Holy War: History of an Idea

The author seeks to establish a clear distinction between a holy war which concerns religion, and a just war which concerns ethics. He makes us understand that the root of the problem of the definition of holy war resides in the ambiguity of the notion of 'sacredness', in its metamorphoses or in its displacements. By revealing the ideas behind holy war by examining speeches and events of many eras and cultures, he criticizes the sacred character of the wars between Jews and Moslems, jihads and crusades, the religious and Byzantine wars, the two World Wars of the twentieth century, and the Gulf War.

Dr. Jacques G. Ruelland currently teaches philosophy at the College Edouard-Montpetit (Longueuil, Quebec) and history of science, medicine, and museology at the Department of History at the Universite de Montreal. Ms. Cornelia Fuykschot, a native of Amsterdam, is a retired language and history teacher who currently resides in Ontario, Canada, where she translates various works from Dutch and French for English publication. Ms. Jeanne Poulin is a bilingual writer who specializes in socio-political and cultural issues and has written pieces for publications based in Montreal, Toronto, and New York.