In Defence of War

Nigel Biggar is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, and Director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life, at the University of Oxford, where he is also a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral. Before taking up his current post in 2007, he held chairs in Theology at the University of Leeds and at Trinity College Dublin. Among his published works are: Behaving in Public: How to Do Christian Ethics (2011), (co-ed.) Religious Voices in Public Places (2009), Aiming to Kill: The Ethics of Suicide and Euthanasia (2004); and (ed.) Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice after Civil Conflict (2001, 2003). He sits on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Military Ethics and has lectured at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

There is a serious disconnect between scholars exploring just war theory and those engaging the Christian just war tradition. The language of religion is foreign to many in the secular camp thereby leaving us bereft of a rich and sometimes compelling perspective. Provocatively titled, In Defence of War brings this tradition to the fore. It is well worth the read.

• Introduction: Against the Virus of Wishful Thinking ; 1. Against Christian Pacifism ; 2. Love in War ; 3. The Principle of Double Effect: Can it Survive Combat? ; 4. Proportionality: Lessons from the Somme and the First World War ; 5. Against Legal Positivism and Liberal Individualism ; 6. On Not Always Giving the Devil Benefit of Law: Legality, Morality, and Kosovo ; 7. Constructing Judgement: The Case of Iraq ; Conclusion ; Bibliography