How does the Bible’s justification of self-defense at Exodus 22:2 play into the defense of a nation during war?
To aid in evaluating the moral ethnicity of a given war, in the 13th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas formulated an outline of principles that eventually became known as the “Just War Theory.” The principles have been used by nations with Judeo-Christian based values to determine when and how a righteous war could be waged. Because these principles can be applied at any time to national wars, our position is that Christians who evaluate which side of a particular battle falls under the principles of a righteous war and only serve on that side of the battle would not end up killing their Christian “brothers” in war.
