Religion, Law and the Role of Force: A Study of Their Influence on Conflict and on Conflict Resolution

This important volume debates an issue that mankind has always found troubling. Should religion – any religion – authorise the use of force by one people against another? If so, for what causes and in what ways? Scholars from the three Abrahamic traditions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism have contributed their views on a reality that is evident in conflicts endangering the world today. They have been joined by others asking to what extent the rule of law has superseded or modified religious tenets and imposed more stringent restrictions on the resort to arms and whether there is, in doctrine on the use of force, parallel thinking about self-imposed restraints.