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Christians, War and Military Service: From the New Testament to Emperor Constantine
R.A. Baker
eBook, 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publishers, except by a reviewer or in an academic setting. R.A. Baker earned a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical History from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. His primary work was on Clement of Alexandria and his emphasis on spirituality and prayer. Learn more at www.churchhistory101.com.
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Deus Nobiscum Christianity, Warfare and Morale in Late ANTIQUITY1
Michael Whitby
Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 1998
In the mid fourth century, a Christian priest in Egypt called Mios wrote to the commander of the local garrison in the Fayyum, Abbinaeus, who was probably also a Christian, to ask to borrow the hunting nets stored at the unit's headquarters so that he could catch gazelles which were eating his crops.* It would be easy to cite more dramatic incidents where imperial troops collaborated with bishops or monks in the destruction of pagan temples, for example the Serapaeum in 39 1, or assisted in the imposition of whatever was the current orthodoxy, as in the turbulent patriarchy of Alexandria in the second half of the fifth century. The mundane request of Mios, however, is a suitable illustration of the everyday interaction of Christians and soldiers consequent upon the conversion of Constantine in 3 12. Christianity benefited substantially from its access to military muscle, and in return the Christian God presented victories to imperial armies which were celebrated by emperors in ceremonies that became increasingly Christianised? If the general lines of this exchange are well-known, less attention has been paid to the mechanisms through which the Christian Church was able to contribute to the empire's military survival, and in particular to the willingness of the empire's population to participate in this protracted struggle. For many, indeed, the Christian Church has been seen as a major factor in the empire's 'decline and fall,' an institution which diverted precious resources from more important undertakings and whose creed sapped its adherents' willingness to resist attacks, so that a decisive contribution to the empire's military survival might seem paradoxical? Before Constantine, although there were Christians enrolled in the army, the closeness of the connection between military service and pagan worship, especially the imperial cult which served to reinforce military loyalties, could make it difficult for committed Christians to serve or for soldiers to be fully admitted into Christian comm~nities.~ Christian soldiers Warfare and Christianity would not be regarded as among Geoffrey Rickman's interests, but the ability to inspire. students and colleagues and sustain their morale are among his talents and it is for that reason that I have chosen this topic as an offering, with gratitude and affection. I am grateful to Peter Heather for usehl discussions and suggestions.
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THE CHRISTIAN AND WAR
William Barrick
tms.edu
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EVIDENCES OF EARLY CHRISTIAN PACIFISM
Kyle Williams
This essay studies the development of Christian attitudes towards military service by examining Patristic writings on the subject. What evidence is there that Christians were involved in the military before Constantine, and what did church leaders teach concerning their involvement? This essay tackles themes of war, pacifism, and idolatry related to Christian military service.
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'Is Warfare Sinful?’: The Development of Thought, c. 900-1200
Jim Pennell
The social violence that ensued following the breakdown of the Carolingian Empire catalyzed a proliferation of interest in the moral status of homicide, and the widely held belief that one’s actions on earth had eternal consequences on the soul made this issue especially pressing. Thus, the question of whether warfare constituted a sin before God preoccupied canonists, ecclesiastics, and the laity alike. The present essay aims to trace out the development of thought on the moral status of war in the period 900-1200. As will be demonstrated, ecclesiastical discipline in the earlier half of this era motivated a general though not universally-held belief in the absolute sinfulness of homicide, even when committed within a just war. However, events leading to and surrounding the Gregorian reforms and the Crusades elicited not only an admission of the moral permissibility of war, but also a belief in its quality as a positive religious duty when conducted for the defense or expansion of Christendom.
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No Rebels: The Loyalty of Christians in the Roman Army
Kar Jin Ong
I propose that far from being a revolutionary force that subverted imperial loyalty, the impact of Christianity on the army was far less subversive, though not without problems of its own. By and large though, claims of Christian pacifism are largely false, and Christianity was only important to the concept of loyalty to the empire incidentally, not fundamentally. The changes that affected loyalty and Christianity in the army are reflective of broader trends of pagan-Christian interaction, the cultural power of the military, and the consolidation of the church-state relationship. In essence, the impact of Christianity on the concept of loyalty in the army was evolutionary, not revolutionary.
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Brothers in Arms: Soldiers in Early Christianity
Niko Huttunen
Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire, 2020
This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. chapter 4 Brothers in Arms: Soldiers in Early Christianity So far as our sources permit us to judge, this kind of career has little or no relevance for the first generations of Christians, although later on Christians in the army would constitute a problem both for the empire and for the church's leaders.1
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The “Military Saints” of Late Antique North Africa and the Christian discourse on military service (forthcoming)
Daniel Syrbe
The Making of Saints in Late Antique North Africa, ed. by Sabine Panzram and Nathalie Klinck, (Beiträge zur Hagiographie 28), 2024
The question of how to relate to military service troubled the Christian communities of the Roman Empire at least since the end of the second and beginning of the third century. Literary and epigraphic sources show that Christians serving in the imperial armies were no longer an uncommon phenomenon at that time, especially not in the North African and in the Eastern provinces. However, it also becomes clear, especially from literary sources, that conflicting views existed among contemporaries as to whether the profession of soldiering is consistent with Christian ethics or whether Christians should serve in the military at all. In contrast to apologetic texts, hagiography still is a rather neglected genre in current debates about early Christians and their relation to the military. The acta and passiones of Christian soldiers who came into conflict with military discipline because of their confession of faith provide insights not only in Christian ethics but also enable to trace the impact of theological controversies on different audiences in Roman society.
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Crusades and early Christian attitudes toward warfare
Richard Abels
I prepared this as a "read ahead" for a seminar on crusades and holy war that I gave at the U.S. Naval Academy's Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership in fall 2014. It is based on teaching materials I prepared for my survey course on war in the middle ages and for seminars on the crusades
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Roman and Christian Just War: A Re-Analysis
Timothy Olinski
Past Imperfect, 2021
There is no denying that the early Catholic Church grew up in a climate predominated by a rich and broad religious pantheon. Emerging at first as a perceived outgrowth of Judaism, Christianity was exposed to, among other things, Roman culture. Roman religious practice, which was typically very open to adopting foreign cults, felt threatened by Christianity, resulting in periods of persecution. As a result, the early Christian community had a very complicated relationship with Imperial Rome. The Church stressed non-collaboration, but evidence points that there was a divide between teachings and practice on the topic of military service. The patristic writings of the Early Church fathers are noticeably sparse until Ambrose and Augustine, who present what can generally be called a theory of just war. They also waver between support and condemnation, reflecting the needs of their congregations. Despite this relative absence of discussion, the prevailing attitude in the historical schola...
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