Just War

Years ago, prompted by the killing of Osama Bin Laden, I promised I would post something on the issue of “just war”: When is it justifiable for one nation to wage war against another?

I wrote that post and put it on our website a short while later.

Fast forward to today. As I write this, it is Saturday, February 28, 2026. At 2:30 AM today President Trump announced we are a nation at war again, this time against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran, as you probably know – at least, you should know – has been at war with the United States in one way or another since 1979 when the Iranian Revolution or Islamic Revolution took place.

Background

In the Revolution the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an Islamist cleric who was the leader of one of several rebel factions. Khomeini, a hardline Shiite Muslim, immediately set Iran up as an enemy of the United States, who he called “The Great Satan,” and Israel, who he called “The Little Satan.” He and virtually every other leader of Iran have vowed repeatedly to wipe Israel off the map and destroy the United States as well. From that time on Iran has been the largest state sponsor of terror around the world, funding and using groups like Hamas (responsible for the barbaric October 7, 2023 attacks against Israel), Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and many others to carry out countless terrorist attacks around the world. Iran is believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans over the years and the wounding and injuring of thousands more.

Add to this their repeated chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” – as one Holocaust survivor said, “When someone says he wants to kill you, it is best to take him seriously” – and their intention to develop nuclear weapons, and it has become clear Iran had further, and much more deadly, ideas in mind for America, Israel and the entire western world.

American negotiators have been attempting to get the leaders of Iran to agree to abandon their plans to develop nuclear weapons, but without success. That’s what brought us to this point where the United States and Israel launched the attacks of today.

A disclaimer – or two

At this point I need to issue a couple of disclaimers:

First, I have never served in the U.S. Armed Services. I have the utmost respect and appreciation for those who do. I am not trained in military strategy or history. I am just a pastor offering my thoughts on an issue of obvious national relevance at this point, as our country is at war again.

Second, I am not just an objective, unbiased observer or commentator. I am the son of a man who fought in WW II and Korea, a career Air Force officer and a member of the Greatest Generation. And more to the point today, my friend, my brother and my fellow pastor Captain James Drake, US Army Chaplain, is deployed with US Special Forces in the Middle East. Along with the rest of our church, Christchurch Miami, I am deeply concerned about and praying fervently for his and fellow soldiers’ engagement in this conflict and their safety. I and we also pray for the wives and families of those soldiers. As John Milton wrote: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” Now:

The Doctrine of Just War

Just war theory isn’t stated explicitly in the Bible. Theologian John Frame says it is a tradition that dates back to Aristotle, to the Stoics, has been adopted by Christians like Augustine, and refined by others like Aquinas. The Bible certainly deals with war and warfare, especially in the campaigns led by Joshua as he led the Israelites into their Promised Land (see the book of Joshua). But the U.S. is not God’s covenant people, and there is no direct, one-to-one correspondence between the battles of the Israelites and those of the U.S. So – when is it morally acceptable for a nation to go to war against another? 



All is not fair … in war

David Augsberger, in When Enough is Enough, offers the following criteria:


• Last resort. “All other means to the morally just solution of a conflict must be exhausted before resort to arms can be regarded as legitimate.”
• Just cause. “War can be just only if employed to defend a stable order or morally preferable cause against threats of destruction or the use of injustice.” (Goals must be seen as just, the opponent must be clearly unjust, even though there is ambiguity in the self.)
• Right attitudes. “War must be carried out with the right attitudes.” (The intention must be the restoration of justice, not retaliation or revenge.)
• Prior declaration of war. “War must be explicitly declared by a legitimate authority.” (A formal declaration must precede conflict.)
• Reasonable hope of success. “War may be conducted only by military means that promise a reasonable attainment of the moral and political objectives being sought.” (If there is not a reasonable chance of success then it is wrong to fight no matter how just the cause.)
• Noncombatant immunity. “Selective immunity must be honored for certain parts of the enemy’s population” (particularly noncombatants, women, aged and children).
• Proportionality.“There must be reasonable expectation that the good results will exceed the evils involved.” (Thus, any victory whose cost is greater than the eventual outcome expected is not right.)

Frame adds that, obviously, a Christian will never advocate killing anywhere unless it is a genuine responsibility of the civil magistrate, carried out with a serious regard for human life, even knowing that some human life must be sacrificed to attain the objective.

Contrast this with the tactics of Al Qaeda, Isis, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations who act under no recognized state authority, and intentionally target civilians, women, and children. They have no regard whatsoever for the sanctity of human life; they seek to kill as many as possible, indiscriminately.

Worldview matters

Worldview matters, and the reason the U.S. military operates the way it does is that it is informed by Biblical principles. I’m not suggesting the average soldier, sailor, airman or marine can quote chapter and verse as to why he does what he does / doesn’t do, only that those principles are grounded in a Judeo-Christian ethical framework. That’s one reason we have military Chaplains like Pastor James.

In this life there is no perfect justice – in times of war or otherwise. Innocent people are killed and injured, as we saw on September 11, 2001, October 7, 2023 and in countless other terrorist attacks. Men (and women) at war have to do, and endure, horrible things. I long for that day when, as Isaiah prophesied:

*[God] will judge between the nations 
  

and will settle disputes for many peoples. 


They will beat their swords into plowshares 
  

and their spears into pruning hooks. 


Nation will not take up sword against nation, 
  

 nor will they train for war anymore.*

– Isaiah 2:4

Until that day, we pray for the coming of the Prince of Peace, and work to make our earthly kingdoms as much like his as possible.

Godspeed, Pastor James.

Kent

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