Abstract

Just war theory and pacifism are not parallel theories about violence; they represent fundamentally different conceptions of Christian identity. Both ways of life encompass two quite different historical forms: Augustinian and Thomistic styles of just war thinking, and pacifism oriented by obediential discipleship as against pacifism grounded in compassionate solidarity. Though the comments of Pope John Paul II on particular modern conflicts have some affinities with the solidaristic pacifism of Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, his arguments remain firmly within the framework of thought developed by Aquinas and revitalized in the twentieth century by John Courtney Murray.