In Defence of War Christian Realism and Just Force

In Defence of War enjoys a range of virtues that distinguish it from almost any other book on the morality of war that I know. It employs an extensive knowledge of military history, exhibits expertise in a theological literature unknown to many, and articulates a most perceptive critique of prominent secular accounts. Biggars considered assessments of particular military conflicts are sophisticated, controversial, and nuanced. If you choose to read only one of the very large number of treatments of the morality of war that have recently seen their way into print, you could not do better than take up this book. Christopher Eberle, Associate Professor of Philosophy, United States Naval Academy This is a highly original and significant contribution to the discussion of the morality of war. Biggar has read extraordinarily widely, uses his sources masterfully, and writes both beautifully and persuasively. I have forty-odd books treating just war on my shelves, and this book stands with the very best. I rank it with Ramseys work of the 1960s, and that work has had a deep and lasting influence. This is a seriously good piece of work. James Turner Johnson, Distinguished Professor of Religion and Associate of the Graduate Program in Political Sciences, Rutgers University Nigel Biggar has written a truly valuable book. Rebelling against the 'wishful thinking' that there can be a pacifist solution to all conflicts between nations, he draws on the resources of both Christian moral theology and secular moral thinking to defend the legitimacy of military force in a variety of real world situationsa defense that is rich in detail about actual combat (the awfulness of which he does not minimize). The clarity of the writing and the scope and power of the authors mind advances the conversation in a way that will be instructive to all those interested in the topic of war and will cause all thoughtful readers, whether inclined to pacifism or not, to rethink their own positions. Jeffrie G. Murphy, Arizona State University Drawing on the Just War Tradition tradition, as well as on a wealth of reading in contemporary law, international relations and military history, Nigel Biggar crafts an impressive and thought provoking defence of the moral permissibility, even perhaps sometimes the moral necessity of war, both in general terms and in the context of three specific modern contexts: the First World War, The NATO intervention in Kosovo and the US-led invasion of Iraq. Deeply felt and Meticulously argued, this book should be on the reading list of all, Christian or not, who are genuinely concerned with the ethical dilemmas of war in the 20th and 21st centuries. Nick Rennger, University of St Andrews Not since Paul Ramsey's The Just War almost half a century ago has a Christian theologian writing about war accomplished so much, so lucidly, in a single volume. Biggar is in full command of the theological, philosophical, and legal debates around just war, and engages in all these debates in powerful and illuminating ways. More than that, however, he tests his abstract proposals agains a series of richly detailed, historically grounded case studies-Kosovo, the 2003 Iraq Invasion, and the Somme-in sustained dialectical manner, and uses them to excellent illustrative effect. Theologically profound, philosophically acute, legally astute, politically canny, and historically aware, this book becomes at once the work on Christian just war theory. Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia