For most of Christian history, followers of Christ have turned to Augustine for guidance on what constitutes a just war. Over the course of his writings, the Church Father listed seven criteria that a conflict must meet to be morally valid:
- Just cause: A defensive war, fought only to resist aggression.
- Just intent: A war fought to secure justice, not for revenge, conquest, or money.
- Last resort: All other attempts to resolve the conflict have clearly failed.
- Legitimate authority: Military force is authorized by the proper governmental powers.
- Limited goals: Is the war’s purpose achievable, and can it end in a just peace?
- Proportionality: The good gained must justify the harm done.
- Noncombatant immunity: Civilians must be protected as far as is humanly possible.
How many of these boxes does the war in Iran check?
Checking boxes
The case for just cause revolves primarily around the idea that, in a world where attacks often come without notice, a defensive war is as much about preventing a fight from starting as protecting oneself after it does. The fear of what Iran would do if it ever got a nuclear weapon—something Iranian envoys reportedly claimed to be able to achieve in a matter of weeks prior to the war beginning—has been cited repeatedly by various members of the Trump administration to justify the war.
What about just intent? We’ll discuss this idea more when we get to the portion about limited goals, but the short version is that some of the reasons given by the Trump administration would fit under this justification, while others—the threats to take their oil, for example—muddy the waters a bit. At the end of the day, the war could check this box, but it’s not quite as clear-cut as some of the others.
The last resort piece of the puzzle depends largely on whether you believe further negotiations with Iran prior to when bombs began to drop at the end of February would have accomplished anything beyond giving Iran more time to prepare. Again, it’s debatable.
Regarding the question of legitimate authority, Paul is clear that governments have the authority to wage war so long as that war is justified (Romans 13:4). In fact, he goes so far as to say that those who lead nations in this capacity act as “the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” And while that thinking could easily be taken too far—and is, again, based on the idea that the war is just and its targets wrongdoers under the judgment of God—the argument can at least be made in favor of the US government meeting this criterion as well.
Proportionality is difficult to assess in the moment. If the good gained is a non-nuclear Iran governed by a person or group of people that will not massacre tens of thousands of its citizens, then that would probably check the box.
Noncombatant immunity must be assessed as much by intent as practice, particularly when one party is prone to using civilians as shields. The tragic deaths of 175 people at a school, as well as the hundreds (if not thousands) of civilians that have died in other attacks, serve as a powerful reminder that complete protection in this kind of fight is not possible. It does appear, though, that the United States has attempted to take precautions to prevent such mistakes where it can, even if there is certainly room to do better.
And so we come to the final element of this examination with the understanding that you can at least make an argument that the other criteria have been met. You can also argue to the contrary, but it’s less clear-cut than either side might prefer to believe.
But what of the limited goals requirement? Is a just peace achievable for those in power on the American side?
Why are we fighting this war?
Complaints about how the Trump administration has framed its rationale for the war proliferated across both sides of the political aisle. And, at least in this regard, the administration has no one to blame but itself.
As Ross Douthat described:
One could argue that the war is just because it’s trying to remove a wicked government. Except that at present Mr. Trump wants to say that it isn’t a war for regime change, that he’s happy to cut a deal that wouldn’t require the clerical elite to give up power, let alone face justice for their crimes.
Or one could say that the war is just because it’s a limited intervention focused on forestalling an Iranian military threat. But Mr. Trump and his secretary of defense have repeatedly threatened a more sweeping campaign, with back-to-the-stone-age bombing and civilizational destruction, which no just war theory could countenance.
Or one could say that the American war is just because it’s focused on military targets, which is separate from the more morally questionable Israeli campaign of assassination. But come on — they’re the same war!
The truth is that there are valid reasons—both from a biblical and a political perspective—to support the war with Iran. But the problem is that Christians are the ones who have, to this point, been required to make that argument when the justification should have come from President Trump and his administration.
While they have tried to offer some rationale, far too often their explanations come across as if they are simply throwing the reasons against the wall to see what sticks.
Had the war ended as quickly as the attack in Venezuela, perhaps that would have been fine. However, the fact that the majority of their arguments have been offered after Iran weathered the initial storm supports the idea that the attempts at justification were more of an afterthought than their true motivation.
How to pray
So, when it comes to the question of whether the war in Iran is just, I’m honestly not sure. There are reasons to argue that it is, but it’s impossible to know to what degree the Trump administration is truly motivated by them. We can—and should—pray that they are, but to say either way with any degree of certainty is unwise.
Fortunately, whether the war is just or unjust, we serve a God who can still bring good from this conflict. So, let’s finish by taking some time to pray and ask him to do just that.
Pray that the Trump administration would pursue this war for reasons God can bless and that the end result of the fighting would be a safer, more stable Iran. Pray that God will protect the people in Iran—both the civilians and soldiers. And pray that God will work through Christians in Iran to help others place their faith in Jesus and embrace the hope that only he can give.
Let’s start now.
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