Kyle Pierce
Paper 2: Qur’an, Aquinas, and Augustine on War and Force
Topic: Compare the Qur’anic texts on the use of force with those of Augustine and Aquinas. When is force justified? Are there any limitations on its use? When comparing the Qur’anic texts to Augustine and Aquinas, both share a clear motive of why one should go to war. The justifications are similar but not the same entirely, as there are even some differences between Augustine and Aquinas, let alone the Qur’an. However, they all agree on the point that war should not be used for destruction. Augustine’s view of war is more towards a pacifist’s viewpoint, as he believes war should not be for the destruction of one group of people. However, he also states that one can go
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In his first article on war, he expresses that was is entirely justifiable and not sinful. However, while Aquinas claims war is not always sinful, there must be a set of three circumstances that are present for force to be justified. This goes into more depth than Augustine, as Aquinas says the three necessary requirements are “the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged… a just cause is required… [and] the belligerents should have a rightful intention”. Both Aquinas and Augustine believe that there must be a good intention for the war, whether it be to reinforce the good, or eliminate the bad. Both Augustine and Aquinas have a very similar viewpoint of peace and how to obtain it. However, Aquinas goes into more detail and has more circumstances for a just war than Augustine. Aquinas believes that someone in power should be declaring war, and that war should not be declared by a single person. War should not be used as one’s benefit, but rather a nation’s benefit. Lastly, Aquinas talks about a just cause, which Augustine talks about in another writing. Aquinas and Augustine both agree that a just cause must be something along the lines of that a nation causes great harm in one way or another and refuses to make reparation. (Thomas