Christianity, Darwinism, and War: A Paradox

Abstract

Abstract:Both Christians and Darwinians have discussed the topic of war very extensively. There is a paradox. One might think that Christians, as followers of Jesus’ commands in the Sermon on the Mount, would be against war, and Darwinians, as followers of the claims of the Origin of Species about a struggle for existence leading to change, would be in favor of war. To the contrary, Christians have long argued that one can legitimately go to war and that war will be with us always, whereas Darwinians believe that we can and should transcend our past, and give up war. This article explores the roots of this difference and argues that there are some remarkable shared connections and that today we can and must recognize that both sides of the argument are wrong and that we can now hope for a better understanding of the nature and causes of war.