War and ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’
Q:Talking with someone about Catholicism, I came upon a question I couldn’t answer. I’ve been curious to know how the Church allows or justifies killing during times of war when one of the Ten Commandments states, “Thou shalt not kill.”
A: A treatment of war really deserves more than a few lines. I would encourage you to read what the new Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about war or what is written in the Dutch A New Catechism. Either one should be available from any Catholic bookstore.
If you look at the Book of Exodus, however, you will find the command is given this way: “Do not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked” (23:7). That is the translation in the Revised Standard Version. The New American Bible translates the verse, “The innocent and the just you shall not put to death, nor shall you acquit the guilty.”
The Good News Bible has it, “Do not put an innocent person to death for I will condemn anyone who does such an evil thing.” In their translations of Jeremiah 7:6, the thought is the same. Note the prohibition is about killing the innocent and just.
The Church and those theologians who are not pacifists do not see the commandment as forbidding self-defense. Both the individual and society have the right to self-defense. And they see a just war as self-defense.
So says the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the common good” (#2321).
A: A treatment of war really deserves more than a few lines. I would encourage you to read what the new Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about war or what is written in the Dutch A New Catechism. Either one should be available from any Catholic bookstore.
If you look at the Book of Exodus, however, you will find the command is given this way: “Do not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked” (23:7). That is the translation in the Revised Standard Version. The New American Bible translates the verse, “The innocent and the just you shall not put to death, nor shall you acquit the guilty.”
The Good News Bible has it, “Do not put an innocent person to death for I will condemn anyone who does such an evil thing.” In their translations of Jeremiah 7:6, the thought is the same. Note the prohibition is about killing the innocent and just.
The Church and those theologians who are not pacifists do not see the commandment as forbidding self-defense. Both the individual and society have the right to self-defense. And they see a just war as self-defense.
So says the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the common good” (#2321).
posted by See Tho Zhang Jacob at
10:52 PM
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