Final Review Questions

Please post your questions for the final review in the comments section.

Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day's work with the poor and homeless is connected to her pacifism, because dealing with problems peacefully and caring for the less fortunate are both part of a Christian's calling in his or her imitation of Christ. Christ was peaceful even during the torture He endured leading up to His death, and He had special love for the poor. Day quotes Christ when she says, "You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of Man came not to destroy souls but to save" ("Dorothy Day on the Atom" 1-2). The Christian spirit is one of peace and charity. When considered simply, standing for peace is really the same as standing for love and care of others.

Sara K. Smith

Just War

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Just War Theory, states looking to become involved in a war must first look at the complete picture—from their motivations for entering the war, to their conduct during the proposed war, & to the lasting results of the war after its end. The article also asserts that a truly “just” war exists only when a state acts solely in the interest of self-preservation against an aggressor, so that its own people can continue to live & maintain their rights. For this reason, the offensive side of any given war shouldn’t be considered just, because the aggressor state in this case has violated its duty to respect the legitimacy of the state it attacked.

However, this leads to the question of whether a state is right to act pre-emptively against a soon-to-be aggressor, & whether this in turn makes the first state the actual aggressor. I think that the only ethical thing for the defensive state to do in this case is to wait to act until the other state formally engages in warfare. While this may potentially give the aggressor state the upper hand, this course of action should result in fewer wars in the long run. Certainly it's far preferable to have a cold war, where neither state ever takes action against the other, than it is to rush into a war without fully thinking through the motivations and results for doing so. As a Catholic, I still struggle with whether we can ever justify the killing of another human being in the name of any cause, no matter how important—but, as today’s readings point out, there are wars that significantly more just than others because of their principles and conduct.

Kat Hermanson

The International groups that control armed combat give their own set of rules that explain what they constitute as a just war, known as the “Just War Theory” (Stanford). It is broken down into three parts: “jus ad bellum, which concerns the justice resorting to war in the first place, jus in bello, which concerns the justice of conduct within war, after it has begun, and jus post bellum, which concerns the justice of peace agreements and the termination phase of war” (Stanford). Within each part of the “Just War Theory,” there are multiple subcategories that place strict regulations on the international community that theoretically give every aspect of war as justified reasoning and actions as it possibly can (Stanford).

While the international community agrees on these set of laws to insure justice during modern war time, the church feels differently. Cardinal Ratzinger’s Q&A on the Abridged Version of Catechism shows Christians that while the Catholic Church does not impose their “positions as a doctrine of the Church,” they do make a clear statement on modern-day wars: they are unjust to mankind (Ratzinger). With advances in modern warfare, the Church feels that any type of modern-day warfare, such as the weaponry used in “the war against Iraq,” is simply “unjust” and goes far beyond what normal troops possibilities while engaging in war (Ratzinger). The church, therefore, urges the international to think all types of war and ask ourselves if any type of war can be justified.

-Jay Garrick


Christians and the Just War Theory
The Fifth Commandment of the Ten Commandments simply states “Thou shall not kill”. However, even in Christianity, there are exceptions to this. The Just War Theory is the system used in determining whether or not one group should go to war with another. Despite the fact that war is allowed if necessary by the Catholic Church, they still strongly disapprove of war. They believe (as stated in the Just War Theory) that all other options should be tried first. This includes having meetings involving negotiation etc. If all else fails however war is permissible by the church. Aside from the technicalities of the Just War Theory, the question is “Should Christians engage in warfare?” Most people with a strong understanding of the church and its morals would have to say that Christians should not engage in warfare but I strongly disagree with this. If you do not engage in war when it is needed, you are just allowing more and more evil to happen because you don’t want to engage in these evil actions yourself. Many people also argue that it is not right to go to war unless an action is committed against you first. From the reading “Vitoria said you must wait, since it would be absurd to “punish someone for an offense they have yet to commit.”” However this may sound correct, I do not agree with this under certain circumstances. If there are clear indications or threats from an enemy, then I strongly believe in going at them first to prevent evil from happening to those in your nation. You are better off being safe than sorry.

Nicholas Darin

Lumen Gentium

Lumen Gentium attempts to personify the Church and its relationship with Christ. It first retells the story of Christ’s salvation of man through his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit is given the role as a mediator, a connection, between the risen Christ and mankind. Several comparisons are made to describe the Church’s foundation on and unity with Christ. Each of these reveals our dependency upon a faith in Christ and unification with him. With Christ as a perfect example, mankind is to model his actions after Him in order to fulfill the Kingdom of God. At the same time, with Christ as its head, the Church is to unify itself as the body of Christ as a community. Each of us individually, and as a community, is to act as Christ to the world.

This unique body has an intrinsic universal call to holiness. This holiness is not dependent on any other worldly status. Each of us is equally called and capable of sharing in Christ’s love. Lumen Gentium explores various sanctions in life and dictates in what ways individuals of each status can answer the call to a holy life. We are all called to show God’s love to the world through our daily actions without allowing the things of this world to side track us from a deeper connection with God. I think that this is the most important part of the selections that we read. No matter who we are or where we have come from, each and every one of us is called to holiness in our own way. By responding to this call, we respond to Christ’s love and manifest it to those around us.

Kristen Gotlund

Gaudium et Spes

According to the text of Gaudium et Spes, the most pressing problem of the modern world is that it is rapidly changing and we can not always succeed in subjecting it to our own welfare. Man continues to gain power through intelligence and it is imperative that we use this power to respect things and people when act. The human race has an abundance of wealth, however it is not equally distributed. A major portion of the world endure poverty and are hungry. This is one of the prominent problems in the modern world. The distribution of power is unequal in the aspects of political, social, economic, racial, and ideological disputes. Several people suffer from illiteracy which means that the tools of education are not being taught everywhere in the world. There is a vast gap of wealth in the modern world. Technology is transforming the way the human race acts and thinks. Advances in technology have given scientists opportunities to improve tremendously with medicine and ways to help people in the world. Christianity should respond to this by acting like "all things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown." The Vatican Council II according to Gaudium et Spes explains that the freedom of man can direct himself toward goodness. This means that we need to be mindful of what we have and try to share our assets. There is enough food on the earth for everyone to eat, however the wealthier in power have and excess amount of food and those in poverty have none. We need to seriously think about our wealth and sharing it with the less fortunate and consider using technology to benefit the world and dealing with the pressing problems of the modern world.

Thank you,
Katelyn Bockin

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer presents us with the idea/question on what we have learned in life, and what is truly important. He states,” Time lost is time in which we have failed to live a full human life, gain experience, learn, create, enjoy, and suffer; it I time that has not been filled up, but left empty”. This describes the importance of using our time wisely and being active. He presents us with passages on what we learned, should learn, or should have learned on virtue, confidence, humanity and more. Because he was so against the Nazi influence in the church, he stood his ground and encouraged others to do the same, even if standing up or against the Nazis meant establishing another church. I believe that Bonhoeffer’s ideals and beliefs were and still are important. Standing up for what is right, and protecting your ideals is always the right thing to do. To rectify such injustice was his goal, and made it a point that it was not right.

Kate Shannon

The Theological Declaration of Barmen

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