ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the war ethic in Christianity, set forth in the two norm-propagating media that are prominent in Christianity: scripture and the most important writings of the priesthood. The dependent variable is regressed against Christianity and its three main branches individually (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox), along with the category “Western Christian”. The Christian Bible is a compilation of works written over centuries, in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic and ancient Greek. The New Testament basis for a more permissive war ethic than pacifism is more obscure. In the modern Catholic Church, with the holy war ethic not only fallen into desuetude but also overtly repudiated, neither the pacifist nor just war traditions have emerged as completely dominant. Overall, however, Protestantism and Anglicanism do not appear to be contributing very strongly to Christianity's negative effect on initiation of interstate armed conflict.
