Love Your Enemies: Discipleship, Pacifism, and Just War Theory

Questions of pacifism and just war, which have preoccupied Christian thinkers from time to time over the past 1700 years, are given distinctive treatment in this book as it discusses biblical sources for the questions, builds on historical examples both of just war theory and of pacifism, and shows how Christian pacifism is a live option in many contexts.

Lisa Sowle Cahill examines the theological bases of just war theory and pacifism, especially in light of the concept of the kingdom of God, as that motif illuminates Christian discipleship. Differences between the theory and just war and the practice of pacifism are highlighted in the overview of the history of Christian thought on the subject, and the inclusiveness of the ideal of the kingdom for pacifism is emphasized.

Lisa Sowle Cahill is J. Donald Monan Professor of Christian Ethics at Boston College. She is author of Between the Sexes (Fortress Press 1988), Love Your Enemies (Fortress Press 1994), and Sex, Gender, and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 1996). Cahill has held leadership posts in both the Society for Christian Ethics and the Catholic Theological Society of America.