Sfântul Augustin şi teoria bellum justum. Reflecţii pe marginea scrisorilor 189 şi 229
St. Augustine and the Bellum Justum Theory. Reflections on Epistles189 and 229

Summary/Abstract: The transition from the anti-Christian persecutions to the religious freedom inaugurated by thepolicy of Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) also brought about a number of problems generatedby the new position of Christianity versus the political authority. Thus, the Christians’ joiningthe imperial army led to discussions on the attitude towards war adopted by the followers ofChrist. St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo Regius (395-430), is deemed by many experts on the topicas a father of the just war theory. This perception is based on the frequent quotation of the Africanbishop works (some of them included among the dubia, which went unmentioned) by the canonistsof late Middle Ages. Also, excerpts from Augustinian works were included in the so-called thematic_ orilegia, circulating throughout the Middle Ages, which laid the grounds for a reductionist attitudetowards St. Augustine’s views.An analysis of the two epistles addressed by the North-African bishop to Bonifacius, a Roman highof_ cer, and to Darius, a member of the imperial administration, reveals a much more complexmessage than the one conveyed by Augustine’s medieval compilers and commentators: namely,a Christian has no moral impediment against participating in a war. The nuanced thinking of St.Augustine reveals an author who really endeavors to provide the right answer to such a challenge.The context in which the Doctor Ecclesiae is called to answer it is completely different from thatof Origen or St. Cyprian. Therefore, they or their attitudes cannot be equated. The complex answergiven by the bishop of Hippo Regius outdoes the simplistic attempts made by his predecessors inthe matter (see St. Ambrosius and Eusebius of Caesarea). However, the key to Augustinian discourseis a complex approach, unbiased towards any secondary literature addressing the topic ofChristian attitude to war.

• Details
• Contents