Walter Jacob
Waar and rumbles of war have been with us from forever. They are a constant companion to human existence and play an important role in the history of Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . In order to place this volume into a broader perspective, we will begin with a summary view of war in the three religions which concern us most.
JUDAISM ON WARFARE
For Jews this begins with the biblical period on. Yet, after the destruction of the ancient Jewish state until the establishment of modern Israel , Jews were rarely active participants in warfare, although we often suffered terribly from its consequences. World wide peace was the distant Messianic goal and only limited efforts were made to tame the horrors of war or to place it into a theological framework. Ecclesiastes took a practical rather than idealistic view of war when it stated there is“a time for war and a time for peace,” placing peace second(Ecc 3:8).
Wars were dispassionately reported as a divine or political instrument in the Bible along with minimal practical legislation on combat. After that there has been little discussion until the modern State of Israel .
THE BIBLICAL BACKGROUND
The biblical past presents a record of endless wars and conflict;' it is the history of a small embattled nation, not too different from that of modern Israel , in more or less constant strife. We see this even in cursory reading of Joshua, Judges, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and IT Chronicles. God is sometimes depicted as a warrior as in the Song at the Sea(Ex 15.3) and as warlike(Ex 17:16, Jud 5:13; Ps 24.:8;). God also destroyed the instruments of war(Ps 76.4; Hos 1:7; 2:20) and brought an end to warfare(Is 2:4).