War In The 20th Century

This timely anthology of important statements by Christian ethicists and ecclesial groups who draw upon the just-war tradition reviews the rationale for war in the twentieth century. Included are writings from Niebuhrs, the Calhoun Commission, John Ford, Elizabeth Anscombe, Paul Ramsey, Ralph Potter, the U.S. Catholic Bishops, and the U.S. Methodist Bishops. These authors, whose ideas reflect diverse trends in Roman Catholic and Protestant ethics spanning the period from the Manchurian crisis in the early 1930s to the Persian Gulf War in 1991, have sought to sharpen our moral literacy about the ethics of war. They address issues relevanct to modern warfare – obliteration bombing, selective conscientious objection, and nuclear deterrence.