The Fall of Christianity

Description

G. J. Heering, professor at the Remonstrant Seminary in Leyden, argues that Christianity and modern war are irreconcilably opposed and that the churches must refuse all part in war. Tracing the history from the pacifism of the New Testament and the early church through the Constantinian turning point, he shows how theology came to sanction state violence, and subjects doctrines of just war, reason of state, and double morality to sustained criticism. The closing chapters set out a program for organized Christianity, including critical support for the League of Nations and the Kellogg Pact, disarmament, and the colonial question, alongside the personal stand of the Christian, including conscientious objection to military service. Translated from the Dutch (De Zondeval van het Christendom, 1928) by J. W. Thompson, with a foreword by Hector Macpherson; first published in Great Britain in 1930.