AN INQUIRY INTO THE ACCORDANCY
OF WAR WITH THE
PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIANITY
by Jonathan Dymond
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 – OBSERVATIONS ON THE CAUSES OF WAR
Revealed will of God the sole standard of decision
Declarations of great men that Christianity prohibits war
General character of Christianity
Precepts and declarations of Jesus Christ
Arguments that the precepts are figurative only
Precepts and declarations of the apostles
Objections to the advocate of peace from passages of the Christian Scriptures
Prophecies of the Old Testament respecting an era of peace
Early Christians – Their belief – Their practice – Early Christian writers
Objections from the distinction between the duties of private and public life
The absence of a common arbitrator among nations
Examination of the principles of expediency as applied to war
Examination of the mode of its application
Universality of Christian obligation
Dr. Paley’s Moral and Political Philosophy
Inconsistent with the usual practice of the author
Inapplicability of the principles proposed to the purposes of life
Dr. Paley’s Evidences of Christianity
Inconsistency with the principles of the Moral Philosophy
Argument in favor of war from the excess of male births
Argument from the lawfulness of coercion on the part of the civil magistrate
Principles on which killing an assassin is defended
Consequences of these principles
Unconditional reliance upon Providence on the subject of defense
Safety of this reliance – Evidence by private and natural experience
CHAPTER 3 – OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF WAR
Familiarity with human destruction – with plunder
Incapacity for regular pursuits – half-pay
Implicit submission to superiors - Its effects on the independence of the mind
Implicit submission to superiors - Its effects on the on the moral character
Peculiar contagiousness of military depravity
Animosity of party – Spirit of resentment
Privateering – Its peculiar atrocity
Prayers for the success of war
The duty of a subject who believes that all war is incompatible with Christianity