Patristics: Military Force and Christian Conscience
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Historical-critical exegesis and, more recently, sociological analysis, have broadened the context and improved the objectivity of biblical interpretation.This is of particular significance for themes related to nonviolence.One can no longer conclude to a Christian commitment to nonviolence from a simplistic reading of the NT.And when inquiry is extended from the NT to the patristic age, the situation becomes even more complex, for the material to be studied is much more vast, and few scholars are giving serious attention to the primary data.The task of this seminar was to take stock of this situation both from the point of view of the issue itself and the methodology needed to approach it.Three scholars agreed to do this by touching down at three key ares in the development of the early Church's attitudes towards military service.Robert Daly, S.J. provided a general introduction and some remarks on the teaching of Origen; John Helgeland outlined the teaching of Eusebius; Patout Burns, S.J. sketched two key moments in the teaching of Ambrose and Augustine.Thus, Christian positions from the pre-Constantinian, the Constantinian, and the post-Constantinian Church were considered.Since the modern history of scholarship on this theme reveals an embarrassing correlation between almost any given scholar's confessional allegiance and the way that scholar interprets the data, the most careful possible attntion to the following series of questions seems to be needed: (1) What were, in fact, the attitudes, the teaching and the practice of the early Church, and how does one gain access to this data?(2) How is this data to be interpreted in its various (historical, theological, political, sociological, etc.) contexts?(3) What is its significance for Christian doctrine and practice today?(4) How does one's bias, presuppositions, theology or confessional position affect one's perception of and interpretation of the data?In addition, it is most helpful to be able to make a nuanced distinction between the teaching and practice of the early Church and that position which a Christian today must hold in order to be faithful to the Bible and church tradition.Without such a distinction, we are not likely to advance much beyond proof-texting.Sound patristic study of this theme necessarily presupposes familiarity with the relevant biblical data and the history of its reception in the early Church.Summarized most briefly, the evidence is overwhelming that the basic
Author: Robert Daly
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1512676038