these trials are deprived of ecclesiastical
burial. Therefore it seems that war is a sin in itself.
On the contrary, Augustine says in a sermon on the son of the
centurion [Ep. ad Marcel. cxxxviii]: "If the Christian
Religion forbade war altogether, those who sought salutary advice in
the Gospel would rather have been counselled to cast aside their arms,
and to give up soldiering altogether. On the contrary, they were
told: 'Do violence to no man . . . and be content with your pay'
[Lk. 3:14]. If he commanded them to be content with their
pay, he did not forbid soldiering."
I answer that, In order for a war to be just, three things are
necessary. First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the
war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private individual
to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the
tribunal of his superior. Moreover it is not the business of a private
individual to summon together the people, which has to be done in
wartime. And as the care of the common weal is committed to those who
are in authority, it is their business to watch over the common weal of
the city, kingdom or province subject to them. And just as it is
lawful for them to have recourse to the sword in defending that common
weal against internal disturbances, when they punish evil-doers,
according to the words of the Apostle (Rm. 13:4): "He
beareth not the sword in vain: for he is God's minister, an avenger
to execute wrath upon him that doth evil"; so too, it is their
business to have recourse to the sword of war in defending the common
weal against external enemies. Hence it is said to those who are in
authority (Ps. 81:4): "Rescue the poor: and deliver the
needy out of the hand of the sinner"; and for this reason Augustine
says (Contra Faust. xxii, 75): "The natural order conducive
to peace among mortals demands that the power to declare and counsel war
should be in the hands of those who hold the supreme authority."
Secondly, a just cause is required, namely that those who are
attacked, should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some
fault. Wherefore Augustine says (Questions. in Hept., qu. x,
super Jos.): "A just war is wont to be described as one that
avenges wrongs, when a nation or state has to be punished, for
refusing to make amends for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects, or to
restore what it has seized unjustly."
Thirdly, it is necessary that the belligerents should have a rightful
intention, so that they intend the advancement of good, or the
avoidance of evil. Hence Augustine says (De Verb. Dom., Can.
Apud. Caus. xxiii, qu. 1): "True religion looks upon as
peaceful those wars that are waged not for motives of aggrandizement,
or cruelty, but with the object of securing peace, of punishing
evil-doers, and of uplifting the good." For it may happen that the
war is declared by the legitimate authority, and for a just cause, and
yet be rendered unlawful through a wicked intention. Hence Augustine
says (Contra Faust. xxii, 74): "The passion for inflicting
harm, the cruel thirst for vengeance, an unpacific and relentless
spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and such like
things, all these are rightly condemned in war."
Reply to Objection 1: As Augustine says (Contra Faust. xxii,
70): "To take the sword is to arm oneself in order to take the
life of anyone, without the command or permission of superior or lawful
authority." On the other hand, to have recourse to the sword (as a
private person) by the authority of the sovereign or judge, or (as a
public person) through zeal for justice, and by the authority, so to
speak, of God, is not to "take the sword," but to use it as
commissioned by another, wherefore it does not deserve punishment.
And yet even those who make sinful use of the sword are not always
slain with the sword, yet they always perish with their own sword,
because, unless they repent, they are punished eternally for their
sinful use of the sword.
Reply to Objection 2: Such like precepts, as Augustine observes
(De Serm. Dom. in Monte i, 19), should always be borne in
readiness of mind, so that we be ready to obey them, and, if
necessary, to refrain from resistance or self-defense. Nevertheless
it is necessary sometimes for a man to act otherwise for the common
good, or for the good of those with whom he is fighting. Hence
Augustine says (Ep. ad Marcellin. cxxxviii): "Those whom we
have to punish with a kindly severity, it is necessary to handle in
many ways against their will. For when we are stripping a man of the
lawlessness of sin, it is good for him to be vanquished, since nothing
is more hopeless than the happiness of sinners, whence arises a guilty
impunity, and an evil will, like an internal enemy."
Reply to Objection 3: Those who wage war justly aim at peace, and
so they are not opposed to peace, except to the evil peace, which Our
Lord "came not to send upon earth" (Mt. 10:34). Hence
Augustine says (Ep. ad Bonif. clxxxix): "We do not seek peace
in order to be at war, but we go to war that we may have peace. Be
peaceful, therefore, in warring, so that you may vanquish those whom
you war against, and bring them to the prosperity of peace."
Reply to Objection 4: Manly exercises in warlike feats of arms are
not all forbidden, but those which are inordinate and perilous, and
end in slaying or plundering. In olden times warlike exercises
presented no such danger, and hence they were called "exercises of
arms" or "bloodless wars," as Jerome states in an epistle
[Veget., De Re Milit. i].
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