Whether It Is Always Sinful to Wage War?
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
Matt. 26:52: "All that take the sword shall perish with the sword."
Therefore all wars are unlawful.
Obj. 2: Further, whatever is contrary to a Divine precept is a sin.
But war is contrary to a Divine precept, for it is written (Matt.
5:39): "But I say to you not to resist evil"; and (Rom. 12:19): "Not
revenging yourselves, my dearly beloved, but give place unto wrath."
Therefore war is always sinful.
Obj. 3: Further, nothing, except sin, is contrary to an act of
virtue. But war is contrary to peace. Therefore war is always a sin.
Obj. 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'
[*Luke 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
(Rom. 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 (QQ. 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. [*The words
quoted are to be found not in St. Augustine's works, but 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 Obj. 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 Obj. 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 Obj. 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" (Matt. 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 Obj. 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 [*Reference
incorrect: cf. Veget., De Re Milit. i].
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