Church & State

“The Queen is not only very charming, but incredibly well-informed. Less agreeable, are the visits and letters from the Archbishop of Canterbury [Fisher]. I try to talk to him about religion. He seems to be quite uninterested and reverts all the time to politics.”


Diary of Harold MacMillan British Prime Minister, 1957-1963

Just War & Bin Laden

‘Rome at first desired to be free, then since it seemed inglorious to serve, desired to be master’. Augustine

‘This is a time to celebrate America’s victory over bin Laden. And it’s also a time to see a just way forward in the war on terror.’ Chuck Colson

‘The act was fully justified by the demands of just war theory, the historic Christian means of moral reasoning that measures the justification for acts of lethal force.’ Al Mohler

‘I think the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling because it doesn't look as if justice is seen to be done.’ Rowan Williams

'Justice has been done'. President Obama

On a personal and theological level, it is difficult to know how to respond to events of terrorism. Having spent my childhood living in N. Ireland I am very familiar with the injustices of terrorist attacks, and have seen up close the horror such violence wreaks in families and communities. I have been moved both by seeing terrorists turn to Christ, people forgive for their loved ones being killed - and I have been shocked at the callousness of those committed to the thrills of terror in the name of a shallow political cause.

That said, I have found the internet-published comments from evangelical leaders, on the death of Bin Laden, surprising. In particular, I find the appropriation of just war theory premature, to say the least. There are few more complex areas of philosophical and theological thought than ‘Just War Theory.’ 


Agonizingly intricate in the lecture room; divided schools of thought in the literature. Several thousand years of secular and Christian reflections coalescing around the writings of Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas and Grotius. In the modern era the Holocaust casts its shadow alongside the theory stretching realities of nuclear weapons and terrorist cells. Even the label ‘theory’ has its problems - for it suggests, incorrectly, that the tradition can indeed be summarised as a series of headings. It is often done so on blogs, but in actual fact the weightings given to areas of concern, are far more complex than the lists can convey. Further, the affective dimensions of Augustine’s presentation on the matter of the pursuit of glory are hardly ever considered.

Just War Theory is serious due to the stakes of life in its balance. As war is never satisfactory, neither is the theory - since it must reluctantly and partially be put into effect in the real world.

It is good that American evangelical leaders such as Mohler and Piper have been quick to criticise scenes of jubilation over Bin Laden’s death.  However it is surprising that so many leaders have assumed within a matter of days that Bin Laden’s death satisfied the ethical requirements of Just War theory. 

Those strands of the Just War tradition which deal with the conduct of war, and its closure, commend restraint and use of legal structures. Justice requires more than retribution and equivalence. More than the fact of death is relevant - the order, place of decision and chain of command do impact justice. In a situation where an unarmed terrorist is killed, and the story released changes from a 40 minute firefight, to only one dead man having been armed - many questions remain. The absence of trial and legal execution are regrettable, from the perspective of desiring to see justice done. Any satisfaction of Just War theory is messy, partial, unsatisfactory and regrettable. As the released stories change, it is very unclear at this point whether the killing of Bin Laden was part of a war action that was just; or whether it was a case of state sanctioned retributive assassination. Ideally, of course, the Western nations would hold themselves to a higher standard of justice than their opponents. That has been done in a number of areas - whether the killing of Bib Laden is one of those is not yet clear.

What are the implications of all this for evangelicalism? At least four:

1. The interface between church and state is, perhaps, going to be the most important area of concern for Western Christendom over the next 20 or so years. We need our leaders to up their game in terms of theological reflection on matters related to that. Failure to do so will have direct implications for the reputation and well being of local churches.

2. American evangelicalism exerts influence well beyond the shores of America. The reasons for that are obvious, and have little to do with theology. The helpfulness of American evangelicals to those of us in other countries will be improved not inconsiderably by American evangelicals’ willingness to up their game in theological terms. That will include not assuming that the grand tradition of just war theory simply backs any military action their nation takes.

3. The idea of justice lies at the heart of the Christian gospel. Christian leaders ought to be at the forefront of those who appreciate the complexity and difficulty of justice being done.

4. Evangelicalism is a popular mass movement which has done much good in spreading the Christian gospel around the world. However when it comes to complex ethical areas such as the role of the state and war, we need more than theological cliches and catch phrases. If the role of the state does, as I believe it will, become more problematic for Christian witness in the next few years, we need leaders to become acquainted with the rich, nuanced and convoluted world which forms our great theological tradition. Since that is found in the libraries of writings of people such as Augustine and Aquinas - not on blogs - I will stop writing, now.