Foretelling a time of cultivation, Isaiah prophesies, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” One cannot plow a field with a sword, nor prune a tree with a spear. In this article, originally published in Christianity and Crisis on March 8, 1943, John Knox contrasts the promotion of good with the destruction of evil, particularly in conflict. Promoting good is insufficient; the conduct of war and the creation of peace are distinct phenomena to be pursued with discrete tools.

Love of justice presumes a love of truth, for justice without truth is a contradiction in terms. And love, to the extent it matters in the procurement of justice, is only effective when purified by truth.

With Duterte, many felt heaven’s justice had come, wielding (symbolically and literally) the sword entrusted to government against evildoers. And despite international criticism, the Filipino people widely approve of the Duterte way. When offered the choice between vigilante justice and no justice at all, a downtrodden people will choose the former every time.

For young American Christians aspiring to a vocation intersecting faith and public life, a career in peacemaking and statecraft can afford the opportunity to positively influence US national attitudes in this area, if such aspirations are paired with proper training and certain cardinal virtues.

The just war ethic is really and first an approach to politics as the moral exercise of power in service of justice, fairness, stability, and ultimately peace.