Page 272 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

religion and war 1573

between accidental and intentional killing and, like the leading world religious traditions, it continues to raise the
principle of discrimination in Christianity, condemns question pondered by ancient religions: Is war the instru-
only the latter. In fact, all major strains of Buddhism, ment of society’s preservation or the source of its
including both Theravada and Mahayana, contain destruction?
important historical instances of support for war. In
Timothy M. Renick
China during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), Buddhist
monks were accorded military honors for their actions See also Religion and Government; Religious Freedom
and, in 619 CE, five thousand of them led a violent
uprising that resulted in one monk proclaiming himself
emperor with the title of “Mahayana.” In Korea, kings Further Reading
historically recruited thousands of Buddhist monks into Augustine. (1984). City of God. New York: Penguin Books.
the military—to fight the Mongols in the fourteenth Baran, J. (1998). Zen holy war? Tricycle, 27, 53–56.
Christopher, P. (1994). The ethics of war and peace: An introduction to
century, the Japanese in the sixteenth, and the Manchus legal and moral issues. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
in the seventeenth. Duncan, R. (Ed.). (1951). Selected writings of Mahatma Gandhi. Boston:
Beacon Press.
After Zen Buddhism was introduced to Japan in 1192,
Ferguson, J. (1978). War and peace in the world’s religions. New York:
it became the religion of the soldiered aristocracy and Oxford University Press.
contributed to the emergence of the Bushido ideal, the Good, R. M. (1985).The just war in ancient Israel. Journal of Biblical Lit-
erature, 104(3), 385–400.
way of the Samurai warrior. In the 1930s and 1940s, a Johnson, J. (1981). Just war tradition and the restraint of war. Princeton,
series of Zen masters in Japan used the Zen notion that NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kelsay, J. (1993). Islam and war:A study in comparative ethics. Louisville,
truth lies beyond reason (and that there are thus no
KY: Westminster/John Knox Press.
absolute moral principles) to excuse and even to support King, W. L. (1993). Zen and the way of the sword: Arming the Samurai
military aggression on behalf of Japanese imperialism, psyche. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lewis, B. (1990, September).The roots of Muslim rage. Atlantic Monthly,
with Daiun Sogaku Harada Roshi (1870–1961) declar- 266(3), 47–60.
ing,“The unity of Zen and war. . . extends to the farthest Littleton, C. S. (1987).War and warriors: Indo-European beliefs and prac-
tices. In M. Eliade (Ed.), The encyclopedia of religion (15, pp. 344–
reaches of the holy war now underway” (Baran 1998, 1).
349). New York: Macmillan Library Reference.
Thus, Buddhism, like Christianity, begins historically Lind, M. (1980). Yahweh is a warrior:The theology of warfare in ancient
with a rejection of war and comes, over the course of Israel. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press.
Kulke, H. (1993). Kings and cults: State formation and legitimation in
centuries, to accept and even embrace warfare as an India and Southeast Asia. New Delhi, India: Manohar.
aspect of religious duty. Narasimhan, C.V. (1965). The Mahabharata:An English version based on
selected verses. New York: Columbia University Press.
National Conference of Catholic Bishops. (1983). The challenge of
The Relationship Between peace: God’s promise and our response (the pastoral letter on war and
War and Religion Considered peace). In J. Elshtain (Ed.), Just war theory (pp. 77–168). New York:
New York University Press.
Does war shape religion or does religion shape war? As Olivelle, P. (1996). The Upanishads. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
the above examples indicate, the answer is almost surely Pagels, E. (1988). Adam, Eve, and the serpent. New York: Vintage Books.
Riley-Smith, J. (Ed.). (1995). The Oxford illustrated history of the Cru-
both. Religious beliefs are often adopted and adapted to
sades. New York: Oxford University Press.
support political enterprises of various sorts, and warfare Sharf, R. (Ed.). (1996).The scripture in forty-two sections. In D. S. Lopez,
is a prominent instance of the political use of religion. But Jr. (Ed.), Religions in China in practice (pp. 360–371). Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
historically, religions have also used warfare as an instru- Strong, J. S. (1983). The legend of King Asoka. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
ment for their own advance, initiating wars or prompting University Press.
Suarez, F. (1944). Selections from three works of Francisco Suarez.
others to do so on their behalf. While war remains an
Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
accepted part of the mainstream components of all the Victoria, B. (1997). Zen at war. New York: Waetherhill.